- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

WFP: City ignored pleas to install eye-level warning lights (Feb24'22)
by Beth McKechnie 24 Feb '22

24 Feb '22

City ignored pleas to install eye-level warning lights Decade of deadly delay RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT NO OVERSIGHT A Free Press investigation into the city's transportation division https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/A-decade-of-deadly-delay--576238171… FOR the past 11 years, independent researcher and traffic safety activist Christian Sweryda has been urging the City of Winnipeg to install eye-level safety lights at pedestrian corridors. It has been a long, drawn-out battle, featuring a forgotten report, a pilot project bordering on the absurd, a spate of major crashes and dead children. Despite the deaths and near-tragedies, the city has resisted the mass rollout of a cheap and proven safety initiative. To this day, the vast majority of pedestrian corridors inWinnipeg do not have eye-level safety lights. The financial cost of delays is minuscule, but the human cost has been immeasurable. On April 4, 2011, a 22-year-old woman was killed at the pedestrian corridor near HendersonHighway and Leighton Avenue as the overhead lights flashed. At that time, Sweryda— who currently works for the Winnipeg School Division and is a second-year law student— had been studying traffic-related issues inWinnipeg for more than two years. His work had become an obsession, and he’d been mulling over the woman’s death for a month. One day he was stopped in his car at a rail crossing on Lagimodiere Boulevard when a figurative light bulb went off in his head. The solution was staring him right in the face: eye-level safety lights. At the pedestrian corridor on Henderson Highway where the woman was killed, the only lights were overhead, which were flashing when the driver entered the crosswalk. Sweryda concluded drivers whose vehicles were closer to the intersection when the lights began flashing would have a more difficult time seeing them. If lights were also installed at eye level, it would increase visibility. It seemed like common sense — Sweryda contacted the transportation division of the public works department and advocated for the installation of eye-level lights at pedestrian corridors. His efforts were rebuffed. In 2012 he contacted former city councillor Harvey Smith — the first municipal politician receptive to Sweryda’s research. Smith got department staff to sit down and hear Sweryda out on this and other traffic-safety issues, but they made no commitments to install the lights. By March 5, 2013, the same idea occurred to traffic-signals engineer Michael Cantor. In an inter-department email obtained by the Free Press, Cantor said the city should consider conducting a pilot project on eye-level safety lights at pedestrian corridors. “We can increase safety… with a cheap and effective solution,” Cantor wrote. Email correspondence shows there was initial pushback within the department, but the pilot project was eventually approved. Google Street View images show lights were installed at the pedestrian corridor at Notre Dame Avenue and McGee Street sometime between March 2013 and May 2014. The lights remained inactive and hooded until September 2016, when they were activated for a single eight hour period. That was the extent of the pilot project. While the sample size was small, the engineering report said the project had been a success, with driver “yield compliance” improving, and it recommended further study. The city did no further study at the time. Instead of rolling out eye-level safety lights at pedestrian corridors across the city, work crews went in and removed the pilot project lights at Notre Dame and McGee about a year later. A freedom-of-information request seeking an explanation for the decision to uninstall the lights turned up no records and an admission the department had co-ordinated the work through “word of mouth.” Then came the deaths. On Feb. 13, 2018, at the pedestrian corridor on St. Anne’s Road at Varennes Avenue, eight-year-old Surafiel Musse Tesfamariam was killed while on his way to school. The driver remained at the scene. The overhead lights were flashing. Eleven days later, a 16-year-old boy was hit at the crosswalk on Roblin Boulevard at Hunterspoint Road while chasing after his school bus. He was taken to hospital in unstable condition. On Aug. 30, 2018, a woman was left in critical condition and a man in unstable condition after being hit at a newly built pedestrian corridor on Keewatin Street at Santa Fe Drive. The 65-year-old driver remained at the scene. On March 18, 2019, four-year-old Galila Habtegerish was killed at the pedestrian corridor on Isabel Street at Ross Avenue. Her mother was also hit and taken to hospital in critical condition. The driver remained at the scene. She was charged with six offences, including two counts of disobeying a traffic-control device. The overhead lights were flashing. On July 31, 2019, a 23-year-old woman was killed at the crosswalk on Sargent Avenue at Simcoe Street. An 89-year-old man was charged with driving carelessly causing death and disobeying a traffic-control device. The overhead lights were flashing. On Sept. 10, 2019, a 37-year-old woman was killed while crossing the pedestrian corridor on William Avenue near Health Sciences Centre. The 57-year-old driver remained at the scene and was charged with dangerous driving causing death and disobeying a traffic-control device. The overhead lights were flashing. Nineteen months, six crashes, four deaths, two of them children. Sweryda remembers the moment he heard the boy had been killed on St. Anne’s Road. A friend broke the news to him. “I cried,” Sweryda said. “It was extremely frustrating, depressing. Whenever another person died I would just get so mad. Basically, screaming-at-the-wall mad. Of all the social problems in the world, we’re