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WFP Analysis: Finding a better option than bigger roads (Nov20'25)
by Beth McKechnie 21 Nov '25

21 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Finding a better option than bigger roads MEL MARGINET https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/11/20/finding-a-bet… “IF the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” When facing complex problems, governments often reach for the simplest and most familiar solutions. In Winnipeg, that tendency shows up in how we plan for growth of our transportation network. For decades, our go-to transportation investment has been roads for personal vehicles. Before disinvestment in public transit, Winnipeg had a robust, electrified system. Neighbourhoods, like mine in South Osborne, once saw streetcars gliding along the high street every few minutes. An everyday convenience that feels unimaginable today. Swoon! Many civic leaders appear unable to imagine growth without increasing car dependence. The proposed widening of Route 90 is the clearest example. No one disputes that Kenaston from Academy to Taylor and the St. James Bridge needs major repair. Less known is that the city froze its maintenance budget for this stretch of Kenaston from 1993 to 2023. That has had clear consequences. It is strange that a corridor now labelled as “critical” was allowed to suffer such neglect. I digress. This project isn’t just a repair. Tacked on to the budget is a plan to take on significant new public debt to add lanes to Kenaston, reconfigure and add a new span to the St. James Bridge and dramatically expand the intersections at Grant, Corydon and Academy. Does this portion of Route 90 experience congestion? Of course. But does it get significantly more congested than other parts of Route 90 or Henderson, Pembina, St. Mary’s, (insert your local road here)? Nope. And traffic counts show that volumes over the busiest stretch — the St. James Bridge — are roughly the same as they were 30 years ago. On top of that, truck traffic on Route 90 is only about four per cent of the total. Most travel is by personal vehicles, the vast majority being single occupant. We must move people and goods efficiently, not just on Route 90, but everywhere. With this project, the city argues that adding road capacity is worth increasing the project cost for two main reasons: maintaining traffic flow during construction, plus supporting trade and development, especially at Seasons of Tuxedo and Naawi-Oodena. The construction challenge is real, but hardly unique. Cities across North America routinely manage major reconstruction projects without permanently widening the roadway afterwards. Had this project been properly studied, councillors would today be reviewing other viable options and their respective returns on investment. Instead, no serious studies of transportation demand management strategies, that would be less costly and potentially more effective, were undertaken. Councillors are being warned of “traffic chaos” and an “Arlington Bridge scenario” if they don’t approve this widening. This is ironic given that 41 per cent of the project’s stated benefits come from travel-time savings only during construction. Nearly half of the benefits disappear after just two years. The second issue, car-oriented development, is something we have to solve, not just in southwest Winnipeg, but in all areas. We need to add affordable housing everywhere to meet current and future demand. But where and how we build it is of equal importance. We can no longer afford to make the personal vehicle the default mode of choice in new developments. We need to build fast and frequent transit as the centrepiece, with communities that make it easy for kids to walk to school and seniors to walk to appointments and services. Naawi-Oodena’s own master plan identifies the current and proposed infrastructure on Route 90 as a barrier to the walkable development envisioned. The mayor has said, in regards to induced demand, that in the case of Route 90, “demand isn’t being induced, it’s inevitable.” Building new development with no way to get in or out without a personal vehicle is, you guessed it: induced demand. Rather than endlessly adding more lanes, the city needs to explore the full toolkit of transportation demand management measures used elsewhere to reduce congestion. How do we solve congestion on Route 90 as well as on other major regional streets in Winnipeg? Reduce the number of people who drive alone, especially at peak periods. The city has plans and strategies, already approved and sitting on shelves at City Hall, that point the way forward. And there are proven carrot-and-stick measures implemented in other cities like ours that help manage congestion without exploding long-term debt. Winnipeg already has more kilometres of roadway per resident than many comparable cities in Canada, and far more than we can afford to maintain. The multi-billion dollar civic infrastructure deficit we are leaving to future generations is staggering. We owe it to those who come after us to live within our means by taking better care of our existing infrastructure and using it more efficiently. That will ensure that future Winnipeggers inherit a city that is more affordable, healthier and more sustainable than it is today. Mel Marginet is a sustainable transportation specialist at Green Action Centre and the publisher at Great Plains Press, which publishes The City Project. She contributed to Route 90 Expansion: Balancing on a House of Cards, which can be found at anatomyofapothole.ca.

