For immediate release ö Friday, March 30, 2001
WILDERNESS COMMITTEE BIKE BUS TO GIVE FIRST-TIME BIKE COMMUTERS HELPING HAND DURING TRANSIT STRIKE
Vancouver, BC -- Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) will be launching two Bike Bus routes on Monday. WCWC is also calling on all experienced Vancouver area bike commuters to lend a helping hand to first time bike commuters during the transit strike by starting up similar bike bus routes.
In the spirit of neighbours helping neighbours, WCWC will be hosting two Bike Buses from New Westminster to Gastown. The Bike Buses will run most weekdays, commencing this Monday, until the transit strike is over.
ãA Bike Bus is a convoy of bike commuters which follow a specified route at a scheduled time,ä explained WCWC Director Joe Foy. ãWe think that if potential first time bike commuters know that someone will be there to show them the bike routes and greenways then they will be more likely to choose bike commuting as a viable transportation solution,ä said Foy. ãOnce started on the road to bike commuting, I think many people will be like me. I've been hooked for life since I started in 1992!ä he added.
ãWe will post our Bike Bus routes and schedules on our web site www.wildernesscommittee.orgä explained Foy. ãAnd we are inviting other experienced bike commuters to also take on the voluntary task of leading their own Bike Buses. We will post those routes and schedules on our web site as soon as we learn of them,ä said Foy. ãWe will also link our site to local groups and organizations working to make life easier for the bike commuter,ä he said.
Foy will lead one of the Bike Buses, which leaves from North Road at Brunette River on the New West boundary and winds its way north and west to Gastown a distance of about 20-km.
Bike commuters who would like to ride along can meet up with Foy at 7:30am starting Monday morning at the north end of the Brunette River Bridge on North Road, near the New Westminster boundary with Coquitlam and Burnaby. Others can also join up along the route at the following times and locations·
7:40 am Government and Cariboo, Burnaby
7:50 am Underhill and Eastlake, Burnaby
8:10 am Sperling and Union, Burnaby
8:20 am Willington and Frances, Burnaby
8:30 am Adanac and Renfrew, Vancouver
8:40 am Adanac and Clark Drive, Vancouver
9:00 am Water and Cambie (Steam Clock), Vancouver
Foy will ride every weekday this week except Thursday April 5. Foy can be reached (even when he's biking!) on his cell phone at 880-2580.
Dennis McCrossan, WCWCâs volunteer coordinator, will also lead a Bike Bus from the Queens Park area of New Westminster to Gastown via the Skytrain bike route a distance of about 20 km. McCrossan will leave at 7:30am commencing Monday morning from Moody Park (7th Ave and 8th Street) in New Westminster. People can also join Dennis along his route at the following times and locations·
7:40 am 22nd Street Skytrain station (7th Ave and 22nd Street), New West
7:50 am Edmonds Skytrain station, Burnaby
8:00 am Royal Oak Skytrain station, Burnaby
8:10 am Patterson Skytrain station, Burnaby
8:20 am 45th and Rupert, Vancouver
8:30 am Naniamo and 38th, Vancouver
8:40 am Queen Elizabeth Park (37th and Ontario), Vancouver
8:50 am Broadway and Ontario, Vancouver
9:00 am Water and Cambie (Steam Clock), Vancouver
McCrossan, will ride every weekday this week except Tuesday, April 3.
Return trips will leave from the Steam Clock in Gastown most weekdays at 6:00 pm.
ãWe hope Bike Buses will catch on and become a useful service for the harried and stressed out commuters of Greater Vancouver,ä said Foy. ãAnd if Vancouverâs bike commutership grows as a result that may just be the silver lining that goes along with this Translink strike cloud,ä he said.
For more information contact Joe Foy at 880-2580
To plan your route to join up with a WC Bike Bus see the maps of preferred cycling routes within the Lower Mainland or check out the City of Vancouver's map of city cycling routes. For more information on cycle commuting in the lower mainland check out the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition or Better Environmentally Sound Transportation.If you would like to volunteer to lead a Bike Bus please contact Joe Foy at WCWC or e-mail webmaster@wildernesscommittee.org.