fighting over this? No wonder we can’t get anywhere.” Charlene Sacher has lived in that area with her husband and three children for 13 years. Her 11-year-old daughter was friends with Surafiel, the boy killed in the corridor. In the years before the boy’s death, Sacher said neighbourhood residents repeatedly took safety concerns about the corridor to the city. At first they requested a speed-limit reduction, but the city said that was not possible. “Then we asked for the trees to be trimmed back, because coming up to that crosswalk, sometimes it is very difficult to see the lights. We asked for better signage. There were lots of comments about looking into it,” Sacher said. “It took what everyone thought would be a worst-case scenario to actually make changes happen.” After the death on St. Anne’s Road, the transportation division of the public works department did a safety review of the corridor, concluding that eye-level safety lights were needed. An engineering report pegged the installation cost at $500, later upgraded to $5,000 per corridor, or just under $1 million for the 184 corridors throughout the city. After the four-year-old girl died on Isabel Street in 2019 (shortly after the lights were installed on St. Anne’s Road), the city did a safety review of that corridor. As was the case with the St. Anne’s Road review before it, the report recommended installing eye-level safety lights at the location. There was no mention of Sweryda’s advocacy dating back to 2011, or to the city’s 2016 pilot project, or to the St. Anne’s Road review. In 2019, by which time eye-level lights had been installed at nine corridors, the city hired a consulting firm to further investigate the issue, which looked at driver yield compliance rates at three pedestrian corridors in Winnipeg that had been equipped with the lights on St. Anne’s Road, Corydon Avenue and Maryland Street. The contract was awarded to a consulting firm owned by the wife of a long-standing manager within the transportation division of the public works department — although he was no longer employed by the city at the time. In a written statement, a City of Winnipeg spokesman summarized a key finding of the report as “the addition of the low-mounted beacons to the pedestrian corridor treatment system… did not result in a statistically significant change in driver yield compliance.” But the report concluded that yield compliance rates on St. Anne’s Road and Corydon Avenue had indeed increased, from 90 per cent to 93, and from 86 per cent to 89, respectively. Meanwhile, driver yield compliance rates fell at Maryland Street, from 88 per cent to 85; the report does not speculate as to a possible explanation. Nevertheless, the report noted benefits to the installation of eye-level lights beyond the increase in driver yield compliance at two locations. “As a vehicle moves closer and closer to a pedestrian corridor, it becomes impossible for the driver to see the overhead flashers because they pass out of a driver’s (line of sight),” the report reads. “As such, the Public Service concluded that (eye-level safety lights) do provide conspicuity to pedestrian corridors for drivers that are within the stopping sight distance (ie: are close to the corridor when the lights are actuated), and in dense urban settings for vehicles turning right onto a corridor.” In other words, as drivers get closer to the pedestrian corridor, they are less likely to see the overhead flashing safety lights, so installing eye-level lights improves visibility. Eight years after Sweryda first brought the matter to the attention of the department, the city had conducted two different studies — in one case hiring an outside consulting firm — to arrive at the same conclusion he had. The city spokesman said that moving forward, the department will install eye-level safety lights at all pedestrian corridors impacted by capital projects. “There is no identified funding source to support a network-wide upgrade for pedestrian crossings,” the spokesman said. The Free Press explained the series of events to Brent Toderian, an internationally recognized thought leader on cities and city-building with more than 30 years of experience in advanced urbanism, city planning and urban design. As he has not reviewed the reports, he did not want to comment specifically about the effectiveness of the lights. But he was willing to make some general comments. “One thing I’ve seen in city after city, whether or not you have the money depends entirely on your priorities.… Too many cities are still keeping old standards because of momentum and a disinterest in changing the status quo,” he said. But the saga, according to Toderian, points to deeper, structural problems in Winnipeg, and it’s ultimately a debate over “doing the wrong thing better.” “Never forget that’s what you’re doing. You’re trying to retrofit failure. And the failure is you didn’t design for pedestrian safety in the first place,” he said. Sacher has already seen tragedy up close and worries about more deaths. “So many of these crosswalks are near schools…. There is a potential for a tragedy to happen at all of these. Being proactive now could save the life of someone’s child,” Sacher said. In 2020, Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), the chair of the public works committee, moved a motion asking the department to develop plans for a city-wide rollout of eye-level safety lights at pedestrian corridors — nine years after Sweryda’s advocacy began. To date, the public works department says it has installed eye-level safety lights at 25 pedestrian corridors in Winnipeg, with 159 locations to go. According to Sweryda, the city’s numbers are wrong: it’s actually 28 of 184, roughly 15 per cent. A department memo reviewed by the Free Press said plans are in the works for 15 more. They say they’ll get around to them later this year. ryan.thorpe(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe