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WFP Analysis: Federal funding cut derails better transit (Nov17'25)
by Beth McKechnie 18 Nov '25

18 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Federal funding cut derails better transit https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/11/17/federal-fundi… THE Government of Canada has cut funding for transit agencies across the country. For all the talk of investment in the federal budget, the $3-billion annual Canada Public Transit Fund has been subsumed into the new Build Communities Strong Fund and weakened the federal government’s support for public transit. Transit agencies know they cannot fund capital projects without support from higher orders of government and will now operate in limbo. Rather than work on improving operational levels, tendering projects, or procuring new equipment that would be manufactured here in Canada, the cut and change to the federal funding model effectively derails transit expansion plans. Much of Canada’s transit capital assets are in a state of condition akin to the infamous Sea King helicopters. Montreal’s Metro cars have been in service since the 1976 Olympics; Edmonton and Calgary are running LRT trains that are more than 40 years old; and Toronto’s Line 2 subway cars date back to when Canada was navigating the first free trade agreement with the United States. Across the country, thousands of buses are also operating well beyond their design life, creaking away long after their planned life cycle. As of 2024, the country’s eight largest transit agencies faced a growing annual operating budget shortfall of $1.6 billion. That operating shortfall, keeping buses and trains moving, is exacerbated by a capital projects backlog that’s chronic with so much of Canada’s public infrastructure. Cutting federal funding levels is going to make this worse. The slated-for-elimination Canada Public Transit Fund was created to provide certainty for Canada’s transit agencies and end the annual parade of politics for budget allocations that derails prudent planning. By returning to the status quo ante, transit agencies and municipal leaders must now devote more resources to “collaborating” with Ottawa. It is ironic that Prime Minister Mark Carney repeatedly asks transit workers and bus manufacturers to join him for photo-ops. Just last week in touting a budget that cuts transit funding, he brought the Parliamentary press gallery to an LRT yard to promote it. Back in the spring, he held similar photo-ops at the site of bus manufacturers in Manitoba and Quebec. While the transit railcars and bus manufacturing industries in Canada may not get as much of the attention as the auto sector, thousands work building transit vehicles across Canada and have capacity to do more. The prime minister should maintain the dedicated funding stream that supports their work instead of just using them as a backdrop. Each agency could easily tell you today where they could address service deserts or increase service frequency to increase ridership, creating more equitable communities and a stronger economy, if the funding was there to enable it. Each agency also has a list of shovel-ready projects and vehicles they need to order as soon as possible that could get transit vehicle manufacturers working more. The Economic Benefits of Transit study conducted by the University of Toronto last year showed that for every $1 invested in transit, $7 in economic and social benefits are realized in the community. The thousands who make the buses in Winnipeg and Montreal, support the jobs of 65,000 transit agency staff across the country, who empower five million Canadians to get school, work, and support a functioning Canadian society. It is difficult to believe that a $3-billion annual dedicated transit fund turning into a broader annual catch-all fund for all types of municipal infrastructure is going to lead to better outcomes for riders. And worse, a bureaucratic reorganization of how the federal government allocates funding to support transit projects will lead to a lost year of action as they wade through this new state of paralysis. At the very time when Canada’s economy is struggling, this transit funding cut will make things worse. Public transit must not be viewed simply as a line item expense. It is an investment in our economy and communities that enables so much more. It also lowers climate emissions, reduces gridlock, and makes mobility more affordable for families who are already struggling with a rising cost of living on so many fronts. There is still time to fix this mistake. Members of Parliament can amend the budget to restore the Canada Public Transit Fund so transit agencies can reliably plan their work with federal support. If you ask any transit rider or worker if they would prefer better transit or more photo-ops for politicians after another six months of debating plans, the response would be unanimous. Ottawa must act to correct course before it is too late. David Cooper is a professional urban planner, leading transit expert, and principal and founder at Leading Mobility.

