AT-Network November 2011

at-network@lists.umanitoba.ca

4 participants
19 discussions

Webinar tomorrow! Small and Rural Communities: Planning and Implementing Sustainable Transportation

by Jessie Klassen

Hi All, Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us for a local viewing of the following webinar at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion - *Wed, Nov. 9th, 12:30-1:30 pm – Improving Travel Options in Small and Rural Communities *(Transport Canada) details below _____________________________ *Improving Travel Options in Small and Rural Communities* *November 9, 2011, 12:30-1:30 pm CST* Geoff Noxon, Noxon Associates This webinar is intended to help practitioners - engineers, planners, health professionals, economic development officials, and others - produce plans and implement appropriate travel options for residents of small and rural communities. This includes a range of actions that make personal transportation activities more sustainable, such as encouraging drivers to operate their cars more efficiently, or to leave their cars at home and walk, cycle, take transit, or carpool instead. This webinar will look at how to use three guides available for free from Transport Canada: - Improving Travel Options in Small and Rural Communities; - Transportation Demand Management for Canadian Communities: A Guide to Understanding, Planning and Delivering TDM Programs; and, - Changing Transportation Behaviours: A Social Marketing Planning Guide. For more information: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/programs/environment-urban-guidelines-practitioners… http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/programs/environment-urban-menu-eng-2054.htm *Hope to see you there! *** *Jessie Klassen* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca>| Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3772 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

12 years, 5 months

New research: Stroke & traffic-related air pollution

by Beth McKechnie

*Some new research (article pdf attached) forwarded by Cyndi Otfinowski...* Stroke. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22052517#> 2011 Nov 3. [Epub ahead of print] Stroke and Long-Term Exposure to Outdoor Air Pollution From Nitrogen Dioxide: A Cohort Study. Andersen ZJ<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Andersen%20ZJ%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Kristiansen LC<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Kristiansen%20LC%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Andersen KK<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Andersen%20KK%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Olsen TS<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Olsen%20TS%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Hvidberg M<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Hvidberg%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Jensen SS<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Jensen%20SS%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Ketzel M<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Ketzel%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Loft S <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Loft%20S%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Sørensen M<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22S%C3%B8rensen%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Tjønneland A<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Tj%C3%B8nneland%20A%22%5BAuthor%…>, Overvad K<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Overvad%20K%22%5BAuthor%5D>, Raaschou-Nielsen O<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Raaschou-Nielsen%20O%22%5BAuthor…> . Source >From the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark; Informatics and Mathematical Modelling, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark; The Stroke Unit, Frederiksberg Hospital, Frederiksberg, Denmark; the Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark; the Section of Environmental Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; the School of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; and the Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. AbstractBACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Years of exposure to tobacco smoke substantially increase the risk for stroke. Whether long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution can lead to stroke is not yet established. We examined the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and incident and fatal stroke in a prospective cohort study. METHODS: We followed 57 053 participants of the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort in the Hospital Discharge Register for the first-ever hospital admission for stroke (incident stroke) between baseline (1993-1997) and 2006 and defined fatal strokes as death within 30 days of admission. We associated the estimated mean levels of nitrogen dioxide at residential addresses since 1971 to incident and fatal stroke by Cox regression analyses and examined the effects by stroke subtypes: ischemic, hemorrhagic, and nonspecified stroke. RESULTS: Over a mean follow-up of 9.8 years of 52 215 eligible subjects, there were 1984 (3.8%) first-ever (incident) hospital admissions for stroke of whom 142 (7.2%) died within 30 days. We detected borderline significant associations between mean nitrogen dioxide levels at residence since 1971 and incident stroke (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.99-1.11, per interquartile range increase) and stroke hospitalization followed by death within 30 days (1.22; 1.00-1.50). The associations were strongest for nonspecified and ischemic strokes, whereas no association was detected with hemorrhagic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution may contribute to the development of ischemic but not hemorrhagic stroke, especially severe ischemic strokes leading to death within 30 days.

