Walking or bicycling to work can motivate colleagues to follow suit

People who walk or bike to work are likely to influence their co-workers and partners to do the same, health researchers suggest. Read more.

Walking the golf course

The medical advantages of walking 18 holes of golf seem to be endless. Study after study describe a multitude of benefits that result from a commitment to walk the course. And, you don't need to carry your clubs to attain these benefits. Read more.

Map out your cycling and walking routes for Liveable Ottawa

Interactive surveys that let people draw their frequent routes are now online and will help guide how the city defines its active-transportation network for the next two decades. Two versions of the survey - one focused on walking and one on bicycling - are available at ottawa.ca/liveableottawa until June 7 as part of the Liveable Ottawa Official Plan and master plan updates. Read more.

Toronto Bike Summit highlights provincial bike-friendly strategy

Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray has promised a revamped provincial cycling strategy by the end of summer in a bid to ensure cities across the province are more bike-friendly. Read more.

Designing cities for better health: If you build it, they will walk

What if access to bike paths, nearby stores and supermarkets, has a significant impact on health? Builders across the country are creating communities designed to reverse what one planner calls the “unintended consequences” of the earliest efforts to use urban design to combat disease. Read more.

Why Women Bike

If you could tell a room full of women that are interested in biking or a little nervous to get started, what would you tell them? Read more.

The Pedestrian–Cyclist Armistice

Antagonism has long simmered between pedestrians and cyclists in New York. As bicycle commuting has increased, so have eruptions of hostility between the two factions: These days, no intersection is immune to shouted insults and raised middle fingers. Read more.

Canmore’s first Bike Month

The full calendar of activities is available from the Canmore Bike Month thanks to the efforts of Adam Robertson, Town of Canmore, Marketing & Sales Coordinator and Luke Raymond, Marketing Specialist with Tourism Canmore Kananaskis. The website is up and running thanks to Tourism Canmore Kananaskis.  You can access it by typing in www.bikecanmore.ca.  After bike month is over, this will be developed into the ongoing website for the promotion of cycling in Canmore.

An Interview with David Burney: On New York and the 21st-Century City-State

"In fact, most of the space of city streets — 89 percent — was devoted to the car. There wasn't much left for pedestrians, and cyclists were hardly in the picture at all. So during the past decade, the Department of Transportation, under Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, has implemented a “Complete Streets” policy, with the goal of giving the pedestrian and the cyclist equal rights with motor vehicles. By expanding the width of sidewalks and creating new plazas, and by creating an extensive network of bike lanes, the NYC DOT has made the streets more walkable and bikeable; the city is a more enjoyable experience." Read more.

The Surprising Diversity of the American Cycling Community

A new report from the League of American Bicyclists and the Sierra Club is challenging a tenacious racial stereotype about people who ride bicycles. "We wanted to dispel one of the major misconceptions, which is that bicycling is just for young, white, urban professionals," says Carolyn Szczepanski, director of communications at LAB. "This report starts to shift that general misconception of who is riding." Read more.

London UK - Crackdown on drivers who stop in bike boxes at lights

Drivers who stop in bicycle boxes at traffic lights face fines of £60 and three penalty points on their licences as City Hall plans a crackdown. Read more.

Car-Free City: China Builds Dense Metropolis from Scratch

Altering most of today’s cities to eliminate cars altogether would be a daunting, if not impossible, proposition – which is why China is starting from scratch. Great City will be built around a high-rise core housing 80,000 people, entirely walkable, and surrounded by green space. Read more.

Not exactly Active Transportation (unless you think that hiking is Active Recreation, and therefore counts), but I want to announce the publication of my latest book: Hiking Trails of Montréal. You can obtain it from Chapters/Indigo, MEC, or Amazon. Additional information.

Bicycles Are For People Who Can’t Be Late

Bicycles may be a healthy way to get around a city, helping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. But they are often the fastest and most reliable way to get around a city too. Read more.

Spacing partners with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank on a new investigative research series

Spacing is pleased to be working with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank, a research partnership located at the School of the Environment, University of Toronto, devoted to increasing cycling for transportation. This is the start of an ongoing series of posts looking at some of the research coming out of the think tank. Though looking at Toronto in particular, we think it will be of interest to cyclists and cycling advocates across the country — the more cycling information there is, the better. Read more.

