August 2022 - AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Police Officer Ticketing Cyclists in Park Hits Cyclist in Bike Lane with His SUV
by Terry Zdan 13 Aug '22

13 Aug '22

https://www.bicycling.com/news/a40837493/toronto-cyclists-injured-by-police/

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WFP: Virtuous cycles (Aug11'22)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Aug '22

11 Aug '22

It’s been a long and winding road for these married cycling enthusiasts who are peddling adaptive, electric and traditional bikes at their Wolseley shop *VIRTUOUS CYCLES* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/2022/08/10/virtuous-cycles WHEN the flowers are out, the doors are open. Open to the Wolseley resident bringing their bike for repair. Open to the Treherne family buying their first electric bikes. Open to the person in a wheelchair wanting to test an adaptive bike. “It’s all about getting people to ride, from whatever health and body situation they have,” said Suzanne Druwé, co-owner of Prairie Velo. She and Brian Szklarczuk, her husband, have planted their business at 967 Wolseley Ave., formerly known to locals as the Kit Kat building. Gone are the freezers, linoleum floors and shelves of candy. Now, rows of adaptive, electric and traditional bikes line the 1,800 square-foot space. Outside, cyclists traverse a bike path. “Cycling is such a simple, core thing that everyone should be allowed to do,” Szklarczuk said. The pandemic, the rising cost of fuel and a shift towards environmentally friendly practices have put cycling in the spotlight, Prairie Velo’s owners noted. However, the activity isn’t a recent passion for the couple. Szklarczuk raced in Europe in the early ’90s as a young adult. He did so with a hearing impairment. Even when Szklarczuk returned to Winnipeg — pursuing grad school and a career as an economist — cycling was top of mind, he said. He and Druwé met on a blind date. Their trips abroad required a “cycling component” for Szklarczuk, where he’d go on hours-long rides and then shorter ones with his partner. The couple visited friends in Sweden around six years ago and were intrigued at how cycling was incorporated in Scandinavian daily life, Druwé said. “We felt that it was something permanent,” she said. “People were rethinking the way they go about their business.” The two imagined they could enter the corporate side of cycling back home. Then, Druwé’s employer at the time — a francophone tourism company — asked Szklarczuk to create Manitoba bike tours. He did. And, he published an article called Prairie Velo Tour 2019 on bikepacking.com. Readers and tour-goers would ask where to purchase bikes, Szklarczuk said. “I was sending people to buy bikes everywhere else,” he said. “We realized, ‘Why are we sending people to go shop there when we can do something?’” Their e-commerce site launched in 2019. Szklarczuk said he used European connections to secure foreign bike companies’ stock, including adaptive models. “Every year it was kind of a slow growth,” Szklarczuk said. The company transitioned from delivering via a mobile van, to solely online during the pandemic’s early phases, to a storefront venture that began in December of 2020. Renovations and permitting paused the shop’s opening until last fall, where a nearly non-existent soft launch happened, Szklarczuk said. Meantime, the couple has distributed electric and adaptive bikes across Canada. “You put e-assist on bikes and suddenly it changes everything,” Druwé said. “Someone can actually take someone on a wheelchair out and cycle and not kill themselves.” THE bikes are not cheating, she noted — people use them to battle strong winds in Manitoba’s rolling hills, to exercise despite joint pain, to keep up with a spouse and to replace car use. “We really wanted (Prairie Velo) to be appealing to a segment of society who doesn’t naturally go into bike shops,” Druwé said. Adaptive bikes cost thousands of dollars — north of $10,000, depending on the model. “These are huge purchases for people,” Druwé said. The rides largely come from overseas, driving up the price, she said. The motor for electric assist adds to the cost. Some families get funding for adaptive bikes through Jordan’s Principle or the Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation. Charities including the Knights of Columbus and Make-A-Wish also buy bikes, Druwé said. “We wish they didn’t cost so much, but they do,” she said, adding the products are built to last. “Many people with disabilities live on limited income… Buying a bike is not often affordable,” said Kaye Grant, operations manager for the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities. There needs to be more affordable ways for folks with disabilities to obtain bikes, like government subsidies, Grant said. “Handi-Transit isn’t the answer to everything,” she said. Prairie Velo also sells hand bikes, where users pedal with their arms instead of their legs. The company is beginning to make its own. “I realized there was a gap in the market for affordable hand bikes and variety,” Szklarczuk said. “That’s where we really started thinking about manufacturing.” Some parts, including bike frames, will come from South American partners. Much of the constructing will happen in Manitoba, Szklarczuk said. “This is going to be a huge thing for us this winter,” said Druwé, looking at a hand bike in the works at her Wolseley shop. “We’re really going to be doing the whole nine yards on these this winter because… there’s a real demand for them.” The bikes will likely come to market in the spring, Druwé said. They’ll be more affordable than imports, said the entrepreneurs, who hadn’t finalized prices. There’s an increased need for hand cycles, according to Jaylene Irwin, Manitoba Possible’s supervisor of recreation and leisure. Adaptive bikes in general have gained more popularity in recent years; they were introduced to Manitoba Possible around four years ago, Irwin said. “There is such a high need (for them),” she said. Such bikes increase independence, mobility, strength and social connections, Irwin said. Getting people on bikes for the first time is among the best parts of the job, Szklarczuk and Druwé agreed. “It’s gratifying knowing that we’re… making a little difference in the world, one set of wheels at a time,” Szklarczuk said. gabrielle.piche(a)winnipegfreepress.com

