2011 Penticton Municipal Election

Frank Conci wants to halt the expansion of the bike lane network, not very progressive...
http://www.frankconci.com/election-platform.html

Does anyone know bike friendly candidates?

"Moratorium on bike lane expansion – use alternatives"

What a NigNog! And exactly what are the alternatives - to the alternative that is bike lanes!? This is a man who does not ride a bike...

Andrew D.

Hopefully Penticton votes NO

I've asked the following two questions to all the candidates I could find email addresses for. I will post the answers here.

Do you agree with expanding and improving Penticton's bike lane infrastructure? If yes, how will you achieve this?

Do you agree with expanding and improving Penticton's transit system? If yes, how will you achieve this?

I am the person responsible for bringing the existing bike lanes to Penticton on Government/ Skaha Lake Road when I was on Council previously.

In 2006, I sent a map to the City showing a recommended bicycle route from Skaha Park to Safeway, using side streets, parks, public lands, a foot bridge etc. All that would be needed is paint and signage. Nothing has happened to it yet. . .

Please check out my blog www.garyscityview.blogspot.com to see what I envision for bike route possibilities.



I was chair of the City’s Transportation Advisory committee for three years. Each bus rider costs the City about $12. per use currently. This is approximately the same as a taxi ride. We need to explore reduced costs/ free bus transportation to get ridership up and people out of cars. Once ridership is up, we can look at expanding routes and hours of service. Our society focuses entirely too much on the personal automobile, and Penticton, particularly in the valley bottom, lends itself well to walking, inline-skating, bicycles, etc.



Please also check out the online poll at http://okanaganpolls.ca/



Thanks for your question and your interest.

Thankyou for your questions. Yes, I am in favor of improving bike lanes, however, they must be located in areas where they will not be in conflect with automobiles. There are many safe locations running north & south as well as east & west. City staff must look at all possible roads for such bike lanes. These locations must be saved from the prospect of turning lanes especially left turns, where most accidents occur between cars & bikes.



Yes, I am in favor or improving our transit system. Smaller buses and more routes to service a larger area in Penticton. By the end of the month we have put process in motion where a small bus, 1/2 the size of what we use at the present time, will be coming to our city as an experiment to see if such a transit system would be suitable. But in any case, more routes are need in our City.



John Vassilaki

Thank you for voicing your concerns. Although Penticton's bike lane infrastructure is under utilized I feel that it has benefits for our city in sports tourism and green initiatives. I am in support of them being maintained and expanded in our city. However they must be cost effective and well planned so that they benefit the whole community.

The topic of Penticton’s Public Transit System has come up frequently during my campaign. Improvements need to be made. It is a chicken or the egg type scenario. Ridership, and so revenue, is low and so the city is not well covered. Some people believe that if you cover the city better then ridership will increase, and so revenues. But what if they don’t? Routes definitely need to be reviewed and as I have stated elsewhere we should look at using more small busses and fewer large ones. You get more vehicles on the road at a reduced cost. It would also be nice if we could improve late night and weekend service.



Kevin Noonan

1) Yes i support expanding our Bike lane infrastructure. One measure was a notice of motion i initiated that council endorsed to have bike lanes from Channel parkway to Lee Ave connecting our to our existing network. I've always supported and will continue to do so new bike lanes and the creation of protected bike lanes. We still have to expand our network around the College...and will continue to push for that.

2) Yes we need to improve transit...better routes and more frequency on some of the key routes and Sundays. BC Transit is currently in the process of completing study and the BC government is also doing a study. The first step is considering a better route system and then consider costs associated to better frequency. Another option to consider is combining forces with the School District and Berry & Smith to have middle and high school students use public transit and not school buses to get better utilization and revenues to offset expanded routes and frequency.


Andrew Jakubeit

Yes I am in favour of expanding and improving the bike lanes and we have done a fair amount in this term and I will continue with input from you and your group as to where. I would like to leverage the gas tax funding along with the Rotary proposal for the improvement and extension to the trails. Also there is a recommendation from the Coroner as to what Penticton needs to do to continue to provide safety for the many biking participants we welcome to the City.

We are addressing the bus issue with transit.....a new size test bus is suppose to be in Penticton by the end of the month and it has proved to date the efficiencies we seek as compared the operation of the larger buses we have. An efficient system allows for greater frequency, more buses and more routes.

Will drop by to see you in person as early as today.

Dan Ashton

Thanks for the opportunity to answer your questions.:



Do you agree with expanding and improving Penticton's bike lane infrastructure? If yes, how will you achieve this?


I agree we should explore expansion and improving our cycling infrastructure for a couple of reasons. Penticton has a very active cycling community. I think we should make it safe for them to enjoy their sport. Cycling is also better for our environment, so I think we should be considering those that might commute to work when we are making changes or improvement plans.



I think the first step is to meet with representatives from the local cycling community and together decide what the deficiencies are and make a plan to address them.



Do you agree with expanding and improving Penticton's transit system? If yes, how will you achieve this?



Transit has come up often as I talk to people. We have a couple of issues at work here. One is cost and the other is service. The cost issue is not an easy one to address. We need higher rider ship. I would be in favour of testing smaller buses on select routes to see if this would a cost effective way to increase rider ship and provide better service. I would also be in favour of working with BC Transit and stakeholders to come up with an improved route map and schedule. If the demand is there for better service, then we need to listen and make every attempt, in partnership with BC Transit, to provide that service.

