Thursday, December 31, 2015

Bicycle Helmets for the 2016 Season

Our review finds no radical safety improvement this year that would compel you to replace your current helmet. New technology has finally come to the marketplace, but there are no independent public test results confirming better performance. Read more.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Grande Prairie - Work on Muskoseepi pedestrian bridge begins Monday

Work to replace the pedestrian bridge near 76 Avenue along the Muskoseepi Park trail system is set to begin Monday, Jan. 4. Monty Haughian, field inspector for the City of Grande Prairie, said the bridge has been in use for at least 20 years and needs to be updated. Read more.

A modest proposal: Ban cars.

In 1729, Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal, which, according to Wikipedia, " Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as Irish policy in general." Read more.

Winnipeg - Councillor Lukes wants sidewalk plow review

One city councillor hopes to clear the way for a new snow-clearing strategy on sidewalks and other active transportation routes. Read more.

Vancouver aims to reassert itself as a North American cycling leader

Metro Vancouver’s ill-fated transit plebiscite in early 2015 was not only a lost opportunity to secure a $161-million fund for walking and cycling improvements across the region. It also stalled any momentum, as six months of staff resources and political capital were directed towards securing a “yes” vote. Read more.

Council shocked by $25 million price tag associated transportation plans

The results of two transportation plans and the nearly $25 million in recommendations associated with them has left Mississippi Mills council reeling.  After months of preparation by Dillon Consulting, representatives Shawn Doyle, Doug Green and Michael Flainek, presented the comprehensive transportation master plan (TMP) and active transportation plan (ATP) to council Dec. 17. Read more.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

DC Proposes Higher Fines for Hitting a Cyclist

Washington, DC, has proposed an increase in this fine, from the current $50—yes, that’s the fine for hitting a cyclist in our capital city—to $500. Read more.

Bicycle-friendly certification for businesses, schools launched in Halifax

Halifax is launching a city-wide certification program to improve support for cyclists — whether they're commuting to work or just going for a ride. Bike-Friendly Certification aims to increase bicycle parking and improve on-site policies across the city for cyclists. Certification is available for businesses, schools and other organizations. Read more.

Bikes vs Cars: How did it come to this?

Many people still don’t get that bikes are not just recreation, they are transportation. Even fewer people realize the impact that getting people out of cars and on to bikes can have on our cities. Bikes vs Cars, a new film by Fredrik Gertten, looks at the struggle to find a place for the bike in this world of cars that we live in now. Read more.

Are 80 percent of pedestrian deaths really their own fault?

Unsafe pedestrian behaviour is a major factor in pedestrian injuries and fatalities. In a recent study of 7,000 pedestrian-vehicle crashes in Florida, researchers discovered that pedestrians were at fault in 80 percent of these incidents. Similarly, in a U.K. study, pedestrian behaviour accounted for 90 percent of crashes where vehicle struck a pedestrian. Read more.

Germany gives green light to bicycle highways

It’s every cyclist’s dream: no red lights, no trucks, just a clear, smooth lane to zoom down with the wind in your face. Welcome to Germany’s first bicycle Autobahn. Read more.

Cycling in Canada: A friendly reminder for Toronto cyclists about what winter can suddenly bring

If you’re a cyclist in Toronto, you might be feeling a little bit spoiled this winter. And with good reason: even apart from a startlingly mild, almost spring-like 15 degree Christmas Day, the weeks since November—a period during which the city usually sees at least one major dump—have been remarkably, unseasonably snow-free. Read more.

Monday, December 28, 2015

OK, maybe cyclists aren’t all bad – but the pedestrian’s lot is not a happy one today

I’m aware that many – maybe most – cyclists are law-abiding and stop at red lights and don’t speed through T-junctions when pedestrians are crossing or ride on pavements, and that even terrible cyclists don’t kill pedestrians. The percentage of arsehole cyclists may be a minority, but it’s a minority large enough to make crossing roads an exercise in guesswork as to whether the one coming towards you recognises that you even exist. Read more.

UK - Hurrah for our growing coastal path – ideal for celebrating the joys of walking


It’s the sort of announcement that no one can complain about, an unmitigated, straightforward Good Thing. More walkers means more tourism, and more tourism means more people making connections to both the sea and the land. It means more healthy people, and more of those healthy people falling in love with the countryside. Read more.

Stittsville - Dedicated left turn lane coming soon to Huntmar-Maple Grove

Councillor Shad Qadri wrote in his weekly newsletter that he’s asking City staff reconfigure the northbound lane markings to allow for a dedicated left-turn lane plus a shared straight/right-turn.  The bike lane will be removed. Read more.

Essex County - New parkway trails to open amid much fanfare

The final touches are being put on the 20-kilometre, multi-use trail system and, in the new year, there will be an official unveiling of the new recreational ribbon stretching from Malden Road in West Windsor to near Howard Avenue in the east end of the city. Read more.

Downtown Whitby pedestrian signal causing confusion among users

A pedestrian-activated signal installed to improve safety at a downtown intersection is instead adding to the problem, according to area residents. “Where (the Town) put the lights there’s no sidewalk ... so people aren’t using the lights,” said Mr. Moore. “They’re staying across the street, and just running across the road like they usually did.” Read more.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

10 Best Bike Advocacy Videos of 2015

Sometimes it takes a visual representation to get the point across. We all loved it when our teachers showed movies in class, so here’s 10 of 2015’s best advocacy videos to wrap up this year on a humorous note. Watch.

Cycling Santas descend on Manchester to highlight what local cyclists want for Christmas

A herd of cycling Santas (what is the collective noun?) descended on Manchester Town Hall on Friday, delivering a gift-wrapped parcel with the words ‘£25 per head for safe cycle lanes’ on it. Councillor Kate Chappell, executive member for the environment, accepted the gift, which local campaigners said represented the Christmas wishes of local residents. Read more.

Vancouver and other Canadian cities to tame downtown white elephants of ‘wrong-headed planning’

It was a mid-century effort to launch Vancouver into the modern age — an elevated roadway made up of tonnes of concrete cutting through the city’s shiny downtown core to serve the almighty automobile. Read more.

Bicycle lanes in Penang seen as a flop

A state MCA Youth leader hit out at the state government for its poor planning of bicycle lanes. Tanjung MCA Youth chief Lim Swee Bok said creating bicycles lanes without detailed planning was a total waste of money and put cyclists and pedestrians at risk. Read more.

Seven ways Peterborough “Greened Up” in 2015

To increase the overall number of young cyclists and improve their safety while cycling, GreenUP and B!KE: the Community Cycling Hub created Pedal Power, one of Ontario’s first in-school cycling education programs. By the end of its pilot run in 2015, over 500 Grade 5 students had completed the program, and over 2000 local youth had taken part in associated activities, like Pedal Power’s Bike Playground. Read more.

A Year in Review: The City of Kelowna

The City of Kelowna, the District of Lake Country, the board of the Regional District of North Okanagan, and the Province of British Columbia partnered together this year to buy the discontinued CN railway. The railway runs from Coldstream to Kelowna that creates a regional transportation corridor. The corridor helps connect Okanagan communities and helps provide even more ways to explore the area. Read more.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

New Freezeway skating path opens at Edmonton park

How do most people get from Point A to Point B in the winter? What if you could ice skate there? Edmonton's new Victoria Park Freezeway skating path officially opened Tuesday. Read more.

Progress report: British government’s cycling investment strategy

Following meetings with the transport minister and Chris Boardman’s ‘Tour of Copenhagen’, where Robert Goodwill MP said he was inspired to “re-double our efforts”, hopes were high for what the Comprehensive Spending Review would deliver for cycling investment. Read more.

Cycling Infrastructure One of the Smartest Investments a City Can Make

ycling infrastructure projects always seem to struggle to secure funding, while road capital projects costing in the millions slip through with minimal resistance. Recent trends have shown major interest in "big ticket" transit projects, with tens of billions of dollars committed to expanding transit in the GHTA. Read more.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Video - How Cities Make Us Sick

Over the last century, cities have been designed to accommodate the automobile. So, how do we redesign them to benefit people? Watch.

Cycling makes the grade at Tourism Northern Ontario’s summit in Sault Ste. Marie

Each year the major tourism stakeholders in Northern Ontario gather in Sault Ste. Marie for the Northern Ontario Tourism Summit. Mindemoya’s Maja Mielonen, a local cycling advocate and spokesperson for Manitoulin Island Cycling Advocates, was “delighted” at the recognition that has finally been provided to cycling as a major driver of tourism for Northern Ontario. Read more.

