A Comparison of Measures of Walkability in Relation to Transportation Behaviors, Obesity and Diabetes in Toronto, Canada

The design of suburban communities encourages car dependency and discourages walking, characteristics that have been implicated in the rise of obesity. Walkability measures have been developed to capture these features of urban built environments. Our objective was to examine the individual and combined associations of residential density and the presence of walkable destinations. Read more.

Document: Safe Routes to Everywhere

In this policy platform, the Partnership for Active Transportation recommends increased investment in active transportation, with a focus on filling gaps in networks, leveraged by the private value created by the infrastructure, and further driven by performance metrics and integration of health impacts into transportation decisions. Download the report.

Registration is Now Open for the Ontario Bike Summit

Share The Road is excited to announce that registration for the 6th Annual Ontario Bike Summit - I Bike I Vote, is now open!  The Summit takes place on April 14th & 15th at the Hyatt Regency on King, Toronto. Information about the Ontario Bike Summit as well as registration can be found here.

L.A.'s plan to make Figueroa a 'complete street' makes sense

Los Angeles is on the verge of transforming four miles of Figueroa from downtown to Exposition Park into the city's first "complete street," serving cars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians equally. The $20-million project, which would replace two car lanes with protected bike lanes, has been in development for six years. If completed, it will be a significant milestone in L.A.'s evolution from car-centric sprawl to walkable, bikeable urban villages. Read more.

A Clever Cargo-Bike Parking Solution

These days, cargo bikes are common enough on the streets where I live. But I still have no idea where people park the damn things, which are quite expensive and potentially tempting to thieves. Read more.

This is how bike progress happens: Each win begets the next

For people working to make biking safe and comfortable for more Americans, each step of the way can be frustrating. Is such-and-such improvement big enough to make a difference? It's a difficult dance. But Calgary, Alberta, is again proving that this dance is a two-step. Read more.

Cyclist heads down freeway, blames GPS

"He was blissfully unaware he'd committed any offense," added Sgt. Dix. This was before issuing him a fine of 50 British pounds (around $83) for being a complete nincompoop. I'm sorry, I meant for contravening a road traffic sign. Read more.

Zebra stripe crosswalks approved in Halifax

Halifax council has approved new markings for crosswalks without lights. The city plans to paint zebra crossings at all crosswalks that do not have flashing lights or are not part of major intersections. Read more.

How can the workplace encourage cycling?

The City of Victoria (BC, Canada) will soon be rolling out participation for its new Bicycle Master Plan. The goal of the plan is to identify key areas to improve connectivity and safety for cyclists. Read more.

Calgary crafting strategy for pedestrian promotion

Work on Calgary’s pedestrian plan is in its infancy. Planners will share the scope of it with councillors later this year. Coun. Druh Farrell, who has been calling for a citywide pedestrian strategy, primarily to improve safety, sees plenty of potential in the strategy. “How do you improve the pedestrian environment so that people feel comfortable and actually interested in going out and walking. That’s really the ultimate goal,” she said. Read more.

Waterloo - Bike lanes not wide enough, cyclists don't feel safe, region told

A delegate speaking about the region’s active transportation master plan criticized several elements, calling targets “wimpy” and saying the minimum bike lane width is a “recipe for trouble or death.” Roger Suffling, a member of the Bicycling Advocacy Committee of Kitchener Easy Riders Bicycle Club, said the region’s minimum cycling lane width of 1.25 metres is unsafe, outdated and scary. Read more.

Walk 21 Sydney 2014

The NSW Government in partnership with the City of Sydney won the right to host the 2014 Walk 21 event. It will be held at Luna Park on 21-23 October 2014.


Abstracts are invited from anyone who has, or is, conducting original research and evaluations or has case studies that highlight effective policy and community initiatives. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words in length and should be structured in a way that describes the aim, method, results and conclusions of the paper.


Abstract submissions are open now and must be submitted online by the closing date of 14 March 2014. Read more.

Halifax - Crosswalk safety, car-pedestrian crashes focus of report

There have been 43 car-pedestrian accidents in Halifax area so far this year. Half of those accidents happened in a crosswalk. In the last 55 days, 24 people in the city have been hit by a car while in a crosswalk. Read more.