Dutch Cycling Embassy Newsletter

Published Quarterly. Read.

London UK - Schoolkids should just walk

Today's schoolchildren face future illness because parents insist on driving them to school, according to a new report. Read more.

Calgary - Why so few kids walk and ride bikes to school

Captain Nichola Goddard School teacher Deborah Rheinstein recalls a school meeting in which some parents worried the traffic chaos at drop-off time was too dangerous for kids on foot or bikes, so they chose do drive instead. Although she was too kind to say it, the irony of that situation is sadly rich. Read more.

Taking the Guesswork out of Designing for Walkability

The lack of adequate pedestrian behavior models means that designing for walkability has largely remained a matter of intuition. However, agent-based simulation can provide insight into the keys for creating pedestrian-friendly places. Read more.

Webinar - Lessons from Europe on transit priority and livable streets

This webinar is hosted by the Urban and Regional Policy Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. It is part of an ongoing webinar series exploring and encouraging practitioner learning. For more information, visit gmfus.org/urban. Read more.

Ontario - Minister's Statement on Metrolinx Investment Strategy

"There is much work to do to address this challenge and the new Ontario government is taking action to expand the GTHA transportation system by building roads, expanding the region's public transit network and integrating active transportation systems," said Glen Murray, Minister of Transportation and Minister of Infrastructure. "Our government will continue to expand the transportation and transit system, beginning with building the next wave of projects identified in the Metrolinx Big Move plan." Read statement.

Streetfilms - Citibike Debuts in New York City!

 Hundreds of reporters and cameras were on hand to watch Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan ring in the launch. Streetfilms was there at this historic moment and put together this fun four-minute film which features a Citibike bike share station along a protected bike lane, David Byrne telling us what he will do with bike share and the best shot anyone got of Commissioner Sadik-Khan test driving the bike at City Hall. See more.

European Cycling Federation awarded €1 million to promote physical activity across Europe

ECF is delighted to announce that an important partnership between ECF and the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) has been awarded €1 million grant from the European Union budget. Read more.

Halifax - Ped/Bike lanes removed during bridge redecking - but no disruption to car traffic

Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) will undertake a major and essential project beginning in early 2015. HHB expects minimal interruptions to motor vehicle travel during weekdays, but there will be a disruption of service for cyclists and pedestrians. Read more.

Cyclists call for separated Stanley Park bike lane

Cycling advocates are calling on the B.C. government to create a separated bike lane along the Stanley Park Causeway following the death of 61-year-old woman Saturday evening. Read more.

New York bike scheme a cumbersome alternative to the real thing

After spending 40 minutes on a bike, I am now obsessed with bike-riding in the city, but not enamored with the program – I'd rather put the cost of annual membership toward an actual bicycle. Read more.

Is Generation Y a ‘Game Changer’ for Housing?

Many housing observers agree that Generation Y—people from 18 to 34 years of age—largely prefers downtown living, often in rental apartments with easy access to walkable neighborhoods and public transportation. Read more.

Most Ontarians want more bicycle lanes, survey shows

The annual poll commissioned by Share the Road Cycling Coalition also found that a majority of Torontonians — 71 per cent — would like to see funding for active transportation included in Metrolinx’s $30 billion Big Move. Read more.

Toronto - Big moment for walking and cycling

The Big Move, the 25-year regional transportation plan, is an ambitious plan that will dramatically improve transportation in the GTHA. On Monday, Metrolinx, the provincial agency responsible for developing the Big Move, will announce its recommendations on how to pay for these transportation improvements. Read more.

Younger Americans: No House, No Car, Less Debt

Americans under 35 are carrying substantially less debt than they were before the 2008 meltdown, according to an analysis released Thursday by The Pew Research Center. Still, they've also put off the big ticket purchases like cars and houses that are typically the main reasons for taking on debt. Read more.

