Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Sudbury - Sustainable Mobility Plan

Green Communities Canada Launches Provincial iCANwalk Campaign

iCANwalk is a multi-partner public engagement campaign to promote walking and community walkability across Ontario. The project aims to foster a culture for walking by providing community partners with tools and resources that can be used in combination with new or on-going environmental projects, community sustainability planning, physical activity strategies, community engagement initiatives, and other active transportation projects and events.

Two key resources, the iCANwalk Pledge and the Walkability Checklist are now accessible through the website and ready for use.

· The iCANwalk Pledge invites individuals to use active transportation, instead of traveling by car, for short trips over a 1 month period. Based on the pledge made, this interactive tool will calculate the savings in litres of gas, dollars, and greenhouse gas emissions.

· The Walkability Checklist uses four criteria to assess how walkable a community is. The checklist can be printed and taken on a neighbourhood walk, and is also functional as an on-line database to collect regional walkability data by public health unit district throughout the Province.

Visit www.icanwalk.ca and take the pledge today!

Contact Kate Hall, Project Coordinator at khall@greencommunitiescanada.org for more information.

Research - Economic Effects of Traffic Calming on Urban Small Businesses

This is a link to the full paper, the executive summary, a two-page handout, and a PowerPoint presentation.

Webpage - Reducing or eliminating parking in support of TDM initiatives

Building and maintaining parking is an expensive proposition. On average, constructing and maintaining one parking space over its lifetime costs about $25,000, but costs can fluctuate depending on the jurisdiction. Municipalities that are proactive in reducing the number of parking spaces in favour of transportation demand management (TDM) measures, therefore, can reduce these costs as well as gain a number of other benefits.

[Transport Canada Webpage - excellent resource. -MH]

Website - Share the Road

The Share the Road Cycling Coalition is a provincial cycling advocacy organization created to unite cycling organizations from across Ontario and work with and on behalf of municipalities to enhance their ability to make their communities more bicycle- friendly. The organization’s mandate is province-wide with a specific focus on developing public policy at the provincial level in order to provide the kind of legislative, programmatic and funding instruments such as exist in other Canadian provinces notably Quebec and British Columbia.

Documentary Video - Pedal Power

In Canada, bicycles "don't get no respect." From the story of Igor, and the anatomy of the underground world of bike peddlers in Toronto, this film spins out to how other cities are making riding safe. Using innovative "bike-cam" techniques to convey, up-close, the sensation of bike riding, a series of character-driven mini-narratives propel the film through a study of what makes a city "bikeable". Whether it's the public bike program in Paris, bike mega-garages in Amsterdam, bike paths in Vancouver and Montreal, or the surprising leadership of New York City, we follow the story of this remarkable little conveyance as it wheels though the first decade of the 21st century.

Moncton NB - Encouraging active living

To its credit, Moncton City Council Monday unanimously voted to approve the updated active transportation plan that will see a dramatic expansion of the city's bike and walking trails, bike lanes, shared roadways and roadside paths. In six year's time these will form a city-wide network allowing all residents to get to school, work, shopping or other activities without a car. When the work is done, Moncton will have more than 100 kilometres of trail and even Mountain Road will have accommodation for cyclists.

Municipality wants input in active transportation lanes

The Municipality of Lunenburg wants to work with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to increase active transportation (AI) infrastructure.


At a committee of the whole meeting on August 5, Mayor Don Downe said council would like to be able to have input on road upgrades. He suggested in some cases it would be best to repave a half-kilometre less to allow for an active transportation lane.

Hamilton ON - City wants residents out of their cars

"In the future there are going to be more people and more jobs in Hamilton; to accommodate them, we need to provide transportation," said Al Kirkpatrick, manager of strategic planning. "We can't widen the roads, so we have to get more people on mass transport, more people cycling and walking.

When streets tell the truth about people riding in cars (and on bikes)

More fun! [-MH]

The Highland Wheeler!!!