Winnipeg - Political will a must to spur year-round cycling in city

The conditions for developing a four-season cycling culture in Winnipeg are more favourable than they were in Minneapolis. Our city is denser, it's smaller with far shorter commuting distances, a more highly concentrated downtown workforce and stronger initial participation levels. Both cities have ample sunshine and flat topography, each with rail lines and hydro corridors that could serve as 'bicycle freeways.'


Climate and urban form are not the most important factors in developing an urban cycling culture. The common characteristic shared by all bike cities is political leadership that makes active-transportation policy a priority. Read more.

Calgary - With cycling and transit done, city hall begins work on pedestrian strategy

Transportation general manager Mac Logan told council Monday that early work has begun on a city pedestrian strategy. This comes after a particularly dangerous start to 2014 for pedestrians on city streets: earlier this month, cars killed two people trying to cross at marked crosswalks. “This is an important transportation mode and we often forget about it,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. The strategy will likely be ready for release in 2015. Read more.

Why big downtown developers are betting on cyclists

In the midst of the latest downtown building boom, developers of a new generation of office towers and skyscrapers have quietly embraced cycling. Nearly every incoming major commercial development downtown is being designed with extensive facilities for cyclists, from expansive areas for secure bike parking to huge shower and locker facilities inside. Read more.

Amsterdam accelerating development of new cycling facilities

The municipality of Amsterdam has decided to accelerate the introduction of additional measures to assist cyclists in the capital. With overcrowding on bike lanes and in parking spaces near train stations, the situation in Amsterdam has become more serious. Read more.

Video - Protected Intersections For Bicyclists

This proposal for the George Mason University 2014 Cameron Rian Hays Outside the Box Competition presents a vision for a safe, clear intersection design that improves conditions for all users. Proper design of refuge islands, crossing position and signal timing can create a safe intersection that people of all ages and abilities would feel safe in. Read more.

Walking club organized in Baddeck

The walks, in partnership with the Baddeck Library and the Cape Breton Regional Library, began four weeks ago and are now listed on the Victoria County Winter ActiveFest events list. Read more.

Kitchener - Active transportation targets called wimpy and not useful

A delegate speaking about the region’s active transportation master plan criticized several elements, calling targets “wimpy” and saying the minimum bike lane width is a “recipe for trouble or death.” Read more.

Research mounts to show ‘sitting is the new smoking’

A study published Wednesday in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that for those 60 and older, every additional hour a day spent sitting is linked to a doubling of the risk of disability, regardless of the amount of moderate exercise the person gets. Read more.

Vancouver's Canada Line Is a Model of Transit-Oriented Development

Vancouver’s Canada Line is an international transit model because of the innovative public-private partnership that built, funds and operates it. But the light rail line is also becoming a model for spurring environmentally responsible growth around stations, where people will ride transit more and drive less. The Canada Line has sparked a development boom unlike anything in the region’s history. Read more.

A New Documentary Highlights the Reinvention of America's Streets

Since last June, Filmmaker Todd Drezner has been filming In Transit, capturing footage of urban planners trying to sell pedestrian and bike-friendly streets to skeptical communities in Detroit and New York. Read more.

Velo Cape Breton Bicycle Association - Position Paper on Continuous Shoulder Rumble Strips

The improper installation of “Rumble Strips” in numerous areas of Nova Scotia highways is causing unsafe conditions for road users including cyclists. Cyclists can be thrown from their bike by the strips or be forced to verge abruptly into the traffic lane. Read more.

Sitting time linked to disability regardless of physical activity

In Wednesday's issue of the Journal of Physical Activity & Health, researchers called it the first study to document how sedentary behaviour is related to increased disability regardless of the amount of time spent in moderate activity, based on objective measurements. Increasingly, researchers view being sedentary as more than a just a synonym for lack of physical activity. Read more.

Copenhagen Wheel allows cyclists to bike 'faster, farther'

The Copenhagen Wheel is a bright red, high-tech wheel that replaces the rear wheel of a standard bicycle, turning it into an electric hybrid. The wheel's built-in battery captures energy whenever a cyclist brakes or rides downhill. The wheel releases the stored energy when it senses the cyclist pedalling harder, allowing the rider to bike "faster, farther, and easier." Read more.

