A two-km trail doesn't sound like much, until you learn what it replaced: a narrow, shoulder-less road where kids couldn't safely walk or bike to school. Older residents had given up on getting around without a car.

In this episode, we sit down with Rob Fawcett, the community builder behind Pender Island's brand-new Schooner Way Trail. We talk about how a small island with no municipal government turned a dangerous pinch point into a thriving shared-use active transportation corridor that feels like a linear park. Rob breaks down how the community raised $150,000 in pledges to unlock a BC Active Transportation grant—and what it really takes to deliver active transportation infrastructure when your roads belong to the Ministry of Transportation and big capital projects almost never happen.

We also zoom out to the bigger Gulf Islands vision: a connected network of off-road, multi-use trails that could transform how residents and visitors get around by bike, on foot, or by e-bike.

And yes, we talk about what happens next now that provincial active transportation funding is effectively 'on pause.'" Please tune in!

March 25, 2026: CRD announces official opening of Schooner Way Trail! Click HERE for details.

Read about the Trail in The Pender Post HERE

Support the show

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The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

Cycling culture doesn’t magically appear when you paint a bike lane. It shows up when someone learns how to balance, brake, scan, signal, and ride with confidence in the real world.

Alexis Thibeault, StreetWise Manager at HUB Cycling, joins Peter to dig into what cycling education looks like in British Columbia right now and what’s still missing. We talk about the earliest building blocks of learning to ride, and how structured coaching creates a safer path for adults who didn’t grow up biking.

What would it take to make cycling safety education as normal as driver training or swim lessons?

Find out more about HUB's Bike Education initiatives HERE.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

A city once redlined by a plan that literally read 'No Bike Routes Downtown' now leads Canada in cycling mode share, and ranks among North America’s best cycling cities. We sit down with Tim Hewett, Senior Transportation Planner and Streetscape Designer for Victoria, BC, to unpack how a compact capital stitched regional trails into a safe, welcoming urban network that people actually use daily.

We start with the pivotal gap: regional corridors like the Galloping Goose and Lochside once ended at the edge of the core, leaving riders to fend for themselves. The new Johnson Street Bridge and the first protected corridor on Pandora changed all that, and there's much more to come.

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A couple of GREAT videos:

Rolling in the City: a Video Tour of Victoria with Nic Laporte
Oh The Urbanity! How This Small City Tripled Its Cycling In Just 11 Years

Find out what's going down at:
Capital Bike Victoria: Advocate. Educate. Celebrate

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

A bicycle-towed, electric lane sweeper is quietly changing how cities and communities keep bike lanes safe. Peter sits down with Sunshine Coast engineer and former bike mechanic Cedric Eveleigh to unpack the origin story, the design choices behind his hybrid sweeper, and the grassroots momentum that turned broom-wielding volunteers into a movement with real tools and measurable impact.

Share this episode with your city staff or local advocates to help more people discover solutions that make everyday riding safer.

• Watch the video that got 5 million views on Instagram HERE
• See Cedric in action on the Sunshine Coast HERE
• Watch the Sweeper do its thing HERE

Get in touch at cedric@bikelanesweeper.com

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

Pedestrians and cyclists in BC are killed and injured at a rate that would never be accepted in any other public space. We ask a simple question with a complex political answer: if automated speed enforcement cuts injuries and deaths so reliably, why isn’t it everywhere it’s needed?

Dr. Brandon Yau, Medical Health Officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, helps us unpack how speed and red light cameras actually work, where they’re currently deployed, and what the data shows about their impact. We examine the “cash grab” myth head‑on and discuss how to design a fair program with clear signage, robust technology, and transparent, revenue‑neutral operations that reinvest any residual funds into road safety.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

NOTE: This episode originally aired in October of 2023. Since then, Brendan and Amanda and family have moved from Whistler to Nelson, BC. They now own a family car, which they mostly use to get to the mountain to ski. They continue to cycle year-round.

Peter Ladner brings in son Brendan and daughter-in-law Amanda to expose the reality of life as a bikes-only family in Whistler, BC. We talk ice, snow, studded tires, e-bikes, singing kids, irate drivers, and Whistler's political will ... or notable lack thereof.

Read about the Whistler Climate Action Plan at
www.whistler.ca/climate-action/big-moves

Please feel free to reach out to Amanda Ladner at amandabelle@gmail.com if you'd like to talk Whistler, bikes, or family cycling.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

A trail should move more than bodies; it should move history into the open. We sit down with Elder Ruth Adams of Tsawwassen First Nation to explore the Great Blue Heron Way: a bold, Indigenous‑led active transportation route that reconnects communities along the Fraser River and the Salish Sea while reviving stories long pushed aside.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

Two beloved BC fondos disappeared this year — and not because riders lost interest. We sit down with veteran organizer and Panache Cycling Sports CEO Jon Watkin to unpack the real reasons: traffic control costs spiralling to double-time rates, six-hour minimums, and newly required engineered traffic plans that turn a single intersection into a budget breaker. Jon explains where safety policy helps, where it overreaches, and how a one-size-fits-all approach can sink small, community-driven rides.

From there, we pivot to what’s thriving: gravel. Jon lays out why gravel cycling has become the most welcoming doorway into the sport, and how municipalities and tourism boards, eager to rebuild after the pandemic, are partnering to bring high-quality events to Vancouver Island and beyond.

Learn more about Jon's races at www.panachecyclingsports.com

Sign up for the BC Gravel Series 2026! https://www.bcgravelseries.com

Speed traps on Bowen Island: https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/careers/volunteer-programs/speed-watch (To set up a speed watch program, contact your local RCMP.)

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at admin@bccycling.ca.

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.