Please join Green Action Centre to watch the following webinar followed by
discussion. Feel free to bring your lunch. RSVPs appreciated but not
necessary.
*Creating a Safe Routes for Seniors Program*
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
12:00pm-1:15pm (webinar duration is 45 minutes)
Eco-Centre<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>Boardroom
- 3rd Floor, 303 Portage Avenue
In urban environments throughout the country, children and older adults
represent a disproportionate percentage of pedestrian injuries and
fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. Many of these places have long
established “Safe Routes to School” programs and policies for children, but
are at a loss when it comes to making streets safer for older adults. As
more people age in place and the population as a whole is living longer,
creating streets that are easy, enjoyable and safe for older adults is
crucial in urban environments.
This course uses seven chapters to outline the components of a program to
improve street safety for senior citizens and promote the cardiovascular
health of local older adults in urban areas. After watching this course
you will understand the differences between “Safe Routes” for children and
older adults and the steps you should take to get these programs off the
ground, using concepts proven to work in New York City.
*
*
*Amy Pfeiffer*, your instructor, is a transportation planner and principal
of PFoundation Works. She has over 11 years experience in transportation
planning working with Nelson Nygaard, Transportation Alternatives, and The
New York City Department of City Planning.
--
*Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School
Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>
3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773
Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living.
Support our work by becoming a
member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>
Send right signals to pedestrians
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/send-right-signals-to-p…
The complaint that you need a jet pack to cross Portage Avenue on foot has
been around for years. The city's traffic department, however, responds the
perception likely is a lack of understanding of how the signals at
intersections work. Pedestrians are given five seconds to start a crossing,
and the appearance of the flashing red hand is merely a warning, not a sign
to stop walking midstream.
Pedestrians are given more than 10 seconds to cross -- the timing is
calculated at a pace of 1.2 metres or less per second for a safe crossing.
But if misperception has lingered longer than a quarter-century, if some
walkers are getting caught on the median, then better communication is
needed. To that end, the city is investigating the "countdown" signals used
in other cities to show pedestrians how many seconds are left to get across
safely.
The city should also remove the buttons that must be pushed at some
intersections to activate the "walk-man" signal allowing people to enter a
crossing safely. The buttons were removed downtown and should be yanked in
other areas, as well, to assert a pedestrian's right to cross on a green
light.
There are other ideas around that Winnipeg should investigate. Calgary, for
example, introduced in 2008 the diagonal crosswalk at 3rd Street Southwest,
in the Eau Claire area. It stops all vehicles to allow foot traffic to
cross in all directions, including diagonally.
Such unconventional signalling requires a learning curve, but there are
intersections in Winnipeg -- River and Osborne -- where heavy foot traffic
impedes vehicles turning left and right. Perhaps there, unimpeded
pedestrian crossings can make sense.
Motorists in Winnipeg celebrated when Mayor Sam Katz promised years ago to
synchronize lights on busy streets such as Portage and Broadway. That
recognized the need to inject efficiency to signalled intersections. The
population is getting older and heavier. Intersection signals should help,
not discourage, those who choose to walk, and walk safely, around town.
* * * * *
NOTE: Here's a study<http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/walking/pdf/pedestrian_scramble_crossi…>comparing
the planning and implementation of "diagonal crosswalks", or
scramble corners as they're sometimes called, in Toronto and Calgary. At a
glance, it appears Toronto's example is the better implementation from
which to learn or perhaps it's a difference in car/ped culture in the two
cities. Pasted below is the concluding paragraph from the analysis, which
was prepared by a representative from each of the two municipalities.
cheers,
Beth
"It is recognized that the implementation of pedestrian scramble would
increase vehicle delays. There was a significant increase in delays to
mixed traffic in Toronto; from a policy implementation perspective, this
tradeoff was acceptable given that there are over 50,000 pedestrians at the
Toronto intersection in a typical 24 hour period compared to 36,000
vehicles. The increase in delay to transit vehicles is a concern – while a
better level of service is being provided to pedestrians at the Toronto
intersection, these same pedestrians are subject to additional delays when
they ride on the streetcars. Similarly in Calgary the expected increase in
vehicle delay was considered acceptable given the safety and operational
benefits for pedestrians that scramble control provides. Implementation of
scramble control in Toronto and Calgary demonstrates both cities’
commitment to creating more walkable cities. Based on the high number of
pedestrians observed crossing diagonally at the three locations, it does
appear that the pedestrian scramble phasing is being well used by
pedestrians in Toronto and Calgary."
