@asaanichcyclist.bsky.social
SOS Sure, there are sometimes points to be made regarding poorly designed development projects & there are instances where small compromises will mitigate the negative impact of developments on existing nbrhoods, but by an large SOS is merely anti -all-development (&worse: anti-bike too) . 2/2
November 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
SOS Sure, there are sometimes points to be made regarding poorly designed development projects & there are instances where small compromises will mitigate the negative impact of developments on existing nbrhoods, but by an large SOS is merely anti -all-development (&worse: anti-bike too) . 2/2
Thank you so much Amber Wright for articulating what many of us think: the Save Our Saanich bozo brigade is largely a bunch of self-interested narrow-minded entitled a-holes who are incapable of listening to rational argumentation. 1/2
I'm happy to see that the Times Colonist published this letter. I was at this meeting and the behaviour there was appalling. The level of racism, conspiracy promotion, fear-mongering, and selfishness was disheartening to witness. www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comm...
Comment: Save Our Saanich encourages mob behaviour that silences voices
Change is coming. Will we face it with courage and compassion — or let the loudest voices decide our future for us?
www.timescolonist.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Thank you so much Amber Wright for articulating what many of us think: the Save Our Saanich bozo brigade is largely a bunch of self-interested narrow-minded entitled a-holes who are incapable of listening to rational argumentation. 1/2
After publishing all sorts of "news" articles articulating the Save Our Saanich anti-development anti-bike cut-taxes & screw the idea of better public services view and then SOS opinion pieces we finally see an anti-SOS opinion piece in Saanich News Today. BUT they invited SOS to publish a "reply".
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
After publishing all sorts of "news" articles articulating the Save Our Saanich anti-development anti-bike cut-taxes & screw the idea of better public services view and then SOS opinion pieces we finally see an anti-SOS opinion piece in Saanich News Today. BUT they invited SOS to publish a "reply".
Dear car & truck drivers: please note that the 1 metre rule (you must give cyclists 1 metre when you pass) applies equally to cyclists in painted-line-only bike lanes. Please at least have the courtesy of slowing down to pass if you break this law.
October 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Dear car & truck drivers: please note that the 1 metre rule (you must give cyclists 1 metre when you pass) applies equally to cyclists in painted-line-only bike lanes. Please at least have the courtesy of slowing down to pass if you break this law.
Good luck trying this in Saanich, with the Save Our Saanich bozos screaming "no more bike lanes! no bus lanes! we want our traffic lanes!" to every member of council who will listen. Dedicated bus lane along the length of McKenzie E of Pat Bay a much needed solution, but will prob. never happen.
"We need to reprioritize street space with bus-only lanes to allow public transit to bypass congestion and protected, connected active transport lanes for cycling, mobility aids and scooters." @brenttoderian.bsky.social #TrafficEvaporation #climateaction #pwd www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article...
A world without traffic? Three urban experts rethink how cities move
Gridlock is costing us billions, but bold solutions like bus-only lanes, congestion charges and flexible work hours could get cities moving again
www.theglobeandmail.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Good luck trying this in Saanich, with the Save Our Saanich bozos screaming "no more bike lanes! no bus lanes! we want our traffic lanes!" to every member of council who will listen. Dedicated bus lane along the length of McKenzie E of Pat Bay a much needed solution, but will prob. never happen.
In the CRD, if your bus trip involves connections --> bad news, even if the connections sometimes work. My almost daily trip downtown is single route (no connections needed) by bus taking me about the same amount of time as biking but biking is "on demand" (no 40 min. schedule wait). So I bike.
My morning commute is 25 minutes by car or 97 minutes by bus.
It is only 58 minutes by bike.
The bus goes half as fast as a BIKE.
It is only 58 minutes by bike.
The bus goes half as fast as a BIKE.
One thing I wish we would do far, far more in our ped/bike/transit writing and advocacy is acknowledge the time tax those modes of transport often incur, and what it means for people to absorb that tax. When we don't, I think it makes us a bit dishonest and weakens our advocacy!
October 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In the CRD, if your bus trip involves connections --> bad news, even if the connections sometimes work. My almost daily trip downtown is single route (no connections needed) by bus taking me about the same amount of time as biking but biking is "on demand" (no 40 min. schedule wait). So I bike.
Central Saanich is right up there on the Bike Ugliness Index. Probably has a higher score even than Oak Bay.
Central and North Saanich 's sections of Lochside Drive bike lanes are an unmitigated disaster. Zero enforcement. Quite literally every time I ride this stretch I make a report to @bikelaneuprising.bsky.social and call bylaw. Bylaw refuses to respond.
