City of Vancouver invites public participaton on plan for more bike lanes, transit service and walkability

The City of Vancouver is inviting public input on an ambitious draft transportation plan for 2040 until July 13, which includes plans for expanding bicycle routes, expanding pedestrian corridors and prioritizing better transit service in high commuter density areas such as the Broadway corridor. Read more.

District-wide active transportation plan possible for Edmonton Public School Board

Parents driving their kids to school is a growing trend, and it’s something the Edmonton Public School Board is trying to put the brakes on. Read more.

Bradford wants your comments on implementation

The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury's Council directed the active transportation committee to draft an implementation plan and budget for the introduction of transit to the community. Read more.

Brakes off for Vancouver’s bike-friendly future

The Vision-Vancouver-dominated council approved plans Wednesday to launch a bike-share program by next spring, naming a Portland company, in conjunction with Montreal’s Bixi bikes, as the likely private partner. It declared that its two-year trial of separated bike lanes downtown is no longer a trial, but permanent. And the recently released draft transportation plan envisions an even more aggressively bike-friendly city, where trips by car are reduced from the current 60 per cent to only 33 per cent by 2040. Read more.

Physical inactivity costs [Canadian] taxpayers $6.8B a year

The more Canadians settle into a life of physical inactivity, the more they exact a toll on the country's health care system, a new study from Queen's University suggested. The report, published online in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, estimated the total cost of a life of lassitude had reached approximately $6.8 billion in 2009, or 3.7 per cent of all health care costs. Read more.

Vancouver - Bicycle lanes on Dunsmuir and Hornby streets should be permanent: report

Strong public support for Vancouver's separated bicycle lanes on Dunsmuir and Hornby streets shows the temporary lanes should now be made permanent. That's the conclusion of a city staff report going to council next week that recommends the city keep the structures in place. Read more.

Quebec pledges $2.7 billion to tackle climate change

Quebec plans to spend $2.7 billion to tackle climate change by 2020. Quebec plans to spend two-thirds of the money on transportation measures, such as improving public transit, carpooling, taxi-sharing and active transportation like walking and cycling. Read more.

Esquimalt to seek funding again for Admirals Road improvements

One of the busiest streets in Esquimalt may go under the knife to receive bicycle lanes and traffic-calming measures, if outside funding can be secured. Read more.

2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card

According to the newly released 2012 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, active play is on the decline in Canada. Almost half of our kids get only three hours or less of active play per week-including weekends.

Ottawa - Reimagining Downtown: Bicycles instead of buses

A working document that imagines a remaking of downtown Ottawa — after the rail system replaces 2,000 of the 2,600 bus trips currently made each day through the city core — proposes a dense network of segregated bicycle lanes on every major artery, shared bike and pedestrian routes on some roads, and many painted bike lanes on others. Read more.

Oakville launches interactive cycle/walk town map

The Town of Oakville announced yesterday (Tuesday), the launch of its interactive Cycle, Walk Oakville map, which offers a new way for cyclists and pedestrians to plan their route through the Town’s combined 255 kilometres of trails and paved bike paths. Read more.

Pictou NS - Bike Week has something for everyone

“It really is for everyone,” said Active Pictou County Coordinator Rae Gunn. “Whether it’s someone just beginning and looking at getting a bike or someone that has been riding for awhile and wants to learn new routes to ride, there is something for everyone.” Read more.

German Government Gathers Cycling Literature

The German Institute of Urban Affairs has developed one of Europe’s largest databases on cycling literature. As of May 2012, the database contains over 2100 literature sources, of which 1.100 can be downloaded. Most literature is in German with 20% in English and French or at the very least with an English summary. Read more.

Melbourne AU - Draft Bicycle Plan 2012-16

The draft Bicycle Plan 2012-16 is the City of Melbourne’s action plan for bicycle infrastructure and programs to make Melbourne safer and more attractive for current and future cyclists.

By 2016, cycling will account for 6 per cent of all trips to and within the city, with bicycles representing more than 15 per cent of all vehicles entering the central city during the morning peak. Read more.

Trail plans put Richmond Hill ahead of curve

The town’s bike and pedestrian plan will shift into second gear this summer, as plans for new off-road bike lanes begin to take shape. To complement the existing 160 kilometres of road routes, which were completed last summer, the second phase of Richmond Hill’s pedestrian cycling master plan calls for another 39 km of off-road trails over the next 10 years. Read more.

Sudbury - Drivers in bike lanes could face charges

People who live and cycle on a busy Sudbury street are upset that drivers are using the bikes lanes to pass other vehicles. Read more.