Very informative presentation to Victoria City Council on Go Victoria: Our Mobility Future

In a recent Times Colonist opinion piece, “I walk my daughter and her friend to school; I don’t want you to kill them” a mom addressed the “the typical driver. I’m sure you’re a very nice person,” she writes, “but if you’re like most people, you probably drive too fast most of the time – on residential side streets, in school zones, in parking lots.”

She is not alone. Last term, I visited Parent Advisory Councils at almost all the schools in Victoria. The number one concern from all parents at all schools in all neighbourhoods? Traffic, traffic, traffic. Parents are worried about people speeding through school zones, not stopping at stop signs, not stopping at crosswalks, not aware of how vulnerable their children are just by walking to school.

The parents have a point. Last week the City of Victoria launched Go Victoria: Our Mobility Future. Council learned in a presentation (video above) on Go Victoria launch day that a pedestrian is struck by a car every week in Victoria. In his presentation, consultant Jeff Tumlin told us that one of the fundamental questions his team has about Victoria is, “Where do you fall on the balance between motorist convenience and pedestrian safety?”

He goes on to say that, “Every pedestrian or traffic fatality is 100% preventable. We know how to prevent all traffic fatalities through design and management of the street. But we also know we desire speed. Speed is the enemy of safety.” He tells us that we’re going to need to balance these two principles because they’re in tension with each other.

We also learned that mobility has a bigger impact on public health outcomes than the medical profession does. If we expect our citizens to have to drive to a gym to walk on a treadmill, we are condemning our population to poor health outcomes. Tumlin asked us, “How are we designing Victoria in order to optimize the health of everyone?”

Tumlin left Council with a firm message: We need to be clear about our values as a community. What matters to Victorians when it comes to moving around the City and the region? Safety? Convenience? Affordability? Sustainability? Over the next few months the team of consultants, alongside City staff, are going to be asking Council and the public to clarify our values and to identify where our values are in tension with one another. And then we will set priorities. How do we differentiate wants from needs? We have limited public space in a built out city; how do we allocate it so the greatest public good can be achieved?

What we know at this point is that the balance is off. According to the 2016 census, 52% of people in Victoria walk, bike or take transit as their main modes of getting around (up from 47% in 2011). Yet not even close to 52% of the public right of way is dedicated to transit, walking or cycling.

We need to make a shift as a community. The Go Victoria Strategy will help us to guide this shift in a values-based way. Get involved! Look for the Go Victoria team out in the community. Tell us what matters to you. Together we can build a city and a culture where children can once again walk safely to school.

Residents share their mobility values at Go Victoria Launch January 24, 2019.

Just for fun. Shared at the Go Victoria Launch – a video from downtown Victoria in the early 1900s. The background noise is people at the event watching the video and trying to figure out where in the city this was shot.