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WFP: Pedestrian killed in north end after being hit by truck (Nov17'25)
by Beth McKechnie 18 Nov '25

18 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. PEDESTRIAN KILLED IN NORTH END AFTER BEING HIT BY TRUCK A 68-year-old man is dead after he was hit by a pickup truck at Salter Street and Selkirk Avenue Saturday afternoon. It happened at 12:43 p.m. Saturday. Police and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service personnel responded and the pedestrian was taken in critical condition to hospital, where he died. The driver was co-operative with police, and the investigation is ongoing. The Winnipeg Police Service is asking anyone who has any information on the collision, including dashboard camera surveillance, to call the WPS Traffic Division at 204-986-7085<tel:204-986-7085> or leave a tip anonymously at Crime Stoppers 204-786-TIPS or winnipegcrimestoppers.org.

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WFP: Close call sparks push for better bike safety (Nov14'25)
by Beth McKechnie 15 Nov '25

15 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Mother calls for bike lane installation and new green signal after son struck by car Close call sparks push for better bike safety https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/13/close-call-sparks… A 10-YEAR-OLD boy needed seven stitches and suffered a chipped tooth after a vehicle collided with his bike and sent him flying at a South Osborne intersection. Crystal Adams said Wednesday her son Jakob, a Grade 5 student at Gladstone School, remained shaken one week after the collision. The mother of two is still processing the phone call she received around 9 a.m. on Nov. 5 and the subsequent events at Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg. “Jakob’s tears were coming through the blood. It was an awful scene,” she said. Jakob was travelling northbound and had the right of way when his bike collided with a vehicle that was making a left off Osborne Street onto Brandon Avenue, Adams said. Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Stephen Spencer confirmed Thursday traffic officers were called to the collision just after 9 a.m. “Officers spoke to both parties at the scene and particulars were exchanged,” said Spencer, adding the child was sent to hospital. “Officers attended to hospital and followed up with the cyclist. The investigation determined there were no criminal offences.” After the collision, Adams said she heard from a handful of strangers who contacted her to share first-hand experience or knowledge about others who had been hurt at the same intersection. Her two sons used to bike to school together until Jakob’s older brother graduated from Gladstone in the spring. Adams said she had insisted the boys always cycle on the sidewalk because there is no bike lane in the area. Adams is now channelling her anger into calling for change, such as the installation of a bike lane and a new advanced green signal, which would allow for a protected left turn. The Free Press has undertaken an ongoing series examining school zone safety, which is enforced by the Winnipeg Police Service and its photo-radar contractor, throughout the 2025-26 academic year. The Winnipeg School Division was made aware of five pedestrian-involved collisions during the 2024-25 school year. A single incident was designated as “in-school,” meaning it either happened on division property or at a school-related event, during instructional hours or during the commute. The remainder were “external.” The board office did not release its current year-to-date tally on Wednesday, but it includes at least one “inschool” event, given Jakob was biking to school. “This was an unfortunate event and WSD is happy that the child is safe and recovering,” superintendent Matt Henderson said in an email. Division administration supports “all advocacy for traffic calming” and is currently studying “traffic hot spots” within its borders, Henderson said. At the beginning of the school year, the board of trustees penned a letter to city hall to request 30 kilometres per hour school zones be enforced 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dozens of cyclists, parents and children attended a rally at the intersection Thursday as the rush hour began and school let out, to call for safer infrastructure and to support Jakob and his family. Among the attendees was Robyn Dyck, a board member of Bike Winnipeg and mom of a five-year-old boy who rides his bicycle to kindergarten. “If you’ve seen the pictures (of Jakob), I can’t help but see my own kid, and I want a Winnipeg that kids, everyone, can get around without being afraid of being hit by a 4,000-pound weapon,” said Dyck. The attendees held up placards and banners, including one that read “stop hitting kids with cars.” “Our four year old — a bike rider — keeps asking, ‘Are we going to put out a ghost bike?’” Joe Curnow said a day before the rally, referring