City should focus on cycling infrastructure
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/city-should-focus-on-c…
DURING the pandemic, many Winnipeggers decided — to borrow a line from the
legendary rock group Queen — to get on their bikes and ride.
Cycling was a way to get some exercise at a time when gyms were closed, a
head-clearing activity to alleviate stress, and an opportunity to commune
with nature after months of being cooped up at home. Winnipeg’s Open
Streets pilot project, which was unrolled in 2020 and saw the expansion of
the city’s annual Sunday and holiday bike routes, got even more people out
on two wheels, in large part because they felt safe to do so.
Alas, with this bicycling boom has come an increase in tickets being handed
out to cyclists riding on the sidewalk. Winnipeg police issued 87 tickets
in 2020, compared with 43 in 2019. So far, police have handed out 38
tickets in 2021. The fine for riding on the sidewalk is $113.
Instead of focusing on ticketing cyclists using sidewalks, Winnipeg might
be better served by prioritizing safe and accessible biking infrastructure
— especially in areas of the city where there is none, and areas in which
sidewalk riders are disproportionately ticketed.
We don’t really know where to put people on bicycles in this city. Cyclists
are not motorists, nor are they pedestrians. And yet, in many areas of the
city, if they aren’t sharing the road with one, they are sharing the
sidewalk with the other.
Winnipeg’s biking infrastructure has slowly improved over the past decade
with the arrival of dedicated off-street bike paths as well as protected,
buffered and painted on-street bike lanes. But that mix of infrastructure
is mostly linked together in a city-wide network by so-called “informal
on-street routes,” which are just streets deemed to be low or medium stress
for cyclists.
On Winnipeg’s Cycling Map, areas of caution are circled in red. As you
might expect, many of these are intersections.
In many neighbourhoods, especially those in the northern parts of the city,
informal on-street routes are largely the only biking infrastructure that
exists. That means riding one’s bike in many places in the city —
especially if one is a commuter cyclist — inevitably means riding with
traffic, often moving at high speed. On busy stretches where bikes are
frequently crowded out by cars or near-constant construction, the safer
choice is clear.
According to Statistics Canada and data from the Canadian Vital Statistics:
Death Database, 890 cyclists died in Canada between 2006 and 2017, for an
average of 74 deaths per year. Seventy-three per cent of these deaths were
the result of a collision with a motor vehicle.
Pedestrians are also killed by motor vehicles in Canada; 332 in 2018.
Pedestrians have been killed by cyclists travelling at high speed in other
places, too, though those incidents are decidedly more rare.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to slow down; everyone needs to
follow the rules of the road. Mixed-use pathways are frequently shared by
pedestrians and cyclists, who should practice proper etiquette by
announcing their presence with a bell or a simple “on your left.” Cyclists
need to follow the rules of traffic, and motorists need to realize bikes
have the right to be on the road.
The increased interest in cycling shows there’s an appetite for safe,
equitable and accessible biking infrastructure in this city. Until everyone
can stay in their dedicated lane, we need to find a way to share without
being punished.
Government of Canada announces the country’s first-ever federal strategy
and fund dedicated to building active transportation trails and pathways
https://www.canada.ca/en/office-infrastructure/news/2021/07/government-of-c…
The Active Transportation Fund will invest $400 million over five years to
help build new and expanded networks of pathways, bike lanes, trails and
pedestrian bridges and undertake planning studies. This new Fund is part of
an eight-year, $14.9-billion public transit investment to support
communities as they build vibrant neighbourhoods where people can safely
live, work, and play.
Eligible recipients for the Active Transportation Fund are municipal,
local, and regional governments, provincial and territorial governments,
public sector bodies, not-for-profit organizations and various Indigenous
Governing Bodies. More information about the Active Transportation Fund,
details on eligibility, and how to apply may be found on the Infrastructure
Canada website.
<https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/trans/active-actif-eng.html>
Movement to calm traffic picks up
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/metro/Movement-to-calm-tr…
When the pandemic struck, Bourkevale Community Centre organizers decided to
pivot their efforts to create a safe and active neighbourhood outside of
the building’s four walls, said board president Daevid Ramey.
To make this happen, Ramey helped launch Bourkevale 30, a grassroots
campaign to drop the area’s speed limit to 30 km/hr. Bourkevale 30
officially kicked off on July 18.
“This is a perfect opportunity to engage an entire community and get it
done,” Ramey said. “We really want to develop a groundswell of support.”
Many studies have reported that pedestrians have a significantly higher
rate of survival if struck by a vehicle travelling 30 km/hr rather than 50
km/hr, he explained.
“If you create space for folks just to wander around and feel safe from
vehicles, they’ll come out and use that space in a really great way,” Ramey
said.