Scotland has the Loch Ness Monster…BC has Ogopogo…the Pacific Northwest has Sasquatch… Haliburton County has the Highland Wheeler!!!

Did you know there is a legend about a phantom cyclist that roams the roads of the Haliburton Highlands?

Find out more by visiting here!

[Not everything should be serious. -MH]

New Public Bike Hire Scheme Gets London Pedalling!

Strongly backed by London’s bicycling mayor, Boris Johnson, the culmination of two years’ work came to fruition on July 30th with the ‘soft launch’ of the capital’s Bike Hire scheme. From 7am, 4,700 bicycles were available for hire at 315 docking stations throughout the centre of the city, with 300 more machines in reserve, to be distributed to places of high demand throughout the day on special trailers.

Toronto - Ring road for bikes on track

A vision to connect Toronto's waterfront, major rivers, some railways and hydro corridors through an off-road multi-use trail is getting closer to completion.

At its last meeting in early July, Toronto city council approved the installation of 13 mid-block traffic signals that will accommodate cyclists and other users of the approximately 30 kilometres of new trails the city will build this fall along the Finch and Gatineau hydro corridors and beside CN Railway's Leaside spur in the Don River Valley. All but a few kilometres will be off-road.

Golden BC - Community Bike Program Becomes A Reality

The Town of Golden and key community members have been working for over 3 years to create a new community bike share program. Today, the town liaison announced that the project is in full swing with 25 bikes being ordered and will be sending them to be custom painted in the next three weeks.

Vancouver businesses battle new bike lane proposal

Vancouver’s second major separated bike lane downtown will go into operation on Hornby Street by November if council approves the plan.

But standing in the way of that ambitious desire of the bike-friendly Vision Vancouver council are the likes of David Prior and John Prebushewski and a number of other business owners and residents.

Related articles:

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Proposed+Vancouver+bike+lane+will+have+catastrophic+effects+businesses/3447165/story.html


http://www.theprovince.com/travel/Frustrated+city+Vancouver+businesses+seek+input+Hornby+bike+lane/3445751/story.html?cid=megadrop_story

http://communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/civiclee/archive/2010/08/26/separated-bike-lane-changes-coming-to-vancouver-streets.aspx

Whitehorse - OCP changes reflect citizens’ opinions

Except for a few “minor tweaks” that could be made, Mayor Bev Buckway believes the city finally has the document that will become the city’s next Official Community Plan (OCP).

Other changes would see the city focus on greenbelts, parks and areas that allow for more active transportation such as bicycles and walking.

Report - Bikeability and the Twenty-Minute Neighborhood

The “20-minute neighborhood” is often thought of as a place wherein daily needs can be met within a walkable area. With Portland‟s recently adopted goal of increasing bicycle ridership to a 25% mode share by the year 2030, efforts to incorporate bicycles into this concept will become increasingly important. However, limited research has examined the mix of physical infrastructure and land uses that constitute a “bikeable” neighborhood or community.

This paper explores a methodology for assessing a neighborhood‟s bikeability based on its mix of infrastructure and destinations – essentially the 20-minute neighborhood for bicycles. The area of outer east Portland, an area east of 82nd Avenue with substantially lower bicycling rates than other Portland neighborhoods, is used as a case study and compared to an assessment of neighborhoods that are considered to be bike-friendly (downtown, inner-east and north Portland). The paper examines prior approaches to assessing bikeability, details a new method to measure bikeability, presents the findings, and explores what impact expected or potential transportation and land use changes might have on bikeability.

Vancouver - Barriers for bike lanes: A political divide

Now that city officials have picked Hornby over Burrard and Thurlow for the second cross-town, separated bike route, the downtown street might become the city's next great political divide.

Which side you find yourself on will depend on whether you agree with CKNW host Christy Clark's assessment that a dedicated bike lane is going to be "another nightmare" or you see it in as the next logical step toward a greener city.

