Olympic Transportation plan already failing?

Today the construction site at SE False Creek appears to be directing cyclists on the Ontario Bike route to use the  sidewalk on 2nd avenue as a detour.  Asking cyclists to use this narrow sidewalk is both dangerous and illegal.   This is clearly in an inadequate cycling facility for a city that claims to be promoting cycling as part of it's “Greenest City” imitative,

According to maps published on October 14th the city was supposed have a marked detour in place using 3rd Ave and parts of Quebec street.  It is now two weeks later and this route is still not marked.

According to the Host City Olympic transportation plan, page 4:
“Some bike routes will be temporarily altered during the 2010 Winter Games to accommodate operational and security needs. Wherever possible, bike route closures will be accommodated by safe and well-marked alternatives.”

The current route is neither “safe” nor “well-marked”.

When will city be addressing this problem?

Is the Olympic Transportation plan already failing?

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rob_'s ramblings

A Budget to INCREASE global warming?

Despite rhetoric to the contrary it appears that yesterday's BC Liberal budget is designed to increase greenhouse gas emissions in this province.

The largest sources of greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions in our province are from transportation and the fossil fuel extraction industries. So, the government chose to specifically increase activities in these areas.

There were cuts in health care, education and other social services. But no cuts in the province's controversial highway expansion projects. Even though the province's own documents admit that these projects will increase ghg emissions.

And the province kept in place the massive subsidies to the fossil fuel extraction industries. Costing the tax payers millions while increasing pollution.

But the government was not content to rely on these measures alone to increase ghg emissions. It cutback and cancelled many programs designed to reduce emissions.

The PST exemption on bikes, renewable energy systems and energy efficiency products is gone with the new HST. It also cancelled the LiveSmart program which also helped fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

And funding for public transit is up in the air. The government has made promises about funding for transit. But Translink, the agency responsible for delivering the services has said it does not have enough money for the evergreen line, the third seabus or additional much needed bus capacity. Again there seems to plenty of money for highway expansion but not for transit even though transit investment creates three times as many jobs.

This government's actions are clearly criminal and need to be stopped.

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Car Subsidies in Vancouver

A recent article (also here) is perpetuating one of the most persistent myths of modern society - that cyclists aren't paying their fare share for road use.

In fact private car ownership is one of he most subsidized aspects of our society.  In Metro Vancouver taxpayers subsidize car owners to the tune of $6.6 billioin per year.  In places like Ontario it is even higher.

So cyclists who drive little or never are actually helping to subsidize the polluting habits of frequent car drivers.

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rob_'s ramblings

Permaculture Design Course

At the beginning of July I attended a two week intensive permaculture design course on Denman Island presented by Pacific Permaculture . Learned a lot and am now looking forward to applying some of these permaculture design techniques in Vancouver.

Carbon Tax vs. Gateway

During the current BC election campaign there has been much discussion about the carbon tax. Some environmentalists have even endorsed the Liberal party based on the tax. But how does it stack up to other climate-related policies?

Based on numbers in the modeling done by the Carbon Tax Center, I estimated that the BC Carbon Tax would reduce greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions by 570,000 tonnes annually at the current rate and by 901,000 tonnes by  2012 when the rate is raised to $30/tonne.

I used a model developed by the Sightline Institute to estimate emissions from the Gateway Program. I calculated annual increases of 388,000 - 621,000 tonnes.  The Gateway program alone would wipe out one to two thirds of the gains made by the Carbon Tax.

During 2001 - 2006 the emissions from Oil and Gas production increased by 1,040,000 per year.  The Liberals have committed to supporting this industry so it can be expected that these increases will continue. 

These two policies (Gateway and Petroleum Industry support) would result in an increase that is more than 50% higher than any reduction from the Carbon Tax.

So why all the emphasis on the Carbon Tax when other policies will wipe out any gains made by the tax?

Notes on calculations:

Calculations used a baseline year of 2006 with total emissions of 62.3 Mt CO2 eq.

The Carbon Tax Center's model uses 0.25% reduction in emissions from gasoline consumption at a $10/tonne tax and a 1.09% reduction at $30 / tonne.  36% of the BC's emissions are from transportation. So I estimated a reduction of 244,000 tonnes for a $30 tax.  (62,300,000 x 36% x 1.09%).

The Carbon Tax Center's model uses 0.25% reduction in emissions from gasoline consumption at a $10/tonne tax and a 1.09% reduction at $30 / tonne.  36% of the BC's emissions are from transportation. So I estimated a reduction of 244,000 tonnes for a $30 tax.  (62,300,000 x 36% x 1.09%).


The Carbon Tax Center's model uses a 3.06% reduction in emissions from "other" sources at $30 / tonne.  I estimaed that another 45% of the BC's emissions would fall in this category.  (consistant with other estimates that the carbon tax would cover about 70% of BC emissions). I estimated a reduction of 657,000 tonnes for a $30 tax.  (62,300,000 x 45% x 3.06%).   This gives us a total annual reduction of 901,000 tonnes compared to baseline year when the tax reaches $30/ tonne.

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rob_'s ramblings

Burns Bog Pilgrimage

Burns Bog Pilgrimage
Originally uploaded by Rob__

Over 100 people participated in a pilgrimage to Burns Bog on Sunday. The event organized by a multi-faith coalition had participants walk over the Alex Fraser bridge and then though the Delta Nature Conservancy.

The pilgrimage was designed to draw attention to the damage that the South Fraser Primeter Road (SFPR) will cause to the environmentally sensitive bog.

Burns Bog has been listed as threatened by the International Mire Conservation Group because of the impacts of the SFPR. In response to the mitigation measures proposed the Environmental Stewardship Branch of Environment Canada wrote that "...that the changes are not sufficient to alleviate its concerns related to the impacts of the Project on Pacific Water Shrew (PWS), hydrology, aerial deposition, and ecological integrity of Burns Bog."

10,000 people (and two polar bears) Petition Premier

VANCOUVER - The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation and the Wilderness Committee delivered petitions with over 10,000 signers to the Premier's office today. The petitions ask that the government cancel the Gateway Program's highway expansion components and invest more in transit instead.

The gateway program is a transportation infrastructure project that includes over 260 km of new highway lanes.

Dozens of activists rallied outside the office in downtown Vancouver including two dressed as polar bears.  The premier's office initially declined to accept the invitations.  After the activists attempted to enter the nearby convention centre where the premier was speaking, staff working with the Premier agreed to accept the petitions.

“Translink is currently exhausting its capital reserves just to keep existing service going,” said Karen Wristen, Executive Director of SPEC. “At this rate, they will be broke in two years. We simply can’t afford both freeway expansion and transit development: we have to solve the transit crisis first.”

“It will be virtually impossible to reach BC’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) if Gateway is allowed to proceed. Gateway is not just an irresponsible plan, it’s immoral,” said Ben West, the Wilderness Committee’s Healthy Communities Campaigner.

The government calculates that greenhouse gas emissions will increase by over 170,000 tonnes per year from the Gateway program.

Premeir Gordon Campbell has not yet responded directly to the petition. In recent interviews he has defended the Gateway Program.

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rob_'s ramblings