There are no main through-roads in the Bruce Park neighbourhood, Ramey
explained. It’s bookended to the west by George Waters Middle School and
Bourkevale Park and Assiniboine Children’s Centre and Jae Eadie Park to the
east. The Assiniboine River caps the area to the south and Portage Ave.
does the same to the north.
“We thought we could make this one of the most livable communities in the
city by just getting the speed limit lowered to ensure everyone felt
comfortable and our streets were safe and accessible,” Ramey said.
Some residents have taken to walking down back alleys to avoid walking
where cars often reach the speed limit, he said.
With a newly printed set of campaign signs in hand, Ramey and his family
set out on a recent muggy July evening to drop them off to fellow
Bourkevale 30 supporters.
The first stop was the home of Robert Froese, who’s lived down the street
from Bourkevale Community Centre for six years.
Froese often rides his bike straight out of his garage to the trail systems
bisecting the area. As an avid cyclist and self-described tree-hugger,
Froese noted the area’s high level of active transportation.
“Nobody coming by any of these streets is here for any other purpose than
(to go to) a destination within this area. They’re either going to their
home or their friends or their neighbours or the community centre,” he said.
The city has designated the stretch of Assiniboine Avenue that runs through
Bruce Park as a weekend and holiday bike route. Here, vehicle traffic is
limited to one block from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Assiniboine Avenue, like a
handful of other streets in the neighbourhood, doesn’t have sidewalks,
forcing pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to share the road.
“You’ve got seniors with walkers, people walking their dogs and
entertaining their children ... you get a car coming by here at 50 km/hr,
that’s a death trap, there’s no reason for it,” Froese said.
Considering city workers must drop off and pick up the bike route
barricades every weekend, Froese figures reducing the speed limit in the
entire neighbourhood would save time and money.
Those interested in supporting the cause can find more information and a
petition at www.mybourkevale.com
Fines disproportionately target certain demographics
Sidewalk cyclists face ticketing surge
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/coronavirus/number-of-tickets-han…
AS the number of cyclists increases on Winnipeg streets, more tickets are
being handed out for riding on sidewalks.
Winnipeg police handed out more than double the number of tickets to people
for riding bikes on the sidewalk last year, issuing 87 in 2020 compared to
43 in 2019, said spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon.
So far this year, police have handed out 38 tickets, which ding a rider
$113.
Anders Swanson, cycling advocate and executive director at Winnipeg Trails
Association, believes people shouldn’t get fined for such an infraction.
“Fundamentally, we should be giving out tickets to anyone who does a road
without putting in bike lanes — that’s who should be getting the sidewalk
tickets because it’s not the fault of the people who are doing it. The
people who are doing it are trying to save lives,” he said.
The Winnipeg Trails Association warns people they could be ticketed for
taking to the sidewalks on bikes, but Swanson thinks it’s often necessary
for them to do so at times because of dangerous stretches or intersections
where traffic squeezes out cyclists.
“The reality is when you’re giving tickets like that, the message it’s
sending is that you should be doing something else, and that something else
is usually driving, which is far more dangerous for everybody for all kinds
of reasons, whether it’s for health and environment or road violence and
trauma. There has to be a better way, because there are places around the
world that have figured that out,” Swanson said.
Orly Linovski, who researches transportation equity at the University of
Manitoba, said there’s another issue: cycling tickets disproportionately
target certain demographics.
Linovski and other researchers acquired ticketing data through a freedom of
information request for the years 2018 through 2020. The data include all
cycling tickets, which Linovski has mapped out but has yet to publish.
“The vast majority were in probably four or five different census tracts in
the downtown core, but also north of it,” she said.
Data showed a few hundred cycling tickets in those areas, including
downtown and the neighbourhoods bordering Main Street north to Higgins
Avenue, she said. Tickets were almost non-existent outside central
Winnipeg, with most neighbourhoods registering either zero or one ticket
for all three years.
“There’s a few reasons for this: there’s no cycling infrastructure in some
of those neighbourhoods. You know what Main Street is like. On top of
having an underpass, in some places there’s four lanes in each direction of
very fast moving traffic. It makes sense that people would cycle on the
sidewalks,” she said.
Linovski doesn’t believe the frequency of sidewalk cycling is specific to
those neighbourhoods.
“I think the level of policing in that neighbourhood is higher. You see
cyclists on the sidewalk everywhere, but they’re not ticketed,” she said.