Toronto - Construction on island airport tunnel to start next year

Construction on the $45 million pedestrian tunnel to Billy Bishop airport will start in early 2011, the Toronto Port Authority says.

Halifax NS - Bike lane plans thwarted by Spryfield businesses, residents

"It was a battle," admits Bruce Cooke, chairman of communications for the Spryfield and District Business Commission, after Halifax Regional Council nixed plans to reduce a section of Herring Cove Road to two lanes from four lanes to allow room for a bike path.

In a report to Halifax council on July 6, traffic manager Ken Reashor recommended the bike lanes be added to a 900-metre stretch of Herring Cove Road between Old Sambro Road and Hartlen Avenue this summer when the street is resurfaced.

While HRM traffic counts concluded removing two lanes would cause no significant impact on capacity or delay, Spryfield businesses argued the street is already congested, and more delays would force commuters off Herring Cove Road and onto other streets hurting their businesses and costing jobs.

Prince George BC - DRAFT ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN COMPLETE

City of Prince George Transportation Engineer Glenn Stanker says the plan encompasses inter-connectivity of trails, bike routes, sidewalks, and public transit, which come together to offer one comprehensive and continuous "Active Transportation Network."

Also: http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/pgfreepress/news/97945114.html

Bike laws outdated, says Cycling PEI

The laws regarding bicycle use on P.E.I. need to be updated in order to make them clearer and safer, says Cycling PEI.

Examples of laws many cyclists are unaware of is the need for a bell or another audible signal that can be heard from 30 metres away, and that it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk.

Check out an exciting new way to plan bike, walk and transit combination trips

Oregon WA: The Open Trip Planner will make transit simple to use, map ways to use active transportation, and help you explore the community and region more easily. Currently in beta testing, it will soon help you easily plan routes on foot, bike, train, bus or any combination thereof.

The Open Trip Planner will take TriMet's existing trip planning tool to the next level by allowing you to easily tailor routes to your preferences. For example, it will help you eliminate transfers, find a more scenic path to walk or find you buses that have bike storage.

Are we pedalling backward?

Attention, Montreal cyclists, and anyone else who thinks the cycling revolution happening on the streets of Montreal is a good thing. There is a move afoot -a misguided one, I believe -to kick cyclists out of city parks and other pleasant cycling environments.

One Montreal borough’s war on the car

The Montreal borough of Plateau Mont-Royal is many things to many people: a formerly bohemian yuppie respite; a congenial melting pot of English, French and many other backgrounds; a trendy, boozy hotspot for tourists and university students. However, the eight square kilometers of this central Montreal burg is fast becoming known as something else: the scourge of the suburban driver.

Starting this fall, the Plateau will be home to what its administration calls “traffic calming initiatives” that will make driving through the neighbourhood a wee bit trickier. They include reversing the direction of certain streets, narrowing others, widening sidewalks, and installing a bevy of bicycle paths throughout.

Sidewalk cyclists warned by Charlottetown police

Some downtown businesses are concerned too many cyclists in Charlottetown are giving up on the streets in favour of the sidewalk.

Deputy police chief Gary McGuigan said police are taking the concerns of downtown businesses seriously. "A lot of people aren't aware that there is legislation under the Highway Traffic Act, and that they're not permitted to drive their bicycles on the sidewalk," said McGuigan.

[Has anyone asked if cyclists find the streets too dangerous? -MH]

Friday, August 20, 2010

Vélo Québec demande à la SAAQ d’interdire les scooters électriques sur les pistes cyclables

La prolifération de scooters électriques dont plusieurs sont commercialisés sous le nom de vélos électriques soulève des questions quant à l’utilisation des pistes cyclables. Actuellement, il n’y a pas de règles claires qui précisent quels véhicules sont autorisés à rouler sur les pistes cyclables au Québec. Cette situation est préoccupante avec l’arrivée sur le marché de différents types de scooters plus gros, plus lourds et plus rapides que les vélos et qui mettent en danger la sécurité des cyclistes qui roulent sur les pistes cyclables.