12 years, 5 months

Employment opportunity - Sustainability Coordinator RRC

by Beth McKechnie

While this employment opportunity goes beyond AT, I thought it might be of interest to subscribers of this listserv. Please share widely. cheers, Beth ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sara MacArthur <smacarthur(a)rrc.mb.ca> Date: Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 10:37 AM Subject: Employment opportunity **** Hi, **** Red River College’s Office of Sustainability is growing – we’re hiring a Sustainability Coordinator. Please pass this posting around to your contacts who might be interested. Thanks. ** *Sara MacArthur **MCP LEED® AP*** Manager of Sustainability [image: Description: Description: Sustainable leaf.jpg]**** Red River College**** C409-2055 Notre Dame Avenue R3H 0J9**** **** p: 204.632.2166 f: 204. 632.9661**** e: smacarthur(a)rrc.mb.ca**** ** ** Become a fan of Sustainability@RRC on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Winnipeg-MB/Sustainability-Red-River-College/…> **** ** **

12 years, 5 months

NYC encourages AT for students, launches program to encourage walking to school

by Beth McKechnie

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Release # 11-91 Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Seth Solomonow/Nicole Garcia (212) 839-4850 *NYC DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan and Mayor Koch Encourage Active Transportation for New York City Students, Launch Program to Encourage Walking to School New initiative allows schools to opt-in for program to develop lesson plans to further promote walking as a safe, healthy way to get around Officials read Koch’s book, “Eddie Shapes Up,” to Manhattan’s P.S. 64 students, underscoring the importance of encouraging walking, biking and taking transit * New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Mayor Edward I. Koch today hosted a special reading of *Eddie Shapes Up*, a children’s book written by the mayor, and launched Walk Ways, a new program that helps schools establish the importance of active transportation and gives them the resources to encourage walking among students. Schools can visit nyc.gov/dot to register, download lesson plans and connect with DOT safety educators for guidance and to develop tailored walk-to-school route plans. The Commissioner and Mayor joined fourth and fifth graders from P.S. 64 in Manhattan’s East Village for the event. “With unprecedented safety redesigns and educational initiatives in all five boroughs, our streets are shaping up for New Yorkers of all ages to walk and bike more,” said DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “By teaching students the benefits of active transportation, we’re helping them build healthy habits for life.” “The most marvelous sight in New York City is to see youngsters, adolescents and adults cycling on the many bicycle paths we now have which separate bikers from vehicular traffic,” said Mayor Koch. “It is glorious to watch, and I wish I were young again to participate.” Co-written with Mayor Koch’s sister, Pat Koch Thaler, and with illustrations by Jonathan Hoefer, *Eddie Shapes Up* describes an overweight student’s path to getting healthy by eating better and exercising more, and how fun being active can be. DOT works with New York City schools to encourage safe, active transportation and educates students about the benefits of walking and biking to school. In addition to launching the citywide contest, “We’re Walking Here NYC,” last month, DOT Safety Education hosted a special Walk to School Day event with P.S. 197 in Manhattan as part of International Walk to School Day. Similarly, the agency organizes annual Bike to School Day activities. This June, it worked with the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene and Bike New York to conduct rides with students from P.S. 89 and I.S. 302 in Cypress Hills, Queens. In the last decade, pedestrian traffic fatalities have dropped more than 25% and DOT is working to combine education and engineering to achieve its aggressive goal of reducing all traffic fatalities by 50% by 2030, focusing on tailoring streets so they are safer for the most vulnerable pedestrians: students and seniors. As part of its Safe Routes to School campaign, the DOT makes safety upgrades that can include improved signage and marking, among other additions, to make motorists more aware of the high volumes of student pedestrians, as well as make the streets easier for youths to cross safely. The agency also launched efforts to triple the number of 20 mph speed zones around schools from 25 to 75, among other initiatives. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dot <http://www.nyc.gov/dot>. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2011/pr11_91.shtml