Long and winding road Winnipeg needs to move toward a more car-free culture
By: Bartley Kives
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/long-and-winding-road-148422775.html
If you own a 2012 Honda Civic or any other car with a 50-litre gas tank,
it'll cost you an extra $1.25 to fill 'er up on May 1.
This is the short-term cost of the Selinger government's 2.5-cent-a-litre
provincial gas-tax hike, which is expected to rake in $48.6 million of
additional revenue for the province during the forthcoming fiscal year.
The cash, the province says, will be devoted to fixing roads and bridges.
But as Premier Greg Selinger has been forced to concede, the province has
no plans to spend an extra $48.6 million on roads and bridges this coming
year.
While legislation demands provincial gas-tax revenue must be spent on
infrastructure, there is no similar rule against taking money out of
roads-and-bridges and spending it on other priorities.
To some extent, that's precisely what the province plans to do this year,
as administrative officials confirmed during last week's budget lockup. The
spin doctors on the political side protested loudly, claiming there are in
fact increases hidden somewhere within the budget papers.
But there is no doubt the province is not taking all that extra gas-tax
cash and using it to top up the roads-and-bridges budget. Just as there is
no question the City of Winnipeg tried to pull off a very similar trick in
2011.
About 13 months ago, Mayor Sam Katz announced Winnipeg's first
frontage-levy hike in about a decade, a move intended to raise an extra $14
million for the city last year. Like Selinger this year, Katz claimed in
2011 this extra revenue would be spent entirely on infrastructure.
And he was correct: It went into the city's road-maintenance budget. What
civic politicians were not eager to admit is even more money came out of
that very same budget, to be spent on other priorities.
In other words, both the city and province have tried to place the precise
same spin on a form of tax hike over the past two years. Faced with budget
shortfalls, Selinger and Katz tried to dress up the politically unpopular
decision to raise taxes with the only form of populist window dressing
voters seem to accept: We're taking your money to fix the roads.
As far as spin goes, this is not very effective, as even the most easily
confused reporter, blogger or opposition politician can look at two numbers
and discern which one is smaller. But the fact this ploy gets used at all
is a testament to how much Winnipeggers and Manitobans seem to care about
their roads.
Poll after poll reveals the condition of both city and provincial roads are
among the top two concerns of voters in this flat patch of the planet. So
politicians pander to that sentiment -- and continue to perpetuate the
notion that simply "fixing the roads" will cure much of what ails this city
and this province.
As any historian will tell you, the presence or absence of a properly
functioning transportation system may be the most crucial factor
determining the success or failure of a city, both in terms of material
wealth and the health and well-being of its citizens.
But inherent in that assumption, across much if not most of North America,
is that a properly functioning transportation system can and should be
measured solely by the state of its roads.
"I wish they would fix the damn roads" may be the most common complaint in
Winnipeg, where the freeze-thaw cycles of our sub-Arctic climate ensure we
wind up with some of the most pockmarked, potholed buggy tracks on the
continent.
When we travel to the U.S., many of us are left awed and envious by the
sight of freeway systems with endless kilometres of elevated concrete and
steel-supported overpasses. So we desire these things, much like we desire
big-box stores full of IKEA furniture and glass hotel atria full of plastic
waterslides, but those apparent amenities are rant fodder for another day.
Based on anecdote and data, it's fairly safe to say many of us feel this
way. But I would argue this is folly.
Yes, a functioning highway system is important for the transfer of goods
around the globe. But Winnipeg's ever-expanding road system is the key to
its endless struggles, as all sane politicians come to realize over time.
Winnipeg is no different from many North American cities in that the
primary mode of transportation is the personal vehicle. Cars provides us
all with freedom, we believe, even as we know it is more environmentally
efficient, less expensive and less isolating to get around using public
transit.
Cars, however, are simply more convenient to use in cities designed for
cars instead of people. So whenever efforts are made to improve
transportation for people who don't use cars, a chicken versus egg
inevitably arises.
Spend money on public transit? Many of us argue against it, insisting we
should simply build more roads, thus ensuring we must all spend vast sums
of money to purchase, maintain and operate expensive vehicles that require
large tracts of concrete for parking and, by extension, ensure our cities
continue to grow outward and require more roads.
Expansive parking lots for expansive stores ensure retailers pay higher
property taxes and charge us more for our goods. But we demand free
parking, because we have been brought up to believe it is our God-given
right.