1 0

The Alpine Country Going All-You-Can-Ride (Transit)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Feb '22

22 Feb '22

*Austrians now have access to every form of public transit in the country through a single affordable ticket. Is it enough to make a dent in carbon emissions? * For Romina Mayer, there was no question that she had to buy the KlimaTicket (the “Climate Ticket”) when it launched. For just €1095 per year, it gives her unlimited access to every form of public transportation in her country of Austria: All buses, undergrounds, trams and local, regional and national trains — private and public. “I bought it immediately,” said the 57-year-old musician and music teacher from Vienna. She was even able to get in at the early bird rate of €949 (€1 is about USD$1.14), amounting to a 30 percent drop from her transportation budget the previous year. Since then, her mobility behavior has changed a lot. “I think less about where I’m going and how much it costs, so I sometimes get to places I’ve never been before,” she said. Hiking in Brand-Laaben, for example, a community in the so-called Mostviertel region of Lower Austria. “Only the bus goes there, and it’s usually very expensive.” She also uses the KlimaTicket professionally, traveling to Graz and Salzburg for rehearsals and performances. “It’s a great relief because these performances are usually not well paid.” The KlimaTicket was introduced in late October 2021. Selling 134,000 tickets in the first two months, it shattered the government’s first-year target by over 30 percent before 2022 had even begun. Queues formed in front of the ticket counters in the country of nine million. Even the initiators were surprised. “The KlimaTicket is a revolution in public transport,” says Leonor Gewässler, Green Federal Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. “This has more than exceeded our expectations.” There’s a question on everyone’s mind, though: will the KlimaTicket live up to its name and actually make a dent in the country’s carbon footprint? It turns out, this might be a trickier question than it seems. The Austrian government’s mobility master plan lays out a goal to make mobility in the country climate-neutral by 2040 <https://www.bmk.gv.at/themen/mobilitaet/mobilitaetsmasterplan/faq.html>. To achieve this modeling shows that, in addition to their electrification strategy, they need a reduction of almost 20 percent in the share of private motorized transport and an increase in public transport usage by a third. The KlimaTicket was launched with the intention of contributing to that switch. Whether it will work remains a question. The role that an inexpensive and simplified tariff system can play in promoting public transport within cities has been proven in Austrian already. In Salzburg, the number of transit users has multiplied since the introduction of a low-cost annual travel pass. In 2012, Vienna introduced an annual transit ticket for public transport in the entire city area at the low cost of €412. Last year 800,000 users bought it — more than 40 percent of the capital’s population and more than the number of car owners in the city. Romina Mayer was one of them. “Driving in Vienna is madness,” she says. Now the annual ticket for Vienna is included in the KlimaTicket, though it’s still available separately for those who aren’t KlimaTicket holders. Sebastian Kummer doubts that this evidence from urban transit will translate into lower rates of car ownership and usership throughout the country. “The difference between the cost of a car and the cost of using public transport was already very large,” says the Head of the Institute of Transport and Logistics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. In very few cases are economic considerations the real reason for using a car. Travel times and convenience are much more important. “In this respect, the incentive to switch from car to public transport through the KlimaTicket is minimal,” he says. While it does simplify access to public transport and make it more affordable, it is mainly used by people who already use transit anyway. In fact, the ticket encourages those users to ride the systems even more often, he says, without contributing more money to it. This, he argues, actually puts a strain on a system that is already working at high capacity and lacks the money to expand its services. In the case of the KlimaTicket, that extra money is coming from the state. It is financed partially through its sale, and a subsidy of nearly €150 million per year from the federal government. The government is also supporting the introduction of regional KlimaTickets within the states with €100 million annually. The Ministry of the Environment refers to a “record budget” of more than €18.2 billion over the next six years for the expansion of rail infrastructure and another €1 billion for trains and wagons. It has also commissioned an accompanying study on the KlimaTicket to provide insight into user behavior and ecological impact. While it is still too early for results in Austria, Switzerland provides some insight. The neighboring alpine country has been offering their yearly pass, the General Abonnement*,* since 1898. A good three decades ago, the entire country’s public transport system was integrated into the ticket, including the ferries. Today, for €3650 (a number reflective of the high incomes and cost of living in Switzerland but that many still argue is overly subsidized), users have access to a network of 23,500 kilometres <https://www.sbb.ch/de/abos-billette/abonnemente/ga/ga-im-ueberblick.html>, more than half the circumference of the earth, in a country half the size of South Carolina. In 2019 half a million Swiss bought the General Abonnement — a high number in a country with a population of 8.6 million. The Swiss make 40 percent of all journeys on public transport, compared to just 10 percent in Germany and Austria. The key? In addition to the simple fare system, the country offers a high frequency and very good accessibility by public transport. Trains run between cities every hour, for example. In remote villages, one can call a bus when they want to travel. “This is a key prerequisite for the success of a transport transformation,” says Andreas Knie, a traffic expert at the Technical University of Berlin and the Berlin Social Science Center. The advantages of the private car are enormous, simply because of the door-to-door transport. Even free transit isn’t enough to convince many to leave their cars behind. The tiny nation of Luxembourg, which is equipped with an excellent network, recently introduced free transportation <https://www.vdl.lu/en/getting-around/bus/free-public-transport-and-exceptio…>. It is too early to know the results in Luxembourg, but a simulated study by the Technical University of Dortmund has shown that it will not substantially curb car use or emissions <https://www.tu-dortmund.de/nachrichtendetail/detail/soziologen-der-tu-dortm…>. The upshot? In order to convince people to make a switch to public transit, driving a car must become more difficult and more expensive, accompanied by significant improvements in the offerings of public transit. Nevertheless, Knie considers the Austrian KlimaTicket positive, and not without potential impact: “Ten to fifteen percent of car drivers are sensitive to a change, and you can give them a push in the right direction with such an offer.” However, public transport is also facing new challenges, he says. More and more people work at least temporarily in a home office. They need a simple and flexible, pay-as-you-ride fare system rather than an annual ticket. Until then, the primary winners of the KlimaTicket will remain users like Mayer, and people like Robert Püringer, a 39-year-old producer at a scientific book publishing house. Püringer lives in Unterötzbach, in the Austrian countryside near the Czech border. In non-pandemic times, the father of two commutes to Vienna every weekday. The journey takes one hour and 15 minutes each way. “I use the way there to sleep, and the way back to read, chat or watch films,” he says with a laugh. So far he has travelled with an annual ticket which, at €2032 was considerably more expensive than the KlimaTicket. Of course, Püringer also immediately bought the KlimaTicket, even though he does not use the local transport in Vienna because he walks from the main station to the publishing house. Among his friends and acquaintances in the countryside, however, he is the only one. The current public transport connections there are far too poor for most journeys to be made without a car. “For me the KlimaTicket means, apart from the ecological advantages, above all a relief of our family budget,” he says. As a reward for choosing the ecological option, that might not be such a bad thing. https://reasonstobecheerful.world/the-alpine-country-going-all-you-can-ride