Montréal acquiert BIXI pour 12 millions (The City of Montréal buys BIXI)

La Ville de Montréal acquiert les actifs montréalais de BIXI pour 11,9 millions $, ce qui permettra d'assurer le maintien du service cet été. La gestion du système de vélo en libre-service sera confiée à un organisme à but non lucratif qui devra être créé. Read more.

States adding bicycle lanes, walking trails into transportation budgets

For the first time, Pennsylvania dedicated $10 million of its five-year transportation funding initiative, expected to total $2.4 billion, for programs to create sidewalks, bike lanes and other pedestrian facilities. These programs will receive $2 million a year from an annual $144 million Multi-Modal fund that also supports aviation, rail freight, passenger rail, ports and waterways. After allocations are made, proponents of pedestrian and bicycle initiatives can bid for remaining Multi-Modal funds every year, along with the other modes of transportation. Read more.

New York - Mayor wants to cut speed limit by 5 mph citywide

Mayor de Blasio wants to put the brakes on lead-footed New Yorkers by knocking down the citywide speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph — part of a sweeping plan to reduce pedestrian deaths. Read more.

U.K. - "Helmets not even in top 10 of things that keep cycling safe"

British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman says it’s time for the cycling community to put the debate about mandatory cycle helmets to bed and get across the message that helmet use is one of the least important cycling safety measures. Read more.

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

In cities around the U.S., there’s a growing awareness that streets are meant for more than just cars, and in fact, that streets should be safe places no matter what form of transit you choose, whether you’re a pedestrian, cyclist, bus rider, skateboarder, or pogo-stick jumper (okay, maybe not the latter). Read more.

Housing shortage or urbanism shortage?

In case you hadn't yet noticed, urban living is pretty hot right now. Preference surveys show time and time again that a strong share of the overall American public would prefer to live in a walkable urban neighborhood than a suburban subdivision which caters only to the automobile. Read more.

Brisk Walking Delays Cognitive Decline in Older Adults

Brisk walking might delay cognitive decline in older adults by helping the brain re-grow certain regions associated with memory and planning. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, was based on data on 120 people aged between 60 and 80 years. According to researchers moderate exercise helps re-grow parts of brain that shrink with age. Read more.

Walking study reinforces Waterloo Region’s emphasis on high density development

 A five-year study of walking habits in the tri-cities demonstrates there is a strong preference for densely populated, mixed-use neighbourhoods with good transit and space for walking and cycling. Read more.

Calgary - 1st Street cycle track to be debated by city committee

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he has a lot of questions about that particular route. He says even a little construction can back up the area significantly. "That particular link is probably the most contentious for me. The rest of them — Stephen Avenue, the Beltline — I can see just trying. But First Street I really want to be convinced we should even try that one," he said. Read more.

Mannheim’s take on Cycle Logistics

Mannheim, the geometric city of Germany, has been thinking outside the box. As part of the European Biking Cities project, Mannheim  has taken on some particularly interesting cycling projects. A bicycle library, a cargo-bike delivery company, and a lot of bicycle parades Read more.

The Future of Urban Freeways Is Playing Out Right Now in Syracuse

City leaders like Robinson, along with downtown developers and advocates for smart growth, would like to see I-81 rerouted around Syracuse and replaced with a landscaped boulevard. But suburban business-owners and many of the 45,000 drivers who use the highway to commute fear that any change could hurt the local economy. Read more.

One Key Thing That Sets the U.S. Apart From Other Cycling Cultures

In countries where bicycling is a routine form of transportation, with widespread, well-connected, and protected infrastructure, people rarely wear helmets. In U.S. cities, where automobiles still dominate and bike lanes are a relative novelty, the majority of people on bikes sport head protection. (There are other differences in riding style that you will see as well.) Read more.

This ten point plan for fixing British cycling could apply in North America too

Cycling org British cycling normally serves the lycra crowd, but has nonetheless released a new report that promotes everyday urban bicycle use. Read the whole ten point plan at British Cycling.

Boris bikes benefit older cyclists more

So-called Boris bikes provide a health benefit to cyclists that outweighs the hazards of riding them, a study has found. The positive effects of the London cycle-hire scheme are greatest for older users, the research shows. Read more.

Walking toward wellness, savings

In an effort to help officials combat medical claims and potentially reduce monthly insurance premiums, Brianne Langdon, family and consumer science agent, presented information to commissioners court about Walk Across Texas, a wellness campaign spearheaded by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. County officials believe participation in the program could lead to savings. Read more.

