The story of a generation of cycling activism & advocacy in Vancouver.
Vanbikes: Vancouver’s Bicycle People & the Fight for Transportation Change
Following Expo '86, transportation in Vancouver began to change in a small, but powerful way — exemplified by collective action of a new generation of activist. The bicycle advocate.
In just a few years, a small movement centred around transportation choice became a community of overlapping collaborations and friendships, involving people from all walks of life.
Beginning in 2017 as a series of blog posts—profiles of many of these early and influential advocates—Vanbikes was self-published as in 2022, author (and advocate) Colin Stein’s first book. Vanbikes is ultimately a showcase of the history made by some of the artists, educators, engineers, lawmakers, leaders, urban professionals and professional volunteers who have invested their time, health, reputations and careers to bring change to Vancouver’s streets, and the entire region’s transportation network.
Profiles of Advocacy
Read profiles of some of the many advocates who participated in Vanbikes interviews, beginning in 2017.
Advance voting is done; voting day is tomorrow—Saturday, October 15th, 2022. By Sunday morning, every municipality will have a new or re-elected mayor, and a new mix of councillors. In Vancouver, we also get new Park Board commissioners and school board trustees.
My dislike of parties almost overwhelms my desire to participate in the party system—really the partisan poo-slinging—in the first place. But here I am, voting for parties.
Advance voting started this past weekend. Despite having some candidate ideas, I was largely unprepared to vote. I realized that what I needed was a tool for organizing the most important factors for my picks for Vancouver mayor, council, park board and school board: values and affiliation.
Three-plus years ago, I still didn’t quite know when (or if) I would ever attempt to write this book. To say that much has changed—in the world, let alone in my life—would be a serious understatement.
When summarizing Gregor Robertson's ten years as mayor, any historical perspective on the City of Vancouver will undoubtedly refer, perhaps quite pointedly, to his responsibility for the growth in cycling — the activity, and more importantly the infrastructure that enabled its growth.
"That Vancouver is now one of the top cities in North America for protected bike lanes is unbelievable; the substance of what’s happened is pretty dramatic. Public perceptions and attacks is a whole other part of the story."
Who's made their mark and contributed to cycling improvements in the region over the past 30+ years? Thousands of people, too many to name and hunt down. Here are some of the people I've spoken to.
His book is a bible to some, shaping views on transportation cycling, which in turn helped shape some of the transportation policies — and facilities built, or not built — in British Columbia over the past few decades.
Today, a friend texted me a link to an op-ed in a major Canadian newspaper, headlined "Ban the Bike!" It was as much my friend's preamble to the piece, as the piece itself, which got my knickers in a twist. Something along the lines of, 'I thought this made some good points — what do you think?'
or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bike
This past July, I self-published my first book—Vanbikes: Vancouver's Bicycle People and the Fight for Transportation Change, 1986-2011.