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WFP: Light rail rolls into city conversation (Aug9'22)
by Beth McKechnie 09 Aug '22

09 Aug '22

Councillor resurrects timeworn notion of bringing LRT system into Winnipeg Light rail rolls into city conversation https://ground.news/article/light-rail-transit-pushed-back-into-city-conver… THE decades-old debate on building light rail transit in Winnipeg may have some spark left in it. While noting city council may be seen as “going boldly into the past,” Coun. Brian Mayes wants his colleagues to “seriously consider” adding light rail construction in the future, following the lead of many other cities. “I feel like we may have missed the generation in which to do bus rapid transit. The city is growing… and I just feel like, why put in a network of BRT lines and then, the day you finish, start tearing them out because now you’re up to a million people and you want LRT?” said Mayes. Winnipeg city council has debated the best way to ramp up its public transportation for decades, debating a light rail rapid transit option off and on since at least the 1970s. Eventually, the city settled on a bus rapid transit system and completed one dedicated corridor in 2020. The southwest rapid transitway was a two-phase project with a combined cost of $556 million. Last year, council approved a 25-year Transit Master Plan that aims to create a network of six rapid transit corridors, which are again expected to rely on buses. Since the city has only completed one rapid transit line so far, Mayes said it makes sense to re-evaluate how best to move forward, noting Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton all have light rail transit. “(Light rail) would attract more people. I think some people who wouldn’t ride on a bus would ride on a train. You can use electric power and (Manitoba is) rich on electric power,” said Mayes. The councillor doesn’t have a current cost estimate for a light rail system, but said the city could seek provincial and federal funding to help cover it, while the construction could also eliminate the need to add another lane of traffic for the oft-congested St. Mary’s Road. While he’s not sure LRT would be feasible for all future rapid transit routes, Mayes suggests a St. Mary’s Road to Main Street line, as well as a Portage Avenue to Point Douglas or Portage Avenue to Provencher Boulevard line, may make sense. A Winnipeg Transit spokeswoman confirmed the city’s main reason to not pursue light rail transit was to save money. However, the BRT system also benefits from creating routes that can be shared with other buses, while the smaller vehicles may also allow more frequent pickups than some LRT systems, Alissa Clark said in an email. Clark said each kilometre of an LRT route would be expected to cost two to four times more to build than a BRT kilometre. While the Winnipeg Transit Master Plan calls for bus rapid transit infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels, to be designed to fit trains in the future, “there would remain a significant cost to retrofitting the line,” wrote Clark. However, the potential cost shouldn’t stop Winnipeg from considering the idea, according to Jino Distasio, a professor of urban geography at the University of Winnipeg. “We have fallen decades and decades behind other cities… that aren’t necessarily that much bigger than what we’re going to be… The traffic is going to continue to get worse and worse and worse, unless we have a credible alternative to the automobile, paired with good planning,” said Distasio. While he acknowledged a complete light rail system would require a “generational capital investment,” the professor said it may be warranted. “If Winnipeg truly wants to be a competitive city, we at least have to have a very vigorous debate again about this… The fundamental difference from all the previous discussions, going back even into the 1970s, is the fact that the last 20 years have been like no other for this city (with substantive growth).” Coun. Matt Allard, chairman of council’s public works committee, said he’s open to the discussion — though he stressed the current blueprint must remain the top priority. “I’m certainly open minded to the idea, but also mindful that we need to charge ahead with the master plan,” said Allard. “If there was a light rail transit project to be considered, it’s got to make sense in terms of our tax dollars, in the staging and where we’re at (with) the plan, citywide.” Coun. Jeff Browaty, finance committee chairman, said he is convinced the current plan is the best option. “To build a (light rail) network that would actually be serviceable, that would actually go far enough out to be useful, it’s too expensive,” said Browaty. “I still think a better investment in time and resources is to provide more frequent service to more places throughout the city network.” joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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The Government of Canada launches consultations on establishing permanent public transit funding
by Beth McKechnie 03 Aug '22

03 Aug '22

OTTAWA, ON, July 29, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the launch of public consultations on the design and implementation of Permanent Public Transit funding in Canada. Feedback will inform a long-term transit investment strategy that aims to build complete, sustainable and inclusive communities and unlock opportunities to address other challenges, including housing affordability. Investments in public transit will work toward reducing commute times and improving Canadians' quality of life, aid in providing access to meaningful employment, services and recreation and will help tackle traffic congestion and cut air pollution. *Interested stakeholders can share their feedback through Infrastructure Canada's web page <https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3607932-1&h=2725479515&u=https%3A%2F%2F…> until September 30, 2022*. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/the-government-of-canada-launches-con…

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