Comment 6939

By jason (registered) | Posted June 13, 2007 at 22:44:20

take a lesson from the former mayor of Bogota, Colombia who declared safe cycling routes in their city of 8 million people to be a 'human rights issue'. They then proceeded in 3 years to lay down hundreds of km of bike lanes, the worlds largest bus rapid transit system and brand new (and wider) sidewalks complete with thousands of street trees to enhance life for pedestrians. Bogota is filled with traffic and jammed roadways. Yet he realized that much of their population couldn't afford a car. One very noticeable side effect of this 3 year development was how much cleaner the city's air was. I had no idea about their bus or bike plans upon arriving for my second visit 3 years after my first. My first thought was "what happened here?? all the black smoke and diesel smell is gone." It was on that trip that I read about the great initiatives pushed forward by their mayor....oh, and did I forget to mention - they did all that in 3 YEARS! Hamilton takes 4 times that long to put bike racks on buses. Then we wonder why so much of our population is below the poverty line...if you don't own a car or two, you're treated as second, or even third class in this city. So many folks spend thousands trying to buy and maintain a vehicle. All major streets should have bike lanes and we need to get rid of the mega highways downtown and turn some lanes into bike lanes, bus lanes and wider sidewalks with trees. Make Hamilton a fair and livable city for all. Not just those with 3 car garages.

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