1 0

WFP: Liberals offer transit help for cities (Feb18'22)
by Beth McKechnie 18 Feb '22

18 Feb '22

Liberals offer transit help for cities https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/liberals-offer-750-million-to-citi… OTTAWA— The federal government is offering cities a one time cash infusion of $750 million to help make up for shortfalls in transit revenues linked to COVID-19. But the pledge comes with what FinanceMinister Chrystia Freeland calls two “reasonable requirements.” Provinces must match the funding, and work with cities to more quickly increase the supply of housing. Freeland says municipalities need the financial help to manage the economic repercussions of the pandemic and maintain transit systems. Ridership dropped precipitously during the first wave of COVID-19 and has remained low through rounds of restrictions, depriving municipal coffers of the money needed to run and maintain buses, subways and light-rail systems. The mayors of Canada’s biggest cities asked during last year’s federal election for a multi-year funding commitment to help make up shortfalls that could take beyond the pandemic to recoup. Late last month, the Federation of CanadianMunicipalities raised the need for urgent financial support as the Omicron wave of COVID-19 further strained systems, projecting serious ridership and revenue problems. The federation’s big city mayors’ caucus warned that too little funding could lead to transit cuts, fare hikes or property tax increases that could limit the economic recovery. The Finance Department says funding for provinces and territories would be based on a formula that considers ridership and population counts. — The Canadian Press

1 0

SAVE THE DATE! | The Confessions Tour: Transportation for a Strong Town
by Mel Marginet 16 Feb '22

16 Feb '22

SAVE THE DATE! On Wednesday, April 13th Green Action Centre will welcome Strong Towns’ Charles Marohn to Winnipeg. Registration will begin soon for The Confessions Tour: Transportation for a Strong Town. Tickets will be available from greenactioncentre.ca. Like many cities in Canada, Winnipeg has gone through a period of record growth, and yet our financial position has never been worse. Winnipeg also has the highest rate of injury and death of vulnerable road users in Canada. What did we get wrong, and what can we do now, and into the future, to ensure we have a successful transportation system that contributes to the quality of life of all residents? The lessons Charles shares will apply to those in Winnipeg as well as municipalities across the province. Whether you are a planner, developer, transportation engineer, municipal leader or community advocate, you will want to attend this important event. Following Charles’ keynote, attendees will be divided into groups to participate in a series of breakout sessions to bring the high-level concepts to the local reality around us. Be part of the transportation transformation in your town! ABOUT CHARLES MAROHN Charles Marohn, known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues, is the founder and president of Strong Towns. He is a professional engineer and a land use planner with decades of experience. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota. Marohn is the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019), And of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town (Wiley, 2021). He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast <https://www.strongtowns.org/podcast> and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content <https://www.strongtowns.org/>. He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America. Planetizen named him one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time. Thank you to our sponsors for making The Confessions Tour: Transportation for a Strong Town possible! [image: ad400345-7b39-4199-b4a4-72cbe6b11940.jpg] *Mel Marginet* | 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) 925-3777 x112 | Find us here <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> **Note: I work two days a week at Green Action Centre and it may take a few * *days to respond to you. * *We are located on Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation. The water we drink comes from Shoal Lake First Nation. * Green Action Centre is your green living hub Support our work by becoming a member <http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/> <http://www.gomanitoba.ca>

1 0

OUT, DAMN SHARROWS: Vote For the Sorriest Bike Infrastructure
by Beth McKechnie 16 Feb '22