Citi Bikes land in New York: what to expect from the long-awaited scheme

Glowing in Citbank blue, hundreds of Bloomberg Bikes emerged from nowhere onto the streets of New York in the early hours of Friday, greeted with a combination of curiosity, puzzlement, and not a little suspicion. Read more.

Change in Cycle Track Policy Needed to Boost Ridership, Public Health

Bicycle engineering guidelines often used by state regulators to design bicycle facilities need to be overhauled to reflect current cyclists' preferences and safety data, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. Read more.

Report: 21st Century Transportation

The Driving Boom, a six decade-long period of steady increases in per-capita driving in the United States, is over. The report finds that under any reasonable scenario, the number of miles driven annually will be far fewer in the future than if Baby Boom trends had continued. Read more.

Streets That Work

Given limited space, the key to harmony between drivers, bikers, and walkers comes down to controlling vehicle speeds. Slower speeds allow bikers to comfortably and confidently share the lane. Slower speeds result in better yielding behavior when driver encounters walker. Slower speeds abet the commercial success of this street by making it a pleasant place to spend time. Read more.

Truro - Bike Week aims to get people physically active

The sixth annual Bike Week gets underway today and Burgess, Colchester County’s manager of recreation services, wants cyclists to get out and enjoy the sport now. Read now.

Every Body Walk! 2013 Summit

October 1-3, 2013 - Washington D.C.

Join national and local leaders to engage in inspiring conversations and sessions that will build capacity, develop strategies, increase momentum and showcase best practices to increase investments in walkability and walking. This event will model how to integrate walking and physical activity into a conference format, including a "hill and agency walking day." Read more.

Growing number of Americans going carless

Whether by choice or because of financial necessity, the number of American households without a car has doubled over the past two decades – and is now approaching 10 percent. Read more.

Walking works – so why are we so sedentary?

"It felt like we were marching through a battlefield. People were gasping for breath and shouting for help. Lots didn't make it to the end, either collapsing from exhaustion or unable to take the pain any longer." That is how one friend dramatically described the 24-hour, 100km charity walk from London to Brighton. Read more.

McMaster prof says low grade in kids health report card requires lifestyle changes

New to the report card this year, are suggestions for physical activity promotion for children with disabilities. Read more.

St. Catherine's - City eyes bike lane-erasing hospital parking

A recent city staff report recommends paid on-street parking on First Street by the new St. Catharines hospital, between Fourth Avenue and the CPR rail mainline. It would eliminate about 400 metres of bike lanes on the west side. Read more.

Report card shows Ottawa Public Health initiatives on right path to getting kids active

A new report card that shows Canadian children and youth are spending more time being driven to and from school, sports activities, and friends’ homes supports Ottawa Public Health’s (OPH) three-year strategy to make active transportation an integral part of children’s daily lives. Read more.

U.S. Cities Growing Faster Than Suburbs

America’s biggest cities are continuing to outgrow their suburbs as the economy’s plodding recovery makes it harder for city dwellers to move to greener pastures. Read more.

Yarmouth - Walk 'n Wheel Fest: Active Transportation Week May 25-June 1

For further information visit www.exploresouthshore.ca/walknwheel

Taxes Too High? Try Building Walkable, Mixed-Use Development

Smart growth could increase Fresno’s tax revenue by 45 percent per acre. In Champaign, Illinois, it could save 23 percent per year on city services. Study after study has demonstrated: Walkable, mixed-use development is a much better deal for municipalities than car-oriented suburban development. Read more.

Videos - City Walk

City Walk is a unique six-part series that reveals the way walking is transforming cities across America, and in the process, re-connecting us to our bodies, our civic values and public space. Read more and view.

Millennials Lead the Trend to Less Driving, But What Happens As They Get Older?

It is unquestionably true that Americans are driving less today than we did just a few years ago. Sometime around 2004, our addiction to driving – expressed on a graph in the decades-long steep expansion of “vehicle miles traveled” – took a turn in the opposite direction. Per capita, we began to drive fewer miles each year than we had the year before. As the U.S. population has continued to grow, our collective miles traveled by car has begun to stagnate. Read more.

Remember walking to school? Well, your kids probably don't

From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of youth aged 5-17 using only inactive modes of transportation for school commutes increased from 51 per cent to 62 per cent.