A small shift to cycling could make a big difference in CO2

In London, Lord Lawson claims that bike lanes have done “more damage to London than almost anything since the Blitz.” In Toronto, Mayor Tory is fine with bike lanes as long as “whatever we do, we are not putting additional obstruction in the way of people getting around in this city.” In New York, the local community killed a crosstown bike lane because it would “cause congestion.” Read more.

A Quick, Clear Explanation for Why Parking Minimums Hurt Cities

Of all the cities across North America relaxing their developer parking requirements, none can boast a PSA on the topic as clear and concise as Ottawa’s 90-second “Review of Minimum Parking Standards” video. Read more.

Stockholm's 'Reverse' Congestion Charge Would Pay Cyclists With Driving Fees

Having studied the barriers Stockholmers face in switching from cars to bikes, the institute has recommended that the city’s existing congestion charge zone be adapted to benefit people commuting by bike. Some money earned through the congestion charge (which covers most of the inner city) could be funneled back into cycling benefits. Read more.

Cargo Bikes: A Complete Guide for the USA and Canada

As our cities invest more heavily in safe cycling infrastructure, more and more people are beginning to view bicycling as a feasible option for their daily commute. As such, cargo bikes have seen a small surge in popularity, and an even bigger surge in interest as people explore their options for bike commuting with kids, careers, and the general load-bearing responsibilities that accompany adulthood. Read more.

Washington's gnarliest skateboard jump? The Canadian Embassy

The Canadian Embassy is, to a subset of Washington's adrenaline-chasing elite, the Everest of diplomatic missions. Bones have cracked at its white marble staircase. Untold skateboards have thudded, then split at the bottom of those 21 steps. Read more.

Winnipeg - Janice Lukes eyes review for sidewalk, bike lane snow removal

As crews near the end of a citywide plow operation following last week’s dump of snow, one Winnipeg councillor believes the time is right to examine how service can be improved for those on foot and two-wheels. Read more.

Download this podcast and go on a self-guided historical walking tour of Vancouver

Available on podcasts created by SFU students enrolled in History 486/782, the tours were created in collaboration with the CityStudio program, and reflect some of the community-building initiatives laid out in Vancouver’s Healthy City Strategy. Read more.

Number of cyclists increasing around the globe, whatever the weather

In New York, where the number of cyclists taking to the roads during rush hour increased by 4 per cent last year, bikes routinely outnumber cars on some streets, while in inner London the number of residents cycling to work more than doubled between 2001 and 2011. Read more.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

8 Things Top Bike Cities Have Done to Promote Safer Cycling

Salt Lake City, Utah, has the first protected bike intersection. Intersections are where most car-bicycle collisions take place, so this year Salt Lake City built one of the nation’s first “protected bike intersections” to make cycling in the Utah capital a lot safer. Based on infrastructure pioneered by the Dutch, Salt Lake City’s protected intersection incorporates four principal safety elements. Read more.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Haligonians mock $700 jaywalking fines with fake 'tickets'

A small group of protesters handed out mock $697.50 jaywalking tickets Wednesday in front of the Halifax Central Library to raise awareness for what they say is an unreasonably high fine. Read more.

Saskatoon - Apply brakes to city's car culture

Does it still make sense to spend billions to subsidize the use of cars in Saskatoon, now that Canada has signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change? Read more.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Winter Cycling Congress 2016

The Winter Cycling Congress will be held 2-4 February, 2016 in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. This is a three-day professional development event uniting a diverse and international group of people with a shared vision of increasing bicycling and walking among people of all ages and abilities through the winter. Read more.

America’s 10 best new bike lanes of 2015

The rise of curb-protected bike lanes has been dreamed of for decades in the United States, and in the leading cities, it's finally arrived. But the lessons we can all learn from the best new bike lanes of 2015 don't end there. Read more.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Are roads for cars or kids? My part in the fight to make people-friendly streets

Each month traffic is blocked off for three hours and the children play out with bikes, scooters, balls and chalk. Our girls, aged five and eight when it started, love it. It was a revelation seeing the tarmac used for something other than cars, and we got to know our neighbours in a way that was not possible when we only used the street to park on. Read more.

Why Aren’t Urban Planners Ready for Driverless Cars?

In other words, none of the planning organizations looking after America’s 25 biggest metros had incorporated self-driving cars into their urban development outlook in a substantial way, even looking ahead two decades. Read more.

UAE doctors reveal benefits of cycling for both body and mind

People who cycle to work are happier and have a better quality of life than those who walk, drive or use public transport, according to a study by the University of Sydney. Srividya Iyer, head of physiotherapy at Burjeel Hospital, said medical research supported the findings. Read more.

Kelowna - Transit users, cyclists focus for city transportation projects

More than $14 million worth of transportation-related capital projects are contained in the budget, and there’s a particular emphasis on initiatives that primarily benefit pedestrians and cyclists rather than drivers. Read more.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Thunder Bay skateboarders searching for new winter space

Since it was built, the Skateboard Plaza has made a huge difference when it comes to upping the caliber of the sport in the city. Read more.

Bicycle 'should win Nobel Peace Prize'

The Nobel Peace Prize 2016 should go to the bicycle - at least that is what two presenters on Italian state radio believe, and they have started a petition to push for it. Read more.

Shared bike lanes: Commuters' paradise or hell on wheels?

Vancouver's ever expanding bike community received another boost this week, when city council approved the building of 12 new separated bike lanes. But there's a catch. The lanes aren't just for cyclists anymore. Read more.

Sidewalk deal is a bone of contention at Bracebridge council

Bracebridge council is going ahead with a cost-sharing agreement for a sidewalk despite opposition from some members of council. Read more.

Moving Halton through Active Transportation

On Nov. 12, Halton Regional Council endorsed, in principle, the new Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) that will support and promote a first-class transportation network. Read more.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Calgary cycle track pilot riding a wave of support

After a bumpy start, Calgarians appear to be warming up to the city's cycle track network. Among the highlights, Thivener says bike trips along the five-month old track reached 388,000 between mid-June when it opened and mid-November. Read more.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Kingston’s next transportation consultant needs to be jack-of-all-trades, says council

The Transportation Master Plan (TMP), which is updated every five years, lays out the priorities, goals and costs for a myriad of projects such as new roads, sidewalks, bridges and public transit. But the TMP’s latest update left some questioning why the results didn’t reflect their own priorities around sustainability, transit and active transportation. Read more.

Nova Scotia pressing ahead with $697.50 fines for pedestrians

Nova Scotia is pushing ahead with plans to implement a $697.50 fine for pedestrians who break the law crossing the street, despite opposition from crosswalk safety advocates. "With the fatalities and the number of injuries, we've seen that we've got to do something and this is our effort," MacLellan said outside the legislature Thursday. Read more.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Video - Un Petit Tour Dans Paris

"In a splendid and romantic Paris, while everything is going too fast, a young man ride a ‘bicycle’. But his simple ride is going to take on a whole new dimension…" Whimsical video.

Alberta announces review of Traffic Safety Act

Two pedestrians suffered serious injuries on Calgary streets on the same day the Alberta government revealed it's reviewing the Traffic Safety Act with an eye to make the province safer for walking. Read more.

Cowichen - What do you see as the future of parks and trails?

The Municipality of North Cowichan is kicking off a process to create a single, unified parks and trails master plan to guide future decisions around management, development, and expansion of the parks and trails system in the municipality. Read more.

Carfree Times

Carfree.com, HealthBridge Canada, and Work for a Better Bangladesh released this 53-minute film in August. The film proposes solutions to the challenges on the way to a sustainable society. The film proceeds from the carfree city as a point of reference and essential step in solving many of the problems we face. Read more.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Canada Could Have 12% of Trips by Cycling in 2030

The study by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy and the University of California, Davis, confirms the significant potential for cycling and electric bicycle use to significantly reduce GHG emissions while providing significant cost savings to individuals and government. The results show that a world with a dramatic increase in cycling could save society US $24 trillion cumulatively between 2015 and 2050 in urban passenger transport costs, and cut CO2 emissions from urban passenger transport by nearly 11 percent in 2050 compared to a High Shift scenario without a strong cycling emphasis. Read more.

Walking through Beijing is like walking through a coal mine

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, walking through Beijing was like strolling through a coal mine, and the municipal air quality index read 308, rated "hazardous" by United States standards — a situation in which people should not set foot outdoors. Read more.

Alberta - NDP promises legislation review to boost pedestrian safety

The NDP government says it is looking to strengthen provincial legislation to better protect pedestrians. Read more.

We need a serious reminder of pedestrian safety rules

Pedestrian deaths in 2015 have spiked by 26 per cent, and yet we seem to have lost all respect and fear of moving vehicles. Read more.

