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1. Do you support re-aligning municipal and regional transportation plans and investments to meet the provincial government’s CleanBC target to “reduce distances travelled in light-duty vehicles by 2030 compared to 2020″?
Yes. Victoria needs to reallocate significant portions of our road space to complete our AAA bike network in coordination with adjacent municipalities. Further, we need to work with the transit commission to improve and electrify the bus system and explore municipal incentives for e-bikes. All of this must have an accessibility lens so people in wheelchairs, scooters and other mobility aids can easily travel throughout our city.
2. Do you support making the default speed limit 30 km/h for streets without centrelines, as Victoria has already supported?
Yes. This is key to reducing pedestrian injuries and deaths, keeping youth, elders and cyclists safe.
3. Do you commit to budgeting sufficient funds to accelerate the the walking, rolling, cycling and transit portions of Go Victoria?
Yes.
4. Do you support using neighbourhood-wide traffic calming to create low traffic neighbourhoods with much lower traffic volume with quick build materials?
Yes. Lowering traffic means quieter and safer neighbourhoods where families and elders can connect and create community. The city can create low-traffic neighbourhoods by diverting car traffic to roads meant for a higher volume of traffic. Pocket parks and diagonal diverters provide low-cost quick-build materials to test concepts and allow informed public input. Fernwood Square and the area around Victoria High School, and the new additions to the bikeway on Haultain St., are good examples of low car traffic neighbourhoods.
5. How would you support making walking safer and more enjoyable in Victoria?
By building more pedestrian infrastructure, including repairing and improving what currently exists and implementing traffic calming measures in neighbourhoods across the city. I would also advocate for more refresh projects on busier streets, with public art, more greenery and an expanded tree canopy for shade.
6. Do you support building at least 15 km of new all ages and abilities (“AAA”) bike and roll routes throughout Victoria?
Yes. In the past four years, Victoria has built almost 20 km of new AAA routes–protected bike lanes along major roads such as Wharf St., new trails in Beacon Hill Park and many kilometers through quieter, traffic-calmed streets such as Richardson and Haultain. This work needs to continue, particularly in underserved areas like Burnside-Gorge.
7. Do you support welcoming people who use wheelchairs and mobility scooters to use all ages and abilities (AAA) bike and roll routes?13
Yes, very much so.
8. Do you support rapidly completing 24/7 bus lanes along Douglas Street through downtown Victoria, as well as similar measures along all of BC Transit’s proposed RapidBus routes in Victoria?
Yes. BC Transit has proposed a RapidBus network for the region. For it to be rapid and reliable, it needs continuous 24/7 bus lanes on many routes, as well as short “queue-jumper” bus lanes and transit signal priority on other routes. Making this RapidBus network a success will require both the reallocation of road space on municipal roads and for the province to create more shoulder bus lanes on provincial highways.
9. With the court-imposed deadline of March 14, 2023 to keep the Island Rail Corridor intact, how would you support modern rail service for Vancouver Island?
While I strongly support creating a modern rail system for the Island, portions of the existing rail corridor are the subject of current First Nations land claims. The first step must be to form a partnership with local First Nations to ensure the benefits of our future rail system are shared equitably.
10. Do you support making transit fares more affordable, both by reducing the cost of passes and individual fares and free or discounted passes for youth, seniors, and people living on low incomes?
Yes, building on Victoria’s free transit pass for youth, I would next open it up for seniors and low-income households, with the ultimate goal of fare-free transit for everyone.
11. Do you support removing the requirements for off-street vehicle parking from new and infill developments while adding requirements for car share, EV charging, bike and other micromobility parking, as well as expanding accessible parking?
Yes. I support reducing the city’s current parking minimums and would advocate for tax incentives or membership benefits in partnership with car share or e-bike purchasing programs. I’m in support of expanding the number of EV charging stations, but ensuring that these charging station locations are situated in ways and places that don’t disproportionately impact folks who cannot afford EVs.
I believe strongly in creating an accessible city – that includes accessible parking and bike lanes, sidewalk and parking infrastructure that is designed around the needs of those in mobility vehicles such as scooters and powered wheelchairs. As a cyclist I’m eager to increase safe bike parking options through initiatives such as the expansion of the bike valet program.
12. How would you activate and bring more people into public spaces within Victoria, including sidewalks, public squares, streets and parks?
Victoria needs more projects like the recently approved Government Street refresh to make our public spaces safer, more open and accessible. I will support arts events, artists, and performers in public spaces; build more parklets; permit more street murals; and increase opportunities for place-making in our city. I will also advocate for more representation of Songhees and Esquimalt culture (as well as urban Indigenous cultures for those who are not of the local Nation) in public spaces and for more green spaces, playgrounds and activities for kids and families.
13. Do you support adding substantively more accessible public bathrooms across Victoria?
Yes. Public bathrooms are necessities for everyone who makes their way through our city, whether by foot, wheelchair, mobility scooter, bike or public transit. They are a vital element of transportation infrastructure and access to a clean, comfortable and appropriate space to meet one’s needs is a human right.
Additionally, I’ve heard concerns around people using substances in the few public washrooms we have. I want to be clear that I also support creating more clean, comfortable and appropriate places for substance use as well, and in doing so open up those sites with bathrooms for individuals needing these spaces.
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