by Brian Truscott
The Vancouver Courier, November 1, 1992
Bicycle courier Karen Smith wears her phantom-best face to work on Friday. Jim Harrison photo.
The fledgling Vancouver Bicycle Courier Association has done something ironic this Hallowe'en season.
On Friday, about 20 to 25 couriers painted each others' faces in freaky shades of orange and black in an attempt to show the downtown crowd that they're normal folk too.
"The middle-aged crowd that work in the office towers tend to look on these healthy, young and freaky-looking people and go, 'Aaaahhhh!'," said courier and association co-chair Barry Tranquada. "We want to step up our public profile in positive ways to show that we're doing a job just like the other people who work downtown."
Tranquada said that while 200 couriers ply their trade on the Vancouver peninsula, only 50 have joined the new association.
"Couriers are a very diverse group and if we had a single mindset it would 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 with the city's cycling advisory committee in efforts to bridge a gap that Tranquada says causes sometimes unnecessary crackdowns on couriers.
"When we are perceived as a threat, a nuisance, we are subject to these crackdowns," he said. "If we create a more benign view, then there are less controls placed on the courier."
Tranquada would like to see police give couriers a bit of slack in some things couriers do, such as riding short distances on sidewalks to get out of traffic or even curling back the corners of their small metal license plates to cut down on ripped clothing.
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