Hamilton to study pedestrian-friendly Aberdeen Avenue

A review of Aberdeen Avenue with a "complete streets" focus to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists is on the way. Read more.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Pedestrians seeing red after Nova Scotia boosts jaywalking fine to nearly $700

The legislature passed a bill last week that boosts the fine from $410 to $697.50 – more than the penalty for using a cellphone behind the wheel and well above jaywalking fines in other cities and provinces The penalty for jaywalking ranges from a maximum of $30 in Quebec and $50 in Ontario to $250 in Edmonton. Read more.

EDITORIAL: Reconsider higher pedestrian fines

The provincial Liberal government should rethink its move to hike fines for pedestrians to nearly $700 for even relatively minor infractions of the Motor Vehicle Act. Bill 133, which along with the increased fines included a number of other uncontroversial amendments of the Motor Vehicle Act, passed final reading in the legislature last week and now needs only to be proclaimed to become law. Read more.

From pedestrian areas to libraries, 4 Toronto chiefs ponder the future

"Our transportation planning in North America historically has focused on moving cars," she said.  "You design the street in a very different way if your goal is to move cars than if your goal is in fact to move people.  So this is what a street looks like when it's designed to move cars." Read more.

Japanese ad uses samurai and ninjas to stop smartphone use while walking

Japan's mobile phone culture has always been a few steps ahead of the west, with the early emergence of emoji being the most famous example. Now Japan's leading cell phone carrier, NTT Docomo, has used the tropes of the country's popular martial arts films to promote a tech culture correction we could likely see in the U.S. sometime soon: getting users to stop walking while using their smartphones. Read more.

Calgary - Small acts of kindness can have a lasting impact

Every day at 7 a.m., before they started their day teaching youth, Deng and Bol met Const. Evan Nelson in the YouthLink parking lot for cycling lessons. Round and round the parking lot they went — from wobbly starts to slow speed wipeouts. Their confidence and joy grew with every turn of the pedals. This heartwarming sight, of an off-duty police officer teaching two grown men how to bicycle, caught the attention of passersby and other officers. Read more.

Vancouver - City calls for cyclists to share lanes with skateboarders, rollerbladers

Skateboarders and rollerbladers could soon be legally allowed to skate in the city’s protected bike lanes that run from Kitsilano to Chinatown and through parts of the West End. But the Vancouver Police Department is warning that the city’s proposal to mix skateboarders and cyclists in the lanes might not be such a good idea. Read more.

Regina cycling advocates “extremely disappointed” about lack of bike consideration in city’s budget

While Saskatoon takes steps to factor cycling more significantly into its urban planning, members of the bike scene in Regina, on the other hand, are saying that there’s a troubling indifference to cyclists in the city’s municipal budget. Read more.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Global bicycle ownership rates see big downturn

According to new research, the number of households that own a bicycle is decreasing drastically across the globe, with 148 countries showing an average decline of 50% over a few decades. Read more.

Helsinki’s bicycle highway and other great innovations to build healthier cities

Snaking through the city core, the Baana — or "fast lane" — is a converted railway track. On foot or bicycle, I could safely and easily access many key points in Helsinki without breathing in exhaust from cars or worrying about getting crushed under a truck. Read more.

Skateboard bylaws unlikely to be followed, Victoria staff report says

It’s unlikely that skateboarders will follow any bylaw requiring them to have helmets, lights and reflectors, say Victoria city staff, so it’s up to council to decide whether to include them. City staff are recommending the city write to the province urging it set provincial standards requiring boarders — like cyclists — to use helmets. Read more.

New pedestrian, cyclist bridge over Rideau River opens ahead of schedule

The new Adàwe Crossing connects pedestrians and cyclists looking for a quicker route between Ottawa's Vanier and Overbrook neighbourhoods and Sandy Hill, the University of Ottawa, and the downtown core. Read more.

Hamilton - Transportation Master Plan Public Meeting Results

The City is currently reviewing its City-Wide Transportation Master Plan and held a public meeting last week. It was extremely interesting and interactive. The first result was that 72 percent of attendees picked "segregated bike lanes on arterial roads" as the best opportunity to allow more cycling for trips between 2 and 5 km. Read more.

Halifax - $697 pedestrian fine ‘the wrong decision,’ say advocates

A bill that passed third reading in the Nova Scotia legislature Friday contains amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act that will mean pedestrians who don’t yield to motor vehicles that have right of way will be hit with fines of $697.50. Motorists who fail to yield to pedestrians with right of way will be fined the same amount. Read more.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

How Parking Conquered L.A.

All told, L.A. had about 200 square miles of total parking infrastructure “dedicated to automobile storage” in 2010—or 14 percent of the county’s incorporated land, according to the new study. (That’s on-street parking spots, such as curb spaces, and off-street garages and lots alike.) Read more.

Winter Mobility Beyond Snow Tires: How Toronto can make walking and cycling more accessible in winter

Snow removal remains a sensitive issue for many who walk, roll, bike, take transit or drive in the winter months. Today, as the city shifts away from car-oriented transportation and development, roads aren’t the only places that need attention after a snowfall. Read more.

Durham cyclists ask Uxbridge’s help in providing safer roads

During a council meeting on Nov. 30, Bruce MacDonald, of the Durham Region Cycling Coalition, requested officials address gaps in area trails that force cyclists onto unsafe roads or road sections. Read more.

Lights required, helmets optional under new Victoria skateboard rules

Skateboarders rolling through Victoria streets at night will have to wear lights but not helmets under new bylaw provisions endorsed by councillors on Thursday. Councillors agreed to bylaw amendments that will permit skateboarders, roller bladers, roller skaters and non-motorized scooter users to use city streets in the same manner as bicyclists. Read more.

How Skateboarding Became More Than A White Dude's Sport

This melting pot scene at Coleman Skate Park is emblematic of the world of professional skateboarding, where people of color are increasingly being welcomed by the industry and accepted in skateboarding communities. These days black skaters are visible in skateparks, suburbs and inner city streets from New York to New Orleans. Read more.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Bicycling Tourists Are Older, Wealthier, and In Demand

Tourism officials and cycling advocates sometimes refer to tourists on bicycles as “wallets on wheels.” That’s because they stay longer in a state and spend more per day than other tourists. Oregon, for example, has found that bicycle tourism contributes $400 million a year to its economy—roughly $1.1 million a day. It was the first state to create a Bike Friendly Business Program that helps businesses market to bicycle tourists. Read more.

Brockville - Time to start pedalling

From 2015 through 2024, the city plans to spend a total of $683,000 for the Brock Trail and $150,000 for the cycling network. The total project costs for the two combined amount to $2,421,000 over that same period, with the rest of the funds coming from grants and in-kind donations. Read more.

Okotoks - Town adopts new business strategy

The four overarching goals are to be a “Yes we can community” with business-friendly policies and progressive attitudes, to have a vibrant downtown core with three anchors, to promote active transportation, and to draw more professional businesses to town that allow residents to live and work in Okotoks. Read more.

One of America’s Most Auto-Centric Cities Ditches the Car

Visitors to Indianapolis today see a city that looks more like Portland, Oregon, than like Detroit, where traffic lanes have been replaced by broad, tree-lined pedestrian paths crowded with strollers, boats ply the Central Canal, bike lanes follow the curves of the White River, and greenways link the farthest-flung areas of the city. Read more.

How Minneapolis is getting more kids to walk and bike to school

Kids are in trouble. In era of ubiquitous electronics and car-centric cities, they don’t get enough exercise. The public health statistics read like a ticker tape of despair: Obesity rates have doubled in a generation, asthma rates have soared, and kids spend less time in nature. Increasing how many kids can safely bike or walk to school would seem like a great help. But there, too, thanks to changes in urban design, rates have been decreasing across the board. In 1969, half of all kids walked or biked to school; today that number is 13%. Read more.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Thousands stuck in 50-lane traffic jam in Beijing

If you thought traffic was bad on a five-line freeway, can you imagine a 50-lane traffic jam?
In Beijing, China, thousands of commuters were trapped on the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, China's The People's Daily reported. Read more.

Google Granted Patent That Enables Self-Driving Cars To Interact With Pedestrians

Google’s self-driving project is leading the pack, and a recently granted patent (Patent #: US009196164, granted 11/24/15) signals that the company is trying to pick off some of the issues they’ve been facing with how pedestrians and other drivers interact with them on the streets. Read more.

Pedestrian pointers: 4 ways to stay safe on Toronto roads

With just over a month left to go, 2015 is shaping up as one of the worst years for pedestrian collisions and deaths on Toronto roads. To date, Toronto police say over 1,500 pedestrians have been struck this year alone, including 34 fatal collisions. Read more.

