Trees Cafe across the street could work, but you don’t want to buy a latte just to quickly relieve yourself. The A&W certainly doesn’t have a public washroom. Instead of relaxing into the rest of your commute, you’re suddenly running the numbers on the fastest way to get to a washroom and back to the bus stop.

While this might currently be the norm in Vancouver, ask this same question – “where’s the nearest public washroom?” – to a London resident, or someone riding the Tokyo metro, and chances are they’ll point you in the direction of a clean public washroom that’s less than a 30-second walk away.

This lack of public washrooms seems at odds with Vancouver’s consistently high ranking in lists for the world’s most livable cities, so why exactly does Vancouver have so few public restrooms, and what are some potential solutions?

Why Are There So Few Public Washrooms in Vancouver?

As local urbanist content creator Uytae Lee outlines in his video entitled Why Public Bathrooms Suck in North America, access to public washrooms across Vancouver is limited (though things used to be different). As of 2020, there were only 173 public toilets across the city, with 95 located in parks, 67 in public facilities like community centers or libraries, and 11 automated public toilets – the majority of which are operated by the Vancouver Park Board (83%, to be exact).

Map of public washrooms in Vancouver, 2020 – Vancouver Park Board

Fast forward to 2026, and the City of Vancouver’s Open Data Portal provides an interactive map of public washrooms. If you did arrive at Joyce Skytrain Station needing the loo, you’d be looking at an 8 minute one-way walk to Collingwood Park’s washroom (and only if it’s before dusk).

Additionally, many existing washrooms don’t meet the accessibility standards defined by the province. If you’re lucky to be near a washroom with a larger stall, grab bars, or changing table, there’s a chance it’ll be closed for repairs or only open during the daytime.

Finally, the ongoing homelessness and drug crises – particularly the lack of wraparound social services, including safe housing – have left public washrooms serving as a place of refuge for those seeking shelter, resulting in these facilities being consistently under maintenance or in an unsanitary state for the general public.

What Needs to Happen Next?

World-class cities need world-class public washrooms, and an easy place to start for Vancouver is with transit. Most major cities outside of North America have washrooms conveniently located at the busiest points on their transit networks – a fact which Vancouver has started to take notice of.

In September 2025, Translink opened a brand-new washroom at Metrotown Station, the 2nd busiest Skytrain station on the transit network. This new washroom is open 7AM – 10:30PM Monday to Saturday (8AM to 10:30PM on Sundays), with three individual and one accessible stall, and is staffed with a dedicated attendant. It also sports a colorful mural and an open-concept design to discourage vandalism. Unfortunately, this means it took the City almost 50 years to build two transit-adjacent washrooms (the other being at the Waterfront-side of the Seabus terminal, which opened in 1977).

New washroom at Metrotown station – Translink Buzzer Blog

Vancouver should also look to build washrooms in densifying areas of the city to align with its Villages and other area planning programmes. For example, they could follow the lead of Paris – a city currently modernizing their 400+ toilet network – and install new washrooms on the street to create a larger and better-connected network of 24/7 toilets (remember: the COV currently has 11 such facilities). As a positive sign, it was reported that City Council opened 2026 by discussing a framework to integrate public washrooms into future major projects like street upgrades and encourage businesses to allow public access to private washrooms (the Parks Board also has their own, separate washroom strategy).

Additionally, in preparation for the FIFA 2026 World Cup games at BC Place, the City plans to place a Portland Loo at Main and Powell, and another in Gastown. Two of these metal-enclosed toilets are already operating in Crab Park and another at Coopers’ Park in Yaletown. These are quoted by city staff as being “relatively bulletproof” and potentially able to operate 24/7. It’s important to note that despite the upfront price of CAD$650,000, planners highlight ongoing upkeep as the prime factor driving these washroom’s lifecycle costs.

Finally, public washrooms don’t always need to be associated with imposing steel structures. It’s widely understood that creating clear boundaries and a sense of ownership over public space – including frequent maintenance, public art, and landscaping – reduce the amount of vandalism these spaces experience.

