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.

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.

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.

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.

'Thanks for teaching my daughter even though your friends teased you': Mom writes touching letter to teen boy who stopped at skatepark to help 6-year-old

A mother has written a heartwarming Facebook message to thank a teenage boy for helping her daughter learn how to skateboard - despite getting teased by his friends. Jeanean Thomas, from Cambridge, Ontario, told how her six-year-old daughter Peyton had been wanting to skate for months but was terrified because she thought it was ' only for boys'. Read more.

P.E.I. cycling survey launched by Nathalia Cardozo, UPEI student

An environmental studies student from the University of Prince Edward Island has launched an online survey trying to find out what would encourage Islanders to bike more. Read more.

Discovering Bogota by bicycle during a Sunday ciclovia

Every Sunday morning, more than 120 kilometres of Bogota’s highways, byways and thoroughfares are shut off to traffic and opened to the people. From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Colombia’s capital becomes a living gym. Read more.

The Benefits of Slower Traffic, Measured in Money and Lives

In a sense, then, the case study of Livingston Avenue is less about the traffic costs of a road diet and more about the social costs of political inaction. It’s not clear those lessons have been learned. Livingston still hasn’t received the sort of road diet outlined in the original study. In August 2015, the city held its second public meeting about a full implementation of a road diet on the street; at the time of that meeting, at least, no further ones had been scheduled. Read more.

Illumination of roads could happen by fall: Luciani

Politicians at the Region’s public works committee heard on Tuesday that plans to light up stretches of the roads that Brock University students say can be death traps have progressed rapidly since representatives of the Brock University Students’ Union approached them in July to plead for the work to be done quickly. Read more.

St. Mary's receives funding for active transportation study

Last Friday Energy Minister Michel Samson announced that the District of the Municipality of St. Mary's would receive funding through government's Connect2 sustainable transportation grant program. St. Mary's will receive $10,000 through the grant to develop a plan for active transportation centred around the hub of the municipality the village of Sherbrooke. Read more.

Waterloo Region to update commitment to cycling, walking, transit

The region will reaffirm its commitment to cycling, transit and walking as part of an update to its transportation master plan. "Roads are not going to be abandoned obviously," said Coun. Tom Galloway. "Cars are going to continue to be the main mode of transportation but we are going to try to once again ratchet up some other modes." Read more.

No bell on bicycle turns into whole slew of charges for Edmonton man

What started as a stop for not having a bell on a bike turned into almost 20 charges for an Edmonton man. Read more.

Squeaky Wheels: Pedestrian/bike access to Parc train station up in the air

A sign protesting a fence blocking a sidewalk and bicycle path at the AMT Parc station in the neighbourhood of Parc-Extension in Montreal on Saturday, October 10, 2015. The sign, which reads, "You are a few steps away from crossing, a fence is stopping you," is asking for citizens to complain to the AMT and the Canadian Pacific Railway company in order to remove the fence that blocks a bicycle path and sidewalk. Read more.

Saskatoon - Skateboard advocates push for indoor facility

While local skaters enjoy several outdoor spaces, it’s only a matter of time before the weather brings it all to a grinding halt, says Jay Loos, who has been skating since the 1980s and has seen several indoor facilities come and go. Read more.

$27 million plan to fix Perth's 'incomplete' cycling paths

Perth's cycling infrastructure is incomplete, lacks connectivity and has undesirable safety levels, according to a damning report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. The report findings were released just hours after Transport Minister Dean Nalder's impeccably timed announcement of a $27 million boost to Perth's cycling network over the next four years. Read more.

Do Bike Helmet Laws Do More Harm Than Good?

Many cycling advocates have taken a surprising position: They are pushing back against mandatory bike-helmet laws in the U.S. and elsewhere. They say mandatory helmet laws, particularly for adults, make cycling less convenient and seem less safe, thus hindering the larger public-health gains of more people riding bikes. Read more.

Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition questions municipal candidates

The Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition wants to know how candidates feel about designing city infrastructure to accommodate all road users, not just vehicles. It sent out a questionnaire and held a meeting last week that was attended by six council candidates and one mayoral candidate. Read more.

