X Ox Why bikes are how I roll > As soon as spring hits, I ditch my vehicle and Compass Card for cycling Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager love biking. As a kid growing up in the country, biking around rarely consisted of anything outside of our single-street neighbourhood. That infrequency dropped off a cliff when I moved into the city and didn’t even own a bike for roughly a decade. But, as destiny would have it, my parents bought me a bicycle as a farewell present when I moved to British Columbia. After a few years of living in the incline-challenged neighbourhoods of South Vancouver and Burnaby- Deer Lake, I relocated to a flatter part of the Lower Mainland, and my love for casual cycling exploded. First off, the amount of agency that comes with having a bicycle is phenomenal. There’s no texting to see when the next bus comes or having to hail a taxi; you just hop on and go. Going somewhere that’s off the major transit routes? No problemo. Bikes can get you there, and usually in less time than it takes to bus anywhere in Vancouver. You also get to avoid transit during the summer months, when buses feel like humid mausoleums. We're also living in one of the most bike-friendly areas in Canada, and Vancouver has fully embraced this. All across the cit, there are designated bike routes along traffic-calmed streets to minimize other vehicles, and the city has installed countless bike lanes, especially around the downtown core. There are also more bike racks popping up around the city, and lots of major events now have bike valets to make locking up a breeze. Biking also allows you to easily explore different parts of that city that you'd normally drive or bus past. I lived in Vancouver for years before | started biking, but once I did it gave me an entirely new perspective on the city’s layout. Whenever people from out of town come to visit during the summer, my favourite thing to do is take them on a bike ride around the city. “But Jacey, bicycles are so unsafe!” Sure, you read about cyclists who get doored or hit by vehicles, but when youre getting from Point A to Point B, there are risks that come with every form of transportation. The Vancouver Sun referred to a study of travel-related fatalities in BC and found the average number of deaths across the board (biking, walking, and driving) was remarkably similar. Per 100 million trips, only 14 cyclist deaths were reported—in- between the 15 deaths and 10 deaths for Alive and kicking > Three reasons why !witter is not dead Nicole Strutt Contributor M: introduction to Twitter began at the ripe age of 18. The main incentive was to fangirl over the boys of One Direction and to document every passing thought that went through my mind: “*Kids by MGMT is playing in background*—IT’S GO TIME, EXAM IS GOING DOWN TOWN!" Simpler times. Despite having a love-love relationship with Twitter as a teenager, up until a month ago, I thought Twitter was a dying platform. With Facebook buying out Instagram in 2012 and Instagram establishing itself as the go-to social media tool among Generation Z and Millennials, I didn’t think Twitter had a place in the mighty social media playground. My perspective changed when I landed a role managing my work’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. I witnessed firsthand how Twitter documented fun holidays like #MacaronDay and significant political movements like #NationalWalkoutDay through the “Trends for you” category established by hashtags. Through these hashtags, I could see the impact that Twitter has. From silly trends like #LoseA DateIn5Words, amazing movements like #MeToo, or documenting the tragic frequency of the US shootings, it is apparent that Twitter has the innate ability to connect users from around the world using only a hashtag and Internet access. Most importantly, it made me realize that Twitter is not dying, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Twitter knows itself and doesn’t stray First and foremost, Twitter is authentically and unapologetically a news platform. While it doesn’t provide the bells and whistles that Facebook does, or the complexity of photo filters of Instagram, Twitter understands how it differentiates itself in the social media realm. It gives its users a simple platform to provide timely news in 240 characters or less. As a result, in times of crisis Have an idea for a story? M opinions@theotherpress.ca Pe ae (ai pedestrians and motorists, respectively. Taking transit is technically the safest mode of transportation, though we've already established that it is the worst in every other respect. While the rest of my reasons for championing cycling might vary from person to person, saving money is simply uncontestable (unless youre one of those weirdos who doesn’t enjoy having money). Owning a vehicle is a literal money pit: Insurance alone costs a few hundred dollars a month, and soaring gas prices mean you'll be spending roughly the same amount at the pump. If youre transiting, a one-zone Monthly or jubilant news, Twitter is the go-to social media outlet for breaking news. For example, it isa known social media tool to tweet timely news across the Greater Vancouver area. In the infamous August 2015 windstorm, BC Hydro used Twitter to communicate power updates around the city. Additionally, TransLink utilizes Twitter to communicate train outages and disruptions across the Expo, Millennium, West Coast Express, Canada Line and SeaBus. Twitter connects everyday people with celebrities and politicians A main reason why Twitter became so popular in in 2006 and continues to be popular now is how it allows users to relate with the celebrities and public Photo by Analyn Cuarto (¥ Three reasons why Twitter is not dead (¥ Get on board with public transit (¥ The overstated importance of entertainers And more! Photo by Analyn Cuarto Pass costs $93, with more zones breaking the $100-mark. A bicycle tune-up costs you between $60-70, and you can get away with having them done once a year; most other repairs, like fixing flat tires, rarely cost more than $20. There’s a reason why more people are opting for the bi-wheeled life. I didn’t even mention the numerous health benefits and environmental-friendliness that cycling boasts, but honestly, those are more like happy side effects to how great casual road biking is. So, get out there, get yourself a pair of wheels, and lll meet you on one of the bike routes— just maybe not the ones with hills, okay? figures that they follow. No longer do users need to wait for the latest gossip from J-14, People, InTouch or the Enquirer. Instead, users can hear straight from their favourite celebrity or politician about how they are feeling, the latest update on their music, or what they ate for breakfast. Consequently, it takes the celebrities and politicians off this metaphorical pedestal and gives the appearance that they are on the same level as everyone else. Twitter is becoming profitable After undergoing a significant loss of $167 million in the last quarter of 2016 , Twitter cut its costs exponentially, which resulted in $91 million in profit in the fourth quarter of 2017 on revenue of $732 million. If that doesn’t say rebirth, I don’t know what does. Whether you love or hate it, Twitter has been around for 13 years and is still going strong. It has outlived Vine and has competed against the social media giants of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat while still holding its own. Thanks to sticking to its traditional roots as a news tool, breaking the social norms between celebrity and everyday people, and understanding when to cut costs to make a profit for long-term gain, Twitter is here to stay.