Winter’s fat bike playground on Manitoba’s snowy, serene Bur Oak Trail

Ah, fat bikes. They’re gaining in popularity, and more than likely, you’ve probably seen one or two of them on the streets of your town or city, even over the winter months. As ever, there’s a certain appeal to the rugged, robust look of a pair of huge, treaded tires, supporting a sleek frame. They might be a bit slow over the asphalt as a result, but they look seriously impressive. All that, though? That’s nothing compared to what they can do on the snow. Read more.

These two Prince George's neighborhoods show how bike trails help neighborhoods

Riverdale Park and East Riverdale are two neighboring communities just east of Hyattsville in Prince George's County. One is thriving while the other has struggled. One reason could be that the Riverdale Park is near bike trails, while East Riverdale is blocked from them. Read more.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Kingston puts active transportation in the fast lane

Kingston Transit is in the fast lane for even more improvements down the road based on the latest goals of the city’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP). Councillors have made it clear that future transit ridership targets need to be more aggressive than what a report had recommended. Read more.

Travel Yukon turns attention to fat-tire cycling in latest ad

Two-wheeled travelers are the subject of the Yukon Government's latest advertising campaign, which is attempting to lure visitors to the territory through fat-tire bicycling. Read more.

Why Laws Banning Cyclists From Wearing Headphones Miss the Point

Massachusetts recently proposed a law that would prohibit cyclists from wearing headphones while riding. The bill is currently locked in committee, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise for it to see the light of day at some point. As Jenni Bergal at Pew’s Stateline blog writes, a number of U.S. states are dealing with distracted cycling indirectly—banning headsets or earplugs rather than cellphone use. Read more.

How cycling could help the Paris climate talks change the world

As the great and good gather in Paris for climate change talks, it’s time to consider what role the humble bike can play in combating global warming. Amid all the talk about the prosperity of developing nations and China’s coal addiction, bikes might seem a bit trivial, and will likely get little mention at the summit. But this is unfair. Read more.

Canadian cities differing on their approach to cycling

The report, Cycling Cities: Supporting Cycling in Canadian Cities, put together by Canadian environmental agency the Pembina Institute, looked at several factors that go into urban cycling in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa. While the report stops short of drawing conclusions about which cities are doing the best, or which type of infrastructure is most effective, it does show differences in how the cities have accommodated cyclists. Read more.

Vision Zero: Could we end deaths on the street?

Described as the “Swedish approach to road safety thinking,” agreeing to Vision Zero means a city commits to work towards zero motor vehicle fatalities within 10 years. “People have a right to safe mobility, and for too long that hasn’t been the case,” said Leah Shahum, the founder and director or the Zero Vision Network, which is based in San Francisco. Read more.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Vancouver residents lead Canada in urban bike trips

People living in B.C.'s largest city take more than 100,000 trips by bike each day, making up more than four per cent of journeys by all forms of transportation, according to the report from the Pembina Institute. Of the country's five largest cities, only Toronto came close, with 96,000 daily trips. Read more.

5 reasons why cycling is the new golf

CYCLING IS ONE of the fastest growing sports in the country, but at what cost to the other sports? Read more.

Calgary boasts most cycling infrastructure but is poorly connected, says Pembina Institute study

Comprehensive but poorly connected is how Pembina Institute summarizes the bulk of Calgary’s bicycling infrastructure in a recent study. There have been improvements, Pembina says, but there is a ways to go, and Coun. Druh Farrell echoed that statement offering her perspective. Read more.

York Region wants Richmond Hill feedback on transportation

he Region of York is looking for your input on the future of transportation. Recommendations from residents and businesses are needed to address transportation requirements and opportunities. The plan establishes the vision for services, system performance, forecasts future travel demand, and defines projects and strategies to help road, transit and active transportation needs. Read more.

Kelowna - Tax hike proposed for budget; Parcel tax could kickstart Transportation For Tomorrow

District staff is recommending a proposal that would levy a $100 parcel tax in 2016 following by a series of tax increases over three years beginning in 2017, to raise the $30 million dollars necessary to deal with its 200 kilometres of roads, many of which are aging and in need of repair. The parcel tax would collect around $500,000 for the first year of the Transportation for Tomorrow Plan. Read more.

Pedestrian Wheelchair Users 36 Percent More Likely To Die In Car Crashes

In a study published in the journal BMJ Open, researchers from Georgetown University found that the road is a riskier place for wheelchair users than other pedestrians. Read more.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Pedestrians need to be on drivers' radar

Pedestrians can be charged with disobeying traffic lights, pedestrian signals or crosswalk rules. But even if pedestrians are in the wrong, drivers always have a duty to avoid a collision wherever possible. Read more.

Yellowknife lakes reach recommended ice thickness for safe walking

The city says the ice measurements on all lakes in the capital city have reached the recommended 15-centimetre thickness for safe walking. Read more.

Billionaire unveils bicycle that generates electricity

Billionaire philanthropist Manoj Bhargava unveiled a bicycle that produces electricity when pedalled and the product, named Free Electric, aims to help solve problem of electricity shortage in the country, particularly rural areas. Read more.

Better city cycling routes? There's an app for that

Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati, a Toronto-based cyclist commuter, is considering whether to cycle through the coming winter. It is “only” -5C, she says, but temperatures can plummet to -25C and snow ploughs clear the roads for months. Read more.

Montreal cyclists have more bike paths — and more accidents — than any other big Canadian city

Vancouver had the highest rate of cyclists among the cities, with 4.4 per cent of commuters using bikes to get to work, compared to only 2.9 per cent for Montreal, 2.5 per cent in Ottawa, 2.2 per cent in Toronto, and 1.3 per cent in Calgary. Despite having the highest modal share of cyclists, Vancouver had the second-least amount of bicycle infrastructure, such as bike paths and multi-use trails. Read more.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Rideau River pedestrian bridge to open Dec. 4, councillor says

A pedestrian bridge crossing the Rideau River at Strathcona Park will open in early December, area councillors announced via Twitter. Read more.

Vancouver company offers grocery-delivery by bicycle

Online grocery company Spud.ca has taken natural to a new level by launching a carbon-free delivery service. “We think we can put in smaller stores and service the customer in a unique way and that’s what we want to do,” says Spud.ca CEO Peter van Stolk. Read more.

What's the future of skateboard parks in Toronto?

A map of skateparks shows plenty of holes in coverage. Skateboarders in North York and south Scarborough have limited parks available to them. Ditto for those in Etobicoke, where there are two parks in the south end and one at the northern end, but none in the central section. Read more.

Saskatoon - City Seeks Input on Active Transportation Plan

The City of Saskatoon wants to hear from residents on their first Active Transportation Plan. The plan will provide a 30 year roadmap on how to offer more options for people using their bikes, walking or other forms of active transportation. Read more.

Cyclists are priceless for cities

A new Danish study shows that cyclists and pedestrians contribute to roughly 50 % of the revenue in retailing in the large cities’ centers and roughly 25 % in the small and medium-sized cities. The bicycle is the preferred means of transportation in city centers, and cyclists visit more shops per trip than car drivers. Read more.

Toronto gaining momentum among cycling cities: report

Torontonians make 96,000 bike trips a day and the numbers are growing. So is the city’s momentum when it comes to building cycling infrastructure, says the Pembina Institute, a national environmental think tank. Read more.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Toronto - City unveils designs for $19.7 million Fort York pedestrian bridge

The city has unveiled the design for two new pedestrian bridges that will traverse a pair of rail tracks in the west end, connecting Stanley Park with the Fort York historic grounds and the nearby waterfront. Read more.

Winnipeg - Cycling city? We’re not there yet

It’s this time of year we seasonal cyclists console ourselves with pithy aphorisms: I’m not soft, just cautious. I’d rather drive than die. Read more.

The UK's cycling revolution won't take off without proper funding

The issue here is not about cyclists or cycling at all: it is about transport, health, pollution and the economy. The government’s own figures show that physical inactivity costs Britain £47bn a year – nearly £1bn a week – and has been described by NHS England CEO Simon Stevens as a “slow motion car crash” for the service. Air pollution in our cities was responsible for more than 29,000 deaths in the UK last year. Businesses lose £1.5bn to congestion in the capital. The poorest in our society don’t have access to cars and many struggle to afford public transport.


Cycling alone cannot solve all of these problems, but it can make a significant contribution in a way that offers outstanding value for money. Read more.

San Francisco - Raise Bike Lanes will not make cycling Safe

Every major city has a street that is absolutely hellish, and in San Francisco it’s Market Street. It bisects downtown, and with all the buses and taxis and Ubers and automobiles, it’s a chaotic and occasionally horrifying three-mile stretch that is best, and worst, traveled by bicycle. Read more.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Toronto - Bike lanes and paths easier to build under new rules

Toronto will be able to build bike lanes in less time for less money thanks to new provincial rules, says the city's manager of cycling infrastructure and programs. Toronto will no longer do provincial environmental assessments (EA) to build on-street bike lanes. The assessments have been blamed for holding up projects such as the Richmond-Adelaide cycle track. Read more.