These properties all have massive driveways.
These properties all have massive driveways.
October 13, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Central Saanich is right up there on the Bike Ugliness Index. Probably has a higher score even than Oak Bay.
Sadly, Saanich might possibly become "Bikelash City" even though there is hardly much bike infrastructure construction (other than lanes "on the plan" for 2023 completion). Most of the SOS types seem to be totally opposed to any bike network elements. Like living in the 1950s, only worse.
I am thankful every day for the Victoria Council members who, for more than a decade, have resisted the "bikelash" and made building a safe bike & roll network here. It's how this senior citizen gets around, and I love it.
#yyj #yyjbike
#yyj #yyjbike
The data on #Bikelanes are clear & consistent: GREAT for cities in just about every metric you can think of. So why are politicians across Canada attacking them? We dig in with @bikecalgary.bsky.social's Doug Clark & Alyssa Quinney
PODCAST: www.podcastics.com/episode/3835...
#yyc #yyccc #yycbike
PODCAST: www.podcastics.com/episode/3835...
#yyc #yyccc #yycbike
October 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Sadly, Saanich might possibly become "Bikelash City" even though there is hardly much bike infrastructure construction (other than lanes "on the plan" for 2023 completion). Most of the SOS types seem to be totally opposed to any bike network elements. Like living in the 1950s, only worse.
I rode around my neighbourhood in roughly a 2km radius and was shocked at the automotive gridlock.. at 3:10pm. Huh? I asked myself. Then realized: school gets out at [the ridiculously early hour of] 2:50pm & parents were picking up their kids with cars. What's wrong with this picture?
When a single car crash can gridlock Greater Victoria, it shows the fragility of autocentricity.
Walkable neighborhoods, safe cycling routes, and rapid & reliable transit aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re resilience. They give people options, cut congestion, and keep the city moving!
Walkable neighborhoods, safe cycling routes, and rapid & reliable transit aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re resilience. They give people options, cut congestion, and keep the city moving!
October 3, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I rode around my neighbourhood in roughly a 2km radius and was shocked at the automotive gridlock.. at 3:10pm. Huh? I asked myself. Then realized: school gets out at [the ridiculously early hour of] 2:50pm & parents were picking up their kids with cars. What's wrong with this picture?
The BC NDP have one big thing going for them (after alienating environmentalists by cancelling the Active Transportation grants, killing the carbon tax, over-promoting LNG, etc. etc.): they aren't the BC Conservatives.
Full story on Lindsay Shepherd, the BC Conservative staffer who wrote an offensive post about Truth and Reconciliation day symbols. #bcpoli
This story goes into her full history, including inviting Faith Goldy to speak and appearing on a white supremacist's podcast. thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...
This story goes into her full history, including inviting Faith Goldy to speak and appearing on a white supremacist's podcast. thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...
BC Conservative Staffer Slams Truth and Reconciliation Flag | The Tyee
Stoking residential school denialism, Lindsay Shepherd calls flag at BC legislature ‘a disgrace.’
thetyee.ca
September 30, 2025 at 1:39 AM
The BC NDP have one big thing going for them (after alienating environmentalists by cancelling the Active Transportation grants, killing the carbon tax, over-promoting LNG, etc. etc.): they aren't the BC Conservatives.
Not a peep from Capital Bike, which should be running a letter-writing campaign with outraged protest about this. Hello, Capital Bike, anyone home?
Last year, active transportation grants accounted for $24 million (<1/3 of the cost of a single unnecessary auto offramp project on the Pat Bay highway), but leveraged funds so as to be worth $80 million in construction. Now this is all gone. Thank you NDP (not!). Pls. write your MLA.
Eby repealed a carbon tax that had been working in BC for almost 2 decades in order to make gas a bit cheaper, and handed out $410 million to drivers for basically no reason. And now there's no money for active transport grants. 300 people a year are killed in BC in motor vehicle crashes.
September 26, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Not a peep from Capital Bike, which should be running a letter-writing campaign with outraged protest about this. Hello, Capital Bike, anyone home?