Vancouver's Deadly Roads - continued

[I]n 2008, 34 pedestrians were killed. Two years before that, 38 people died. Vancouver’s rate works out to 1.7 people killed for every 100,000 in population—more than double Calgary’s and half again as many as Ottawa’s.

Students lead way with commuter challenge

Haliburton County's students were this year's "walk and roll" models in the third annual Commuter Challenge that took place from May 30 to June 5.

The purpose of the commuter challenge is to encourage people to try using active transportation to get to work, school or other destinations. Trip distances ranged from one km to over 50 km – regardless of length, the object was just to try it out.

Don't modify e-bikes say Sarnia Police

Sarnia Police are warning people who buy increasingly popular electronic bikes not to make changes to the bicycles.Police say altering the e-bike could cause it to lose its classification as a bike and turn it into a motor vehicle.

US Graphic

A graphic from the US that shows the increase in walking and cycling, coincident with increasing investment in AT infrastructure.

Vancouver - When the rubber hits the road for cyclists

Being a bike-friendly city sounds wonderful until you actually start trying to become one. That’s when the rubber truly meets the road and those travelling about in their automobiles discover that more space for cyclists means less space for them.

Watching Vancouver take its first tentative steps towards developing a serious biking culture has been fascinating – and even a little amusing. Compared to what’s happening on this front elsewhere in the world, the city is still on training wheels.

[Good article for all AT advocates to read and consider. -MH]

City of Cornwall Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan

The City of Cornwall Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan was initiated in September 2009 in order to create a document which on which the City will largely base its bicycle and pedestrian related decisions in the next decade and beyond.

Link is to the Executive Summary.

Vancouver - Giving rule-breaking cyclists a free ride unfair to drivers

June is Bike Month and police are handing out the information tickets to cyclists for these common offences, which carry fines between $29 and $167. The official word from the police department: "Warnings will be given out in June with the aim of improving compliance and enforcement will begin in July."

Am I the only motorist offended by this abandonment of enforcement? -Hello, these are not new rules. Nevertheless, the police continue each year around this time to mollycoddle cyclists, who know better yet continue to show a blatant disregard for the rules of the road and fellow road users.

Report - Walking and Cycling in America: Restoring “Forgotten” Modes of Transport

On June 16, the Federal Highway Administration released its National Biking and Walking Study, analyzing trends in transportation over the past 20 years. Turns out, there is more federal funding for pedestrian and cycling projects, there are less fatalities, and, overall, there are more trips taken by bike or foot.


The report is the third update of a study originally published in 1994 with a long-term goal of reducing road fatalities and encouraging more people to walk or cycle.

Vancouver's bicycle revolution about to shift into a higher gear

In the Vancouver version, there will be about 2,000 Bixis -- that's bike and taxi together -- docked in about 200 stations spread around the downtown core, Kitsilano, Fairview Slopes and Mount Pleasant, perhaps even as far out as Commercial Drive and the University of British Columbia. People will pay about $78 a year to belong to the system and get to ride a bike for free for the first 30 minutes, or pay a few dollars for the time they ride after that.

Ottawa - Alcatel-Lucent Sunday Bikedays

This Webpage describes the road motorized traffic program undertaken by the National Capital Commission in the City of Ottawa.

Regina SK - Bike rentals drive green campus

The University of Regina's newly launched bike rental program promotes environmental sustainability on campus through alternative and affordable transportation. Paul Corns, the university's director of communications, said the program is just one way in which the university aims to become greener.
"The bike rental program is really just the latest program that we are offering with regard to an increased level of commitment to the sustainability principle," said Corns.