Some of us even believe public transit should bloody well pay for itself,
because we don't use it. The corollary argument -- that non-drivers should
not have to pay for road construction -- is deemed irrelevant, if not
laughable.
So politicians and policy-makers put off investments in public transit,
even though our leaders are well aware of the arithmetic that makes
higher-density planning the most sensible and responsible financial option
for any city in the long-term.
The public wants more roads, the politicians shrug. They want to live in
single-family homes, far away from anywhere they could possibly reach on
foot, the developers claim.
So the people who sculpt the shape of our lives give us what we want. And
anyone foolish enough to question this logic is deemed to be a naive
utopian or an urbanist geek.
Of course, the price of oil and the inconvenience of congestion tend to
increase both urban density and the popularity of public transit. These are
the market forces that will inevitably drive even car-dependent Winnipeg
toward a more car-free culture.
I would argue our leaders should take us to this place far before the time
comes when we have no other choice but to go there.
I say this as a driver. I say this as a pedestrian and occasional transit
user.
I also say this as a person who looks around North America and feels envy
-- not for freeways, but for the eagerness, elsewhere, for change.
bartley.kives(a)freepress.mb.ca
I'll walk, thanks. I'm a liberal Strange trend emerges in examination of
cities' walkability
By: Will Oremus
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/ill-walk-thanks-im-a-li…
Reading Tom Vanderbilt's Slate series on the crisis in North American
walking, I noticed something about the cities with the highest "walk
scores." They're all liberal. New York, San Francisco, and Boston, the top
three major cities on Walkscore.com, are three of the most liberal cities
in the United States. In fact, the top 19 are all in states that voted for
Obama in 2008.
The lowest-scoring major cities, by comparison, tilt conservative: Three of
the bottom four -- Jacksonville, Fla., Oklahoma City, and Fort Worth,
Texas, -- went for McCain. What explains the correlation? Don't
conservatives like to walk?
You might think it's a simple matter of size: Big cities lean liberal and
also tend to be more walkable. That's generally true, but it doesn't fully
explain the phenomenon. Houston, Phoenix and Dallas are among the nation's
ten largest cities, but they're also among the country's more conservative
big cities, and none cracks the top 20 in walkability. All three trail
smaller liberal cities such as Portland, Denver, and Long Beach.
Substituting density for size gets us closer: Houston, Phoenix and Dallas
are notorious for sprawl, while New York, San Francisco and Boston are
tightly packed, partly because they are older cities whose downtown cores
developed in the pre-car era. As they grew, their borders were constrained
by those of the smaller cities and towns that surrounded them.
That's not the case with many southern and western cities. Jacksonville and
Oklahoma City, for instance, are vast in terms of land area, encompassing
suburban and even semi-rural neighbourhoods as well as urban ones.
That still leaves the question of why urban density should go hand-in-hand
with liberal politics, however.
I see four possible categories of explanations.
1. Liberals build denser, more walkable cities (e.g., Portlanders
supporting public transit and policies that limit sprawl).
2. Liberals are drawn to cities that are already dense and walkable (think
college grads migrating to Minneapolis rather than San Antonio, or young
families settling down in Lowell, Mass., with a walk score of 64.1, rather
than Fort Wayne, Ind., with a walk score of 39.
3. Walkable cities make people more liberal (by forcing them to get along
with diverse neighbours and to rely on highly visible city services such as
parks and subways).
4. The same factors that make cities dense and walkable also make them
liberal.
My guess is that it's mostly No. 4, with some of the other three thrown in,
depending on the situation. What do dense, walkable cities have in common?
Besides being older, they also tend to be on the coasts. New York (No. 1),
San Francisco (No. 2), and Boston (No. 3) sprang up as port cities -- hubs
of international commerce and immigration. That leads to both dense
development along the coastline and to an atmosphere of diversity and
tolerance. Those three cities top the list because they're both old and
coastal.
The others in the top 10 are mostly one or the other. Seattle (No. 6) and
Miami (No. 8) are diverse coastal ports. Chicago (No. 4), Philadelphia (No.
5), and Minneapolis (No. 9) aren't coastal, but they are ports, and more
importantly, they're relatively old and industrial.
Look at a walkability map and you'll see that unwalkable cities are
concentrated in the South. While the northern United States developed an
industrial economy, the South was dominated by agriculture until the last
few decades. Whereas industry breeds density, immigration and social
mobility, agriculture requires vast plots of land and leads to an
entrenched social order dominated by the large landowners.