Transparent toilets at Harunogawa community park, Tokyo – Photo by Syced, CC Wikipedia

In the future, the local design community could be engaged to create Vancouver-specific public washroom solutions (for example, it’d be great to see a Canadian-made version of the Portland Loos in the future)! This type of place-specific design is already in motion in other Canadian cities – last year, our friends at the Toronto Public Space Committee held “TO the Loo!”, a global ideas competition to imagine the future of public washrooms in Toronto.

The key thing to remember is that easy access to clean public washrooms isn’t a new concept – it’s an essential component in the sanitation, safety, and dignity of a great city like Vancouver. Around the world, there are striking examples of thoughtfully designed public toilets that warrant deeper consideration — and deeper levels of investment — in our city.
Special thanks to Devan McClelland, a Langara Applied Planning graduate, for kickstarting the discussion presented in this post.

After taking a break last year, we’re back with our longest-running public space event. Hard to believe, but we’ve now been throwing these for over a decade! Talk about intergenerational placemaking!

Specific details on the 2017 SkyTrain party are still being finalized, but the general idea is the same as before: you dress up in your wildest Halloween attire (scary, sassy, sexy, serious… or just plain strange, your call!), meet us at the starting station, and together we ride the crazy train! Tricks and treats come served with a sweet sound system and the musical madness of our resident DJ Rocky Fi$her.

The event, as always, will be free, save for the price of your SkyTrain ticket.

We’ll be posting updates via the VPSN Facebook Group and Page, and this website, so please stay tuned for more details!

Photo credit: 2015 SkyTrain Party by Flickr user GoToVan

Gather your public space, public transit loving friends, costume up in your wildest, sassiest, most-creative attire, and join us for a ghoulish ride on the crazy train!

In-flight entertainment courtesy will be provided by our resident DJ Rocky Fisher (bio below). Get set for epic EDM awesomeness as we travel south and across the border into deepest, darkest Richmond before returning to Waterfront Station.

And when the train rolls back back downtown to Terminus, we are offering members our very own version of Star-Alliance treatment with after-party magic. Follow us round the corner, across the street, and to the soon-to-be dismantled Seymour & Hastings Dome, where the DJ action will carry on.

The important stuff you need to know [UPDATED – PLEASE READ]:

• Meet on the Canada Line train platform at Waterfront Station. We will be leaving shortly after 8:00pm, so don’t be late.
  
• ProTrans (the company that runs the Canada Line) has told us that they will be getting people to queue up – like they did last year. They have also told us that they are unable to allow a long on-boading time (unlike previous years). What this means: Getting everyone on board at Waterfront is going to be a challenge, so don’t wait until 8pm to show up. If you want to get on the train, make sure you show up early, or better still…
• Pro-tip: If you are worried about the queue situation at Waterfront, consider joining us at City Centre, Yaletown, or one of the other stations on route. There will not be queues at these stations. If you use twitter, please follow us @vpsn – as we will be tweeting upcoming route stops
• Because we have very limited set-up time, we need your help: as you board the train, please make some space for our volunteer crew and DJ as they set-up. That way, we can get the party started without delay.
• Your price of admission? A $2.75 transit ticket, or your U-pass. ( Kids, high school students and 65+ = $1.75). This event is all about celebrating transit, so please remember to buy a transit ticket. | Fare details -www.translink.ca
• TransLink has asked us to pass this along: racing between trains at stops can be a real safety issue, so please try to respect that. (Actually, in general, be cool, ’cause we DO want to make sure we’re able to keep throwing these parties well into the future!)
• The train will stop at every station between Waterfront and Richmond Brighouse (and back), and picking up people along the way. These are your halloween party guests! Invite them in to join in the fun.
• If you see one of the Canada Line staff crew, or TransLink officer, please give ‘em a high five. These fine folks do a lot to make sure that this event runs smoothly. We’re grateful for that.