Minister ‘hangs head in shame’ over British cycling provision

Robert Goodwill, the minister of state for cycling, has promised that the government will “redouble” efforts to catch up after he travelled to Copenhagen last week with Chris Boardman, the former Olympic champion cyclist who is now a policy advisor for British Cycling. Read more.

Reponses to Canada Bikes Cycling Federal Election Questionnaire

A couple weeks ago, Canada Bikes released an election questionnaire outlining the important role that cycling plays in Canada and looking for answers to two important questions from the leaders.  If you want to see how cycling fit into their vision for Canada, see their responses below (listed in the order in which they were received). Read more.

Why are London cyclists so white, male and middle-class?

A study by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) published in 2011, explores why in London “cycling is disproportionately an activity of affluent, white men” or, as Transport for London (TfL), has put it, why the London cyclist is “typically white, under 40, male, with medium to high household income.” Read more.

Cycling costs society less than driving

Pitting motorists and cyclists (or pedestrians, for that matter) against each other is unhelpful, because the reality is much more complex: many motorists are also pedestrians or cyclists, and many cyclists also drive cars.


More helpful is to reframe this debate around the inequity that exists within our cities and towns, where motorized transportation has long been prioritized at the expense of pedestrian and other modes of active transportation. Read more.

Chicago reaches 100 miles of protected bike lanes

Bike lanes set apart from traffic by physical barriers like plastic posts or parked cars make up only about 20 miles of the total. The rest are made up of buffered bike lanes that have extra space to keep parked cars and cyclists separated. Read more.

Saanich - Cycling tracks a priority in options for Shelbourne

Saanich was lauded last week for taking a big step forward in the Shelbourne Valley Action Plan, a process that has been criticized by council and residents for taking too long. Council voted to receive a two-option, abbreviated version of the plan that targets alternate mobility along the heavily travelled artery, such as cycling tracks. Read more.

Walk and Wheel to School week gets local kids moving

Each year in early October, schools across British Columbia and beyond participate in an international week dedicated to walking and wheeling to school. Walk and Wheel to School Week is currently underway, running from October 5 to 9, with the result being an increased number of students choosing active travel to get to class in the mornings. Read more.

Hamilton - Now our leaders must take the high road

For the past six months, the city has been involved in a lengthy consultation process to revise the Transportation Master Plan. Hamiltonians have been asked how we get around, how we feel about our travel options and what our vision is for the future. Now only one question remains: Was it worth it? Read more.

Toronto cyclist slaps a pedestrian. Pedestrian gets into car and allegedly runs him over

Surveillance video shows the pedestrian attempting to cross College Street, near Euclid Avenue, on Sunday when the 53-year-old cyclist passes by and slaps him. The pedestrian falls to the ground, gets up and runs to his car, parked nearby. The car speeds out of the frame, chasing the cyclist. The driver allegedly caught up to the cyclist and ran him over. He then fled the scene. Read more.

Victoria councillors question light rule, fines for skateboards

Proposed bylaw changes designed to allow skateboarders on downtown streets were sent back for revision Thursday, after several councillors worried they cast too wide a net and were, in some cases, not even practical. The proposed bylaw carried potential for fines of up to $125 for a number of offences, including riding in a crosswalk or making an illegal left turn. Coun. Jeremy Loveday said the bylaw as proposed could be used as a harassment tool. Read more.

Halifax - Cycling coalition applauds city putting “No Parking” signs on Hollis Street bike lane

The Halifax Cycling Coalition says it’s pleased with the city’s decision to replace the “No Stopping” signs with “No Parking” signs along the bike lane on the left side of Hollis Street. Read more.

Waterloo - Council’s bike lane obsession is not really about cycling

It's unsurprising that Kitchener council angered almost all the residents on Union Street, in removing 48 parking spaces to make away for bike lanes. Residents know that very few people ride bicycles to get to work or shop or complete an errand. But council and its planners live in a world of their own where bicycles are the way forward, against evidence and common sense. Read more.

Should Cyclists Have to Stop at Stop Signs?

San Francisco has a well-deserved reputation as a city that’s willing to experiment with urban policy. Now that reputation is being put to the test, as legislation that would change the way police deal with cyclists and stop signs makes its way through the city’s Board of Supervisors. Read more.