Vancouver - Bike lanes choke a business to death

The Burrard Bridge bike lanes have claimed their first victim just as the city is getting ready to open more dedicated lanes on another downtown street. The victim is Appleton Galleries, a 45-year-old business that was choked to death by restrictions on both pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

Quispamsis NB - Funds are for active transportation

The provincial government announced Tuesday it will invest $20,000 in an active transportation system in Quispamsis.

Revelstoke BC - Trail alliance asks for city help with bike park plan

The Revelstoke Trail Alliance is looking for help from the city for their plans to build a bicycle pump track and dirt jump park in the city.

A concept for a volunteer-built track at Kovach Park was presented by the alliance a year ago, but it became mired down with insurance issues as well as some concerns from the neighbours.

October is International Walk to School Month

Register now and plan ahead for your school or group Walk to School Event in October 2010!

Feelings mixed over bike lane pilot plans

In a public consultation meeting at the Dalhousie Community Centre, city staff were outlining a pilot project to put a segregated bike-lane route through downtown Ottawa. Somerset Street is only one of 12 streets being considered, but [Peter So, chairman of the Somerset Street Chinatown BIA] had "a bad feeling" that Somerset, centrally located and well connected, would be too tempting for the transportation committee to pass up.

Legible London Walking Programme Wins Top US Wayfinding Prize

Legible London, the wayfinding system designed by Applied Information Group to help make London a world-class walking city, has won a top honour award at the Society of Environmental Graphic Design Design Awards.

The award win suggests that Legible London could provide a model for wayfinding in other world capitals and shows what can be achieved with the close collaboration of designers, city transport authorities and city administrative bodies.

10 ways cities and towns can kick the offshore-oil habit

[L]ocal governments don't have to wait for federal action. Through smart land use, cities, towns, and many rural areas can give residents the option of driving less -- a direct way to stem the demand for offshore (and foreign) oil.

[The author] spoke with leaders of the Smart Growth movement, along with advocates for economic justice, to learn about solutions that don't require new technology and, in many cases, pay for themselves. Want to do something in your own community to respond to BP's oil spill? Here are ten changes worth considering.

County supports development of active transportation plan

Council voted unanimously on Aug. 12 to participate in the development of a county wide active transportation plan, to support a Healthy Commu­ni­ties Partnership grant appli­cation by Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health, and will consider contributing finan­cially to the preparation of a county wide active transporta­tion plan as part of its five year capital plan.

Share the Road wins [FCM] award

Haliburton's Share the Road initiative has become more than just a cycling program thanks to an award the county recently received. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities recognized Haliburton County for its contribution to transportation sustainability at the first-ever Municipal Awards of Excellence, held May 29.

Thunder Bay makes progress in AT

Quite a bit has been happening in AT in Thunder Bay ON. Thanks to Adam Krupper, Active Transportation Coordinator, City of Thunder Bay, for sending links to a number of articles talking about the work that they have been doing.

Adam is quite proud of Thunder Bay's efforts, so I hope you will take a few minutes to update yourself on the city's work:

Report: US - The Hidden Health Costs of Transportation

Health impacts and costs have typically not been considered in the transportation policy, planning, and funding decision-making process. There are few standards ormodels for estimating health costs. However, existing research can be used to estimate the population at risk, themagnitude of the health impact, and the health costs associated with those impacts.Growing recognition of the connection between transportation, land development and health has resulted in some studies and examples where health impacts and costs have been considered and assessed. These examples not only demonstrate that health costs should be a significant factor in decision-making, but also show that calculating such costs is indeed possible.

Shaping Active, Healthy Communities – A Heart and Stroke Foundation Built Environment Toolkit for Change

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has developed Shaping Active, Healthy Communities a new tool kit to facilitate community engagement and help Canadians, (concerned citizens, community champions, developers and planners) to work together to influence and change how neighbourhoods are planned and designed so they are more conducive to encouraging physical activity and heart health.

Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany

This article shows how the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient and practical way to get around their cities.

The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily travelled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighbourhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling.