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For Immediate Release: September 24, 1996
Guerrilla Media works with BC Transit to solve transportation problems
Starting Friday, September 20, members of Guerrilla Media (GM) began distributing over 10,000 copies of a revised version of the BC Transit Buzzer outlining new alternative transportation options.
The group's media monkeywrenchers placed the new GM-ized edition in Buzzer boxes aboard BC Transit vehicles with the aim of informing riders about new biking initiatives that BC Transit should make available to the public. In particular, the new Buzzer announced cyclists may now take their bikes on SkyTrain on Sundays and on all buses in non-peak hours space allowing.
"As citizens concerned about the livability of our cities, we felt BC Transit could use a little help in the development and promotion of its services," said GM spokesperson Rai D. Byke. "And by opening the entire system to cyclists, BC Transit stands to increase ridership and decrease the number of cars on the road. This is good news for BC Transit and it's good news for the environment - an alternative transportation win, win."
With over 1.1 million cars clogging Lower Mainland roads, the need for alternative transportation options has never been more urgent. In other Canadian cities like Toronto and Montreal, cyclists are better able to make use of public transportation. But in this province, BC Transit and its partners in the GVRD and the provincial government refuse to make our mass transit system bike-friendly. The automobile remains the choice of transportation for about 80 percent of GVRD commuters and this auto addiction comes at a hefty cost.
In 1994, a government subsidy of $360 million was spent on
transit while motor vehicles received a government subsidy
of $2.5 billion. - Source: Costs of Transporting in Lower
Mainland
Motor vehicles emit more than 75% of air pollutants in the
GVRD. - Source: GVRD
Between 15% to 20% of the average household family income is
spent on maintaining and using a vehicle - an average of
$7,700 each year. - Source: BCAA
In Canadian urban areas, up to 42% of the land is used for
motor vehicle infrastructure, such as roads, rights-of-way,
bridges, garages, retail outlets, and parking lots. In
Vancouver, over 30% of the land is devoted to roads. -
Sources: Environment Canada & City of
Vancouver
"The bicycle gives people the independence of the automobile, while transit enables cyclists to travel longer distances," added Byke. "By combining cycling with transit, people can leave the car at home and still get where they are going - on time, and at a fraction of the cost to themselves and society. If BC Transit does not open its doors to bikes, GM will continue to push for these changes to our public transit system."
Guerrilla
Media is a Vancouver-based group of cultural critics who
routinely knock corporations and governing elites that carry
out their business at society's
expense.
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