The historical perspective might help explain why cities such as Houston,
which today is one of the nation's largest ports and a magnet for
immigration, remain relatively unwalkable. As Houston becomes increasingly
diverse, it is already becoming more liberal. Harris County went narrowly
to Obama in '08 after going consistently Republican for decades before that.
In theory, it should be getting more walkable as well. The problem is that
once a city has an infrastructure built around cars, it's harder to build
support for density and public transportation funding. That is, it may be
easier for a city to turn liberal than for a city to turn walkable.
Link to Slate story: http://slate.me/HG44LM
-- Slate
Pedestrian-cross buttons walk City removes downtown devices after
human-rights complaint
By: Bartley Kives
The City of Winnipeg has removed pedestrian-crossing buttons from downtown
intersections to comply with a human-rights complaint over their ease of
use for people with visual and physical impairments.
This past winter, the city accelerated the removal of the crossing buttons
from approximately 60 downtown locations as part of an effort to fulfil an
agreement reached in 2008, transportation manager Luis Escobar said.
People who are visually impaired complained to the Manitoba Human Rights
Commission of having to fumble around to find the buttons, while some
people with physical impairments could not push them at all, Escobar said.
So the city agreed to remove the push buttons from intersections east of
Maryland Avenue, north of the Assiniboine River, south of Higgins Avenue
and west of the Red River -- and set the "walk" displays and chimes to
operate automatically, he said.
"The push buttons were redundant, because pedestrians were always using
them," Escobar said Friday. "There is a general premise there is always
pedestrian activity (downtown) so there is no need for people to push
buttons."
Winnipeg's public works department began disabling the crossing buttons
four years ago. This means all the intersections in question have been set
to display "walk" signals, regardless of whether anyone pushed the buttons,
Escobar said.
The city did not publicize the fact the buttons were disabled to avoid
confusing pedestrians. The buttons remain functional at intersections
outside downtown, Escobar said.
It takes more resources to physically remove the buttons than it does to
simply disable them, he explained. Most of the redundant buttons were
finally removed over the past six months.
"This winter, we made a significant effort to remove all the push-buttons
in the downtown area," Escobar said.
The removal of the buttons does not affect motor-vehicle traffic, he said.
But his department took advantage of the removals to conduct other traffic
engineering work, including the completion of the city's traffic-signal
synchronization plan.
During the 2006 mayoral race, Mayor Sam Katz promised to speed the flow of
traffic in Winnipeg by spending $10 million to $12 million on red-light
synchronization.
"The computerized synchronization of traffic signals can help Winnipeggers
move around our city more efficiently and avoid the nuisance of
stop-and-start traffic," Katz said at the time. "Winnipeg drivers know all
too well the frustration of having their commute constantly interrupted by
badly timed traffic lights, being needlessly detained and seeing their
paycheque go up in gas fumes."
In 2009, council approved the spending of $13.8 million over six years on
the resulting traffic-signal enhancement program, which was to last until
2014. In 2011 however, the program budget was reduced to $12 million and
slated to end this year.
The final $2.3 million will be spent on traffic signals on Grant Avenue as
well as throughout downtown Winnipeg, Escobar said. Downtown signals were
last synchronized 10 years ago, he added.
"We have to make sure we target them all at once and we set them up for the
current traffic volumes we have on the street," Escobar said.
The city also plans to spend an additional $1.05 million this year on other
traffic-engineering improvements.
bartley.kives(a)freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg must become pedestrian-friendly
By: Harry Finnigan
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/winnipeg-must-become-pede…
Winnipeg has come a long way over the past 20 years and is just now
beginning to be recognized nationally and internationally as a "can-do"
city and is perhaps on the verge of becoming a great city. Of course, the
development of the MTS Centre and the return of the Jets have had a
tremendous impact on our city and its reputation.
While we have made great progress as a city, we still have a long way to go
if we're ever to be seen as a great city. For starters, we need to be more
pedestrian-friendly.
Have you ever wondered why the city provides insufficient time for even the
fastest walker to get across a street before the "Don't Walk" sign comes on?
Why do we have so many intersections with push buttons for pedestrians, yet
for the unsuspecting pedestrian who is not aware enough to push the button,
the "Walk" sign never comes on?
It seems the city of Winnipeg treats pedestrians as if they were
second-class citizens.