The report found many data sources in different age groups suggested only 25 to 35 per cent of Canadian kids and youth use active transport to and from school. Among youth aged 15 to 17, time spent walking daily dipped from 17 minutes to 11 minutes between 1992 and 2010. Read more.

Busy parking spots in Calgary may soon cost more

A council committee has accepted a plan to base inner-city parking rates on how popular parking is on any given street. Read more.

Analytics for cities: Why Bike Score rankings actually matter

There's a secret behind Bike Score's address-level rigor: unlike most urban rankings, which exist mostly to lure eyeballs, this one is made by a private company, Walk Score, that is dedicated to carving out a commercial niche for itself in the real estate business. Read more.

U.S. - The Bike Boom Is Happening in Cities Making a Push to Improve Cycling

The League of American Bicyclists reports today that the cities seeing the biggest jump in bike commuting are, by and large, also the cities that have been recognized by the League as “bike-friendly” for their efforts to make biking safer and more convenient. Read more.

Walking, Biking, Infrastructure and Traffic Models

Building off of recent news about the reduction in driving, US PIRG has a new study out this week that’s garnered a lot of media attention. The study, titled “Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s Future” has the nifty summary stating, “The Driving Boom—a six decade-long period of steady increases in per-capita driving in the United States—is over.” Read more.

Study - Associations Between Neighbourhood Walkability, Active School Transport and Physical Activity Levels in Primary and Secondary School Students

This longitudinal pilot-study examined the associations of neighbourhood walkability with active school transport (AST) and pedometer-determined physical activity (PA) immediately before and after the transition from primary to secondary school. Read more.

City of Vancouver seeks public input on expanding pedestrians, cyclists corridor to Jericho Beach

Vancouver residents are being asked to weigh in on how to develop a safer connection for pedestrians and cyclists between the Burrard Street Bridge and Jericho beach. Read more.

Shift to sustainable transport modes is good for the economy, new study finds

The German automotive industry is one of the largest industrial sectors in Germany and employs 730,000 people, according to its association VDA. Yet a shift to sustainable transport would grow the economy and create much more new jobs than lost in the automotive sector, a German study finds. Read more.

Active transportation declines: Fewer kids commuting by foot, bike

Active Healthy Kids Canada released its annual Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth on Tuesday, assigning a “D” grade in the category of active transportation. A “D minus” grade was given for overall physical activity levels. Read more.

Australia - Walk Safely to School Day celebrated with special smartphone app

For the first time children will be able to track and compare their daily walks with the help of a Walk Safely to School Day smartphone app. The digital addition to the annual healthy living promotion, available on iPhones and Androids, measures distance and average speeds, allowing schools to create scoreboards to help students get more motivated and involved. Read more.

Pelham ON - Cyclists reminded of expiry dates

In observance of Road Safety Week in Pelham — May 16 to May 23 — the Pelham Active Transportation Committee is offering Rediscover Your Bike. The event will be held May 23 in the parking lot at Cafe on Main on Pelham St. Read more.

Kingsville ON - Calling For Quicker Action

Kingsville residents are pushing for the town to move faster in implementing its part of the County Wide Active Transportation System. Read more.

No evidence cycle helmet laws reduce head injuries: study

Bicycle helmets may prevent head injuries, but a newly published study has found there's no evidence that mandatory helmet laws do the same thing. Read more.

No more lycra? Cycling apparel is changing...

Cycling apparel is changing in the bike shop because there is a new cyclist coming in your door. The ‘main street’ customer. Read more.

Halifax - Staff pick preferred bike path

A proposed north-south cycling route on peninsular Halifax should be developed focusing on Windsor, Vernon and Seymour streets, municipal staff have recommended. Read more.

Council Bikes in Halifax

Mayor ‘nervous’ as he joins councillors for bike ride through downtown Halifax. Read more.

Walking activist Dylan Reid makes great strides for pedestrian advocacy in Toronto

This year Dylan Reid co-founded Walk Toronto with fellow alumni of the city’s now-defunct Toronto Pedestrian Committee which he used to co-chair. Along with walking advocates Roger Brook and Sean Marshall, as well as cycling activist Michael Black, Reid held the first meeting, attended by nearly 100, at Metro Hall in February 2013. Read more.

