Making sure the future is fun and sustainable

June 29, 2012

Making sure the future is fun – and sustainable

TransLink signs “Charter of Vancouver” – promoting kids and bikes

A global agreement to enhance the cycling culture and experience for children is one of the key accomplishments of Velo-city 2012, which wrapped up today in Vancouver. TransLink, co-sponsor of this year’s conference, signed the Charter of Vancouver on Children and Cycling.

The Charter of Vancouver takes its cue from the United Nations 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and recognizes the special ability cycling has in enshrining those rights. The Charter encourages local governments to adopt practices towards cycling that keep those rights in mind, building infrastructure and providing services and programs so children grow up using their bikes as normal part of their travels in the community.

“If the goal is to have more than half of all trips taken by transit, cycling or walking by 2040,” says TransLink Chair Nancy Olewiler, “we need to remember that the adults of 2040 are children today. Travel choices start at a young age, which is why the Charter of Vancouver

is so timely and important. We need to create the cycling environment where our children will be safe and secure while on their bikes to create that lifelong love for the fun, freedom, and healthy living cycling delivers".

TransLink’s TravelSmart program sponsors the school bike-safety courses provided by HUB (formerly Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition), as well as other initiatives to promote responsible cycling (please visit www.travelsmart.ca and select “Bike More”).

During the four-day event in Vancouver, about a thousand conference delegates learned of issues peculiar to cycling in Metro Vancouver – such as the region’s varied terrain -- and how they are being addressed; public bike-sharing and the way that system can be included in overall transportation planning was the topic of another TransLink presentation. TransLink also hosted a bicycle/transit integration tour, in which participants got to see how bikes are accommodated on the rest of the transportation network. In all, seven TransLink staff members made presentations to the conference.

The next Velo-city conference will be in Vienna, Austria, in 2013.