The After-Party

Once we return to Waterfront Station, we will doing a quick-shift of venues and moving the party one-block south to Seymour and Hastings. Join us! This public space is soon to be be demolished (sad!), and we want your help to liven it up one more time. Yay, weird dome space! We heart you (even if not many other people do).

Finally, please check this page leading up to the event in case there are updates to pass along!

About the DJ – Rocky Fi$her

For four years running, VPSN’s resident SkyTrain DJ Rocky Fi$her has been tearing up the transit party decks with the wildest mix old school flavour and new school groove. Rocky’s mixology is guaranteed to keep you jumping as she fuses together dnb, experimental trap, garage/jackin, bass, deep dubstep, glitch and more. Get ready for fresh sounds and danceable favourites on the 2015 SkyTrain event.

While not helping us with our transit party mayhem, Rocky Fi$her keeps the party going around town and at festivals across BC. She’s also resident DJ at the Ignite Bassment parties.

Elections BC has announced the results of the Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit plebiscite, for which voting closed on May 29th.

The plebiscite – announced during the last Provincial election – sought support for a half-percent regional sales tax that would be invested in improvements to the region’s transit systems, as well as in other transportation infrastructure (including cycling and pedestrian amenities).

After all the votes were tallied, a total of 61.7% of ballots were marked “No” on the question of the new transportation tax while 38.3% of those voted in favour. Closer to whom, the figures for Vancouver were 50.8% opposed, 49.2 in favour. Across the region, only Belcarra, UBC and Bowen Island had a majority in favour of the new transit funding. A full breakdown of the ballots received is available from Elections BC. For those of us hoping to see important investments made in the regional transit system, this is clearly not the hoped-for result. At best, it is an important sign that there is more work to be done on ensuring the connection between transit and our region’s quality of life is broadly understood. Perhaps a consequence of this vote is that there will be a more vigorous discussion on exactly how we can fund the transit that is necessary across Metro Vancouver. But even that, sadly, seems fairly remote at this point.

A Yes vote would have given hope to those on overcrowded trains and buses that some kind of relief was in sight; that making the responsible choice — to live and work relying on transit — would be supported. A No vote means, in the short term, no new funds will be available for critically needed improvements – such as more buses, longer (and safer) nighttime bus service, or more frequent train service. More broadly, it means tacit support for unsustainable modes of transportation — an affirmation for people who think transit isn’t a viable option, and who would prefer – consciously or unconsciously – to devote more of our scarce land resources to car uses, car congestion, and ultimately, the myriad of dis-benefits that emerge as a result (sprawl, pollution, health care costs). Have taxpayers “won” with a result like this? Exactly the opposite.

It warrants a reminder that roads and bridges and other tax-payer funded transportation infrastructure doesn’t seem to warrant a plebiscite

As the results are not binding, the VPSN will continue to join with others to make the case that transit and sustainable modes are key to the vision of this region, and too important to be continually left under resourced. To that end, we take some miner consolation that many voters indicated they were voting against the specific funding mechanism, not to supporting better transit service overall. We can only hope that these individuals will contribute meaningfully in discussions around other alternatives. After all, saying “No” is the easiest thing in the world. Be proactive and finding solutions to the challenges of an underfunded transit system…. well, that’s where you actually do the real work.

Of interest: Moving in a Livable Region

For more, see the below Statement of Affirmation from Moving in a Livable Region, the consortium raising awareness around transportation issues in Metro Vancouver.

STATEMENT OF AFFIRMATION

We believe in this region.

We reaffirm the vision that has informed and shaped it for half a century: “Cities in a Sea of Green” – a compact region, surrounded by nature, made up of complete communities, joined together by a transportation system that serves, shapes and supports a sustainable economy.

We reaffirm the Mayors’ Vision for the growth of our regional transportation system.

We reaffirm the need for a sustainable form of funding for this vision.

We do not believe a No vote should be interpreted as a rejection of this vision, but instead we see it as a call for greater accountability and transparency in the governance of our transportation system.

