Editor: I was cycling northbound along Ferry Road in Ladner with two friends last Thursday morning when a shuttle bus came too close to ignore.
My friends and I chose this quiet route to the Millennium Trail so we could enjoy ourselves and not worry about traffic. At times, we cycled side-byside, chatting and catching up, but were conscious of the vehicles around us and moved into single file when we heard vehicles approaching.
As we came upon Chesapeake Landing, we looked back to see a shuttle bus. We had plenty of time to move into one line and there were absolutely no other moving vehicles in either direction on this quiet, wide street.
Before I knew it, the bus was upon me and rumbled by within a foot of my shoulder, scaring me badly.
I panicked because I had nowhere to go being stuck between parked cars and the wall of the bus. My nerves were shot afterwards and I was left feeling absolutely stunned that a public bus would not attempt to give a cyclist at least three feet of space, especially with plenty of room to do so.
My husband is an avid cyclist and experiences similar run-ins with these shuttle bus drivers (and other drivers as well). Repeatedly, drivers have shown little regard for the comfort and safety of cyclists for some invented reason like they pay taxes and we don't.
Perhaps if they were made to ride a bike, their feet clipped into their peddles with a shuttle bus barreling past them at the maximum speed limit while a parked car blocked their only escape, then they might drive with more consideration.
This driver needs to know that I am a mother of two, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a teacher, a community volunteer, a dog owner, an occasional cyclist, and I pay taxes for my vehicles and my property just like everyone else.
The roads are already challenging enough for cyclists with cars parked in marked bike lanes, garbage and debris littering road shoulders, and potholes and other obstructions forcing us out into car lanes.
We constantly have to be on alert in order to maneuver the reckless behaviours of dangerously distracted or oblivious drivers as we know we wouldn't stand a chance surviving a collision.
Our public buses should be our most trained commuters and our day-today drivers should take a moment to recognize they will get to their destination on time and in one piece even if slowed by a cyclist for what equates to a mere moment in time.
Perhaps some cyclist empathy training should be part of every driver's education, especially our transit drivers.
Cyclists aren't on the road to make a driver's life miserable; they are trying to do some good for themselves and for our environment.
Does one really need to be told that a mother's life is worth more than a three-second delay in one's commute?
Jen Wilson
