Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Bike Lanes

Vancouver Mayoral Candidate Attacks Bike Lanes … For the Moms!

Word to the wise: Do not try to use single moms to make your case against bike lanes — especially on Twitter.

Wai Young, a conservative candidate for Vancouver Mayor, learned that lesson the hard way last week, after Tweeting that bike lanes "discriminate" against single moms, seniors and other groups.

Bike Lanes are divisive and discriminatory. They discriminate against seniors, single Moms and many other groups. They are a private roadway system that have been built to benefit a very specific few in society. 1/3 #commonsense #vanpoli #VanElxn18 #Vancouver #coalitionvancouver

— Wai Young (@WaiYoung) September 5, 2018

The Tweet inspired a much-more popular series of responses. Including this :

Hey, I am a single mum. ??. Please do not speak for me. I don’t own a car. I cycle everywhere. Protected cycle infrastructure keeps me alive, so I can care for my kids. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/fMLKqvG2XH

— Moosycle (@MamaMoose_Be) September 12, 2018

This line of attack reflects stereotypes about who bikes and who benefits from investments in cycling infrastructure. Men are more likely to bike than women — but in Vancouver, where a whopping 10 percent of residents bike to work, there are still a huge number of female cyclists.

An anti-bike lane group made the same argument in Seattle about a year ago and local moms had a field day.

Twitter feuds aside, Young is a pretty serious in her antagonism. The local news site, the Tyee, reports Wai spent 20 minutes at a recent campaign event talking about how horrible Vancouver is for drivers. Her plan? To blast cyclists and pedestrians with tickets until they learn "mutual respect." She also wants to make street parking free on Sunday.

Her candidacy in Vancouver, that includes some other divisive remarks, has drawn comparisons to Donald Trump, the Vancouver Sun reports. But perhaps the more apt comparison is former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who harnessed suburban votes to win election as mayor of Canada's largest city on an anti-urban platform that played on the same kinds of stereotypes and resentment Young is peddling. She is a former member of Canada's House of Commons.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Thursday’s Headlines Are a Sneak Preview

Want to see what happens when a city makes major transit cuts? Just look at Philadelphia. It's not pretty.

August 28, 2025

What I’ve Learned From Getting Transit Wrong

"Advocacy isn’t about pretending you’ve always been right. It’s about learning, adapting, and bringing those lessons into the fight for better transit and better cities."

August 28, 2025

L.A. Council Committee Approves Step toward Eliminating Parking Requirements

Off-street parking at new developments is not going away. If the city doesn't require parking, developers will still build parking.

August 27, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Get Off the Cheese Wagon

Transporting K-12 students via public transit can save schools money, but there are challenges involved, like teaching children how to use the system.

August 27, 2025

The Fall of Philadelphia

"Cutting almost half of a transit system is not a way to make it more efficient. It more like asking whether you’d like to keep your heart or your lungs."

August 27, 2025

Doomsday For SEPTA Is Bad News For Everyone

Deep cuts to Philadelphia's transit system will have devastating impacts in the City of Brotherly Love — and other cities may be next.

August 27, 2025
See all posts