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City adds its support to Bike to Work Week

Parksville is on board

After a presentation from the Oceanside Cycling Coalition, Parksville council voted to support Bike to Work Week May 30 to June 5.

Michael Addiscott and Jim Swanson made a presentation to council on the multiple advantages of bicycling to work, or anywhere, rather than driving a car.

They represented the new Oceanside Cycling Coalition, which will soon be part of the provincial coalition.

“It’s about eliminating car journeys,” said Addiscott, adding that for people who live too far or are unable to bike to work for practical reasons, they could still use a bike for any local errand and eliminate that car trip.

Council was very receptive to the message.

“This is about getting people to view cycling as an alternative transportation to automobiles,” agreed coun. Carrie Powell-Davidson, who attended the recent provincial meeting held in Parksville.

She also suggested there is still a lot of work educating drivers about sharing the road with cyclists.

Addiscott pointed out that more people cycling not only means those people are getting the benefits to their health and wallets for the cheaper transportation in this time of rising gas prices, but they are reducing carbon emissions and reducing the amount of traffic on the roads.

More people cycling means more parking available for people who do need to drive and reduced maintenance costs on the roads and less real-estate used up by parking lots and infrastructure for automobiles.

Council unanimously passed a motion to support Bike to Work Week and match Qualicum Beach’s $250 contribution.