Cycling for Everyone: Lessons for Vancouver from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany
May 15, 2008, 7 pm
Venue: Segal Graduate School of Business Building, 500 Granville Street, Vancouver ( corner of Pender and Granville)
Admission to public lecture is free; reservations are required.
Email cstudies@sfu.ca or call 778-782.5100.
Cities in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have achieved high bike shares of travel by making bicycling a safe and feasible means of transport for everyone: women as well as men, all age groups, all skill levels, and all income classes. In his talk, Prof. Pucher describes the approach used in these three countries to promote cycling for everyone and for all trip purposes. He focuses on six categories of policies and programs: extensive systems of separate cycling facilities, intersection modifications and priority bicycle traffic signals, traffic calming of neighborhoods, safe and convenient bike parking, coordination and integration of cycling with public transport, traffic education and training for both cyclists and motorists, and traffic laws that favor cyclists and pedestrians. The key to the success of cycling policies in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany is the coordinated implementation of this multi-faceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies. Precisely because the policies are sensitive to the different needs of different social groups, they also succeed in making cycling possible for virtually everyone.
JOHN PUCHER is a professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University in New Jersey. For over three decades, he has examined differences in travel behavior, transport systems, and transport policies in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Currently, Pucher's research focuses on ways to promote safe and convenient walking and bicycling for daily travel and thus improve overall public health.
Pucher Webpage: http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher.html
Sponsored by Translink.
Co-sponsored by by the Bombardier Foundation and the Active Transport Lab at the University of British Columbia as part of the series "Shifting Gears: Five discussions on the Future of Transportation". Program partners: Simon Fraser University City Program and the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition.