While the ticketing data didn’t include racial or socioeconomic
information, the areas with higher ticket counts generally have populations
with lower incomes and higher rates of visible minorities than the rest of
the city, Linovski said. When asked for the city’s stance on sidewalk
cycling, a spokesman for the public works declined to comment, instead
referring
the Free Press to the Winnipeg police, who said they were unable to respond
before publishing time Tuesday.
cody.sellar(a)freepress.mb.ca
Wales Suspends All Future Roadbuilding
<https://pedbikeinfo.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7ae385fc8506278c2e45…>
(The
Guardian)
Reports the Welsh government has suspended all future road-building plans
as part of plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Money saved by not
building new roads would be used to improve existing ones, including
creating new bus and cycle lanes and infrastructure for sustainable
transport.
Reduced speeds won’t expand travel time
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/reduced-speeds-wont-expa…
I DRIVE a car that spends almost all its time on the streets of Winnipeg.
Thanks to the vehicle’s trip computer, I know my average speed — 31
kilometres per hour.
So, the current debate over lowering speed limits on some city streets
comes as a bit of a surprise. There is some opposition as the City of
Winnipeg begins a yearlong experiment with reducing the speed limit to 30
km/h from 50 km/h on sections of four local streets. Do opponents of the
move realize how fast they really travel?
The simple fact is that lowering speed limits to 30 km/h on many
residential streets is not going to change how quickly you get around town
— and it will save lives in the process.
It is well known that the actual speed vehicles travel in an urban area is
governed by such factors as traffic volumes, the road system, accidents and
construction — and not so much by posted speed limits.
A study in New York a few years ago famously found that the average
travelling speed of a vehicle in Manhattan was 7.5 km/h, which means you
can just about keep up to cars on foot at a brisk walking pace.
Winnipeg rarely has gridlocked traffic, but try crossing the city on Route
90 during morning or afternoon rush hours. Sure, the signs say 50 km/h, 70
km/h or even 80 km/h, but try achieving that on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
I am about as average a motorist as can be, driving to work and other
activities over a series of residential streets, neighbourhood collector
roads and highways, all within city limits. I rarely venture outside the
Perimeter Highway.
Over thousands of kilometres every year, the trip computer comes up with
the same average of 31 km/h in the stop-and-go traffic I encounter across
the city. That’s not going to change if I have to slow down to 30 km/h on
some residential streets. In fact, like most drivers, I spend very little
time on residential streets and rarely drive the speed limit on them in any
event. They are usually the first leg or the last leg of a journey, as they
are intended to be.
The focus on speed limits shows a lack of knowledge about how fast people
really drive, and also about how speed limits fit into the bigger program
of road safety.
The stated goal of many cities now is to achieve “Vision Zero,” a concept
that eliminates traffic fatalities entirely. Lower speed limits play a role
in this. But the concept is much broader. Its goal is a safe transportation
system in which the needs of street users, vehicles and the transportation
network have to be addressed in an integrated manner, through a wide range
of interventions.
It can involve redesigning roads, redirecting traffic, creating
separate routes for pedestrians and cyclists, improved driver training and
many other features. The whole system must work together and cannot have
elements that are at odds with the bigger picture.
That is where lower residential speed limits come in. The design of most
residential streets makes them perfectly safe if vehicles travel at 30
km/h. Drivers can stop quickly if, for example, a child runs onto the
street. Motorists and cyclists can safely share the road, with lots of time
to react, move over and drive around.
Speed things up to 50 km/h and the dynamics change. The motorist expects to
travel at that speed. The child is in danger. The cyclist and motorist get
into conflict because the motorist must slow down or stop to avoid a
collision.
My River Heights street has speed bumps, stop signs and yield signs, all
within a distance of a few hundred metres. The only thing that makes it
dangerous is a motorist racing to get up to the 50 km/h speed limit for a
few seconds on the oneblock, 400-metre unimpeded stretch in front of my
house.
A street for vehicles going 50 km/h needs separate lanes for motorists and
cyclists, more traffic lights and crosswalks, more safety measures. There
are lots of streets like this in Winnipeg, nearby the residential streets,
and the speed limits on them are not changing.
Neither is the time it is going to take you to get across the city,
travelling at the real average speed you go on city streets.
*Bob Cox is the publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press*.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Shaun Loney <info(a)encompass.coop>
Date: Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 1:52 PM
The role of bikes in designing cities for people. Getting from here to
there.
[image: Logo]
<https://encompass.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9f8c78844735ab51e913e66…>
Upcoming series event:Bike To The FutureRole and impact of bikes in
designing cities for people. Thursday July 22nd at 1:00 - 2:30 EDTSeries:
What If the Ways We Build Back Better Rewrite the Social Contract?
During the pandemic Canadians started biking more than ever, and it became
apparent to many people that so far city planning has focused on moving
cars around efficiently. As part of a larger discussion on active transit,
this week's series seeks to ask “what could the impact be of instead
centering our designs on moving people? Specifically, what if biking was
fast, easy, safe, and maybe even the most fun way of getting around? What
needs to happen to get us from here to there? (pun intended!)
