Naheed Nenshi was in Ward 13 tonight. The SW section of the ring road was a hot issue. Mayor Nenshi was pushing for rapid transit as a necessary component to solving congesting in the SW. He pointed out that a 3% reduction in traffic on 14th Street is all it would take to get 14th Street flowing again. Small changes can have a big impact on all of us.
I'm on the record as a fan of How Mayor Nenshi ran his campaign. There was one thing that bugged me. While in favor of more people cycling, he said he wouldn't do it " cause well, look at me, I'm clearly not a cyclist." - I hope I got that right.
Anyone who knows me in person, or has seen me from a block away, knows I don't look like a cyclist. Still I did 2500 km last year, and that was down from the goal of 4500 km due to still recovering from an ankle injury, Star Craft II being released and a broken hub in Sept. (a custom part that took weeks to replace, sigh)
The "I won't ride, I don't look like a cyclist" bothered me.
That %3 stat got me thinking. 22 work days a month * 12 = 264. Let's say the Mayor get's 4 weeks vacation. So that's 20 days off. 244. 3% of 244 is 7.32. By biking 7 to 8 working days a year we could have a major impact on congestion in this city. It would be great to have a Mayor who has first hand experience with the challenges and the joys of bike commuting. It would set a great example for all of us, who don't look like cyclists.
- Peace
2 comments:
I think sometimes the thinking "I can't do "blank" because I am not a "blanker" prevents us from even trying. If you're on a bike you're a biker, if you're running, you're a runner. Whoever came up with the Nike slogan "Just do it" had more insight into how people work than you may think.
I think that's what bugged me about his comment, people think they can't bike enough to make a difference for whole bunch of reasons, but most of us can by just starting small.
- Peace
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