Major issue with Rithet's bog is lack of water. Major possible (not probable) -ve impact if 4401 is stormwater runoff at peak water periods (increased nutrient load near one less threatened end, but only maybe). If so concerned, why hasn't the petition poster met with Rithet's Bog CS? (2 of 2)
September 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Major issue with Rithet's bog is lack of water. Major possible (not probable) -ve impact if 4401 is stormwater runoff at peak water periods (increased nutrient load near one less threatened end, but only maybe). If so concerned, why hasn't the petition poster met with Rithet's Bog CS? (2 of 2)
There is a change.org petition calling for people to oppose a proposed 6 story development at 4401 Chatterton. Its claim regarding the impact on Rithet's bog is massively overstated and in many cases simply wrong. (1 of 2 posts)
Change starts here
Join over 500,000,000 people creating real change in their communities.
change.org
September 26, 2025 at 2:57 PM
There is a change.org petition calling for people to oppose a proposed 6 story development at 4401 Chatterton. Its claim regarding the impact on Rithet's bog is massively overstated and in many cases simply wrong. (1 of 2 posts)
Another day, another anti-bike-lane rant in the Times Colonist, not unexpectedly given top billing (first letter to the editor). We should start a "rename the TC" contest. Winning entry will probably include one of the following words: regressive, dinosaur, backwards-looking, car-centric, awful.
September 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Another day, another anti-bike-lane rant in the Times Colonist, not unexpectedly given top billing (first letter to the editor). We should start a "rename the TC" contest. Winning entry will probably include one of the following words: regressive, dinosaur, backwards-looking, car-centric, awful.
So the Save Our Saanich people (I'm trying not to use the plural form of the word bozo here) are opposing the proposed development at 4401 Chatterton (6 story apartments along the Quadra corridor). New motto for SOS: "build nothing, let younger generation pitch tents on Pandora"
September 23, 2025 at 2:56 AM
So the Save Our Saanich people (I'm trying not to use the plural form of the word bozo here) are opposing the proposed development at 4401 Chatterton (6 story apartments along the Quadra corridor). New motto for SOS: "build nothing, let younger generation pitch tents on Pandora"
As I understand it, Council is split between those supportive of more cycling infrastructure and those opposed, with the mayor as the deciding vote -- and sadly the mayor tends not to support meaningful cycling infrastructure initiatives.
Hey everyone! If you're looking forward to an opportunity to be ignored by the District of Oak Bay in entirely novel and unforseen ways, now is your opportunity!
September 8, 2025 at 2:04 AM
As I understand it, Council is split between those supportive of more cycling infrastructure and those opposed, with the mayor as the deciding vote -- and sadly the mayor tends not to support meaningful cycling infrastructure initiatives.
Another day, another anti-housing-policy (in this case, anti-densification) cartoon in the Times Colonist. Surprise surprise.
September 4, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Another day, another anti-housing-policy (in this case, anti-densification) cartoon in the Times Colonist. Surprise surprise.
I'm sick of the "there's no other way to get my kids to school" I keep hearing. In a few cases it is half correct (where parents don't feel safe sending their kids biking across terrible & dangerous Pat Bay highway crossings where catchment areas straddle the road), but in most cases it is BS.
"You ready for biking to school for your first day?!" A mom just rode by shouting gleefully to her very small daughter riding her bike down the MUP in the park. Mom has two toddlers on the back of the cargo bike to boot.
But most families decide they need a 4,000lb steel box to move three kids.
But most families decide they need a 4,000lb steel box to move three kids.
September 2, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I'm sick of the "there's no other way to get my kids to school" I keep hearing. In a few cases it is half correct (where parents don't feel safe sending their kids biking across terrible & dangerous Pat Bay highway crossings where catchment areas straddle the road), but in most cases it is BS.
...and this was a "bike route" crossing. Think of all the crossings in Saanich cyclists need to make that are super dangerous yet Saanich refuses to identify these as priority cycling routes (Pat Bay highway crossings the worst). Try to convince me that Vision Zero in Saanich isn't a cruel joke.
This story fills me with sadness.
But it’s not enough to feel sad. We must all do better to reach Vision Zero by redesigning our streets for multi-modal safety.
2025 has been a very bad year for peds and cyclists on the Island. It’s unacceptable.
www.timescolonist.com/local-news/l...
But it’s not enough to feel sad. We must all do better to reach Vision Zero by redesigning our streets for multi-modal safety.
2025 has been a very bad year for peds and cyclists on the Island. It’s unacceptable.
www.timescolonist.com/local-news/l...
'Lived life fully': Cyclist struck by vehicle was psychiatrist who lived life of adventure
Sylvie Argouarch was on her way to work at a seniors’ facility when she was fatally hit near a crossing of the Lochside Regional Trail on Quadra Street.
www.timescolonist.com
August 31, 2025 at 9:44 PM
...and this was a "bike route" crossing. Think of all the crossings in Saanich cyclists need to make that are super dangerous yet Saanich refuses to identify these as priority cycling routes (Pat Bay highway crossings the worst). Try to convince me that Vision Zero in Saanich isn't a cruel joke.