16 Feb '22

Active transportation infrastructure is one of the most important things a community can build, but some so-called “bicycle amenities” barely deserve the title. Last week, the good people behind the must-watch YouTube channel Not Just Bikes <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0intLFzLaudFG-xAvUEO-A> took to Twitter <https://twitter.com/notjustbikes/status/1491499943265284099> to ask their followers a critical question: what’s the worst “bike-centered” road project you’ve ever seen, and what, exactly, makes it so bad? The avalanche of lame lanes, shitty sharrows and substandard shared-use paths that followed is a testament to just how far communities around the world have to go to make streets truly accessible to people who walk and roll — especially considering that many of those monstrosities were built in perfect compliance with legal standards <https://twitter.com/MelbourneWay/status/1491509034213511172>, as a few submitters pointed out. “One of the things advocates for vehicular cycling <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling> cite is that bicycle infrastructure is often bad, and it’s safer to cycle on the road than in bad bike infrastructure,” said Jason Slaughter, the creator of the channel. “And to be fair, it probably is. But the solution is not to make everybody learn to cycle like a car, because that is an ableist position that excludes the majority of people from cycling. The solution is to build safe cycling infrastructure that does not have these issues.” Here are a few of the most common themes in the thread. And just for fun, we’ll take a vote at the bottom to find out which is the worst of all; think of it as a mini-edition of the Sorriest Bus Stops <https://usa.streetsblog.org/category/sorriest-bus-stops-2021/> Bike Infrastructure contest. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2022/02/14/out-damn-sharrows-vote-for-the-sorri… /

1 0

WFP: Taking a Nordic-style kicksled out for a spin is a pretty Swede ride (Feb9'22)
by Beth McKechnie 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

Go with the snow Taking a Nordic-style kicksled out for a spin is a pretty Swede ride https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/go--with-the-snow-5761… WEARING a dusty pink snowsuit and a face mask emblazoned with colourful Dala horses, Sonja Lundstrom is excited. “This is going to be my 80th birthday present to myself,” she says, pointing to a nearby wooden kicksled poised for takeoff. “My grandma had one of these and my dad made me one out of hockey sticks for all my children… but these are the new modern ones and I haven’t had one of those.” But today’s frosty jaunt is less of a test drive and more of a diplomatic adventure. Lundstrom is the president of the Swedish Cultural Association of Manitoba and is at The Forks to give Urban Ahlin, the Swedish Ambassador to Canada, a little taste of home. “In my part of Sweden we use the (kicksleds) when we go out on the ice for ice fishing,” says Ahlin, who was in town recently with several other Nordic ambassadors to meet with the premier. “This is a very climate-friendly means of transportation and you can use it for lots of different reasons… it’s actually pretty fun to ride as well.” A kicksled is a simple winter vehicle made up of a chair mounted on two long skis. It can be pushed from behind with a kicking motion, like a scooter, or pulled by a dog. It’s been a popular mode of transportation in rural Nordic towns for decades and has been gaining traction among Winnipeggers in recent years. Today’s sleds have been provided by the Plain Bicycle Project, a social enterprise of the Winnipeg Trail Association. The organization got its start importing cargo containers of Dutch bikes to the city and has since opened two retail and repair shops while expanding its vision for multi-modal active transportation into the winter months. For Winnipeg Trails executive director Anders Swanson, kicksleds are the perfect entry point. “Kicksleds are kind of indicative of a culture that really understands winter, really understands how to plow and maintain their paths,” he says. Swanson first encountered kicksleds during a winter biking conference in Finland. While his personal sled is currently stocking the Plain Bicycle mobile ski library, he has used the apparatus locally for short trips to pick up groceries or grab beer from his neighbourhood brewery. Since the skis are designed for use on ice or packed snow, most people view kicksledding as a recreational activity rather than a viable way to get around Winnipeg. To make it more accessible, Swanson says better winter infrastructure is needed. “What we’re trying to bring here is a respect for snow… we’re a winter city, but we’re terrible at using snow as a building material and we have a very combative approach to snow,” he says, adding that he would like to see the city create a network of packed snow paths that could be used for biking, skiing, kicksledding and everyday active transportation. “There are systemic ways of designing this city that could really celebrate the human being in every season.” Working with the snow and prioritizing pedestrians over vehicles is a decidedly Scandinavian way of thinking. “The first thing we plow is actually the walkways,” Ahlin says of his home country. “We need to look at other things than the car’s needs.” Kicksledding is having a resurgence in Sweden as a direct result of changes to snow-management policies, says Ahlin. Many cities have cut down on their salt usage, leaving less bare concrete and more snow for residents to enjoy. “For a period of time it went away,” he says. “But nowadays we’re using less salt and the kicksled is coming back again into the Swedish tradition.” The country may have its winter walkways figured out, but Ahlin says Winnipeggers could teach Swedes a thing or two about dealing with extreme cold. “You have a much colder weather than we have,” he says. “I don’t think Swedes are experts when it comes down to winter, but it’s good to have an exchange of views and see how different kinds of cultures deal with stuff.” It’s one of those bitterly cold days when the convoy of kicksleds and Swedish flags pushes away from The Forks market and heads down to the Assiniboine for a tour of the river trail warming huts. The Nestaweya River Trail is also a favourite sledding spot for Dan and Viola Prowse, who purchased a kicksled last winter as a way to stay active and get outside amid the pandemic. The husband and wife duo are both in their 70s and try to take their sled out at least once a week for trips through local parks and winding rivers. “A huge part of it has been discovering the city from the vantage point of the river,” Viola says. “People are doing all kinds of things on the rivers — there’s skating rinks and they build these big ice patios with all sorts of furniture,” Dan adds. “We would maybe walk to see some of that stuff, but now we can just go so much further.” The Prowses own one kicksled, so they take turns walking and scooting. It’s an ideal situation because Dan — who is something of an exercise fanatic — can go as fast as he pleases and Viola can set her own pace. “It suits our different levels,” Viola says, adding that the kicking motion is easier on her knees than running. “It really gets my heart pumping and it has its moments of sheer fun.” “And it’s great if you have grandkids; they love the ride,” Dan says. The couple owns an Elsa-brand kicksled that can be folded down and transported in the back of their Toyota Corolla. The skis have a removable plastic cover for snow and thin metal blades for ice. While they have yet to come across another kicksledder in the wild, they’re often approached by curious passersby. “The first thing (people say) is, ‘Oh, you lost your dog,’” Dan says with a laugh. “It is kind of intriguing, especially if you see some old grey-haired people passing you.” Plain Bicycle has kicksleds for rent or purchase at its Sherbrook Street and Forks locations, with prices starting at $320. Sleds and dog harnesses are also sold by Canvasback Pet Supplies in Lockport and Prairie Dog Supply Co. near Selkirk. Snow Motion, a local winter dog sport club, has sleds available to rent for members and groups that meet regularly for kicksledding excursions. eva.wasney(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @evawasney

