The work of Eric Promislow, who recently produced it at the Open Data Hackathon at Foodtree, the map gives a visual impression of hotspots and and new insight into what’s working on the cycle system. (Of course, the many accidents that go unreported will not be here.)

Promislow writes that he has relied on data from “5,478 incidents over 2006-2010 with a latitude, longitude, month, and year. There are another 1,044 incidents that report only a town, month, and year.  I left these off the map to avoid grouping 100s of hits near the city hall.”

Nonetheless, the map shows some fascinating trends. The 10th Ave. bike route in Vancouver, for example, shows many incidents. Is this the result of high bike volumes? No doubt yes, in part, but I find car traffic intense on this route in the medical district between Oak and Cambie.

There’s another cluster along Burrard, a route I have avoided for many years, Now the Hornby bike lanes provide a safe alternative one block away.

And the crossing at Clark Dr. and 10th: it has problems, as many cyclists have been complaining in recent weeks. Despite special signalization and a refuge area in the median, this crossing remains a risky one for cyclists.

As has been the case in every other city, the added safety created by lane separation is building traffic, which helps reduce automobile congestion and has countless other benefits.

In many locations along the route, recently resurfaced parts of the trail are being degraded by ATV users, whose wide, knobbly tires often churn the surface to loose sand. That’s no problem for an ATV, but the end of the road for a cyclist.

Now the BC Cycling Coalition has weighed in with an appeal to Victoria to enforce bans on ATV use along the old railroad right of way, which has emerged as the province’s leading cycle tourism destination. ATV users are pushing to have the entire route opened up for them.

The Coalition’s efforts have ignited resistance from ATV riders, even on a leading cycling listserve I follow regularly. This is not surprising, given that the route is passes through a number of recreational areas where it serves as an offroad link for communities where ATVS are the preferred way to get around.

I experienced the impact of ATV use when my family toured most of the KVR in 2005. There were many stretches where it was clear that cycling would soon be impossible if ATV use continued to break down the packed gravel roadbed.

The KVR’s problems aren’t unique. Conflict between non-motorized traffic and others, including snowmobilers, is a national issue.

But the controversy in the Okanagan underlines the need for a provincial cycling strategy that ensures the economic benefits of cycling — now reinforced with millions of dollars of bridge restoration — aren’t lost to motorized traffic elsewhere on the route.

But like so many traffic congestion nightmares, “Carmageddon” didn’t materialize. People walked, took a bus, cycled, drove other routes or just stayed home.

Suddenly, nothing happened. It’s possible, just possible, LA could do better with fewer cars.

Craziest outcome of the day? An airline offering stranded drivers discount flights from Burbank to Long Beach found itself in a head-to-head race with a team of cyclists. A passenger leaving a Hollywood intersection at the same time the Wolfpack Hustle team put their pedals down but just leaving taking off when they arrived at Long Beach.

Of course, the airplane passenger didn’t have to shower.

Don’t be fooled: any change to Vancouver’s Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts could be devastating. Or not.

That’s the startling claim made by Australians Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy in the latest issue of World Transport Policy and Practice (see this link at page 31.)

Their analysis suggests that a combination of rising fuel prices, aging cities, increasing urbanism and the growth of public transit may be turning the tide of cars, spelling the end of designing cities around automobiles, at least in the developed world.

The paper was a key point in a provocative presentation yesterday to the Ontario Bike Summit, in Ottawa, where Rodney Tolley, of Walk21, made an impassioned appeal to the cycling world to embrace “active transportation,” especially walking, as the way to build sustainable cities.

Tolley is in the final stages of planning a major conference on walking and active transportation here in Vancouver in October, a fitting counterpart to next year’s Velo-city2012, a global cycling conference.

That’s great news, particularly given the very limited traffic and parking impacts measured by the city’s engineering department.

Here, reprinted with permission, is an e-mail I received May 18 from a commuter cyclist whose decision to begin riding closely mirrors my own experience: if we build it, the trips will come.

Councillor Meggs,

This morning on the CBC I heard you say that you’ve heard some negative feedback regarding the bike lanes in Vancouver.

For a change, here is some positive feedback and a big thank you.

The Kits Point to Hastings and Burrard commute by bike takes less than 20 minutes, quicker than by either bus or car, is free, and has provided me with invaluable exercise.

I have experienced only positive things after starting riding to work two years ago after decades of inertia. As the bike storage room at my office (the Daon Building) has seen a steady increase in usage, and today is filled to capacity with over 20 bikes, I think I’m not alone.

The bike lane on Horby provides a sense of comfort and security, an important element for a father of three approaching 50. I encourage additional bike lane development.

Thank you for your efforts in regards to making bicycling in Vancouver safer and I look forward to riding on an ever expanding bike lane network.

Best Regards,

Adam Smith

But according to one knowledgeable observer on Velolove, one of the city’s most active cyclist listservs, the $37  million bailout with $71 million in loan guarantees is good news.

The one-time project of the the Montreal city parking authority is now heading out on its own, so the cash injection will wipe out accumulated debt while the loan guarantees will drive down future borrowing costs. Bixi is in the middle of a major expansion in cities like New York, Toronto and San Francisco, even though it was hours from coming off the streets in Montreal until Monday’s bailout.

Not all Montreal councillors are convinced Bixi can roll on, but in Toronto, where Bixi is just launching, everyone remains upbeat.  Stay tuned: the Montreal firm is still predicting several years of losses before moving into the black.

The decision highlights the reason Vancouver’s request for bike share proposals seeks to minimize the city’s financial risk.

But last month’s Bixi launch in Toronto demonstrates the growing popularity of bike share programs, despite the costs. City councillors in that city who supported Mayor Rob Ford’s opposition to bike lanes and streetcar expansion hailed the new Bixi program.

Toronto’s loan guarantee: $4.8 million to Bixi. Nonetheless, councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, one of Ford’s key supporters, not only loves the bike share program, he’s ready to propose a network of separated bike lanes.