to memorials that mark life-altering or fatal bike crashes. “It’s appalling he’s so fluent in ghost bikes.” Curnow, who helped organize the event along with the group Safe Speeds Winnipeg, has two young children and researches the evolution of social justice movements at the University of Manitoba. In addition to stitches, Jakob needs dental surgery. He could barely open his mouth in the 24 hours after the collision and an initial emergency visit to the dentist was “traumatic,” his mom said. “He is very, very self-conscious. I’m hoping, once the dental surgery is done, that will help, but he’s said he’s not going to get on his bike for a long time now.” Drawing on more than a decade of road safety advocacy, elementary school teacher Ian Walker said “the tide is changing,” and people like Adams deserve credit. “For the longest time, a child being injured by a car was just the cost of modernity, of having a modern transportation system,” said the father of two, whose resumé includes St. Boniface-area school trustee and Safe Speeds Winnipeg volunteer. Walker noted that near misses and non-fatal incidents are often overlooked. By sharing Jakob’s story, his parents are drawing attention to the serious consequences of road violence and infrastructure gaps, he said. — with files from Erik Pindera maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Spur to Icelandic hamlet part of rail relocation talk (Nov12'25)
by Beth McKechnie 13 Nov '25

13 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Spur to Icelandic hamlet part of rail relocation talk Riding the rails… to Gimli? https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/11/commuter-line-pro… PUBLIC discussions have sparked the idea of building a potential commuter rail corridor between Winnipeg and Gimli as Manitoba’s railway relocation talks continue. The former federal Liberal transport minister leading Manitoba’s study on railway relocation says recent talks have raised the possibility of reworking the CP Winnipeg Beach subdivision — a stretch of rail line that runs from Winnipeg to Gimli — to transport passengers and light cargo. The idea wasn’t included in the province’s most recent interim report, released last month. Lloyd Axworthy, who is heading the two-year, $200,000 rail relocation feasibility study announced in October 2024, said the concept surfaced after that report was completed. “We’ve had some quite important meetings discussing rail line development in the Winnipeg region with a lot of the municipalities,” Axworthy said on Tuesday. “We met with the metro commission to talk to them about how we might be able to look at extending some public transit rail lines out of Winnipeg, so that we’re not just captive to the Perimeter Highway.” During six public consultations, Axworthy said residents expressed not only a desire for more green space and housing, but also for improved public transit options. More and more people are looking beyond the Perimeter for housing. The rail line runs parallel with Highway 8, which Axworthy said is becoming an overcrowded highway. He’s scheduled for more meetings in Winnipeg next week and said Mayor Scott Gillingham has shown interest in the proposal. A light-rail transportation line could strengthen Winnipeg’s position as a transportation hub, Axworthy said. The team has also studied European models that use short, electrified rail cars for regional connections, technology that could help spur a new industry in the city. “Winnipeg is on track to be close to one million people by 2030, so we have to take into account that a lot of that development is going to be happening, and you want to have it in a way that it spreads more and more, and instead consolidate around a rail line that’s already there and refurbish it.” City planners were already eyeing a four-kilometre stretch of disused rail lines in Winnipeg’s Brooklands neighbourhood as the first step toward reimagining the city’s rail network, transforming the abandoned corridor into a new green space. The Westland Project near Notre Dame Avenue and Keewatin Street is one of five pilot projects being looked at in the latest interim report, released by the province late last month. A consultant hired to design the Brooklands redevelopment will present recommendations to the province next month, the report states. Another pilot proposal involves relocating a small active section of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line through River Heights. The team is also exploring options in St. Boniface and Point Douglas, and considering converting a spur line that serves the North End Sewage Treatment Plant. Some community meetings have already been held. Axworthy said residents raised concerns about pollution and the transport of hazardous goods in urban areas. A wider public forum could be held next year. “But what we’re finding, the more we get into the study, is that there are some fairly significant issues emerging, such as how do we provide a kind of regional