[NFBWATlk] we can help one another make streets safer

Tue Aug 18 16:10:41 UTC 2020

Those are good thoughts.  We presented them to the city of Victoria and were
met with an outright refusal.  They were afraid of injuring cyclists.  

The streets are one way streets.  If they had simply put the bike lanes on
the other side, there would have been no conflict.  The city decided that
more businesses friendly to cyclists are on the right side of the street and
that asking cyclists to cross through traffic was too inconvenient.  The
convenience of cyclists had more value than the safety of pedestrians.

It is extremely important that we can demonstrate support for our cause.  A
thousand people giving five dollars with supporting comments is better in
this context than one person giving five thousand dollars.  If you're part
of a couple and were planning to give $10, it would be better if each gave
$5 and made a supporting comment.  That's weird, I know, but that seems to
be how crowd funding works.  The more it can be shown that many people
support keeping everyone in their own lanes, the more likely it is that
cities will keep us in mind as they plan.

Once again, the link is

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/help-with-inaccessible-bike-lane-design
/

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Becky Frankeberger
via NFBWATlk
Sent: August 18, 2020 7:04 AM
To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List' <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Becky Frankeberger <b.butterfly at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [NFBWATlk] we can help one another make streets safer

I forget what they are called but they are little doors a blind person can
hit to close off the bike lanes, yet these little doors open back up when
the blind person passes through. Would an idea similar help make all feel
more secure? Bike riders can just lay down their bikes if they are to close
as a blind person, an elderly person, a person using a walker, a support
cane, a guide dog, a long white cane, a person pushing a grocery cart,
pulling a troly, a delivery person pushing whatever they push to get cargo
across streets etc.

Are power chair users permitted in bike lanes? Some of those people
practically fly way above what should be permitted on sidewalks.

Becky  

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Mary Ellen via
NFBWATlk
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020 9:35 AM
To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List' <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Mary Ellen <gabias at telus.net>
Subject: [NFBWATlk] we can help one another make streets safer

The city of Victoria, British Columbia, has created bike lanes that are
physically set apart from sidewalks and automobile traffic.  This would be a
good thing, except that pedestrians are now forced to cross these bike lanes
in the middle of the block in order to board or leave a bus.  As you can
imagine, pedestrians cannot hear bicycles coming and cyclists aren't
expecting pedestrians to cross at random times to reach the bus stop.  The
result is dangerous for all.

The Canadian Federation of the Blind is in the midst of a human rights
tribunal case to force the city to make safety changes.  So far, all the
city has proposed is to put an audible pedestrian signal and a flashing
yellow light at these crosswalks.  There is no way for a pedestrian to
determine when it is safe to cross.  The APS lets the pedestrian know the
state of the flashing yellow light,, but cyclists either stop or they don't.
Because it's so noisy and because bicycles are so quiet, we're forced to
trust the reliability and situational awareness of cyclists rather than our
own judgment.

Our costs for this case are high.  We have launched a crowd funding
campaign.  Every little bit helps.  If you can support us, both with funding
and with supportive comments, please do.  If you can share this with your
networks, please do that, too.

I understand that similarly bad designs are proliferating across the
country, including in Seattle.  Victoria has  ignored its own Accessibility
advisory committee; they have ignored public requests for a more reasonable
design.  We need to make sure that the needs of blind pedestrians are acted
upon whenever bike lanes are built.  Cyclists and blind pedestrians can be
allies; we all need safe streets.

To help, share this request with your networks and go to:

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/help-with-inaccessible-bike-lane-design
/

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