How to Reduce Cyclists' Exposure to Air Pollution

We’ve known for years that cycling, for all its health benefits, has a dark side: Bikers inhale more black carbon than pedestrians do. Some studies have suggested that cyclists can reduce their exposure to air pollution by taking alternative routes. But a recent study of commuting in Fort Collins complicates that recommendation. Read more.

Behold the Dizzying Pedestrian Bridge Copenhagen Is Building Above Its Harbor

Cities can learn a lot from Copenhagen’s multimodal ways. But how about this inspiring piece of infrastructure from the Danish city: Instead of simply adding a frilly statue to mark its harbor’s entrance, this bridge incorporates housing and provides a stunning vista for tourists and residents alike. Read more.

7 Big Ways Cities Have Transformed Themselves for Bikes

The number of bikes in our cities is increasing, and with that increase we're also seeing some major changes in the way cities are designed. Engineers are giving bikes their own bridges, tunnels, overpasses, even escalators!, making biking feel like it's an essential, permanent part of the city. Read more.

What Happens When Amsterdam Maxes Out Its Bicycle Parking Spots? It Builds 40,000 More

In a city where it’s estimated there are more bikes (881,000) than people (811,000), and where cycling is believed to account for 40 percent of all traffic, infrastructure challenges are bound to arise. Read more.

Transportation remains top priority among Calgarians according to Satisfaction survey

According to the 2015 Citizen Satisfaction Survey, released Monday by the City of Calgary, more than half of survey respondents listed matters of transportation infrastructure (36%) or public transit (21%) as their top choice for most important issue facing the city. Read more.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Victoria ideal for culture of walking, cycling

Statistics Canada data and other surveys have found that the majority of people travel downtown by walking, cycling or taking transit. In fact, Victoria has one of the highest shares of “sustainable transportation modes” of any city in North America. Read more.

Millennials even see transportation differently

The economic and political truths that have governed America since the end of World War II — that everyone wants a big house and a car to drive to and from that big house — are disintegrating. Read more.

Can Cycling Save the World?

In Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals,” the ECF & WCA demonstrate how a sizeable shift towards bicycling could play – and in many cases is already playing – an enormous role in achieving the Global Goals. The Global Goals are a set of 17 goals ratified by the leaders of 193 countries during September 2015’s UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York. They work towards meeting three objectives: end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change. Read more.

Can’t wait to show off my kickflip when Guelph’s skateboard park opens

I also think it's important the city has followed through on providing an area dedicated to the sport. We put so much money into our soccer fields, football fields and baseball diamonds, this is simply another sport we should also be supporting. There's hundreds of youth in the city who spend hours a day practicing tricks on their scooters, bikes, rollerblades and skateboards. They are just as worthy of having a place to perfect their sport as anyone else. Plus, providing opportunities for youth to participate in skateboarding, and other types of sports, is a fantastic way to curb the boredom that can lead to trouble. It also keeps kids active, gives them a place to socialize with people sharing their interest in skateboarding and, best of all, gets them outdoors. Read more.

Choose walking over lifting? Not so fast: Saskatoon-based physical trainer

Amid a growing number of people in the health and fitness industry who say that brisk walking, not lifting heavy iron, is the best way to lose weight, Harvest Stack spoke with Saskatchewan Weekend host Eric Anderson. Read more.

Finland Suggests That Russia Prohibits Bicycle Crossings of Mutual Border

In recent weeks, Finland has been receiving an increased number of asylum-seekers who arrive by Bicycle across Russia using the legal loophole, while crossing the border on foot is prohibited.
Read more.

Yonge St. likely to become more pedestrian friendly

A new report on the future of downtown Yonge St. calls for a host of changes to Toronto's central thoroughfare in an effort to make it more pedestrian friendly. It's not the first time such steps have been recommended, but the picture painted by the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area's Yonge Love study (PFF) seems to indicate support for such initiatives from a variety of stakeholders. Read more.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

An Anonymous Group Is Fixing Bike Lanes Where New York Isn't

Abraham says the ever-growing community of people who ride bikes—and more broadly, of New Yorkers who want the streets to be safe for all users—no longer will be satisfied with a minimalist approach to bike infrastructure. Read more.

Torontonians want a more pedestrian-friendly Yonge Street, report says

The people have spoken and they want a more walkable Yonge Street, according to an organization representing businesses on the world's longest thoroughfare. After the city announced a revitalization initiative along Yonge Street last year, the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Association (DYBIA) launched Yonge Love, an "unconventional, creative approach to community consultation." Read more.

Croatia Becomes a Cycling Mecca Thanks to Enthusiasts

Two long time friends teamed up and created a Croatian dream. After years of preaching cycling to coworkers, friends and families, Tomislav Zobec and Hrvoje Šepić quit their day jobs and approached the unknown. Read more.

Cyclist gives Boris the finger on new segregated cycleway

Mayor of London Boris Johnson was out riding the new segregated cycle superhighway on Vauxhall Bridge when he encountered a commuter going the other way. Clearly not a fan of the Tory MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the rider can be seen raising his middle finger as Johnson happily waves back. Read more.

Montreal streamlines bike path and bus lane projects

Montreal will create an office dedicated to preferential projects for buses and bikes, the city announced Wednesday. “Our administration is committed to make Montreal a metropolis of active and public transportation,” said Aref Salem, head of transport on the city’s executive committee. Read more.

Manitoba politicians push for law requiring motorists to give bicycles space

A Manitoba politician is pushing for a new law that would require motorists to stay at least one metre away from cyclists whenever they pass them. Read more.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Letter to the editor: Revisit $6 million cycling plan for Kitchener

In response to Peter Shawn Taylor's column, his main point that a "tiny minority of activist cyclists" have been allowed "to wield power over local politicians far out of proportion to their actual numbers or importance," is absolutely a fact. Read more.

Fold-up helmets and sandwich bikes: 12 designs that revolutionised cycling

Choppers, Stumpjumpers, fold-away helmets and a flatpack DIY bike kit ... as the Design Museum’s new exhibition Cycle Revolution hits the tarmac, here are 12 innovations that reinvented the wheel. Read more.

What If Cycling Became a Whole Lot More Popular?

American cyclists are growing in number. What would the social impact be if that growth expanded dramatically—both in the U.S. and around the world? Read more.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Why e-bikes could be the future of cycling

E-bikes are not a new idea, but according to Andy Wynne, senior consultant at technology firm Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP), the market could be on the verge of exploding. Read more.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Halton - Regional council endorses new Active Transportation Master Plan

Regional councillors supported the Halton Region Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) in principle at their Thursday meeting (Nov. 12). The plan provides Halton with a strategy for on-road and off-road active transportation infrastructure initiatives to promote non-motorized travel throughout its communities from now until 2031. Read more.

Kingston - On the road to disaster

Kingston's transit ridership has increased almost 70 per cent since 2002. Bus ridership is increasing at a much faster pace than population growth and express route expansions point to growth well into the future. Despite this trend, and transit's additional social service functions, the Kingston Transportation Master Plan (KTMP) reduces transit's target from 11 per cent of peak period traffic to nine per cent. Read more.

Helmets 'a barrier to spread of cycling'

Warfare on the roads isn't always waged between cyclists and motorists but between cyclists and their helmets. Katherine Francis, a cyclist who hasn't worn a helmet for 40 years, was arrested and strip-searched while six months pregnant in 1996 for not paying her fines. Read more.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Madrid's Bold New Pollution Plan: Ban Cars and Make Transit Free

The city of Madrid is poised to enact some of the toughest anti-pollution laws in the world. When air quality drops beneath a new threshold, Spain’s capital will banish half the city’s cars from inner Madrid and introduce strict speed limits on the beltway. In an unusual spirit of municipal largesse, it will also make public transit entirely free to use for the day. Read more.

Bike-Share, Meet Canoe-Share

In the Twin Cities, shared transportation is headed off-road: The National Park Service is planning a combination canoe- and bike-share pilot, scheduled to launch next year. The project will open a short stretch of the Mississippi River to increased recreational use with canoe/bike stations at appropriate launch points (probably three of them). Read more.

San Francisco Debuts Its Very First Elevated Bike Lane

San Francisco just elevated the cause of bicycling safety … by about 2 inches. The city’s Municipal Transportation Agency has debuted its first-ever raised bike path, providing one long (or two short) blocks of protection in the heart of downtown. Read more.

Winter cycling: good idea or flat-out insane?