rail system as opposed to just a city-based one,” Axworthy said. He described the study as an evolving process, with new ideas and recommendations emerging each week. An average of 50 trains travel daily along Winnipeg’s 240 kilometres of active rail lines. A previous study found 75 per cent of Winnipeggers live within 800 metres of a rail line, with 240 crossings across the city. The interim report also urges a review of consolidating the 200-hectare (465-acre) Canadian Pacific Kansas City railyard that separates Winnipeg’s North End from the inner city, following the 2023 CP–Kansas City Southern merger. It calls for financial and technical analyses of phased relocations of both the CPKC and CN’s 321-hectare (793-acre) Symington Yards to reduce impacts on nearby neighbourhoods. A final report with recommendations and projected costs is expected to be submitted to the province in October 2026. Axworthy said the study team doesn’t have to wait until then to make recommendations, however. “We’ve been doing a lot of the prep work, meeting with people, holding consultations, looking at maps and engineering studies,” he said. “From now on, it’s really about implementation and how do we get things done.” scott.billeck(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Feedback sought on temporary Wellington Crescent bike lanes (Nov7'25)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Nov '25

08 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Feedback sought on temporary Wellington Crescent bike lanes https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/06/feedback-sought-o… THE City of Winnipeg is seeking feedback on a proposed temporary bike lane design for Wellington Crescent. The lanes, between Academy Road and Stradbrook Avenue, would be built in the spring, if council approves the project. Council had directed staff members to work with residents to find a way to make the road safer and more comfortable for cyclists and pedestrians until funding for permanent changes are available. In July, the public works committee approved a plan to test bike lanes in the 1.2-kilometre area. “This section of Wellington Crescent is one of Winnipeg’s most popular routes for cyclists, but it’s also a busy commuter street,” public works chairwoman Coun. Janice Lukes said in a news release Thursday. “We want to find a design that balances safety with neighbourhood and traffic needs, and that’s why we’re asking for feedback before anything is built.” Traffic measurements done last winter found up to 20 per cent of vehicles driving along Wellington Crescent on weekdays were going at least five km/h above the 50 km/h limit. About eight per cent of drivers were going 60 km/h or faster. Many cyclists have lobbied the city for changes on Wellington since cyclist Rob Jenner was killed by a speeding driver on the street on June 6, 2024. There were at least 10 other incidents in which pedestrians or cyclists were hit by vehicles on that road between 2012 to 2022. The speed limit on Wellington Crescent between Academy and River Avenue will be lowered from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. Wellington Crescent currently has two travel lanes west of Grosvenor Avenue and four lanes between Grosvenor and Stradbrook avenues. The section east of Grosvenor will be reduced to two lanes from four to make room for the bike lanes. The temporary design will include turn restrictions to improve safety. Westbound left turns from Wellington Crescent onto Dorchester Avenue, northbound left turns from Dorchester onto Wellington Crescent and westbound left turns from Gertrude Avenue onto Wellington Crescent would not be allowed under the temporary plan. Roughly 30 parking spots currently available outside of weekday rush hours and on weekends will be removed. They are on the south side of Wellington Crescent between Cockburn Street and Wardlaw Avenue. The intersection of Wellington and Academy is expected to see the biggest traffic changes, the city says on its website. During rush hour, drivers going north or west are expected to experience a delay of about 30 seconds. Eastbound drivers turning left onto the Maryland Bridge will have to wait for a controlled left-turn signal. This change will lengthen the wait time for traffic turning by up to one minute longer during afternoon rush hour and by about 20 seconds during morning rush hour. “These times are dependent on how many eastbound drivers take a different route,” the city’s website states. The westbound lanes will change from separate lanes to one shared lane for traffic continuing west or turning right. “This will make the line of cars longer during busy times for drivers going straight or turning onto the Maryland Bridge,” the city’s website states. The city predicts about 15 to 20 per cent of drivers who currently use Wellington Crescent would choose other routes because of the temporary measures. People can learn more about the draft design online at wfp.to/bikelanes<http://wfp.to/bikelanes> and can complete a survey before Dec. 12. fpcity(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:fpcity@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP Analysis: Building a safer city by putting people first (Nov5'25)
