Something occurred to me while I was reading Paul Berton’s editorial about changes in the way we get around: through all of the arguments about who should own the streets and sidewalks (e.g. Toronto’s proposed right-turn ban, Vancouver’s planned cycling lane conversion), the most vocal people seem to be using absolute, race-like (i.e. racist) categories and assumptions.
It’s as if drivers are saying
My father commuted on the Burrard Bridge every day, just as my grandfather did before him. That’s how my people have always lived. I was born a Motorist and will always be one. Those lanes and intersections are my birthright, and I’ll be damned if I let a bunch of filthy Cyclists with their supposed superiority come along and take away my livelihood… and we’re the majority…
Relax. This isn’t a black & white issue. We’re not born one-or-the-other. Try walking, try public transit, try to imagine, not just where the other side is coming from, but the possibilities of something else altogether — not merely to accommodate drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, but to make things better for everyone.
We have a choice in the matter. We can learn and adapt on our way to working out an optimal arrangement. We can have conversations. The way things are now is far from optimal — and I don’t think any reasonable person could believe that having even more people in cars would be an improvement.
It was great to see informed and balanced discussion in London’s blogosphere last week, even (or especially) as London seems to have a proudly motocentric “me drive car, you get out of way” culture that begrudges people on bikes and makes life miserable for the self-propelled.
Photo by joiseyshowaa.
