Walking in Waterloo Region

[Pheidippides]

Wish there was such an advocacy group for issues facing pedestrians. I would be only too happy to dedicate my time.

As mentioned there are lots of committees to become involved, but they are not the only way to become involved. Besides, even the most effective and passionate committees can often get wrapped up in bureaucracy and face huge engrained institutional bias and barriers that prevent them from being effective agents of change.
 
It will be a long a slow process, but it is the only way to change the default thinking (the norm) is to expose people to different ways of thinking. It is engrained in to us from a very young age, through the very built environment we are exposed to in our daily activities down to the toys we play with (how many grow up playing with toy bikes vs. toy cars?), that “normal” people drive cars and therefore everyone else “abnormal.” Great examples of changing social norms is the shift in public perception and attitudes toward smoking, or the use of seat belts; both took years (or even decades) of work and incremental change before society moved its thinking.
 
Perhaps the best way to affect change is to politely and passionately talk about your issues every chance you get and especially with people who may not be aware, or understand, or agree your point of view. Venting frustrations around here is kind of like preaching to the choir or at least at an audience very willing to entertain other points of view even if they don’t agree. It is a very narrow audience and isn’t going to change the broader social norms that prevent progress on these advocacy issues.
 
Mentioning to every business owner you use that you cycled or walked to their store/restaurant is a great way to bring to their attention how people are actually accessing their business and helps to break down the misconception that 99.9% of people drive everywhere and that reams of parking are always needed. Taking it a step further and mentioning that you would come more often and have lots of cycling friends that would also start coming more often if there was a convenient and safe place to lock a bike can go a long way in swaying them toward your point of view and breaking entrenched thinking and stereotypes.
 
For example, I know of a local business owner who, once aware that the lack of bike parking was an issue for her customers (there were only gas meters to lock to initially and then the bikes blocked pedestrian access) and getting nowhere with her landlord, went out and bought a bike rack on her own and essentially told the landlord that she was co-opting a couple of parking spaces (of which there were always surplus) to install it. Now the rack always has a couple her customer’s bikes in it and she and employees have started cycling more often too (and it is used by customers/employees of other stores too).
 
Even just having a polite conversation can go a long way. I had one very simple conversation with a landscaping company who was regularly blocking a bike lane every Tuesday morning and after that they have parked an extra 10m away on a side street I’ll probably need to remind them each spring or as they get new staff, but a few words can go a long way to finding common understanding and acceptance.
 
Even working in why “taking-the-lane” or being 1m out from the curb are safe choices/places-to-be in to conversations with co-workers or fellow dinner party guests goes a long way to building wider understanding.
 
I am also beginning to see that Twitter can be an effective advocacy tool as well when used properly. I’m not on Twitter, but I have seen how some users can publicly hold officials to account when things are not working well or need improvement. There does seem to be a point when it the deluge of Tweets gets overwhelming or when a Tweet slides from being informative to shaming that seems to turn some institutions or officials off though.
 
That’s not to say it will always be easy; there will always be some close minded diehards that cannot or do not want to see other points of view or the consequences of actions. For example, when hard-core drivers complain about the installation of speed-humps because it slows them down excessively when if they had just obeyed the speed limit initially the speed humps would not have need to have been installed in the first place. Or when a motorist complains about me cycling in front of them; I’m going to be in front of you on a bike, a car, or a bus so why does it matter that you are 5m further back from where think you “deserve” to be?
 
I’m not saying every situation calls for polite discussion or even engagement. For instance, very early on Sunday mornings I often take my almost 6 year old, with >3.5 years’ experience on a two-wheeler without training wheels, out on the residential streets around our neighbourhood to give him practice riding on the roads and using the occasional cycling lane. We choose low volume, familiar residential roads, at the lowest volume time of daylight hours, on the lowest volume day of the week. I ride behind him and we both have all the appropriate safety equipment, front and rear lights, reflectors, reflective tape on our forks, helmets, mirrors, etc., and both know and use all our hand signals all the time. It is an extremely controlled risk I let him take because I believe it is the only way he is going to learn to defend himself in our cycling hostile built environment. Of course that didn’t stop a motorist from coming up behind us, swearing a blue-streak at me (every other word started with F), telling me how horrible a parent I was for endangering my child before driving off (without signalling at excessive speed or course). Then there was the time another driver threatened to call child services on me because I choose to turn left from West on to Victoria from the traffic lane while pulling a bike trailer instead of crossing illegally at the trail crossing itself or riding illegally on the sidewalk before walking across two sides of the intersection in double the amount of time. I could go on and on, as I am sure we all have our stories, with all the ridiculous things people have said over the years (“why are you letting your child ride his bike, it’s cold out!”). I’ve found this year the most challenging so far though; motorists seem extra angry/inattentive in 2017 so far.
 
Ignoring an irate motorist and not elevating a situation further when they are armed with a 1000 kg weapon on wheels or removing yourself from harm’s way altogether is often a safe choice.
 
All that said, I am also not afraid to be more Dan-styled vigilante and yell or put my hand on a car hood if I need to do so to be seen, heard, and safe.