Winnipeg - 'Walking school bus' sets positive example

Theresa Tougas is a woman of action. When a few children from her neighbourhood asked if they could walk with her to the school where she works as an educational assistant, Tougas started a "walking school bus" for 20 children. Read more.

Reykjavík - Plans To Improve Bike Lanes And Sidewalks In The 101

The city plans to begin renovating Hverfisgata, Frakkastígur and Klapparstígur this summer to make these roads more pedestrian and cyclist friendly, mbl reports. Read more.

Cyclists get a Spring tune-up in Thorold ON

Cyclists gathered at Battle of Beaverdams Park for the first ‘Dust Off Your Bike’ event in Thorold on Saturday. It was run by the Thorold Active Transportation Advisory Committee (TATAC) and the Business Improvement Area (BIA) in hopes of creating better awareness on bike safety in Thorold. Read more.

Cyclists Aren't 'Special,' and They Shouldn't Play by Their Own Rules

There is a price to be paid for trying to move beyond the life-threatening rodeo days of cycling in major American cities. It’s called civic responsibility. Playing by the rules. Making nice. Whatever you want to call it, it may mean that you’re going to have to give up your identity as a special person who does some special activity known as cycling. Read more.

Dedicated Bike Lanes Can Cut Cycling Injuries in Half

Your chance of injury drops by about 50 percent, relative to that major city street, when riding on a similar road with a bike lane and no parked cars. The same improvement occurs on bike paths and local streets with designated bike routes. And protected bike lanes – with actual barriers separating cyclists from traffic – really make a difference. The risk of injury drops for riders there by 90 percent. Read more.

Bike lanes led to 49% increase in retail sales

Back in November 2012, the New York Department of Transportation released a report called Measuring the Street: New Metrics for the 21st Century, which had some compelling figures on the way that local business benefits from bike-lanes, for the fairly obvious reason that cyclists find it easy to stop and shop, as compared to drivers, who are more likely to continue on to a mall with a big parking lot, or shop online.

Families WILL Choose to Live Downtown, If We Design for Kids!

How do you design a downtown for families? As a general philosophy, it starts with planning and designing with the parent and child in mind. Is this a place kids want to be? A place where parents have what they need, family-raising infrastructure and support systems? We like to say "a neighbourhood that's designed to work for kids, works for everyone." Read more.

5,000 steps a day to avoid paying higher health insurance costs? When money talks, people walk

When people had to choose between paying up to 20 percent more for health insurance or exercising more, the majority of enrollees met fitness goals one step at a time via an Internet-tracked walking program, according to a joint study by the University of Michigan Health System and Stanford University. Read more.

Getting Moose Jaw on the Move

An upcoming Active Transportation workshop is aiming to get Moose Jaw on the Move, May 15, 2013. Read more.

ReThink London releases first set of directions that could guide London (ON)

A poster child for suburban sprawl, London occupies the same land area as Toronto but with only a fraction of its population. Continuing that trend will cost billions, a new city report shows. Randy Richmond reports on the growth options being laid out for Londoners. Read more.

Becoming a Bike Nation

It’s this type of casual urban approach to bikes that’s said to be fuelling North America’s growing love affair with pedal power as a transportation option. For the moment, the car still rules the roads of the New World and the most visible bike money-makers remain big events firmly rooted in the realm of sport. Just the same, more and more North American cities (think New York, Chicago, Portland, Minneapolis) are growing government spending on bicycle infrastructure, which is in turn leading to higher ridership levels and new business opportunities. Read more.

Who Should Pay for Transportation Infrastructure? What is Fair?

Somebody who never drives pays, on average, about $267 in annual general taxes to fund roadways. These economic transfers are far greater if we also account for vehicle parking subsidies. Read more.

Reminder - 2013 Complete Streets Forum

2013 Complete Streets Forum is TCAT's sixth annual active transportation conference taking place on May 27, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency in Toronto. The Complete Streets Forum provides a unique opportunity for communities who share common active transportation issues to speed up and make more substantial progress by working more closely together. Read more.