12 years, 5 months

EcoMobility Gaining Ground, Step by Step

by Beth McKechnie

EcoMobility Gaining Ground, Step by Step By Stephen Leahy * http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105672 [image: Bike sharing system in Changwon, South Korea. / Credit:City of Changwon] Bike sharing system in Changwon, South Korea. Credit:City of Changwon <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105672> * *CHANGWON, South Korea, Nov 1, 2011 (Tierramérica) - Berlin is a big capital city of a country famed for making excellent automobiles, but it can no longer afford roads and is now moving people by transit, bike and especially through walking.Berlin is not alone. Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Bogotá, New York City and other major cities simply cannot afford the cost, the pollution, the noise and the congestion of more cars. They are embracing a new concept called EcoMobility - mobility without private cars. "EcoMobility is not only walking, cycling and public transportation. It is about these three systems clicking together: connectivity is the key," Gil Peñalosa, former director of parks and recreation in Bogotá, Colombia, told those attending the EcoMobility Changwon 2011<http://ecomobility2011.iclei.org/>congress. The congress on Mobility for the Future of Sustainable Cities was organised by the South Korean city of Changwon and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability <http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=about>, an association of local government members from more than 1,220 cities in 70 countries. "The famous Times Square in New York City is now a permanent pedestrian mall. Who would have believed that could happen just three years ago?" Peñalosa commented to Tierramérica. "Five years ago who would have thought Paris would have over 22,000 bikes as part of a tremendously successful bike sharing system?" added Peñalosa, who is now the executive director of 8-80 Cities<http://www.8-80cities.org/>, an NGO based in Toronto that promotes walking, cycling, parks and urban trails to improve the public life of cities. "We need to build cities around people and not around cars," he stressed. EcoMobility is defined as moving people and goods in urban areas using combinations of walking, cycling (including electric bikes) and wheeling (roller blades), public transport, and light electric vehicles. The concept is being widely embraced by cities looking for affordable and effective forms of sustainable transport. "Cities should focus more on moving people rather than moving vehicles," said Stephen Yarwood, mayor of Adelaide, Australia. The fact is, cars are not very good at moving people. A standard 3.5-meter-wide city street has a maximum capacity of 2,000 people in cars per hour. The same road can carry 14,000 cyclists or 19,000 pedestrians each hour. Light rail in the same space can move 22,000 people, and a double lane of bus rapid transit will move 43,000 people, said Manfred Breithaupt, director of the GIZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project<http://www.sutp.org/>, a German NGO. The transportation sector is one of biggest contributors of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, responsible for 25 to 30 percent of the emissions causing climate change. Cars and scooters are by far the biggest sources of carbon dioxide on a per-kilometre, per-person basis, said Breithaupt. Cycling or walking produces no greenhouse gases at all. Moving people out of cars is an enormous challenge. One major reason is the endless multi-billion-dollar advertising by automobile companies telling people that buying a car is the ticket to success, freedom, status and other nonsense, said Peñalosa. "Car companies attack transit with their commercials. Someone told me that in their country, one advertisement suggests people using subways have some kind of 'subway stink'," he said. In North America the cost of owning and operating a private automobile amounts to 8,000 to 12,000 dollars a year, according to automobile clubs. That can be 25 to 50 percent of the average family's after-tax income, illustrating the success of automobile advertising. "How else could we be spending 20 times more than we need to get around?" wondered Peñalosa. This is changing in Germany. "More than 80 percent of young people don't think they need private cars," said Bernhard Ensink, secretary general of the European Cyclists’ Federation, an NGO based in Brussels. Car ownership in Germany and other European countries is slowly declining, he said, because there are cheaper and easier ways to get around. Mobility is also a moral issue, Ensink said. "Who gets the negative impacts of car ownership? It is never the car owner, it is always the public and particularly the poor, especially those living in car-dependent cities." Among those impacts are accidents where cars kill and injure thousands of pedestrians and cyclists every day. In fact, car accidents are the primary cause of death for young people aged 15 to 29 years worldwide. But shifting to an EcoMobility focus is difficult, said Yeom Tae-Young, mayor of the city of Suwon outside of Seoul, Korea. "Citizens must know about EcoMobility and the government's commitment must be clear," he told the congress participants. Suwon, an ancient city with just over a million inhabitants, is competing with Changwon to become South Korea's greenest and lowest-carbon city. Not all people will agree, and there will be inconveniences, but the public will still support the changes if they understand it is for the greater good. "We cannot close our eyes to the challenge of climate change," he concluded. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