We believe that a unifying vision and strategy are essential. A piecemeal, fragmented, ad hoc alternative to our regional transportation vision is not acceptable. It would not be affordable, and it would fail to offer our citizens the choices they need to support the region we want to build.

We believe we must and will find a way to get to Yes for the Mayors’ Vision as an essential element of the approved Regional Growth Strategy that has made our region one of the most liveable on earth.

Please join us in affirming this positive vision for our region’s and our children’s future.

Starting March 16, the fate of the livability of the city resides directly in the hands of Vancouver residents who will be asked to mail in their vote on a The Mayors Council Transportation and Transit Plan which proposes 0.5% increase in provincial sales tax. Vancouver residents are voting yes to an investment in public life; a less congested, healthier, greener and more sustainable future for Vancouverites. Vancouver’s growing population is unequivocally linked to a growing demand for rapid transportation so a yes vote ensures that the infrastructure is in place to respond to these changes.

Say Yes to less congestion and more accessibility:

Time is a major opportunity cost associated with congested cities. The Mayors Council Transportation and Transit Plan promises a 20 % reduction in congestion thereby freeing up 20-30 minutes per day for drivers and transit users. Voting yes will ensure that Vancouver enjoys the following investments in transportation:

• 25% increase in bus service across the region
• 200 more kilometres of B-line routes
• More frequent all-day and peak hour service
• 50% more Seabus service
• 80 % more Nightbus service
• Upgrades to the Expo, Millennium and Canada Lines
• 2,700 kilometres of bikeways
• Better connections to transit through pedestrian improvements
• Maintaining and upgrading Major Road Networks

Say Yes to better public health:

Less congestion equates to less fatalities and injuries as a result of car collisions. Furthermore, a decrease in the amount of cars on the road gets Vancouver one step closer to reducing its carbon footprint by reducing the amount of pollution emitted into the atmosphere, thereby improving the quality of the air that we breathe in. A yes vote also fills in the gaps in the current cycling network which yields a greater number of safe cycle paths and bikeways. The new transportation plan also plans to improve cycle and walkway access to transit routes thereby incentivizing the option to use transit instead of driving. Lower commute times and an increase in walking and cycling routes inevitably catalyzes improvements in public health by increasing physical activity and decreasing the chronic diseases associated with inactivity and stress.

Both Patricia Daly, the Chief Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, and Victoria Lee, the interim Chief Medical Health Officer for Fraser Health Authority, have officially endorsed a Yes vote in the referendum.

Say Yes to a stronger economy:

High capacity rapid transit is needed to capitalize on the economic potential of the city. More specifically, the Broadway Corridor is the second largest business and innovation center in British Columbia and therefore an increase in transportation routes will help unlock the economic growth potential of this area. The Broadway Corridor accounts for one quarter of all metro- Vancouver’s tech jobs and 40 percent of all health care jobs. The corridor connects UBC, the largest academic institution in the province, with Downtown and other key business centers. An increase in rapid transportation will enable innovation and top talent to move efficiently around the region.

What you can do for the Transit Referendum:

If you are a registered voter in BC, you will receive a mail-in ballot starting on March 16 and have until May 29, 2015 to mail in your answer to the following provincially approved question:

“Do you support a new 0.5% Metro Vancouver Congestion Improvement Tax, to be dedicated to the Mayors’ Transportation and Transit Plan?”

If you are among those who are not currently registered to vote, you can call 1-800-661-8683 or click here to ensure you are ready to vote in the referendum.

Since December, when the Mayor’s Council on Regional Transportation released their proposal for funding transit expansion and operations with a 0.5% regional sales tax, it has been an endless string of developments, arguments, rebuttals, and hand-wringing, being played out across regional and even national news media, and in numerous online spaces. City councils across the region are voting on the matter and throwing in their support. In these two weeks alone, there have been two public in-person events on the topic: one hosted by the SFU City program, and another one coming up hosted by the Metro Vancouver Alliance.