About 30 to 40 per cent of cyclists bike year-round, according to Tom Babin, the Calgary author who wrote Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling, and some say that percentage grows every year. Read more.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Pedestrian safety: tips to stay safe in dark and stormy weather

It's a combination that Vancouver Police say is dangerous this time of year for pedestrians and cyclists: early darkness and rain. Read more.

Public transport may be healthier than walking or cycling to work - study

If you're looking to slim that waistline and lower your blood pressure, then riding the train or bus to work could be the answer – it may even be healthier than getting on your bike. Read more.

Study: Cycling can reduce transportation CO2 by 10%

Data from a new study, published Thursday by University of California (UCD), Davis, indicates that an increase in transportation cycling could save cities $25 trillion and reduce transportation-related CO2 emissions 10 percent by 2050. The report was commissioned by the UCI, the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), and the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association (BPSA). Read more.

Victoria rolls out grand vision for bicycle routes

Victoria is pumped to spend $7.75 million of its $9 million in gas tax reserves to create “the best small cycling city in the world,” says Mayor Lisa Helps. Council is unanimously behind spending the federal money on the design and construction of protected bike lanes on eight major routes by November 2018, she said. “We’re aiming to create a completely connected network.” Read more.

La Route verte doit rester une priorité de Québec

En novembre 2014, lors de la signature du pacte fiscal municipal, le Conseil du Trésor du Québec annonçait l'abolition du budget de 2,8M$ pour l'entretien de la Route verte, le lien cyclable qui relie 400 municipalités québécoises. Read more.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Concerned about pedestrian safety? Let's start with dangerous SUV mentality

A combination of psychological and design factors make large passenger vehicles such as SUVs much more of a threat to pedestrians and cyclists than standard passenger cars, a fact that deserves attention as a larger class of vehicle comes to dominate our roads. Read more.

Ottawa - 'Pinch points' big problem in city's cycling system: Report

The "pinch points" are areas which funnel cyclists and vehicles together, and are outlined in the report tabled Monday by the Ottawa Centre EcoDistrict (OCED). Read more.

Over half of Halifax pedestrian-vehicle collisions happened in crosswalks

More than half of the collisions between cars and pedestrians in Halifax this year have happened in crosswalks. The 82 incidents, which represent 54 per cent of all collisions, is a decrease from the 113 (61 per cent) in 2014. Those figures, along with others, are contained in a report released by regional police Tuesday. Read more.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

‘Atrocious year’ for pedestrian fatalities in Edmonton

The number of pedestrians killed on Edmonton streets has risen for the second year in a row. Twelve people have died while crossing city streets so far this year. Last year, 10 people were killed in vehicle-pedestrian accidents, up from nine deaths in 2013. Read more.

Verdun mayor admits he made up story about skateboarder ending up in hospital to teach councillor lesson

Saying he wanted to teach a skateboarding city councillor “a lesson,” the mayor of Verdun, Quebec has admitted he made up a story about a 14-year-old boy ending up in hospital after getting injured at an under-construction skateboard park. Read more.

Don't give up on cycling just because it's winter

While the dark wet and cold weather means you may need a bit more help to keep safe and warm, cycling remains a great way to keep active - and get you to work. Read more.

Public Officials Who Sit on a Pedestrian and Bicycle Council Should Actually Walk or Bike

There’s a troubling tendency for public officials in charge of U.S. transit systems not to actually step foot on the buses and trains they oversee. The result is a totally unsurprising failure to anticipate basic problems: if you’re used to parking right beside your destination, for instance, you can’t appreciate the importance of a good sidewalk network leading to a transit stop or station. Read more.

Fashion delivers a visual brand for Edmonton MLA David Shepherd

David Shepherd doesn’t let a three-piece suit keep him from cycling wherever he needs to go in his busy new job as MLA for Edmonton Centre. In fact, the 42-year-old politician makes a point of dressing well whether he’s cycling to the legislature or meeting constituents at a community centre. Read more.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Unmasked! The Mexico City superhero wrestling for pedestrians' rights

Clogged with traffic, crippled by poor infrastructure – the capital is notoriously hard to navigate on foot. Enter Peatónito, the activist fighting for safer streets. Read more.

School Policy Supporting Active Transportation and Physical Activity

So, what is the state of our policies for physical activity?  The 2008 National Physical Activity Plan encouraged Safe Routes to Schools programs at national, state, county, and local levels.  And yet, the National Research Council reported in 2013 that wellness policies include language promoting Safe Routes to School in fewer than 10% of school districts nationwide.  Read more.

Cycle In report pinpoints trouble spots in Ottawa for cyclists

Ottawa is a great cycling city but there are gaps along pathways that force cyclists to ride on sidewalks, cut through commercial properties and weave through traffic, a new report suggests. Read more.

Calgary cycle track network: An overnight success story, 5 years in the making

In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, building safe, separated bike infrastructure has become one of the lighter, quicker, and cheaper strategies utilized by cities to attract high-tech businesses, talent, and retail activity into their centres. Led by visionary Mayors, predictable players like New York, Chicago and Vancouver – alongside less likely ones such as Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Memphis – have assembled ‘minimum grids’ of protected bike lanes – piece by piece – over the past 10 years. Read more.

More education needed as tensions between road users rise

A proposal to require cyclists to be licensed failed at Vancouver’s City Council meeting this week, but councillors agreed to have city staff look into “best practices” for educating cyclists and drivers about staying safe on the roads. Read more.

Brisk walking: is it better than vigorous exercise for losing weight?

A new study by the London School of Economics found that people are "more likely to have a lower weight if they regularly engage in high impact walking compared to doing another vigorous activity like going to the gym." Read more.

Kelowna's mayor proposes changes to 'unsafe' route after cycling it

On the morning of Nov. 5,  Kelowna mayor Colin Basran didn't start his day in meetings with staff or council. Instead, he strapped on his helmet, got on his bicycle, and cycled a route to UBC Okanagan — which, because of a court battle that has made it illegal for cyclists to access a private road, involves riding a busy highway overpass. Read more.

Ottawa - City ponders changes to Glebe intersection in cycling plan

Glebe residents have put the kibosh on a city proposal to make Craig Street a one way road at an awkward intersection with Fifth Avenue. The city has been considering various traffic calming measures at the intersection, where Craig and Percy streets hit Fifth Avenue, as part of its Glebe Neighbourhood Cycling Plan. The city started its Glebe cycling study in 2014 to improve the neighbourhood’s bike lanes and cycling plans. Read more.

Pedestrian safety: How engineering, planning can help

Proper planning can have "a tremendous impact on pedestrian safety," according to a U.S. based transportation engineer. Richard Retting spoke to On the Coast after an 18-year-old woman and her 20-year-old boyfriend stepped into an intersection in Vancouver and were struck by a car on the evening of Nov. 4. Read more.

B.C.’s public auto insurer blames ‘careless’ cyclist for his own death in crash with alleged drunk driver

On May 31, Chafe, a former Canadian national team cyclist, was struck and killed by a car on a mountain road near Whistler along with fellow cyclist Kelly Blunden. Samuel Alec, a serial drunk driver with multiple convictions on his record, was allegedly impaired when he crossed the centre line, mowing down the two men. Read more.

How do you get more kids cycling to school?

The Government, schools and charities are now looking at more ways to make cycling routes safer so more children have the confidence to get on their bike. Read more.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

The beauty of bikes – redesigning two wheels

“The bicycle is a great good,” said Samuel Beckett, the cycling enthusiast who also wrote some plays, “but it can turn nasty, if ill-employed.” Well yes indeed. Read more.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Pedestrian Safety Must Be Part Of The Urban Transit Conversation

Much debate in Toronto and elsewhere focuses on cities creating urban transport solutions -- how to move large numbers of people around over short periods of high-peak need. City arteries, whether roads, trains, or subways, form the basis of this, essentially as the architecture by which most of us move from one place to another. But the prevalence of pedestrian accidents highlights the collateral damage when walking is not considered as part of the urban transport conversation. Read more.

Amsterdam’s Wonderful Bicycle Culture

Even if you’ve never been to The Netherlands, you’ve probably heard about their famous bicycle culture. And what a culture it is! In Amsterdam, there appear to be more bicycles than cars. Read more.

Trails council pitches ranger program to District of Muskoka

Trails play an important role in the region’s economy, but they need a little extra help, says John Challis, president of Muskoka Trails Council, who approached District of Muskoka councillors on Oct. 19 to ask for support of a new Muskoka Trail Rangers program. Read more.

CBRM recreation priorities walking facilities, hockey arenas, says consultant

A recreation survey in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality shows the number one priority for citizens is walking. Consultant Jim Scott of Trace Planning and Design said people in the community have made it clear that having good indoor and outdoor walking facilities within 10-minutes of their homes is the top priority. Read more.