12 years, 5 months

Bike trails, house prices and property taxes

by Beth McKechnie

[Thanks to Ian Hall for sending this along...] ** Interesting short news item: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/10/how-much-bike-trail-worth/… "...according to research coming out of the University of Cincinnati<http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=14300>, proximity to trails in urban areas increases property values, which in turn boosts the amount of property taxes filling government coffers. The research, by planning professor Rainer vom Hofe and economics professor Olivier Parent, looked at houses along a 12-mile stretch of the Little Miami Scenic Trail <http://trailsfromrails.com/miami_scenic_trail.htm>, a former rail line that cuts across the northeastern portion of Cincinnati. The pair found that home buyers were willing to pay a premium of $9,000 to be within 1,000 feet of access to the trail." -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

12 years, 5 months

Reminder: Transportation Master Plan Open House - Wed, Nov 2nd

by Beth McKechnie

*Find out where our roads, buses, bike lanes and pathways are heading over the next 20 years!* Stop by the third and *final* Open House for the *Winnipeg Transportation Master Plan* <http://transportation.speakupwinnipeg.com/>. Date:* Wed, Nov. 2nd *Time:* 4:00-8:00 pm *Where:* Millennium Library* (Carol Shields Auditorium, 2nd floor) ** ** ** This is an open invitation to anyone interested, so please share widely. (Poster attached.) -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

12 years, 5 months

Dana's Walk (Nov.2) - A Welcome to Winnipeg Event

by Beth McKechnie

please see invitation below... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Margaret Boyechko <margaret(a)mrta.mb.ca> Date: Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 12:01 PM Subject: Dana's Walk - A Welcome to Winnipeg Event Please see the attached invitation to a MRTA/TCT special event to be held tomorrow in Winnipeg. Please join us and bring out as many of your friends and family members as possible to join in the fun and adventure. Forward the attachment, Tweet or Facebook the news. All are welcome.**** ** ** See you there J**** Margaret**** Administration Assistant/Bookkeeper**** Manitoba Recreational Trails Association**** 1007 Century Street**** Winnipeg, MB R3H 0W4**** 204-633-9879**** 204-945-1365 (fax)**** www.mrta.mb.ca**** *"In every walk with nature one receives ***** *far more than he seeks."* - John Muir**** ** **

12 years, 5 months

[At-network] Car, public transport commutes show links to ill health

by Beth McKechnie

http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20111030/7712/commuting-ill-health-negativ… Car, Public Transport Commutes Show Links to Ill Health By Medical Daily Reporter Commuting by car or public transportation is associated with ill health compared to walking or cycling also known as active commuting, as sleep quality, exhaustion and every day stress were evaluated in a new study. Lund University researchers looked 21,000 people aged between 18 and 65, who worked more than 30 hours a week, commuted by car, train or bus and also active commuters who commuted by walking or cycling. The study was published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health. Americans on average commuted 25.3 minutes to work. The percentage that drove to work alone averaged 76.6 percent. Only 4.9 percent take public transportation, 2.8 percent commuted by walking or bicycling according to the U.S Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2010. "Generally car and public transport users suffered more everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and, on a seven point scale, felt that they struggled with their health compared to the active commuters,” said Erik Hanson, a Faculty of Medicine at Lund University. "Car drivers who commuted 30 – 60 minutes experienced worse health than those whose journey lasted more than one hour, he said” He said more research was needed to learn exactly how commuting is related to the ill health observed in order to readdress the balance between economic needs, health, and the costs of working days lost. Published by Medicaldaily.com

12 years, 5 months

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AT-Network November 2011