For the VPSN, our support for public transit is unequivocal. A yes vote will support transit’s vital role in enabling the creation and flourishing of the public spaces that lie at the heart of our work, as well as further improvements to regional infrastructure supporting cycling and walking trips. Effective, enjoyable public spaces promote human connection; they are physically safe and supportive for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities; they invite expression, spanning from the playful to the political; and they support local economic models that create wealth for the community in balance with our ecological systems and shared values.

The voting period beginning March 16th is rapidly approaching. There are a wide variety of labour, environmental, and business-focused groups engaging people on why transit matters, how the sales tax will work and how the wording of the question addresses some of the concerns people have about how the proposed transit improvements will roll out in reality.

We are seeking volunteers to join us in shining a light on the importance of this referendum on Vancouver’s public spaces and will be holding a meeting on Wednesday, January 28th, 5:30pm, to work through our activities on this topic. If you would like to join us, please contact Karen Quinn Fung by e-mail, and we’ll keep you in the loop as we finalize the location and organize future meetings.

More Information

• Our past projects on transportation
• 50 Big Ideas to improve public space in Vancouver (2014)

On September 16th, I had the opportunity to listen to Markus Moos, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Planning of the Faculty of Environment from the University of Waterloo. Mr. Moos spoke at the ‘Rethinking Transportation: New Voices, New Ideas’ event by Translink and the SFU City Program, and examined how the millennial demographic and their values are initiating a phenomenon — dubbed ‘Youthification’ — which is shaping Vancouver’s overall development.

The millennial generation is young adults between 24 to 35 years of age. While they are generally better educated than their parents, they are earning less income and can afford less than their parents in their time. Of the three largest cities in Canada, approximately 38% of millennials allocated more than 30% of their income toward housing in 2006, compared to 32% in 1986 in Vancouver. Other factors such as livability, downsizing, convenience, and environmental sustainability are influencing millennials to live closer to their workplace and along major transit corridors. They are also choosing to walk, bike, or take public transit rather than drive.

With the growing number of condominiums constructed around Vancouver and the spur towards more high-density living, this ‘youthification’ process could have major policy and social implications. Millennials are more likely to seek housing closer to hubs of transportation, with greater access to public space and a diversity of goods and services within their neighborhoods, giving rise to new sets of infrastructure demands and social arrangements. This process is ultimately driving lasting changes that could reshape how millennials live, work, and commute. Stay tuned to the VPSN blog for future posts exploring the demographic transformation of our infrastructure and policies.

An informative blog post from our last Park(ing) Day describes a short history of the transformations of underutilized parking spaces into engaging temporary installations.

Back in 2005, a group of bold, creative folks at the Rebar Art and Design Studio in San Francisco transformed selected metered-parking spots into a park for a day. Using ‘guerilla’ tactics, this group started a global movement called PARK(ing) Day to expand and challenge the definition of a parking space. Since then, a number of cities have participated in PARK(ing) Day with a variety of temporary installments to demonstrate the underutilized potential of your average parking space. The Vancouver Public Space Network has been taking advantage of this opportunity to creatively and boldly participate in the public realm since 2008.

Marking the 7th year that the VPSN has held a Park(ing) Day event, this year’s “Bike-in Movie Night” will turn the GOPark parking lot on Hastings Street at Hamilton Street into an open-air theatre. The VPSN hopes to provide a fun night of movie watching under the stars for bike lovers, movie buffs, public space conveners, interventionists, and other fine folk.

GOPark parking lot at 300-block W Hastings. Enter from the north side alleyway between Cambie & Homer

Ride your bicycle, take transit or just put your Feet to the Street – VPSN encourages all to attend! The evening starts with bike-focused short films from Vancouver Cycle Chic before the double-bill feature films: The Triplets of Belleville followed by Premium Rush. Movies will begin at 8PM.

FEATURE FILMS

Triplets of Belleville

When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters–an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire–to rescue him.

Premium Rush

Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day’s work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York’s agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie — super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic.