Video Release! "Walk to School Manitoba"

Introducing our first ever video for the Active and Safe Routes to School program in Manitoba! We hope you will help us increase awareness for active transportation in youth by sharing this video with your colleagues. View now.

Edmonton - Councillor Connection: Sharing the road with cyclists

Bicycle lanes and routes have been a controversial topic for discussion in our city recently. Read more.

Huntsville - Highway 60 plans skip active transportation

A study proposing long-term improvements to a major highway in Huntsville and Lake of Bays does not include bicycle lanes, despite requests from area councillors for them. Read more.

Television - City Walk

City Walk is a unique six-part series that reveals the way walking is transforming cities across America, and in the process, re-connecting us to our bodies, our civic values and public space. Learn more.

Why aren’t younger Americans driving anymore?

Ever since the recession hit in late 2007, Americans have been driving less and less. Was that because of the horrible economy? To some extent, perhaps. But it’s striking that Americans are still cutting back on driving even though the economy is growing again. Read more.

Article - The New Transportation Planning Paradigm

Demographic and economic trends, and new community concerns, are changing the way practitioners define transportation problems and evaluate potential solutions. A new paradigm expands the range of modes, objectives, impacts and options considered in transport planning. This article discusses this paradigm shift and its implications on our profession. Read more.

Manual - Pedestrian safety: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners

From the World Health Organization, this volume describes the magnitude of pedestrian deaths and injuries; key risk factors; ways of assessing the pedestrian safety situation in a given setting and prepare an action plan; and how to select, design, implement and evaluate effective interventions. The manual stresses the importance of a comprehensive, holistic approach that includes engineering, legislation and enforcement as well as behavioural measures. It also draws attention to the benefits of walking, which should be promoted as an important mode of transport given its potential to improve health and preserve the environment. Link to manual.

Canada failing cyclists and pedestrians, UN report finds

While 77 per cent of United Nations countries carry out safety audits to ensure the safety of road infrastructure projects for cyclists and pedestrians, Canada does not, and is contributing to a concerning trend of countries promoting alternative forms of transportation without ensuring their safety, according to the Global Status Report on Road Safety. Read more.

Ditch the car if you are not travelling far, new campaign urges

Scotland - People are being urged to ditch the car for short journeys and get active to help save the environment. Read more.

How You Cross the Street Largely Depends on Where You're From

During six weeks in Tokyo last year I noticed that Japanese pedestrians did something that walkers in Manhattan rarely do: they waited to cross the street until the signal permitted. Read more.

Increased walking can mean improved memory

New research from various institutes including the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois found walking or riding a bike for six months or up to a year can help improve memory as well as problem solving skills in older adults by up to 20 percent. Read more.

Thorold Active Transportation Committee hosting cycling event this weekend

The Thorold Active Transportation Advisory Committee (TATAC) and the Thorold Business Improvement Association (BIA) are teaming up for a cycling event called ‘Dust Off Your Bikes’, this Saturday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Battle of Beaverdams Park in Thorold. Read more.

Saskatoon council creates active transportation reserve

After pushing for reserve funding during this year’s budget deliberation, Councillor Charlie Clark is happy council has moved forward to for dedicated funding for active transportation. Read more.

Kingston - Williamsville Cycling Lanes to be Discussed

How might cycling lanes be incorporated along Princess Street as Williamsville is redeveloped?  That's the question that will be considered at public workshops set for Wednesday, May 8 in Memorial Hall, City Hall, 216 Ontario St.  Participants are asked to pre-register for a 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. workshop or a 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. workshop, by contacting williamsvillestudy@cityofkingston.ca or 613-546-4291, ext. 3180.

U.S. - One in Five Adults Meet Overall Physical Activity Guidelines

About 20 percent of U.S. adults are meeting both the aerobic and muscle strengthening components of the federal government's physical activity recommendations, according to a report published in today's (May 6, 2013) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more.

The Economist - Cycling is the new golf

Traditionally, business associates would get to know each other over a round of golf. But road cycling is fast catching up as the preferred way of networking for the modern professional. Read more.