Pedestrian accidents escalate during wet Toronto commute

An unusually high number of accidents involving pedestrians on the streets of Toronto on Wednesday had local police urging drivers to take extra precaution when travelling on slick, wet roads. And a day later, a cyclist has been struck and killed amid a dark and rainy morning drive in Brampton. Read more.

Bike dreams: How councillors would improve cycling in Edmonton

McKeen and councillors Michael Walters, Ben Henderson and Andrew Knack put the removal of painted bike lanes behind them and a room full of cyclists in front of them at a “state of the bike” forum hosted by the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society. Read more.

Accidents happen in Toronto’s cycling wars. The tragedy is not everyone gets to walk away

Toronto Police & Transportation Services most recent collision statistics for car-bike collisions date from September 2013. There were 1,042 accidents in the first nine months of that year, compared to 1,475 for all of 2012. Put another way: in 2012, every six hours a biker, somewhere in Toronto, got hit by a car. And the police numbers only reflect the collisions that actually get reported. Read more.

U.S. - Just How Bad Is the Final House Transportation Bill?

Nobody was expecting the GOP-controlled House of Representatives to put together a transportation bill that did much for streets and transit in American cities. And they were right — there’s nothing to get excited about in the bill. But neither is it the total disaster for walking, biking, and transit it could have been. Read more.

A new path to fitness: walking groups on the rise in Edmonton

Outdoor enthusiasts in Edmonton have a new path to fitness — and it starts with your smartphone. Video.

Sudbury police focus on pedestrian safety after string of collisions

Sudbury police say they'll be paying extra attention to pedestrian safety after a string of incidents on the roads left two people injured in the past few days. Read more.

Study finds no link between cycling helmet laws and head injury rates

A major Canadian study has found no link between cycle helmet legislation and head injuries, and has recommended governments focus on providing bike infrastructure to protect cyclists instead. Read more.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Chatham - Active transportation advocate remembered

With his vision for a healthier, more active Chatham-Kent, John Sigurjonsson never backed down. Through this persistence and positivity, he was also instrumental in creating a more engaged community. Sigurjonsson, of Chatham, died on Oct. 23 at the age of 79. Read more.

Ottawa - Ghost bike debate: Permanent memorial for cyclists proposed

The brother of a woman whose 2011 death on Queen Street was memorialized with a ghost bike would like to see a new permanent memorial in Ottawa to celebrate the spirit of cycling while commemorating those who’ve lost their lives on bikes. Read more.

Would you use a floating bicycle toll road along the Thames?

Remember seeing this floating bicycle toll road along the Thames last year? Thought it was consigned to the 'seemed like a good idea at the time' pile? Well, you were wrong. Someone still thinks it's a good idea and, yes, they're crowd funding it.  Read more.

Kingston - Transportation plan called 'unambitious'

Kingston's new transportation master plan is on a rocky road to city hall. The document sets down the city's 20-year targets for $740 million worth of spending on roads, public transit and active transportation, but some councillors and members of the public say it falls short of expectations. Read more.

Niagara - Active Transportation hosting second workshop

Discussions around making Niagara-on-the-Lake a walkable community will continue at the second planned workshop of the Town’s active transportation committee. Read more.

Halifax - Macdonald Bridge bike, pedestrian lanes repurposed for walking trails

You could call them mini-Macdonalds — sections of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge's pedestrian and bike lanes that are being repurposed for walking trails in the city. Read more.

City of Guelph told to keep its trails unpaved

Don't pave city trails. That was one of the predominant messages being delivered at the Guelph Farmers' Market Saturday at a booth set up by the city to gather public input into changes to the trail and sidewalk systems in the Royal City. Read more.

Edmonton woman taking to the streets studying a 'hostile' cycling environment

Heather Magusin might be that cyclist Edmonton motorists love to hate, but at least they notice her. The Grant MacEwan student is independently studying cycling in the city by changing her bike behaviors to test driver responses and collect feedback. Read more.

Liverpool Just Opened Fast-Walking Pedestrian Lanes

City residents all over the world have long dreamed of a way to nudge rubbernecking tourists and other slow pokes to the side of the sidewalk. Liverpool in England has made that wish come true—at least for a short while. Retailer Argos has installed “Fast Track” pedestrian lanes near a shopping complex for a trial, er, run. Read more.

Walking benefits: increasing daily steps linked to longer life, study shows

A sedentary person who increased his or her steps from 1,000 to 10,000 a day, seven days a week, was found to have a 46% lower mortality risk. If increased to 3,000 a day five days a week, the person had a 12% lower risk. Read more.

Cycling dangerous? It's not us, it's them

If you open the pages of many newspapers, head online at their digital offerings or tune into the six-o-clock news you'd get the impression that it was open season on cyclists and that riding a bike was the most dangerous thing you can do on wheels. Read more.

Vancouver council rejects motion to examine bicycle licensing

Vancouver city council has rejected a suggestion to study the idea of licensing bicycles. Instead, councillors unanimously approved Wednesday (November 4) an alternative motion asking staff to report on best practices regarding the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, including enforcement measures and education. Read more.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Side-by-side cycling? Townships oppose allowing it on roads in Waterloo Region

At least two of the four local townships oppose a regional draft bylaw that would allow side-by-side cycling throughout Waterloo Region. The rolling hills, faster speeds and barely-there shoulders on rural roads just can't accommodate cyclists side-by-side, said Township of Wellesley Mayor Joe Nowak. Read more.

Safer bicycle and pedestrian crossing over Highway 401 still years away at Franklin Boulevard in Cambridge

"With adjacent work taking place to widen Highway 401 from Highway 8 to Hespeler Road, the earliest we expect to begin construction on the Franklin Boulevard bridge is 2019," Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Liane Fisher wrote in an email Monday. Read more.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Cities need the power to use road tolls and congestion taxes, group says

It is long past time that Canada's congested cities began putting a price on some of their most precious real estate, says a new report from Canada's Ecofiscal Commission. "We've got a very scarce commodity called road space during peak times, and it's unpriced," Chris Ragan, the McGill University economics professor who heads the private ecofiscal think tank. Read more.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Problem with Cycling

For John Pucher and Ralph Buehler and their essayist colleagues in the book, City Cycling, the solution is the bicycle. Read more.

The Canadian Cancer Society's Trottibus, the Walking School Bus, is expanding in Quebec and to other parts of Canada

Developed by the CCS and gradually implemented across Quebec over the past five years, the Trottibus Walking School Bus is a pedestrian bus that enables elementary school children to walk to school in safety under adult supervision. Read more.

NPA councillor Melissa De Genova seeks bicycle licensing in Vancouver

Motor vehicles are required to have licence plates to help police identify dangerous drivers. So why isn't the same regulation in place for Vancouver bicycles? Read more.

Guelph - Santa Parade shows what is possible on a bike

"You can do anything on a bike!" Welcome to Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation's (GCAT) theme for this year's Guelph Community Santa Claus parade, which takes place on Sunday, Nov. 15. We are adopting the same theme as last year's parade because we didn't want to mess with a good thing. Read more.

Salmon Arm - Pedestrian hits car

The car may have hit the pedestrian, but police say it is not the driver's fault. Read more.

STudy - New Zealand - Bicycle Travel, Injury Risk and Conspicuity


In New Zealand, the prevalence of bicycle commuting is low and has been in decline between 1986
and 2006 (note that there are signs of recovery recently). The exposure-based rate of bicycle crash
injuries is relatively high compared to other road user categories. Regional differences in travel
patterns and injury risks suggest that the risk in scarcity effect exists for New Zealand cyclists. Read more.

THE EFFECTIVENESS AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF IMPLEMENTING BICYCLE LANES IN THE PREVENTION OF OBESITY AND PERMANENT SEVERE INJURY

To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of building bicycle lanes in downtown Toronto, Canada from the government perspective. Bicycle lanes have been found to increase cyclist safety, reduce perceptions of danger, and encourage physical activity. However, while bicycle lanes may provide safety to current cyclists, they may also increase the risk of severe injury among individuals who otherwise would not have chosen to cycle. Read more.

Roads without centre-lines make for safer passing, study finds

Painted bike lanes make no difference to the speed and closeness with which drivers pass cyclists, according to a new study, but if roads don't have centre-line markings, drivers pass cyclists more slowly. Read more.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Why Walking Should Be Your New Habit

Unless you have a medical or physical disability, I think it's fair to say that the rest of us can walk during the day at some time; it's just a matter of allocating time and committing to doing it. Read more.