The Bicycle Valet will be on-hand to babysit your bicycle; brought to you by BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation). Bring blankets, chairs or something comfy to lounge on. VPSN’s Park(ing) Day Bike-In Movie Night is a Rain or Shine event. See the Facebook event page for RSVP details.

It is also a reciprocal relationship; we are all enriched when different parts of the region nurture and develop neighbourhoods and places that are expressive, cherished, enjoyable to be in and meet a range of daily needs and desires of local residents. It gives us a chance to engage with our natural and built history, as well as giving us a sense of the diversity of experience and backgrounds of Metro Vancouver residents.

Steveston during the annual Salmon Festival. Flickr: Rick Chung.

Looking to Downtown Vancouver from Lonsdale Quay. Flickr: Eugene Kim.

As advocates for public space, we support public transportation for its role in enabling people from across the region to get where they want to effectively, affordably and comfortably. Public transportation is a key pillar in a multi-modal strategy to give people choice in how they get around.

Flickr: soilse.

At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge that a number of people rely on public transit as their primary means of accessing services, seeing loved ones, or obtaining the necessities of life. In this regard, supporting public transit is not just about more bus service or trains; it’s about ensuring we are building an inclusive society with systems, places and services that cater to and welcome everyone — regardless of their age, ability, status or other barrier.

Flickr: Christopher Porter.

For these reasons, since late 2012, the Vancouver Public Space Network has endorsed and participated in the activities of Get on Board BC — a diverse coalition to support consistent funding for regional public transportation service and infrastructure. This past Thursday, June 5, Get on Board BC convened its first annual general meeting, and its member organizations collectively passed its bylaws and elected its first Board of Directors.

Get on Board BC is also in this for the long haul. While the referendum has been the major issue of concern for most public transit supporters, Get on Board BC aims to work with provincial and federal governments to ensure the funding for the public transit infrastructure we want and need for thriving communities and regions, is and will continue to be there.

The newly convened Board of Directors for Get on Board BC at the conclusion of the first Annual General Meeting. From left to right: Bob Ages, Zak Bennett, Eoin Madden, Bahareh Jokar, Gudrun Langolf, Kelly Wainwright. Not pictured: Ian Bruce.

We look forward to working with the new Board of Directors at Get on Board BC as one of its member organizations; and continuing to support Get on Board BC in their actions to spur on much-needed conversations — about the kind of region we collectively want to live in, and the ways in which public transit makes that a reality.

Speaking of regional transit…

TransLink has an Online Survey, as part of its future upgrade work on Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station — the busiest station in the entire transit system.

Artist’s Rendering of Commercial-Drive Broadway Station, from TransLink SkyTrain Station Upgrades Backgrounder.

After holding information sessions, TransLink launched an online survey that is be accepting responses until Monday, June 16. Check out their consultation activities and more information on the proposed upgrades from TransLink’s website.

You can also find more information (including what TransLink has heard from previous rounds of consultation on this project) at their Document Library on the Commercial-Broadway Station Upgrade Project.

In anticipation of next week’s HUB Bike to Work Week, we’ve compiled a short history of the development of a public bike share program that identifies issues and challenges to getting the program rolling in Vancouver.

Early in 2009, the City of Vancouver started the “procurement process” to get more bikes on the street, encourage more people to cycle and use the growing cycle infrastructure network. Four years later there are still many questions on when or how the system will be implemented and operate.

There are some details on the scope of the proposed Vancouver system that is based on a TransLink feasibility study. For example, it is proposed that 1,500 bikes will be distributed at 125 stations in the downtown area, east to Main Street and north of 12th Avenue to Arbutus Street. The target market is local commuters and get them to buy monthly or yearly passes for the system but daily and weekly passes will inevitably entice tourists too.

In July 2013, a City of Vancouver staff report noted that the implementation of the first phase of bikes and stations was to take place in early 2014. It is understood that this timeline will not happen due to several challenges and issues.

Challenges:

Helmets - make the Vancouver system unique, the added challenge to abide by the provincial motor vehicle act which dictates that all bike riders on city streets must wear a helmet. Vending machines at each rental station are required – adding to the cost and footprint of the stations and reducing the convenience and simplicity that makes the other public bike share programs successful.