2 1

FW: [EXTERNAL] 8 80 Cities School Streets Webinar & Workshop
by Kristine Hayward 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

From: 8 80 Cities <info(a)880cities.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 2:39 PM Subject: [EXTERNAL] 8 80 Cities School Streets Webinar & Workshop [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/8dd7059d-020b-04…] Dear Colleagues, 8 80 Cities, along with Green Communities Canada<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>, is pleased to announce two learning opportunities designed for anyone interested in active safe travel to and from school, including municipal transportation staff, School Board Trustees and staff, school staff, non-profit organizations, active transportation advocates, community groups, parents and caregivers.  The webinar and workshop will equip participants with the right tools of action to pilot and run School Streets in their neighbourhoods. Our free ‘How To Run A School Streets Pilot Program’ Webinar is on March 10, 2022, from 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST.  Register here for the webinar<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. Our ‘How To Run A School Streets Pilot Program’ Workshop is on March 24, 2022, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM EST. The cost is $ 100.00 CAD. Register here for the workshop<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. Please feel free to forward this information to your network.  For questions about the webinar and workshop, please contact: Jiya Benni, Project Manager  jbenni(a)880cities.org<mailto:jbenni@880cities.org>,   647 800 5590 Thank you! Best, 8 80 Cities Learn More About School Streets Programs<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/8eb136f1-88b4-29…] PILOTING SCHOOL STREETS WEBINAR Join us for this webinar and learn the basics of School Streets. In this session, you will learn about the different elements of a School Streets program and the different steps you need to take to successfully pilot a School Street. Learn more about the Ontario School Streets Pilot and hear from teams in Mississauga, Markham and Hamilton as they plan their 2022 School Streets pilots. This webinar has been designed for anyone interested in active safe travel to and from school like municipal transportation staff, School Board Trustees and staff, school staff, non-profit organizations, active transportation advocates, community groups, parents and caregivers. What you will learn: * What is School Streets? * Benefits of School Streets * Key elements for piloting School Streets * Overview of Ontario School Streets Pilot * Learn from Mississauga, Hamilton and Markham as they plan their 2022 School Streets pilots, and Kingston whose School Street is already underway. Date: March 10, 2022. Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm Register here<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/4ac91566-40c0-17…] HOW TO RUN A SCHOOL STREETS PILOT PROGRAM Are you contemplating implementing a School Street in your community? Then, this workshop is for you! sign-up for this workshop and learn how to plan, implement, and evaluate a School Street pilot program. At this workshop, you will learn how to set goals for your School Street, how to measure its success, who needs to be involved and how to engage with the community. We will also touch upon various aspects of implementing School Streets such as permits, signage, volunteers, and other logistics, as well as how to evaluate your School Streets. Anyone interested in active safe travel to and from school can participate, for example, municipal transportation staff, School Board Trustees and staff, school staff, non-profit organizations, active transportation advocates, community groups, parents and caregivers. What you will learn: * An understanding of all the key elements of planning, implementation and evaluation of School Streets * Activities and tools to implement these key elements of School Streets * Opportunity to use some of the tools to get started on these key elements of School Streets Date: March 24, 2022 Time: 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM Register here<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. Image Samples To Share On Social Media [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/0e75a9d0-d4b3-8c…] [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/59633487-db39-2d…] [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/05311974-8d52-55…] Social Media Copy Sample * Copy sample: It is time to go back to school! On March 10th and 24th, 8 80 Cities will lead a webinar and facilitate a workshop on School Streets programs. Sign up and learn how to implement a School Streets Pilot Program in your neighbourhood. Register now to save your spot! Details below! Webinar registration link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/252410966997 <https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> Workshop registration link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/252338610577<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> Learn more about School Streets here<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. ####### Save the date and your spot now for 8 80 Cities webinar and workshop on How to Pilot and Program School Streets! Register here https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/252410966997 <https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> for the March 10 webinar. Register here https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/252338610577<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> for the March 24 workshop. Learn more about School Streets here<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. * Hashtags & handles: #schoolstreets #righttomobility #righttopublicspace #880cities #creatingcitiesforall @880Cities @GreenCommunitiesCan [Facebook]<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> [Twitter]<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> [Link]<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> [Website]<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> [https://mcusercontent.com/49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7/images/da76a362-6610-43…] Copyright © 2022. 8 80 Cities. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 364 - 401 Richmond Street West Toronto, M5V 3A8 Canada E: info(a)880cities.org<mailto:info@880cities.org> Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/profile?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124fb7&…> or unsubscribe from this list<https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…>. Disclaimer : This email (including any attachments or enclosed documents) is intended for the addressee(s) only and may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, copying or dissemination is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please notify the sender immediately, return the original (if applicable) and delete the email. Avis : Le présent courriel (y compris toute pièce jointe) est destiné à la personne ou aux personnes à qui il est adressé, et peut contenir des renseignements confidentiels, privés ou protégés par un privilège juridique. Toute utilisation, divulgation, distribution, copie ou diffusion non autorisée est strictement défendue. Si vous avez reçu le présent courriel par erreur, veuillez en informer immédiatement l’expéditeur, retourner l’original (le cas échéant) et supprimer ce courriel.