Saskatoon Cycles to hand out free bike lights

Cycling advocacy group Saskatoon Cycles and the Saskatoon Police Service want to help cyclists save money — and keep safe after dark. This spring, free bike lights will be handed out as part of a campaign called Light Up Your Life. Read more.

Des centaines de cyclistes à l'assaut de l'hiver

Pour la première fois, Vélo Québec a tenu dimanche, à Montréal, l'événement hivernal Vélo sous zéro. Plus de 500 cyclistes «courageux» ont emprunté un parcours de 15 km, dont la majeure partie se trouve sur le «réseau blanc» de la ville.  Vélo Québec veut ainsi démystifier la pratique du vélo en hiver, et inciter les autorités à développer le réseau blanc pour les cyclistes. Read more.

New podcast episode: Bikes and the future of skateboarding

Its users are belittled, harassed and ignored, but people keep doing it because it's practical, affordable and fun — and Portland is leading the nation in thinking about it as a useful form of transportation. Read more.

Cobourg - Volunteers wanted, Active Transportation Committee

The Cobourg Municipal Council are seeking applications from interested citizens willing to become involved and actively participate in your community by serving as a volunteer on the *New* Active Transportation Advisory committee. Read more.

Montreal winter Tour de l’Île kicks off inaugural edition

More than 500 cyclists braved the cold and biking a 15-kilometre circuit throughout the city as part of Vélo sous zéro, Vélo Quebec's inaugural winter Tour de l’Île. Read more.

Canada - The Federal Election and Cycling

Elections are great opportunities to talk to politicians about cycling or even get to know them and their supporters better by helping them out by volunteering on their campaigns.
Ways that the federal government could encourage cycling include:

• The development of a National Cycling Strategy 
• Federal funding for cycling infrastructure, education and promotion. For infrastructure, $20 per person per year matched by the provinces would be a great start bring Canada up to the level of the Netherlands. 
• Ensure that all road, bridge, transit and rail projects that receive federal funding have high-quality bicycle facilities
• Regulations streamlining the process for implementing bicycle paths next to active rail lines
• Regulations that require abandoned rail lines to be retained in perpetuity for use as bicycle trails.
• Tax rebate for companies who provide facilities for commuter cycling
• Safety standards for motor vehicles to reduce collisions with bicycles and to reduce the severity of injuries to cyclists
• National standards for electric bicycles
• Researching and promoting best practices
• Developing and promoting cycling tourism in Canada

Read more.

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Active Transportation Engineer, Calgary

This position is responsible for the management of active transportation, transit hub, and centre city corridor projects, as well as review transportation related circulations (for example: policy plans, development applications and functional designs). Learn more.

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Active Transportation Planner, Calgary

This position is responsible for the management of active transportation projects and lead large municipal planning efforts. Projects may pertain to walking and biking, transit hub, and centre city corridors. In addition, the position reviews transportation related circulations (for example: policy plans, development applications and functional designs). Learn more.

Imagine: A World Where Nobody Owns Their Own Car

Combine connected vehicle technology with intelligent infrastructure and driverless cars and you get a commute that's both quicker and hands-free. You could even rely on autonomous taxis to chauffeur you from home to work. Read more.

How Simple Physical Activity Could Stave Off Depression

Now a new review of 30 studies about the link between physical activity and depression, conducted by researchers at the Alberta Centre for Active Living, adds to the case that engaging in such simple human activities as walking and gardening for as little as 20 minutes a day can help to stave off depression. Read more.

$600 pop-up protected bike lane gets Minneapolis residents excited

Basically, the colored bike lane is constructed using Lego-like blocks that snap together. It can be quickly and cheaply built in places where a city is considering a permanent colored bike lane, in order to test out the concept and get an idea of the results. Read more.

Ottawa 'abdicating its responsibility' of nation building, Wynne says

“We’re seeing a pattern of the federal government getting out of … the business of nation building,” she said in Toronto. “These cuts and changes are of varying magnitude. Some are much larger than others. But they’re part of that pattern of federal government moving away, as I say, from its role as nation-builder, abdicating its responsibility to the people of the province.” Read more.

