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."
"One of my usual approaches was just to let everybody know that I rode my bike all the time, and if there were ever any cycling aspects of projects, I was happy to help on them. Rather than being hard-nosed about things, I was more of a soft-pedalling lifestyle bicycle advocate."
"I came to visit my friends in Vancouver, and one of them asked, 'Well can you do your job in Vancouver?' I said, 'Good question!' So then I started looking into what Vancouver had for Bike to Work Week. And there wasn't one."
"Seriously, I look at that and I go, I've made people's lives better. Based on some stuff that I got excited about years ago. I was in the right time, in the right place. I've made the city better, in such a nice way. That's pretty cool."