1 0

One man’s quest to include bike commuting reports on MPR’s morning programming
by Beth McKechnie 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

(Wish this could happen with CBC Winnipeg!) G. Travis Norvell, aka @pedalingpastor on Twitter, found himself annoyed that commuting information focused exclusively on those getting around by car. https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2022/02/one-mans-quest-to-include-bike-c…

1 0

Forbes: Lifetime Cost Of Small Car $689,000; Society Subsidizes This Ownership With $275,000
by Beth McKechnie 08 Feb '22

08 Feb '22

Cars can be convenient, but they are also incredibly costly, both to owners and society in general. New academic research has calculated that the lifetime cost of a small car—such as an Opel Corsa—is about $689,000, of which society pays $275,000. (A Mercedes GLC costs $1+m over an owner's lifetime.) The research focused on Germany, but lead author Stefan Gössling told me the guiding principles work for other countries, too. Writing in *Ecological Economics* <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921003943?via%3Di…>, Gössling stated that “the car is one of the most expensive household consumer goods, yet there is a limited understanding of its private and social cost per vehicle-km, year, or lifetime of driving.” Motorists, he added, underestimate the total private costs of car ownership, “while policymakers and planners underestimate social costs.” Cars are expensive because of their high ticket price and depreciation and the additional costs incurred by insurance, repairs, and fuel purchases. Mass motoring’s social costs—known to transport wonks as negative externalities—include carbon emissions from burning petrol and diesel, congestion, noise, deaths and injuries from crashes, road damage, and costs to health systems from sloth. Other subsidies, such as the copious provision of free off-street car parking, are often mandated in building codes. America’s 250 million cars are oversupplied with an estimated 2 billion parking spots (think Wal-Mart at Christmas) yet spend 95% of their time going nowhere. Gössling based his cost calculations on an individual driving 15,000 kilometers per year over 50 years. Previous studies using different parameters have reached similar conclusions. In his 2007 book, *Deep Economy*, environmental author and activist Bill McKibben concluded: “Households can save as much as $750,000 over a lifetime if the bus system works well enough to enable people not to buy a second car.” And “Mr. Money Mustache”—real name Pete Adeney and who blogs to 350,000 regular readers, advising them how they can retire when young and yet still live comfortably—has stated <https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/01/11/money-gurus-1-tip-for-h…> that a typical American couple who commute to work in separate cars and who spend $19 per day in direct driving and car ownership costs would have paid $125,000 each after ten years. Living closer to work and bicycling there would land the couple a cool $250,000. Cars suck Cars suck more cash than most people imagine. On an average income, half of a working week goes on paying for the costs associated with running an automobile, calculated philosopher Ivan Illich in his 1974 book *Energy and Equity*. “The typical American male devotes more than 1,600 hours a year to his car,” wrote Illich <http://www.ecotopia.com/webpress/energyequity/energy_and_equity.txt>. “He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it.” And working out the labor required to buy and fuel the car to travel 7,500 miles equated to an average speed of less than five miles per hour, said Illich. Wealth Counting the total and actual cost of a more-expensive-than-understood form of transport is a calculation that can hurt. The bruise was first poked in the 1850s by American essayist Henry David Thoreau who urged citizens to think about the real costs of railroads <https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2019/08/thoreaus-view-of-the-railroad-th…> via the labor used to build them. “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us,” he explained in his simple-living book, *Walden*. More recently, Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Upwork, tweeted <https://twitter.com/modeledbehavior/status/1303051417897390090> that mass-market car ownership doesn’t make economic sense. “Spending $40,000 on a car seems like the kind of thing to me that, intuitively, you do when you have like a couple million in wealth and make $400,000 a year,” he wrote. “But absolutely normal people do it all the time! Blows me away.” Gössling—a German academic working for the business school at Linnaeus University in Sweden—is also staggered by the acceptance that costly car ownership is considered normal, even for low earners. Yes, much of the built environment entrenches car use, but, famously, many people drive pitifully short journeys when it would be just as easy—and certainly cheaper and healthier—to walk. Getting people out of cars isn’t something that most politicians want to broach, Gössling told me. “It’s a transport taboo; you can’t touch it politically because you’ll get