Traffic questions

so like I just moved here from california, and i got a couple questions about the traffic laws here: what do the blinking greens mean?

Slow blinking green means it's a pedestrian controlled traffic light. The direction facing the light obeys the light like a light. The direction perpendicular to the light will have stop signs.

am i allowed to go if i’m at a traffic light with no traffic lights in my direction but the other direction has a green light? like how do those things work is it for bikes or something?

You will have a stop sign. Stop, then proceed when safe. Cross traffic will not yield.

when there appear to be two lanes either way, and all the traffic is using only one lane (I see this the most on 16th ave going west between burrard and dunbar), are we not allowed to use both lanes or are people just like sheep and choose not to use both?

People know when their upcoming turns are and (most)are polite and will move into their lane to turn from and wait in a queue instead of diving over at the last moment.

what does the black diamond in the right lane mean? in california it’s a carpool lane on the freeways but it’s usually only the far left lane. is it just for like buses?

Diamond signs above lanes are restricted travel. Most are for carpool. Carpool minimums can be 2+, 3+, 6+, or transit bus only. Some allow electric vehicles and motorcycles regardless of the number of people. Read the signs for the symbols which describe what they're for.

/r/vancouver Thread