by Brian Truscott
The Vancouver Courier, November 1, 1992
Bicycle courier Karen Smith wears her phantom-best faceto work on Friday. Jim Harrison photo.
The fledgling Vancouver Bicycle Courier Association has done somethingironic this Hallowe'en season.
On Friday, about 20 to 25 couriers painted each others' faces in freakyshades of orange and black in an attempt to show the downtown crowd thatthey're normal folk too.
"The middle-aged crowd that work in the office towers tend to look onthese healthy, young and freaky-looking people and go, 'Aaaahhhh!'," saidcourier and association co-chair Barry Tranquada. "We want to step up ourpublic profile in positive ways to show that we're doing a job just likethe other people who work downtown."
Tranquada said that while 200 couriers ply their trade on the Vancouverpeninsula, only 50 have joined the new association.
"Couriers are a very diverse group and if we had a single mindset itwould be that we think and act individually," the 29-year old said.
The group has met with the bicycle police and set up a liaison withthe city's cycling advisory committee in efforts to bridge a gap that Tranquadasays causes sometimes unnecessary crackdowns on couriers.
"When we are perceived as a threat, a nuisance, we are subject to thesecrackdowns," he said. "If we create a more benign view, then there areless controls placed on the courier."
Tranquada would like to see police give couriers a bit of slack in somethings couriers do, such as riding short distances on sidewalks to getout of traffic or even curling back the corners of their small metal licenseplates to cut down on ripped clothing.
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