by Beth McKechnie 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Building a safer city by putting people first ERNA BUFFIE https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/11/05/building-a-sa… IT’S a well-known fact that our city council throws a lot of money at the police in their efforts to keep us safe. But is more investment in policing and surveillance cameras really the only way to create a safer city, or is it just the easy, “I don’t have to think about it too hard” way to reassure the populace that something is being done to protect them? I think it’s the latter, and so do a lot of social and urban-planning experts. And as it turns out, more money for the police hasn’t made Winnipeggers feel a whole lot safer. In fact, only 12 per cent of us feel safe walking in the downtown city centre at night, and eight out of 10 of us feel that our city is less safe now than it was just three years ago. So how, exactly, do we fix that? Well, tackling the social ills that contribute to criminal behaviour — things like addiction, homelessness, lack of education and training and a largely retributive justice system — should all be top priorities. But after doing a bit of reading, what I also discovered is this — it’s not just the way we run our cities, but the way we build and sometimes neglect them, that can make them unsafe. So, for example, we have hundreds of boarded up vacant buildings and more than 300 vacant lots in Winnipeg. Twenty-three of those vacant buildings can be found on some nine streets in the downtown neighbourhood of Spence. And guess what? The property and violent crime rate there is a whopping 47 per cent above the national average. So, is there a correlation between that high crime rate and all those neglected vacant buildings? You bet there is. In fact, when the city of Pittsburgh tracked the impact of foreclosures, officials discovered that within just 12 months, crime rates suddenly jumped by as much as 20 per cent in areas where foreclosed buildings were left vacant. But unattended and boarded-up buildings aren’t the only problem. Researchers have also found that if you don’t create urban spaces that are lively and welcoming for pedestrians and cyclists, you wind up with largely deserted, unsafe streets. So, for example, if your downtown features six to eight traffic lanes — think Portage Avenue — with narrow sidewalks, it’s not perceived as a safe or welcoming place to hang out. In essence, it’s a space for lots of cars, not lots of people. A place for opportunistic crime, not safety. That’s why some cities are focused on reducing road space, repairing and widening sidewalks and creating car-free zones to lure people back into city centres that were once seen as dangerous. And a growing body of evidence suggests that those actions don’t just help to reduce crime. They can also reduce pedestrian-vehicle collisions by as much as 40 per cent. Not to mention the additional bonus of reducing carbon emissions. More surprising still, some city planners maintain that avoiding urban sprawl can also have a big impact on safety. That’s because an ever-expanding city often means an ever-expanding debt to service outlying suburbs, which results in little or no money to invest in the inner city educational and recreational programs that deter crime by keeping kids off the street and giving them a leg up. Even more unexpected, it turns out that the more green space you have, the safer your neighbourhood. Indeed, a study of 301 major cities in the U.S. revealed that communities with more green space experienced less crime than those with little or none. And amazingly, it’s resident-led greening efforts — whether tree planting, park maintenance or reclaiming vacant lots for community use — that seem to make the biggest difference. In fact, Chicago proved that with a simple but innovative plan when it announced that local residents could buy the vacant city-owned residential lots in their neighbourhoods for a dollar and turn them into side yards or pocket parks. Within two years, crime rates fell in those areas. Similarly, in Flint, Mich., in areas where community members were engaged in greening vacant lots, violent crimes dropped by a staggering 40 per cent. So, why is that? Why is crime reduced when residents take back their green spaces or reclaim vacant land? Well, the evidence suggests that communities that work together to create or maintain common spaces for communal use and enjoyment also build stronger social bonds and provide a kind of informal surveillance system that helps to reduce crime. So, what’s the moral of all these stories? No matter how you cut it, investing in what we have and putting the needs of people first, ahead of concrete and cars, makes cities more welcoming and ultimately a whole lot safer. Erna Buffie is a writer and environmental activist. Read more at www.ernabuffie.com

