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Vancouver selected for Velo-city Global 2012 cycling conference

First time since 1996 the prestigious gathering of city planners and cycling advocates will meet outside of Europe

For the first time since 1996, the prestigious Velo-city Global conference will be held outside of Europe. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced that the European Cycling Federation had selected his city as the host of the conference in 2012.

“Velo-city will bring together hundreds of planners, transportation experts and cycling specialists from around the world to discuss the fast-growing role of cycling in urban transportation,” said Mayor Robertson. “Hosting a major international conference like Velo-city is a good boost for our local economy and it’s a great opportunity to showcase Vancouver’s bike infrastructure to the world’s leading transportation experts.”

An estimated 1,000 conference delegates and their guests will attend the conference, which will be held in June, 2012 at a Vancouver location yet to be selected. The Vancouver bid for the conference was prepared by the City of Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver, TransLink and the VeloWorks Cycling Society.

“Cycling is already an important travel mode in Metro Vancouver and TransLink has partnered with the City, the province and the federal government in major infrastructure upgrades to make it an even better option for more people,” said TransLink’s vice president of Customer and Public Engagement, Bob Paddon.

The 2010 conference was held in Copenhagen and, in 2011, it will be held in Sevilla, Spain.