Urban sprawl is sickening, as well as ugly

Urban sprawl is ugly, inefficient and bad for the environment. It’s also – quite literally – sickening. The unhealthiness of spread-out, car-dependant neighbourhoods is clearly spelled out in a new study by St. Michael’s Hospital researchers. Urban planners, municipal leaders and city residents would be wise to pay close attention. Read more.

Bike share program coming to Hamilton this summer

Hamilton’s bike share program will be launched early this summer. “We’re excited to add this travel choice to our existing range of transportation options to make travelling even more convenient and sustainable,” said Peter Topalovic, project manager of transportation demand management with the City of Hamilton. Read more.

Objective and Subjective Elements of Walkability

The purpose of this paper is to explore both the objective and subjective criteria of what makes a neighborhood walkable, in order that the reader can personally assess walkability. Read more.

Bogotá car-free day becomes car-free week

Mejor en Bici (translation: Better on Bike) is a local bike organization that has long been a key advocate of car-free day. Recently, it pushed for car-free day to be extended into an entire car-free week for the Colombian city. The city agreed. Read more.

A Very Brief History of Why Americans Hate Their Commutes

Americans stuck in traffic may take some solace in the fact that the nature of the daily commute has changed dramatically over just one or two generations. Travel between home and work little resembles commuting by our grandparents. The evolution of our commuting habits reflects broader social change affecting every dimension of urban life. Read more.

Which Types of Traffic Signals Are the Safest?

With so much focus on large-scale design and enforcement measures, it's important to remember that often, the quickest and most direct way a city can improve safety at an intersection is with traffic signals. Traffic lights are neither as ubiquitous as they might seem (even in New York, only a quarter of all intersections have four-way signals) nor as simple. New research in the journal Transport Policy evaluates four common light structures found across the city: basic signal installation, increased pedestrian cycles, the Barnes dance, and split-phase timing. Read more.

Workshop: Welcome to Canada – (Winter) Riding for Newcomers

Friday, February 14th - 1 - 4pm Manitoba Theatre For Young People (The Forks)

(Free - coffee provided)

Do you work with newcomers to Canada? Do you get asked questions about transportation? Wonder how to use the power of the bicycle build self-esteem and create community? Whether its year-round or just when spring hits, bicycles can be a powerful tool. Learn how to make it easier for everyone to adopt.

 

Join us for unique and exciting "train the trainers" workshop for those who work with new Canadians, refugees and others being run by Angela Van Der Kloof an internationally-reknowned educator, specialist in newcomer issues and an expert on bicycle skills programming who is joining us from Delft, Holland. 

 

All the details on the workshop are here. 

Please RSVP to local organizer Robin Ellis at volunteer@thewrench.ca. 

Winter Cycling Congress Heads to Winnipeg in February 2014

The 2nd International Winter Cycling Congress takes place in Winnipeg, MB, from February 12-14, 2014. The event is the premiere wintertime active transportation conference presenting idea-packed sessions full of projects, unique best practices research, interactive workshops, lively discussion, and fun evening activities. Read more.

Researchers Link Density, Destinations to Active Transportation Habits

Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto set out to determine what features of urban neighborhoods lead to more activity and thus better health outcomes. Their study of Toronto-area residents, published in the peer-reviewed science and medical journal PLOS-ONE, examined the link between four built environment factors and people’s health records and transportation habits. Read more.

Four reasons US business leaders want to import Danish-style cycling

After years of battling "the business community" for every inch of road space, many cycling advocates seem disoriented by the idea they might now be on the same side. But from Denver to Memphis, some of the loudest voices for a move toward Danish-style protected cycling infrastructure are those who sign the paychecks. Read more.

Before & After> 25 of New York City’s Most Transformative Road Diets

With little more than paint, planters, and a few well-placed boulders, Bloomberg and former Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan‘s street interventions have been some of the most evident changes around the city. Whether it’s at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, above, or at Snøhetta’s redesigned Times Square, these road diets shaved off excess space previously turned over to cars and returned it to the pedestrian realm in dramatic fashion as these before-and-after views demonstrate. Read more.

Calgary - Cyclists hope city plan makes biking safer downtown

Opinions were mixed at an open house on Thursday evening as citizens weighed in on a proposed plan that would see several downtown streets and avenues redesigned to fit separated bike lanes. Read more.

