Will BC Adopt “Pay-as-you-Drive” Auto Insurance Scheme? Canucks Lose in Heartbreaker Against Dallas: VancouverIAM

This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from VancouverIAM where you will find the best blogs from Vancouver, BC as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Three Vancouver Planners Make Planetizen’s Top Ten List

SFU City sends kudos out to the Vancouver authors named by Planetizen, “the indispensable online source for planners,” in its annual top ten best books in the planning field. From UBC, Patrick Condon’s book Design Charrettes for Sustainable Communities is listed as “a straightforward guide that lays out the essential steps and best practices for running a productive design charrette.” Doug Farr’s Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature gives “a real-world context” to arguments “on behalf of a new type urban design and development that is interrelated with nature.”

The post announces that Farr will also be the featured speaker at a Century Group-sponsored lecture on March 11.  In addition, Chris Leinberger will be the speaker for the third “Shifting Gears” lecture on April 25, “sponsored by by the Bombardier Foundation and the Active Transport Lab at the University of British Columbia.”  Leinberger also made Planetizen’s top ten list and is author of The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream.

Canuck’s Heartbreak Against Dallas

According to Canuck’s Hockey Blog, we shouldn’t let the Canuck’s 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars fool us. It wasn’t a close game at all. “The Stars held the territorial advantage and had the better scoring chances.” The Canucks may have had more shots on goal, “but as has been the case lately, there wasn't much finish.” For playing on home ice, Vancouver wasn’t nearly as dominating as they should be.

Our blogger writes that all the recent injuries affected Vancouver’s game. “The Canucks lost a winnable game… and the reason was all over Curtis Sanford's face.” Sanford, back-up for the absent Luongo, said later that he “put the team in a bad position… It's embarrassing to get pulled in front of your own fans. [Vigneault] had to do that. If I was in his position I would have done the same thing.” The post states that “it's tough watching guys who would normally be in the press box or with the Moose get outplayed on a regular basis.” Mike Weaver was “outmuscled” and Nathan MacIver was “turned around a few times.” It's tough with all the injuries, “to expect them to replace the Mitchell and Bieksa long-term.”

Pay-as-you-Drive Auto Registration and Insurance Makes Sense

A recent post on city councillor Peter Ladner’s blog discusses the “pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) hybrid pricing” proposition for car insurance. The scheme was “hatched by a UBC team led by noted physicist Lorne Whitehead… to reduce automobile emissions, provide incentives to drive less and reward fuel-efficient vehicles.” The team states that “current vehicle registration and insurance schemes provide an all-you-can-eat temptation to even the most environmentally conscious driver.” There’s no financial penalties no matter how much you drive. “Frequent driving is a key factor in your chance of having an accident, so why should frequent drivers pay the same insurance as occasional drivers,” Ladner asks in his post.

In addition “if we want to encourage fuel-efficient vehicles, why charge the same registration for a gas-guzzler as a compact?” Ladner points out that research has shown “PAYD pricing reduces average annual mileage by between 10% and 15%, which results in a comparable reduction in crashes, deaths and hospital costs.” It’s also more fair and it makes insurance “more affordable for those who don’t drive a lot.” In addition, it can reduce “traffic congestion, the costs of roads and parking lots and urban sprawl.”

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