Thank you for the questions. I am definitely in favour of expanding
Penticton's bike lane network and transit system. Some specific ways
to do this are:

Transit:
1. more routes in the early morning for people to get to work in the
industrial area
2. more routes in the evening to all areas of town for people who for
example live in Wiltse and work at the mall and dont get off work
until after 5. With the current routes and service, That worker cant
get home.
3. A night/special events route for nights when Vees games, concerts
or special events so that people who enjoy our events centre and maybe
have a few drinks can get home safely and affordably

Bike lanes:
1. More bike lanes through residential neighbourghoods
2. Physical safety separation for for bike lanes on busy roads like
Government Street
3. Safe bike lane transitions at the south end of Skaha Lake Road/Hwy 97
4. Better signs to show the access to the bike/walking/running path
along the west side of Skaha Lake to OK Falls
5. More bike racks downtown

A big key to getting more people cycling and using transit is to make
it more expensive to use and park their cars.

Thank you again.




I had one other thing I forgot to mention. This city also does not
have any "Park and Ride" facilities. A Park and ride at the edge of
the city limits toward Naramata, Ok Falls and Summerland would
increase ridership also...

There are a lot of good ideas out there. I certainly don't claim to
have all the good ideas. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Yes I would like to expand & improve Penticton's bike lanes...During my
last term of office in the 1990's I sat on the comittee that introduced
the bike lanes to Penticton & it has always been an important issue to
me. Along with any projects this one will need to be reviewed & when the
budget allows for expansion , it will be worked upon. The budget &
available funds will be the determining factor on when this can be
accomplished but I can assure you it will happen as soon as possible
given the debt load we have to contend with currently.

The transit system is constantly under review & this issue will also be
reviewed & hopefully improved...Again...when the budget allows for it.
Smaller busses on a more frequent schedule is currently underway & I
would certainly like to see schedules improved on weekends & later at
night. ( Also for special events when public transportation is needed.)

There will be several new comittees reinstated ( ex: people with
disabilities, transit, seniors, etc. )to look at issues like the ones
you have mentioned & I am looking forward to working on them to improve
the quality of lifestyle in Penticton.

Thank you again for your interest!
Yours sincerely, Katie Robinson

Good job, Rowena:
Cyclists are just like anybody else, they want to get from point A to point B the shortest way possible. And they are entitled to do just that. In the long run painting lines on a side road will not cut it. The best thing for Penticton would be a mutiuse pathway that utilizes one sidewalk on Main - from one end of town to the other. Check out Peachland's shared pathway. It's not rocket science or expensive. That will be the real green solution and recognition of cycling as true alternative to motorized travel.
Real economic studies have shown that investment in cycling infrastructure pays back dividends. Those studies are not hard to find.

Nice Work Rowena!!!

I found this minor smattering as well: http://cyclingbc.net/cycling-bc/advocacy-for-local-elections-2011

Andrew

Sorry to take so long to get back to you, but it's been a bit busy in this last week of the campaign.


Unfortunately I don't know enough about Penticton's bike lane system to give you a very detailed answer. I know that talking to some people over the last few weeks that there is a desire to expand the system, particularly along the channel parkway area and to better facilitate routes in the city that connect with the KVR trail. Though at the same time there are traffic concerns that cut the other way and I don't know enough to tell you how I would come down on those issues without really getting the details. That being said I'm a fan of promoting an active community and having a safe and convenient bike lane system is worthwhile, and also very cost-effective since it only requires a bit of paint.




As for your transit question, I can give you some more details. We currently run a deficit of $1million a year in the public transit section of our city budget. This is due mainly to the fact that our buses run empty most of the time. Now we can trim this deficit by reducing the amount of bus service we provide, or reducing the size of our buses across the board, but I think that ends up eroding our commitment to citizens in our community that they have access to convenient, affordable transit options in order to get around and work, shop or play in our city. Right now the only people who take transit are those who absolutely need to take it, and until we make transit convenient enough to expand ridership to those who choose to take it, we'll continue to run a large deficit. I have several different ideas that I think are feasible and could help promote use of our public transit system which are available on my website at http://weshopkin2011.wordpress.com/public-transit-2/. Some of these ideas are to create a new, more detailed, route map; to extend nighttime and Sunday service and consider special routes for events like Vees games or concerts; and even to consider a transit holiday where buses are free for July and August to encourage use and hopefully get more people onto our buses even once fares resume again in September. While these might involve a greater investment of money from the city to pay for this extended service, if we end up making transit convenient enough for more people to ride buses on a consistent basis it may end up saving us more money in the long run. There is obviously something seriously wrong with the way we are currently running our transit system, and sometime radical needs to be done to make it better.




I hope this answers your questions. Again I'm sorry to take so long to get back to you, but I've gotten quite a few emails over the last few days and haven't always had the time to answer right away and then some slip through the cracks. If you have any more questions please feel free to contact me or check out my website www.weshopkin2011.com for more information.

Yes I agree with expanding Penticton's bike lane infrastructure. I am an avid cyclist myself and believe we should try to get more and more people out of their cars and onto bikes. I also believe in improving Penticton's transit system. In all the doorkknocking and mall walking I did in the last few months one of the biggest issues was transit.

I will work with the other councillors and mayor once I am in office to promote these issues and find a way to achieve them.

Thanks for your concerns!

Helena Konanz