I was reminded of this by Bethel Collie, who, in her letter to the editor,
bemoans the fact that as a senior female who walks and buses everywhere,
she finds walking across Portage Avenue at Arlington Street a real
challenge. She suggests that it would help "if only they added two seconds
to the length of the amber walk lights."
Collie's plea was reminiscent of the late Art Jones, who, in the 1980s as
president of the Downtown Winnipeg Association, would annually challenge
then-mayor Bill Norrie to a foot race across Portage Avenue. To this day,
the lights are synchronized such that a gazelle would have difficulty
making it halfway across the street before the "Don't Walk" sign came on.
The same can be said for crossing most other thoroughfares in our city, a
reality that makes for very unsafe conditions.
Case in point: It's not uncommon to see pedestrians stranded on the median
in front of the Via Rail station. Having been given the green light to
cross Main Street from the north side of Broadway, the light goes red
before they reach the median. They are then confronted with impatient
drivers, already going at a fairly good clip turning left off Broadway onto
Main. Never mind that legally, these pedestrians have the right to cross.
The signal being given for all to see is "Don't Walk."
The solution really is quite simple. The city should ensure pedestrians are
given sufficient time to at least get halfway across the street before
having the light turn red.
It also should install "countdown" traffic signals. Common in such cities
as Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, these signals tell both pedestrians and
drivers exactly how many seconds are left before the light goes red.
Five years ago, the City of Brandon installed one of these lights at a
high-volume intersection, and it has been so successful that it now has
plans in the works to install more.
Why is it that not a single one of these "countdown" traffic signals can be
found in Winnipeg? Why is it that Winnipeg seems so anti-pedestrian? The
truth, at least since the 1960s, is when it comes to facilitating the
movement of people on its streets, Winnipeg, unfortunately, has treated its
pedestrians as an afterthought when compared to its citizens who drive
vehicles. Traffic management generally has been focused on enabling
vehicles to get from one end of the city to the other in record time.
The most infamous example of this took place in 1979 when the city
installed concrete barriers and introduced legislation prohibiting
pedestrians from crossing at Portage and Main, its most historic corner.
It also signed legal agreements with surrounding property owners
guaranteeing it would continue to bar pedestrians from crossing the
intersection for 40 years -- until 2019. One would be hard pressed to come
up with the name of another city that chose to force its pedestrians to go
underground.
With an aging population and with so many struggling with obesity,
governments at all levels should be encouraging people to walk and be
active. The city should be commended for expanding its network of
recreational trails and accommodating cyclists on its streets. Council's
recently approved transportation master plan, with one of its goals to
encourage "healthy lifestyle options," also is a step in the right
direction.
Plans, however, are one thing, actions quite another. The city should take
action now to make the downtown area more pedestrian-friendly. It can start
by installing a few "countdown" traffic signals. Looking to the future, in
2019, once the legal agreements have expired, Winnipeg will be in a
position to implement a plan at Portage and Main developed in collaboration
with the surrounding property owners in 2006.
This plan would enable pedestrians to again cross our most historic
intersection in the evenings, after rush hour on weekdays and during
weekends. There are many good reasons for this to happen in time for the
sesquicentennial celebration for Manitoba as a province.
Let's see that it happens!
*Harry Finnigan served as Winnipeg's director of planning, property and
development (2002-2007). For most of his professional life, he has been
able to commute to work by foot.*
*** Friendly reminder regarding tomorrow's webinar ***
Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us for a
local viewing of the upcoming APBP webinars at the EcoCentre (3rd floor,
303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion.* *Detailed descriptions
provided below.*
*NTPP Update: A Bold Experiment in Four Communities
Wednesday, April 18th • 2:00 to 3:30 pm CST
In-street Bicycle Parking: What, When, Where and How Much?
Wednesday, May 16th • 2:00 to 3:00 pm CST
RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then!
cheers,
Beth
925-3772
* * * * *
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) presents:
NTPP Update: A Bold Experiment in Four Communities
Wednesday, April 18th • 2:00 to 3:30 pm CST
This webinar will focus on success stories and lessons learned from the
four Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) communities in the
U.S. [image: april-18]The NTPP program was established in 2005 "to
construct…a network of nonmotorized transportation infrastructure
facilities, including sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian and bicycle
trails, that connect directly with transit stations, schools, residences,
businesses, recreation areas, and other community activity centers.” U.S.
federal transportation legislation (SAFETEA-LU) provided $25 million for
each of the four NTPP communities – areas with unique physical and
demographic characteristics, and at various stages of implementing their
respective nonmotorized networks -- and was designed to develop statistical
information on transportation mode share shift before and after program
implementation.