burnt.” A good case in point is road pricing. The U.K. parliament’s transport committee tweeted last night that “it’s time for an honest conversation on motoring taxes” and, in a meaty new report <https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/153/transport-committee/news/160…>, suggested that the time is right for pay-per-mile motoring. Cue “war on motoring” slurs from shock-jocks. It’s an emotive topic. In 2007, 1.8 million U.K. motorists signed a petition against road pricing, fearing the cost of motoring would rise. To head off such arguments, the transport committee’s report stressed that road pricing wouldn’t be used as a mechanism for reducing miles driven. Rather, MPs soothed, most motorists would end up paying the “same or less than they do currently.” Who picks up the shortfall? We all do. Society pays in the form of motoring subsidies, which is unfair for those who don’t drive. “One in five households in Germany doesn’t have a car,” points out Gössling, “yet all are subsidizing car travel.” “For someone earning a lot of money, none of this is that relevant,” said Gössling. “Where the difference is, is for those on low incomes, because for them [paying huge sums over a lifetime for car use] can really hurt.” Instead, he argued, countries and cities should be designed so that “people can be mobile without a car.” However, he warned, “car manufacturers are very anxious about people getting ideas about not owning cars.” “In our research, we’re not saying you should start taking away cars from people, we’re just saying it’s probably more prudent, economically, to invest in those infrastructures that are less costly—such as for active mobility—and where people will make a switch voluntarily.” “Cycling is growing fast in Germany,” volunteered Gössling. “It wasn’t forced on people, it’s what people want. People want to be healthier. Many studies show how active travel is not just physically healthy; it’s also beneficial for mental health. And cycling is ideal for cities; it’s often much faster than driving.” “Change can come quickly,” he said. And the change could be hastened by a better understanding of the total costs of motoring, especially for those who can ill afford such profligacy. “Most lower-income and many moderate-income households are harmed overall by policies that favor automobile travel over more affordable and resource-efficient modes,” concludes Gössling’s study. “Such policies force many households to own more vehicles than they can afford, and imposes large external costs, particularly on people who rely on walking, bicycling and public transit.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2022/02/04/lifetime-cost-of-small-…

1 0

Feb. 25 webinar. Dream ● Play ● Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places
by Beth McKechnie 03 Feb '22

03 Feb '22

[image: Bookmark and Share] <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDAsInVy…> FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, AT 1:00 P.M. EST ------------------------------ [image: Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places] <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVy…> Dream ● Play ● Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places *Friday, February 25, at 1:00 p.m. EST* *Participants of this live webinar are eligible for 1.5 AICP CM credits.* For two decades, James Rojas and John Kamp have been looking to art, creative expression, and storytelling to shake up the classic community meeting. Join the Maryland Department of Planning and the Smart Growth Network as these two authors share their insights into building common ground and inviting active participation among diverse groups. Their approach, “Place It!,” draws upon three methods: the interactive model-building workshop, the pop-up, and site exploration using the senses. They will offer their lessons learned distilled from workshops held around the world and a deep dive into the transformational approach and results from a community in southern California. *Find out more and register for this free webinar via the link below.* Register for "Dream ● Play ● Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places" <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVy…> ♦ Upcoming Smart Growth Online Webinars ♦ ------------------------------ [image: Multimodal tool excerpt] <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDMsInVy…> Thursday, February 3 From Complete Streets to Complete Networks: A Data-Driven, Performance-Based, Multimodal Planning Tool Get more information about this webinar <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDQsInVy…> ------------------------------ *Subscribe to Smart Growth Online Weekly Twitter Updates* <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDUsInVy…> *Smart Growth Information Clearinghouse | 410-767-4949 | SmartGrowth.org* [image: SGIC Logo] <https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDYsInVy…> The Smart Growth Information Clearinghouse is a project of the Smart Growth Network and is partially funded by the U.S. EPA, Office of Community Revitalization, and managed by the Maryland Department of Planning ------------------------------

1 0