Thank you to everyone who attended the HCC’s birthday party on Tuesday night. We heard 25 proposals from the audience ranging from painting inspirational messages to repealing the mandatory bike helmet law, and everything in between. The assembled audience picked five proposals each, and the proposals with the most votes were deemed to be “finalists,” meaning ideas the HCC Board will study and potentially integrate with our strategic plan. The high-level goals of the strategic plan are presented below (the specific, actionable goals have yet to be ratified by the Board.)
- To strengthen the relationship between the HCC and local businesses.
- To increase the public education performed by the HCC.
- To increase our membership numbers.
- Grow our existing community events.
- Increase the organization’s budget.
The five finalists on Tuesday encourage the HCC to:
- Increase the education of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians to improve road safety.
- Advocate for 100km of separated bike lanes in the HRM by 2025.
- Advocate for the integration and alignment of the peninsula bike plan with the provincial Blue Route plan.
- Advocate for attractive wayfinding signs for cyclists.
- Advocate for the repeal of the mandatory bicycle helmet law.
The education point is clearly integrated with the high-level goals of the strategic plan. Aside from the repeal of the bike helmet law all of the proposals reinforce the work we’ve done over the past six years. The Board will consider those and determine if goals should be set and if they will become the official position of the HCC.
The repeal of the mandatory bike helmet law is an issue of considerable division among our members. The vote on Tuesday shows that this issue is still close to the hearts of many cyclists in the city. In the new year, the Board will begin a discussion to determine if we are open to changing our position. If the Board decides to open the discussion, a widespread consultation with our members will occur. Until then, the organization’s position is that the law should remain as-is.
We were overjoyed by the support shown at Tuesday’s event. We had approximately fifty people participating in our birthday party, including some new faces to the HCC. The quality of submissions was excellent, and we look forward to holding more events like this in the future.
You may have heard that in the state of Idaho, bike laws are a little different than Halifax. In the state of Idaho, bike traffic is allowed to treat a Stop sign as a Yield — and a red light as a stop sign. It sounds simple, and people think it would be a good idea in many other places, like Halifax. But, the laws in Halifax require both drivers and people on bikes to come to complete stop at Stop signs; and stop behind the crosswalk and wait for red lights to turn green. And as always, its essential we all respect the right of way for everyone — on foot, bike, and in car. http://www.sfbike.org/?idaho