Operator – The City has an agreement with an owner/operator. However, Bixi, the company that was to supply the infrastructure including bikes has gone bankrupt.

Financing or sponsorship – the owner/operator has not yet secured financing or sponsorship to pay for the supply and operation of the system.

Equitable access – for residents, and visitors too!

 

One of the challenges for Vancouver has been securing a PBS operator.
Bixi in Old Montreal, image by Adam Fagen.

There has been some groundwork laid by the city as it has changed a number of by-laws to allow for this type of program to operate on City property. The Vancouver Park Board has also allowed stations and bikes on Vancouver Parks Board lands. Preliminary sites have been identified for stations with most located every 300-400m (approximately 2-3 blocks) on the street and the remaining stations will be located on the sidewalk or other City-owned property and privately owned lands.

This ground work has raised a number of issues relating to who will be using the program, how people will use it, advertising and locating stations.

Bike rental shops, particularly the ones concentrated near Stanley Park, are nervous and worry about the negative impacts of a public bike share would impose on their business.

People worry about the safety concerns that the potential large amount of people jumping on bikes who have little or no knowledge and experience of riding in the city.

The minimum station size is approximately the length of 3 parking spaces, the largest size station estimated to be 7 parking spaces. Where will all these stations go? Generally people freak out when they lose access to parking – as the VPSN found when highlighting issues and recommendations based in our 2008 Bicycle Count – and with the majority of stations to be located on the street this could lead to a lot of unhappy people. Finding space for all these bikes will be a challenge and impact the public realm. Will large areas within local parks be taken over? Will people literally “stumble over” these bike stations in crowed areas? Where will the new stations be located and who will or won’t have access?

Many point to Vancouver’s lack of a public bike share program; on the other hand, it was one of the first cities in North America to create a low-cost, low-impact network of bikeways along residential streets with light traffic volumes, making Vancouver an international leader in increasing the number of cycling trips in some parts of the city. If only Vancouver could apply this same low-barrier access to the bike share program, efforts would go a long way to increasing PBS usage, and in turn, cycling trips and number of cyclists in the city.

Distributing stations across Vancouver’s diverse communities will be a challenge for making public bike share accessible. Consider the bikeways network, the areas of the city it does currently serve and the impacts of not having “safe streets” nearby, on which to ride a bicycle. At least one urban planning graduate student has tackled this very question; Darren Buck’s thesis brainstorms solutions to providing PBS access for low-income communities, and minority groups disproportionately underrepresented in bicycling.

Further to accessibility, the solution to providing every user with a bike helmet is the inclusion of a helmet dispensing machine the size of a soda vending machine at every station. These machines will require space and have plenty of surfaces to affix advertising. This has the potential to dramatically increase in-your-face billboard/advertising across the 125 stations.

Vancouverites – don’t try this at home!
Image by Sharyn Morrow

We offer suggestions to overcome some of the challenges and issues and implement the Vancouver public bike share program:

• Work with local business to locate stations and support existing bike rental shops.
• Build the network of PBS with a view to increasing access for those who currently do not, cannot or choose not to cycle for lack of access to infrastructure.
• Implement a comprehensive and overarching education campaign and wayfinding system to ensure that folks who use the system will stay off sidewalks and understand how to get to their destination (and bicycle station) in a safe manner.
• Limit the size and scope of corporate advertising on the bike stations within the public realm. Use the space available to educate visitors and system users so that it is a positive experience for everyone.

The Vancouver Public Space Network supports the implementation of the public bike share system in Vancouver. The challenges can be overcome and we hope it is very soon! A public bike share program will support and complement existing transportation options and offers an affordable amenity to residents and visitors.

The Big Ideas are 12 Priority Areas we see as an early release of the VPSN Manifesto on public space policy. We’ve made online access to the Routemap 2012-2014 and the original Manifesto 2008-2011.To learn more about this initiative and to get involved, please write us an email.