Walking essential for those with arthritis, but few do

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said for adults with arthritis physical activity is an essential self-management strategy proven to reduce pain and increase function. "Walking is a low impact, acceptable and feasible way of obtaining these benefits and one preferred by those with arthritis, in part because it can be done in bouts as short as 10 minutes," the report said. Read more.

U.K. - Quarter of adults walk just an hour a week, survey finds

A poll for the walking charity the Ramblers suggests 25% of adults walk for no more than one hour each week. The YouGov survey, which polled 2,000 adults across Britain about walking habits, found another 43% reported walking for less than two hours a week.

Government guidelines suggest people should do 150 minutes of "moderate" physical activity each week. Read more.

It’s time for Toronto to think bigger about bikes

For a city with big ambitions, Toronto often thinks awfully small. Consider a couple of examples from the world of bikes. Read more.

New York - Bicycling in the City and Living to Tell a Skittish Class

Attempts at rider-driver peacekeeping were a theme of Ms. Crotty’s presentation, despite one aside in which she extolled the “8,000 reasons why riding a bike is superior to driving a car.” Proper signaling as a cyclist, she said, was a sign of respect to drivers, a way of “giving them the info they need” to avoid a crash and demonstrating that they should respect cyclists in kind. Read more.

Toronto - Bike station project comes back to council

The future of an underground bike station at Nathan Philips Square goes before Toronto city council today. A total of $1.2 million in funding was approved for the bike station back in 2010. A total of $650,000 has already been spent on the project but Mayor Rob Ford calls it a "complete waste" of taxpayers' money and vows to scrap it. Read more.

Vancouver - Changes coming to Pt. Grey Road

The city is planning to make significant changes to create what they are calling an "active transportation corridor" that runs from the south end of the Burrard Bridge all the way west along Cornwall and Point Grey Road to Alma. And just so you know, "active transportation" means cyclists, transit users and pedestrians. Read more.

HRM sprawl could cost extra $3B for municipal services

A former finance director of the city of Halifax says a new report on urban sprawl is a wake up call as the region tries to expand services. The study by Stantec says Halifax could save up to $3 billion over the next 18 years the city can get a handle on sprawl. Read more.

Top 20 Bicycle Friendly Cities 2013 released by Copenhagenize

If cycling forms part of your vacation plans this year or if you’re considering a move to a different city and are keen on cycling, you might want to check out the newly released Copenhagenize Index of the world’s most bicycle friendly cities. Read more.

Only one North American city, Montreal, made the cut.

Doubling cycling by 2020 set to become EU policy

On Thursday a key committee of European MEPs adopted ECF’s Vision for doubling cycling in the EU by 2020 and the target is on course to be adopted as full EU policy later this year. Read more.

Sudbury - Elgin Greenway open house goes May 9

Greater Sudbury will host an open house May 9 to hear ideas on how to turn Elgin Street into a green, sustainable and active transportation corridor. Read more.

The 10 Best New Complete Streets Policies In The U.S.

Cities across the U.S.are making plans to cater to bikers and pedestrians (along with cars) as they design and manage their transportation infrastructure. These 10 cities are the ones doing it best. Read more.

Windsor to invest $1.7M in active transportation infrastructure

County councillors agreed to a plan Wednesday (May 1) that could see $1,762,930 invested this year in active transportation infrastructure. Read more.

May/June 2013 American Bicyclist

With a focus on National Bike Month, this issue of American Bicyclist includes stories on our new Equity Advisory Council, the evolution of Cyclofemme, a feature on the Many Faces of Bike Month, our Bike Month Bingo card, an infographic on the growth of bicycle commuting and more. Read.

A New American Revolution: Walking in Pursuit of Happiness and Health

The next big health care breakthrough – which could cut rates of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and Alzheimers by at least 40 percent and save Americans $100 billion a year – comes from a place you’d least expect: your street. Read more.

Where ‘Share the Road’ Is Taken Literally

“Woonerf” is what the Dutch call a special kind of street or group of streets that functions as shared public space — for pedestrians, cyclists, children and, in some cases, for slow-moving, cautiously driven cars as well. Read more.