China's 50-Lane Traffic Jam Is Every Commuter's Worst Nightmare

Thousands of motorists found themselves stranded on Tuesday in what looks from above like a 50-lane parking lot on the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, one of the country’s busiest roads. Read more.

Calgary - YouTube video shows Calgary driver honking at cyclist for doing nothing wrong

Calgary police are reminding drivers to treat bicycles like other vehicles on the road after a video surfaced online where a downtown motorist lays non-stop on the horn for at least 40 seconds while waiting behind a cyclist at a red light. Read more.

This New Electric Bicycle Adjusts Performance To Your Individual Rides

Problem: You don’t know how much of your electric bicycle’s performance you can use before its battery runs out. Solution: The new Specialized Turbo S let’s you program ride distance, time and how much charge you want to use, then maximizes electric assist to suit. Read more.

Public Transit Does Not Have to Reduce Traffic Congestion to Succeed

Good transit offers a world of benefits beyond any impact on rush-hour roads, beginning with agglomeration—the economic boost that occurs when people and jobs cluster in cities. Once a city reaches a certain level of congestion and hits a wall in terms of road space, rail or bus systems are the only way to pump more people into the central areas that produce these gains. Read more.

Here We Go Again With Retailers Hating Bike Lanes

Every time a city proposes taking away street parking for a bike lane, you can count on a chorus of businesses to sing the blues. The refrain is sounding right now in the London borough of Enfield, which just got a £30 million grant from Transport for London’s “Mini-Holland” program to redesign its streets with segregated bike lanes on either side of the road. Read more.

Trenton, Westville receive sustainable transportation funding

Government is providing $28,550 to the Town of Trenton to build a trail connection between Trenton Park and Smelt Brook, along the Trenton Airport corridor. Government is also providing $4,580 to the Town of Westville for a signage project called Connecting the Dots. Read more.

Victoria wants helmets, lights on skateboarders

Victoria is opening up downtown to skateboarders, but city staff are recommending they be required to follow the same rules that bicyclists are supposed to, including having lights after dark. Victoria police also support skateboarders using helmets. City staff are recommending that council ask the province to amend the Motor Vehicle Act to make helmets mandatory for skateboarders as well as cyclists. Rad more.

Cycling PEI recommends daytime running lights for bicycles

Cycling PEI is urging that daytime running lights be mandatory for cyclists on the island province. Executive director Mike Connolly believes that the lights would make cyclists more visible during the day and thus safer. Read more.

Guelph - Style, function count on wet cycling days

The trickiest part of cycling in the rain is the road, of course. Oil rises to the surface of freshly wet roads, making it a little more treacherous to ride. The stopping distance also increases on wet roads, so don't grab the brakes but instead, "feather" them lightly. Take it easy going downhill and take corners carefully — it's easy for the tire to lose traction on a wet road if you take the corner too fast. Read more.

Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Legislation

In Ontario, helmets have been required for all cyclists 18 years of age or younger under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act since 1995, and recently the enactment of all-age legislation has been considered as an injury prevention strategy. This knowledge synthesis evaluates the impacts of bicycle helmet legislation for cyclists of all ages and explores where and why these laws were most effective. Read more.

Vancouver, Canada: A City on Bikes with Lessons for Los Angeles

What else can Los Angeles learn from Vancouver? Leigh explained that there’s a tendency to focus on bike lanes and forget about intersections, where most crashes occur. “The intersections are the tough part,” explained LaClaire. This applies to car throughput too, he said. “For all the hubbub about reallocating road space for bikes, we aren’t actually reducing car capacity on the street,” he said. “The key is getting the intersections right, which is where backups actually occur.” Read more.

Bloor bike lanes ever-elusive for Toronto planners and cyclists

Posted on the city’s website is an update report on Toronto’s “Ten Year Cycling Network Plan.” Scroll down to the second appendix, and there it is, under the heading “2016 Implementation Program Locations. - Bloor St. W. (Pilot Project) ... Shaw St. to Avenue Rd.” Read more.

Cycling coalition calls for protective sideguards on trucks after cyclist killed

The Halifax Cycling Coalition is calling for the city to install protective side guards on all of its trucks, and the trucks of its contractors, after a female cyclist was killed after colliding with a propane truck Wednesday. Read more.