Edmonton's bike-lane plan unproven and costly

It’s wrong to spend millions of tax dollars hoping that once lanes are offered they will become popular. That’s too high a price tag for taxpayers based simply on the bureaucratic and political hope that a well-intentioned but untested scheme will prove worthwhile if we all just believe in it fervently enough. Read more.

Manitoba - Active and Safe Routes to School Newsletter

“The Costs and Benefits of School Travel Planning Projects in Ontario, Canada – January 2014” (Executive Summary, Full Report) is the first benefit-cost analysis of School Travel Planning (STP) projects con­ducted in Canada and provides a baseline method for evaluating the STP model. Read more.

Ottawa - NCC planning safe pedestrian crossings at key canal spots; Fifth Avenue and Queen Elizabeth Drive up first

Crossing the Queen Elizabeth Driveway at Fifth Avenue in the Glebe could soon become a little safer after new safety measures are installed. The National Capital Commission confirmed at the end of January that it would be moving forward with the planned improvements with work expected to begin in the fall. The decision to complete the safer crossing is a result of the Rideau Canal Corridor Pedestrian Crossings Study completed in 2011, based on community consultations held in 2010. Read more.

Victoria County looking for input on active transportation

Public input and consultations sessions on Victoria County's active transportation master plan are scheduled for Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. Read more.

Residents Of Walk-Friendly, Dense Neighborhoods May Have Lower Diabetes Risk

A walk-friendly, densely-populated neighborhood could help you keep diabetes at bay, a new study in the journal PLOS ONE suggests. Researchers from St. Michael's Hospital found that the less walkable and more dependent on cars a neighborhood is, the greater the risk of diabetes and obesity for people living in those neighborhoods. Read more.

New York's Cyclists Are Getting Better at Following the Rules

More New Yorkers are riding bicycles than ever before, on an ever-expanding network of bike lanes. The city's new bike-share system has had phenomenal early success, logging 40,000 trips daily on peak days in good weather, and even averaging nearly 9,600 in the cold and snowy month of January. But it's not just the number of riders that is different from the past. A new study suggests that the way New Yorkers ride is changing – for the better. Read more.

Halifax - Crosswalk Safety Work Plan

Details of the plan here.

Call for Proposals: Present at the 2014 Ontario Bike Summit

Share The Road is excited to announce the 6th Annual Ontario Bike Summit - I Bike I Vote, taking place on April 14th & 15th at the Hyatt Regency on King, Toronto. This year’s Summit comes at a critical time in our province with both a municipal and provincial election on the horizon. The theme “I Bike I Vote” was chosen to reflect the opportunity we share to advocate for enhanced support for cycling in our communities and in our province in the lead up to these two elections. Details.

Cycling infrastructure more economic than for other transport

"This is the first comprehensive assessment of future costs and benefits to society of specific active transport policies," says Dr Macmillan. "It demonstrates that, far from being expensive, high quality changes to main roads and local streets across the region are extremely cost effective, bringing more than $20 in benefit to society for every dollar spent over the next 40 years", he says. Read more.

Cobourg approves new advisory committee

Sitting in committee of the whole, Cobourg council voted this week to establish an active-transportation advisory committee. Terms of reference presented to council say that the committee will advise council on matters related to active transportation, such as cycling, parking, transit, trails, pedestrian and recreation transportation networks, activities and infrastructure. Read more.

City set to unveil plans for downtown cycle track network

Engaging both new and seasoned cyclists of all ages, as well as those who want to bike but may not feel comfortable, is what the city centre cycle track network is all about, according to Ryan Murray, a spokesperson with the City of Calgary. “The cycle tracks we’re proposing, they’re really built for everyone. We’re not just looking for people who have a bike in their garage now,” he said. Read more.

Happy (walking) Valentine's Day

New York Fights to Set Its Own Speed Limits

One of the strangest quirks of New York law is that city officials can't actually regulate speed on the city's streets. The right to set the speed limit rests almost entirely in Albany with the state legislature, a stubborn reality that has long blocked efforts to slow traffic on pedestrian-filled thoroughfares. Read more.

Brussels: pedestrian plans get thumbs down from Master Builder

The Flemish Master Builder, Peter Swinnen, has given a big thumbs down to the plans of the City of Brussels to create a pedestrian precinct in the neighbourhood surrounding the Brussels Stock Exchange, the Beurs or Bourse. The Master Builder argues that under the plans the traffic is just being pushed 250 metres further along. He favours a pedestrian precinct covering a far greater area. Read more.

