Over 90% of election survey respondents say 'yes' to cycling investments

23 mayoral candidates among over 200 participating in Vote to Bike survey

HUB Cycling announced the results of their municipal election survey today, with a majority of those candidates who responded expressing support for investments in cycling improvements. 

More than half of 398 candidates contacted by HUB participated in the two-question survey, which was sent to mayor and council, Vancouver Park Board commissioner and Electoral Area A director candidates. Over 90% of all candidates responding answered 'yes' to the questions - one related to local cycling investments, and one related to connectivity with the region's cycling network.

"Two-thirds of the candidates who responded took the time to provide feedback, many of which were not only positive towards cycling, but also quite passionate and detailed in their ideas and recommendations about how to make cycling better," said Colin Stein, HUB Cycling Director of Communications.  

"Candidate positions about transportation can end up influencing decisions made about cycling over the next four years across the region, so we encourage people to find out where their local candidates stand, and then get out to vote on November 15th. In municipal elections, voter turnout rates are very low, and we believe that if voters knew the importance of decisions happening at the city level - like how we get around, and how we can reduce road congestion - they might vote in higher numbers." 

In the City of Vancouver races for mayor, council and Park Board commissioner, all 15 Vision Vancouver candidates submitted a unified response, while 14 of 52 candidates from other parties, including Cedar, COPE, Green, IDEA, NPA, OneCity, STOP and Vancouver First, participated.  Among independents in Vancouver, 8 of 23 candidates responded.

Survey participation also varied widely by municipality, led by candidates in the north shore and suburban communities around the Fraser River. Three of the five lowest participation rates occurred in the Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver surveys, representing the three largest municipalities in British Columbia.

"It's noteworthy when fewer than one third of candidates in a race answer questions about something as important as transportation in a big city," said Lisa Slakov, co-chair of the HUB Vancouver / UBC Committee. "More candidates viewed our survey than participated, so it seems like a conscious decision for some to not respond. We'd like voters to consider holding all candidates accountable to answering questions about cycling before the election." 

"We contacted all candidates using emails provided in their public filing, as well as through their party headquarters, by phone, and via Twitter," said Slakov. "We know it's a busy time for candidates, so we're very appreciative of all those who took the time to participate."

Details on the questions posed to candidates in each municipality, as well as a breakdown of all answers provided by candidates, are all available on the HUB website - go there now.