Join us with special guest Mel Marginet of the Green Action Centre in
Winnipeg, as we continue this generative series about shooting for better
than “normal” as we come out of the pandemic.
Mel, who is prolific on twitter
<https://encompass.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9f8c78844735ab51e913e66…>,
is focused on what individuals can do to live sustainably, while also
advocating for governments to do their part to make healthy, green choices
the most convenient, appealing and affordable for all. We look forward to
having her as part of this timely conversation.
By re-writing social contract we mean the rules, written and unwritten,
that hold society together. Is there a better time than now to question
societal norms and assumptions?
In the series so far, we’ve explored how everyday people can invest in
non-profit real estate through community bonds and we learned about
complementary currency. Before we take a break in August, we’ll get
together from coast to coast to talk bikes.
Encompass Coop and Axiom News invite you to park your bike and jump on Zoom
and join a highly participatory conversation…..
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO EXPERIENCE:
-
Being lit up by new ideas that bring more love, compassion, and kindness
into the world.
-
Aha moments that excite you.
-
A tangible ways of approaching city design that could:
-
Increase livability, environmental action, affordability, and maybe
our own physical and mental health.
-
How about some confidence and inspiration?
Then this might be the conversation for you!
YOU MUST REGISTER
<https://encompass.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9f8c78844735ab51e913e66…>TO
RECEIVE THE LINK FOR THE CALL.
*See you there!*
Lucas and Shaun
Register at Eventbrite
<https://encompass.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9f8c78844735ab51e913e66…>
*Copyright (C) 2021 Encompass Co-op. All rights reserved.*
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.
[image: Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp]
<http://www.mailchimp.com/email-referral/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm…>
Bike-building event to put discarded rubber back on road
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/bike-building-event-to-put-discarde…
IT’S a venture that combines cycling with recycling.
Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub, a non-profit, is set to hold the
first of two events that will get more bikes on the road at the very time
cycling has experienced a resurgence.
At “empty the fill” events (the first one takes place this weekend),
volunteers collect discarded bikes from Winnipeg 4R depots and make them
roadworthy. They sort, disassemble and reassemble the bikes, deliver them
to volunteer builders and shops so they can be donated to people who need a
set of wheels.
Executive director Kate Sjoberg said the rising popularity of cycling means
there’s a greater opportunity to make bicycles and bicycle repairs more
accessible to schools, non-profits and the greater community.
“Bikes are such a source of joy for so many,” she said.
“So, to be able to divert this waste from the landfills and make them
really useful to communities that really want them, that’s really exciting.”
This weekend’s event involves parts collected at the Brady Landfill
recycling depot.
To account for COVID-19 safety measures, some volunteers will take the
bikes into their own homes to put together. Using this socially distanced
system, the charity was able to fix almost 600 bikes last December during
its annual Cycle of Giving event.
This weekend’s event will gear itself more towards children’s bikes, which
will go to schools along with weekly giveaway events in different locations.
The shop has added events to its schedules, including pop-up bike repair
stands and bike giveaways at pop-up COVID-19 testing sites.
WRENCH depends on volunteers, such as longtime core volunteer and bicycle
advocate Dave Elmore.
Years ago, bicycle parts were wasted, but during his time, Elmore has been
able to recycle the parts so they “find their way back into the hands of
people who need them,” he said.
gillian.brown(a)freepress.mb.ca
Hi everyone,
Please see the link below to access a webinar recording below (which I
haven't listened to yet) and here's the link to the Rider Happiness report
for Canada:
https://blog.transitapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/RHB-Report_CAN.pdf
*Note*: This data is from Transit app users and the goal is to get transit
agencies to subscribe to the service for reports. Still, it provides some
potentially helpful information.
cheers,
Beth
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Elizabeth Resta <elizabethresta(a)gmail.com>
Fellow transportation enthusiasts,
I wanted to share the results of Transit's April 2021 Rider Happiness
Benchmark survey. Findings could be helpiness as you're thinking about
building out your organization's post-COVID transportation plan.
https://blog.transitapp.com/case-study/rider-happiness-benchmarking-survey-…
There will be a webinar Thursday, May 27th, 2pm PT if you're interested in
diving deeper into the results. There's also a link to the full report.
Some takeaways:
- Transit riders are incrementally returning and feeling optimistic
about riding more.
- They’re getting vaccinated at an even higher rate than the general
population.
- Transit riders' overall satisfaction with their agency has increased
since November (but some agencies have risen in the rankings, while others
have fallen).
Happy reading,
Beth
---
Beth Resta
elizabethresta(a)gmail.com