Sprawl Repair is Essential, Unavoidable

Suburban retrofit has been a hot topic in planning and development in recent years, and Retrofitting Suburbia was one of top books in the planning field in the last decade. Read more.

The Long-Term Impact of a Month Without Cars

This bustling city of 1 million is best known as the home of Samsung, the global titan of flat-screen TVs and smartphones. But two years ago, Suwon also became briefly famous among the world’s transportation planners for its temporary experiment with ditching cars. Read more.

Pedestrian collisions spike in bad weather, but technology could help

On average, six pedestrians are hit by vehicles every day in Toronto. On Wednesday, that number doubled during a dark and rainy morning commute with reduced visibility. Read more.

St. Catherines - St. Davids stretch uploaded to the Region

Busy student thoroughfare St. David's Road could be one step closer to bike lanes and sidewalks after Regional council approved bylaws to take over the road Thursday night. Currently, ownership of St. David's Road between Highway 406 and Burleigh Hill/Collier Road, is literally split down the middle. St. Catharines owns the north half and Thorold owns the south half. Read more.

Is Congestion Getting to You? Be Heard at Mississauga Moves 2015

In four decades, Mississauga’s transportation system has evolved from a simple road network and three bus routes to a complex road network with multiple highways, an 80 route transit system with rapid transit and a 400 km cycling network. On Monday, November 9 don’t miss your chance to have a say in the future of how we move at Mississauga Moves 2015.

Calgary seeking public input on backyard skateboard ramps

The city is looking for feedback as to whether Calgarians should be allowed to build skateboard ramps in their backyards. Ramps and other skateable surfaces have been banned from private property since 1986 under the city's land use bylaw. But local skaters say the rule is outdated and not in line with other municipalities. Read more.

Cycling in Red Deer

There are over 100 kilometres of multi use and recreation trails in Red Deer for walking, running, roller blading, and cycling. We also have on-street bike lanes and routes that allow cyclists to connect to our multi-use trails and get where they are going. Read more.

Belleville gets a city-wide cycling network

Belleville has pledged funding to develop a new cycling network in the city over the nest three years. Read more.

Waterloo - Side-by-side cycling controversy delays bylaw

The idea of allowing cyclists to ride side-by-side on local roads drew such a strong reaction from the public that a bylaw permitting the move has been put off until the new year. Region of Waterloo staff said earlier this month that politicians would debate the proposed traffic and parking bylaw at a meeting Tuesday. But the item was absent from the agenda after the public pushed back. Read more.

Should cyclists be allowed to run red lights?

When Paris changed the rules this summer to allow cyclists to ride through 1,800 red lights, the French capital joined Brussels and cities in Germany and the Netherlands which have been doing just that for years. There’s a row over proposals to introduce similar changes in San Francisco – cyclists protested against a police crackdown by rigidly obeying traffic laws and brought traffic to a halt. Read more.

Vancouver police adopt bicycle registration program

 J Allard created Project 529, a bike registration and recovery program adopted by the Vancouver Police Department.  Allard had left Microsoft after 20 years and was between gigs, as he put it, unsure what he wanted to do next, when his expensive customized bike was stolen in 2011.  Vancouver is the first municipality in Canada or the U.S. to adopt the program city-wide. It takes about five minutes to register online and increases the chances of being reunited with your bike should it be recovered. Read more.

Route verte : 48 000 signatures recueillies

La pétition d'Équiterre, au coeur d'un vaste mouvement de mobilisation pour la sauvegarde du programme d'entretien de la Route verte, a fait du chemin. Quelque 48 000 signatures, dont bon nombre provenant de la région, ont été amassées, s'est réjoui hier le maire Pascal Bonin, qui avait invité la population des quatre coins du Québec à signer le document le mois dernier. Read more.

Monday, October 26, 2015

4 Reasons Walking Is An Actual Hardcore Exercise Move

Walking is a serious exercise option -- and not just for people who are trying to recover from an injury or “take it slow." Instead, it's a bona fide way to weight loss, improved cardiovascular health and more. Read more.

Walking is the casualty of the war between cars and cyclists

In the recent war between motorists and cyclists, the humble pedestrian has become collateral damage. How often have I stood on the side of the road holding my two-year-old’s hand, unable to get to the other side because some bloke in Lycra is having it out with a woman in a 4x4? Read more.

Halifax - Macdonald Bridge project just a bump in the road

If you want to understand Halifax’s take on active transportation, look no further than the fact that none of these commuters can access the Macdonald Bridge over the course of the Big Lift. There are two bridges. Even during construction, six lanes span the harbour. Every single one is reserved for vehicles. This is more than an inconvenience. It’s unconscionable. It is a big fat middle finger to the relative few Haligonians doing their part to lighten their commuting impact. Read more.

Perth's bicycle boulevards - where cyclists get priority over cars

Perth will soon have streets where cars have to slow down and follow bicycles. The State Government has christened them bicycle boulevards. Transport Minister Dean Nalder described the new thoroughfares as low-speed streets where cyclists have priority along with local traffic. Read more.

Vancouver - Cyclists asked to pin their hot spots

Cyclists: Ever been doored by a driver or boxed out of a sharrow lane and want to channel your anger into something positive? There's an app for that.Promotion for a relatively new online mapping tool for cycling incidents, bikemaps.org, is being rolled out this month, and it's being embraced by those in the local cycling community who say it will make the roads safer. Read more.

Controversy rolling on over cycling stops

Cycling along an empty street, you come to a stop sign. You are progressing at a reasonable pace, but it would be real work to stop and start back up again. You slow down, look, listen and feel the lack of vibration under your tires. You cautiously poke your front wheel out past the sign, using all your senses to discern whether you should cross the intersection, or brake. You see, hear and feel nothing to stop you - no cars, no pedestrians, no other cyclists. You proceed. You just broke the law. Read more

Memorial ride for Halifax cyclist killed in crash calls for changes to infrastructure, education

The event was organized by Bicycle Nova Scotia and the Halifax Cycling Coalition, two groups that have long fought for better infrastructure in the city. “Protected bike lanes would make a huge difference,” said Blair Barrington with the Halifax Cycling Coalition. Read more.

City of Guelph seeks input on sidewalks, trail systems

The City of Guelph is planning improvements to its sidewalks and trail systems and wants the public's opinion. Read more.

Toronto - Public transit not for the poor, Mayor Tory

In Toronto, where squabbling hasn’t been eliminated, the results have been less than spectacular. The city has not managed, intellectually or politically, to grasp the notion that there are many ways of getting around and that each one plays a role. In Toronto, there is the car and then there’s everything else. Read more.

Should cyclists be required to get licences?

Earlier this month, Vancouver media — both social and traditional — erupted with the story of a pregnant woman allegedly assaulted by a cyclist. The incident pushed Vancouver city councillor Melissa De Genova to present a plan to make cyclists more accountable. She wants the city to consider a bike licensing program and require cyclists to display visible identification. Read more.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Waterloo - Promote the health benefits of cycling

Promoting cycling requires development in infrastructure, education and incentive programs, as well as finding better solutions to parking woes. We should examine reasons why cycling is a more popular means of commuting in nations where a large percentage of the population commutes by bicycle, including the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, China, and throughout Scandinavia, among others. Read more.

Ensure you can be seen when cycling

This National School Safety Week, Oct. 17-23, the Canada Safety Council encourages young pedestrians and cyclists to dress brightly to be seen, according to a written statement. As light levels drop, drivers have more difficulty seeing pedestrians and cyclists on the road, says Jack Smith, president of the council, an independent, knowledge-based, charitable organization dedicated to the cause of safety, in the press release. Read more.

Montréal - SPVM ramps up pedestrian safety campaign after 9 fatal accidents

Montreal Police are patrolling downtown street corners this morning to raise awareness about pedestrian safety. Kelly Greig reports. Video.

Pedestrian safety: Safety experts make appeal as dark winter days approach

An average of 58 of pedestrians are killed in car crashes in B.C. each year, according to ICBC, and twice as many pedestrian injuries occur between November and January compared to the summer months. Read more.

Active on Wheels

The adverse health effects stemming from sedentary work are well documented. For some workplaces, equipping an office with standing desks or treadmill workstations may not be practical or feasible — not to mention the prohibitive costs of replacing conventional workstations with their avant-garde counterparts. Read more.

Waterloo - Cycling two-abreast isn’t sharing the road. It’s hogging it

Next Tuesday. the region's planning and works committee will debate an update of local traffic and parking bylaws. The most controversial change is a proposal to drop the prohibition on cyclists riding two-abreast. Currently the bylaw reads: "No person shall ride a bicycle on any roadway or shoulder abreast of another bicycle except in the course of passing such other bicycle." This entire clause will disappear if the new rules are approved. Read more.