A new bozo brigade is being formed, calling itself the Conservative Electors Association. Only details on its web page: "safer streets" (let me guess: with fewer bicycles), "lower taxes" (English translation: fewer social & municipal services) and "families first" (huh?).
August 31, 2025 at 6:07 PM
A new bozo brigade is being formed, calling itself the Conservative Electors Association. Only details on its web page: "safer streets" (let me guess: with fewer bicycles), "lower taxes" (English translation: fewer social & municipal services) and "families first" (huh?).
How on earth can this be a "no government intervention required" matter? If a highway is shut down for more than a couple of days it's a big urgent concern. Yet transit can be shut down the better part of a year and it's "not a big enough problem for us to worry about"? Hello, NDP, anyone home?
Transit rider - worker solidarity rally in #DuncanBC. Longest transit strike in BC history - Yet another long Transdev strike. Public transit works better when publicly run. #bclab #bcpoli @unifor.org @cheknews.ca @vtru.bsky.social
August 30, 2025 at 10:20 PM
How on earth can this be a "no government intervention required" matter? If a highway is shut down for more than a couple of days it's a big urgent concern. Yet transit can be shut down the better part of a year and it's "not a big enough problem for us to worry about"? Hello, NDP, anyone home?
On a Facebook post, Saanich Coun. Nathalie Chambers claims that because (by her calculation) 54% of voters support pro-development policies there's "no mandate" due to low voter turnout. By this standard (must get >50% of eligible voters not those who voted), government would never be able to act.
August 20, 2025 at 4:39 PM
On a Facebook post, Saanich Coun. Nathalie Chambers claims that because (by her calculation) 54% of voters support pro-development policies there's "no mandate" due to low voter turnout. By this standard (must get >50% of eligible voters not those who voted), government would never be able to act.
I've only racked up one hit in >10 years, but dozens of near misses. As for the Saanich Road Safety Action Plan, I sometimes wonder if prefix "In" should be placed before the word "Action". They are at least cutting down speed limits but that is a) inexpensive b) at best marginally effective.
I haven't yet. I engaged in this discourse after the former mayor of my town blamed a kid for his own death because he was wearing a hoodie, and I have been hit by drivers four times in five years.
I hope I never lose someone to car violence. I am terrified of how it would further radicalize me.
I hope I never lose someone to car violence. I am terrified of how it would further radicalize me.
a lot of us are safe streets advocates, because we have had people close to us die senselessly because of our car centric transportation system. so no, we won't find another hill
August 20, 2025 at 4:22 AM
I've only racked up one hit in >10 years, but dozens of near misses. As for the Saanich Road Safety Action Plan, I sometimes wonder if prefix "In" should be placed before the word "Action". They are at least cutting down speed limits but that is a) inexpensive b) at best marginally effective.
On a "how progressive" scale from 0 to 100, the Illiberals are currently around 20 and the Regressive Conservatives under Pee Pee are around 0. I'm not a huge fan of Trudeau, but at least the Illibs scored a bit (not a lot, a bit) higher under him.
Mark Carney and his cabinet are union-busters. And everyone else in his government - including our supposedly progressive @wgreaves.bsky.social in Victoria, who has been deafeningly quiet on all things human rights since being elected.
Hours afters Air Canada’s CEO admitted it expected the government to use Section 107 and for the union to comply, Air Canada was back at the table and ready to make concessions to get planes in the skies.
You can’t deny that CUPE’s decision to defy the order gave it the leverage to get a deal.
You can’t deny that CUPE’s decision to defy the order gave it the leverage to get a deal.
August 19, 2025 at 11:32 PM
On a "how progressive" scale from 0 to 100, the Illiberals are currently around 20 and the Regressive Conservatives under Pee Pee are around 0. I'm not a huge fan of Trudeau, but at least the Illibs scored a bit (not a lot, a bit) higher under him.
An anti-bike lane cartoon in today's Times Colonist. Please, TC folks, can you at least give some semblance of an attempt to dissuade me of my view that you are a regressive if not right wing rag spouting inane nastiness to a dwindling set of readers?
August 8, 2025 at 7:23 PM
An anti-bike lane cartoon in today's Times Colonist. Please, TC folks, can you at least give some semblance of an attempt to dissuade me of my view that you are a regressive if not right wing rag spouting inane nastiness to a dwindling set of readers?