Win! Victoria & CRD Vote for Wheelchairs & Mobility Scooters on Bike and Roll Routes

GVAT’s efforts to have wheelchair and mobility scooter users welcomed on bike and roll routes is gaining momentum. Not only did we get the Capital Regional District (CRD) board and Victoria City Council to vote to write advocacy letters to the provincial government in favor of this, we also brought a considerable amount of media attention to the issue.

We set the stage in October with a letter in the Times Colonist explaining that:

“We are in a climate emergency, and designing bike-and-roll routes to meet the needs of people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters will allow a larger proportion of people to live well without owning and driving cars.

Many small steps like this will be needed to meet B.C.’s climate targets, which include reducing car traffic (vehicle kilometres traveled) 25 per cent by 2030. . . Better bike-and-roll routes will also improve the mobility options of the large proportion of people with disabilities and older seniors who don’t own cars.”

In late February Gregor Craigie of CBC On the Island interviewed Eric Doherty, Greater Victoria Acting Together’s Climate Justice Co-lead.

Then in early March the Times Colonist and Business in Vancouver published the article “Should mobility scooters and wheelchairs be allowed in B.C. bike lanes?” This article included quotes from wheelchair user Peter Foran and GVAT’s Eric Doherty:

“Peter Foran, who uses a motorized wheelchair, said he prefers to use bike lanes in Victoria, because many sidewalks are uneven, with tree roots pushing slabs up, and cracks in the pavement that make them difficult to navigate.

Foran fell out of his wheelchair several years ago on an uneven sidewalk and fractured his hip.

He feels he’s in the way when he’s on the sidewalk.

“I feel awkward in the sidewalk and people are looking at their cellphones or they’ve got a cup of coffee in their hands. They don’t know quite how to handle the wheelchairs sometimes. And I find that I’m less bothered if I’m on the bike lane,” he said. . .

Eric Doherty, a transportation planner and co-lead of Greater Victoria Acting Together’s climate justice team, has been advocating on the issue for about a decade. He has talked to people who use mobility scooters who don’t travel in the bike lanes, because they know it’s not legal and they don’t want to break any rules even if police aren’t going to ticket them, he said.

Doherty said the province has amended the Motor Vehicle Act to allow mobility aids in bike lanes but it hasn’t created regulations to bring them into effect.

“It just doesn’t seem to have been a political priority to get it done,” he said.

Coverage by both CHEK TV - Victoria councillors advocate for changes to clarify laws for mobility scooters in bike lanes, and Global News - Advocates call for changes to allow mobility scooters in B.C. bike lanes used ‘B-roll’ video provided by GVAT.

Capital Daily’s article Victoria rolls ahead with plans to allow more transportation options on bike lanes included this quote from Victoria Councillor Jeremy Caradonna emphasizing that this is a human rights issue:

 “It’s a human rights issue frankly, for folks in mobility scooters who have accessibility challenges,” Coun. Jeremy Caradonna tells Capital Daily, on legally allowing the electric devices onto bike lanes. “They should be able to access our all-ages and abilities cycling facilities,”

The Times Colonist’s follow up article Victoria aims to expand mobility devices that can use streets and bike lanes includes this quote from Victoria Councillor Dave Thompson:

“Sidewalks are not safe,” he said, noting that apart from pedestrians, there are myriad obstructions to negotiate such as utility poles, sign posts, ­driveway-cut slopes and heaving pavement.

“We see them in bike and roll lanes already, which is proof that that is the preferred place for many of those users, even if it may be illegal currently,” he said. “We need to acknowledge the reality and acknowledge the trend and make it legal and regulated and safe.”

GVAT has been working on this issue since 2021 along with groups including the Action Committee of People With Disabilities, Capital Bike and the BC Climate Emergency Campaign. We hope to see regulations in place to welcome wheelchairs and mobility scooters on bike and roll routes before the provincial election scheduled for October 19, 2024.