Waterloo - Cycling crashes up to almost 200 region-wide

As the region and area municipalities shell out millions of dollars for cycling infrastructure, one measure of how well the money is working isn’t adding up. Initial figures obtained from regional police indicated 172 crashes involving cyclists were investigated during 2012. Cycling crashes increased by 24 between 2011 and 2012, and many regional intersections that were identified as a problem in 2010 are still a problem today, despite money spent to improve cycling infrastructure and on counter-collision measures. Read more.

Jobs Jar: City of Vancouver Civil Engineer for Active Transportation

The successful applicant will provide leadership and technical expertise on the planning and design of major walking and cycling projects, including assisting in the public consultation process, to help meet the City’s long-term Greenest City and Transportation 2040 Plan goals. Details here.

Bike lane removal and relocation peddled by Edmonton councillor

Bike lanes the city put down last year could be coming right back up if one city councillor gets his way this week. Coun. Mike Walters plans to introduce a motion this week to have the lanes on 40 Avenue, 95 Avenue, 106 Street and Saddleback Road removed and relocated to other areas in the community. Read more.

Vancouver - Is road pricing the answer to traffic congestion?

Metro Vancouver should implement a road pricing strategy to combat traffic congestion, according to a report released today by the B.C. Business Council. Read more.

Build it and they will come: Peak car culture

From Budapest to Brussels: Shop by Bike!

Magyar Kerékpárosklub’s campaign seeks to simultaneously inspire shoppers to go by bicycle and demonstrate to shop owners the advantages of encouraging customers who shop by bike. Read more.

Artist builds skateboarder-friendly sculpture in Shreveport Common

The wooden apparatus will form a series of X’s that will be accented in metal to serve as ramps. Olson began skateboarding in the late 1960s. At 52, he’s also interested in keeping generations of skateboarders together – like family. He hopes his sculpture attracts the attention of the elite skateboarders. Read more.

Cycling advocates hoping Edmonton bike lanes only on small pause

Cyclists and advocates for more complete streets are hoping the city’s bike lane plan will face only a minor bump this year before it gets back on track. Councillors will get a report this week on last year’s bike lanes, which details that despite a string of public consultations many residents were disappointed and dissatisfied with the final result. Read more.

Governor Cuomo sets aside $67M for bicycle and pedestrian projects

Governor Cuomo received a barrage of postcards from the advocacy group New Yorkers for Active Transportation asking the governor to allocate $20 million in funds for pedestrian and cycling projects. It appears the tactic worked. The governor stated in a press release from January of 2014 that almost $67 million would be set aside to fund transportation enhancement projects. Read more.

The Future of the Suburbs Is Unfolding in Arizona's East Valley

"I really can already see it, people walking here, and with all these connections to be able to navigate by bike," says Dea McDonald, Eastmark's general manager and senior vice president at DMB, on a recent tour of the work completed so far on the project's first phase. McDonald thinks that 20 years from now, Eastmark will be held up as a national model for how to achieve a more sustainable style of suburban growth. Read more.

Cyclists campaign against ASA ruling over Cycling Scotland ad

The spat began on Wednesday when the ASA upheld complaints about a TV advert from Cycling Scotland shown as part of a cycle safety campaign. The ASA ruled the ad should be banned on public safety grounds as it portrayed a cyclist without a helmet and riding too far from the kerb. An aghast Cycling Scotland pointed out that cycle helmets are not compulsory, and that police and the highway code specifically advise cyclists that it is safest to position themselves some way into their lane. Read more.

Cyclist, 102, sets world record

The 102-year-old Frenchman broke his own world record in the over-100s category Friday, riding 26.927 kilometers (16.7 miles) in one hour, more than 2.5 kilometers better than his previous best time in the race against the clock two years ago. Read more.

Waterloo - Trail work will improve routes for cyclists, pedestrians

It used to be that trails were seen as a purely recreational amenity. Now, there's a growing recognition that they can be used as transportation corridors for those who choose to travel by bike or on foot. It's a philosophic shift," said Jan d'Ailly, chair of the city of Waterloo's advisory committee on active transportation. Read more.