Learn which specific programs and projects succeeded, what may be
replicable and transferable to other communities, and how much money should
be budgeted for success. The pilot communities will provide insight on
various aspects of planning and project implementation, including
innovation, leveraging resources, capacity building and the importance of
community input and partnerships. A representative from the U.S. Department
of Transportation's Volpe Center will also discuss the importance of
evaluation, and the development and implementation of a common methodology
for data collection and analysis. Presenters are Ted Curtis, Columbia,
Missouri; Dan Dawson, Marin County, California; Tony Hull, Minneapolis,
Minnesota; and Emily Vetting, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. APBP has applied
to the AICP for 1.5 Certification Maintenance credits for this webinar, and
will provide an attendance certificate to those who document their
professional development hours.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
In-street Bicycle Parking: What, When, Where and How Much?
Wednesday, May 16th • 2:00 to 3:00 pm CST
Increasingly communities face the dilemma of bicycles and pedestrians
competing for scarce sidewalk space. As pedestrian activity increases wider
sidewalks are needed, while as cycling increases more bicycle
parking—traditionally placed on sidewalks—is also needed. In-street bicycle
corrals allow agencies to place bicycle parking in the street, [image:
may-16]off the pedestrian way, resolving this conflict and making more
efficient use of existing parking spaces. However, jurisdictions may
hesitate to undertake bicycle corrals since there are few design examples
and little specific guidance on which to base such projects. Planners,
engineers, developers and advocates should attend this webinar to learn how
to scale up bicycle parking to meet growing demand while avoiding negative
impacts to the pedestrian environment.
Placing bicycle parking in the street presents unique challenges for
traffic engineers and streetscape designers. Issues include roadway
operations, cyclist and pedestrian safety, placement of a bike corral in
relation to other sidewalk and street design elements, pedestrian flows and
adjacent land uses. The webinar will address these challenges with examples
of successful in-street bicycle parking projects (examples from New York
City, Portland, and Washington D.C.). Presenters will also define best
practices for providing bicycle parking in the street and discuss how a
program might progress, beginning with public process and moving through
costs, installation, and maintenance.
Presenters include Eric Anderson, City of Berkeley, California; Sarah
Figliozzi, Portland Bureau of Transportation; Chris Holben, District
Department of Transportation; and Hayes Lord, New York City Department of
Transportation. APBP has applied to the AICP for one Certification
Maintenance credit for this webinar, and will provide an attendance
certificate to those who document their professional development hours.
--
*Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action
Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/>
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/>
A few relevant highlights from NCCHPP's Newsletter:
*Events*
*CAN - Healthy Communities and Planning for Active Transportation: Talking
the Talk and Walking the
Walk<http://politiquespubliques.inspq.qc.ca/url.php?i=2728&f=News&l=En>
*
The Ontario Professional Planners Institute is organizing this conference
on active transportation in Markham on September 20 and 21, 2012. Speakers
will look at trends, planning and success stories in active transport.
*US - True urbanism: planning healthy communities for
all<http://politiquespubliques.inspq.qc.ca/url.php?i=2727&f=News&l=En>
*
This conference, organized by The International Making Cities Livable
Council, will examine the evidence, and focus on ways we can reshape the
built environment to increase physical and social health and well-being.
The conference takes place in Portland Oregon from May 20 to 24, 2012.
*Publications*
***INT - Greenhouse Gases – Emissions, Measurement and Management - The
Environmental and Population Health Benefits of Active Transport: A
Review<http://politiquespubliques.inspq.qc.ca/url.php?i=2720&f=News&l=En>
*
This 504-page book collects studies of recent advances in the understanding
of greenhouse gases that are essential to stopping climate change and
global warming. Chapter 19 deals with the benefits of active transportation
to the environment and to public health. It was produced by Richard
Larouche from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
--
Mike Tutthill
Planning & Community Engagement Consultant
HEALTH in COMMON
200 - 141 Bannatyne Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 0R3
tel: 204.946.1888
1.800.731.1792
fax: 204.284.2404
email: mtutthill(a)healthincommon.ca
web: www.healthincommon.ca
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*Health in Common on Facebook*<
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-in-Common/120069149875>
ü Please consider the environment before printing this email.