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WFP: Bicycles and icicles (Nov1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Nov '25

03 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. BICYCLES AND ICICLES It’s never too brisk to bike — once you get in gear with winter https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/2025/11… PATTY WIENS Excerpt from That’ll Never Work Here: Challenging the Myths Around Biking in a Winter City, by Patty Wiens (Great Plains Press). A book launch will be held Nov. 8 at McNally Booksellers. It is the second book in The City Project, which examines ways to create a happier, healthier and more sustainable Winnipeg. WHEN someone asks me “How did you become a cycling advocate?” I usually say, “I rode my bike in winter one day and now I’m here.” Bicycle stories usually have a gap in the middle. There’s a well-known joke that says that the beginning of your life is all about bikes, then there’s a bunch of BS with cars in the middle, then you get older and get back to bikes. That’s true for me. After all the car BS, my kids grown up and out of the house, I moved to a more walkable neighbourhood and decided to get a bicycle so I could ride to work. I still had my car, of course. After all, you can’t live a car-free life in Winnipeg, with its harsh winters, poor transit system and urban sprawl. Car debt is a given, for which I budgeted accordingly: 1. Rent 2. Car (payment, insurance, gas, parking) 3. Food 4. Everything else But the bike, a Norco commuter named Nora, kept calling me. I found reasons to choose her over the car. I started discovering bike lanes I didn’t know existed and calmed streets that connected some of the protected infrastructure. In the spring of 2022, I moved in with my partner, Ian, and my 10-minute commute turned into 40 minutes on a good day, and sometimes 55 minutes on a day with a strong prairie headwind. I was proud of my long commute. I wasn’t fast and I didn’t ride on rainy days, but my co-workers still thought of me as radical for braving Winnipeg’s “dangerous streets.” On days that I chose to bus or drive to work, the real reason I rode my bike became evident: I hated paying $12 a day for parking and the bus ride took longer than the bike ride. When the fall of 2022 came, I started preparing myself for putting Nora away, dreading being at the mercy of slow, unreliable transit or paying $280 a month for parking. Once in a while, a co-worker would ask if I was one of those “winter cyclists,” to which I would reply, “I’m not that crazy — I’m Brazilian!” My previous winter commuting routine had been to wear ski pants, a parka and winter boots to walk to my pre-heated car. If I had to take the bus, I bundled up even more and considered wearing ski goggles just to wait at the bus stop. Winter cycling sounded like an absolutely insane idea. An idea for someone else, not for an almost 50-year-old Brazilian woman. But I am also a person whose intensity is clear at first sight. My bike was becoming part of my identity, and I think Ian knew that when he suggested I just keep going as long as I could. “Don’t put the bike away just because the calendar says it’s time to do so. You never know.” Having just returned from a trip to Amsterdam to visit my brother in the summer, new raincoat in hand and a renewed passion to do everything by bike, I agreed and kept going. I could hear my Dutch sister-in-law saying, “There’s no bad weather, just bad clothing.” Yeah OK, but you don’t know Winnipeg winters, I thought to myself. I began to research on YouTube, watching every video I could find on winter cycling in Canada. There wasn’t much — there were no women in that space, and nobody my age. I saw a lot of Lycra guys in the U.K., calling rainy weather “winter,” and I saw some videos of people riding in the snow. But when it came to talking about “how to” winter cycle, the closest thing I found to my demographic was this man called Tom Babin out of Calgary, who had a YouTube channel called Shifter. I watched all his winter videos, studied his methods, and thought that it might just be possible for me to do it too. When the first snowfall came, I got all dressed and rode my bike to the neighbourhood mall to see if I could make it. I had no special tires, too many clothes and a touch of stubbornness. It was fine. In fact, it was fun. The next day, I decided to try going all the way to work. My 40-minute commute turned into an hour, and I got there all sweaty, but happy. I walked around the office with my high-viz, makeshift winter cycling gear and helmet, ready to brag to everyone that I was one of those crazy people, one of those winter cyclists. But there was no one in the office yet — they were all stuck in traffic, which is always the worst after the first snowfall. If I had to pick a day, I would say that this was the day that changed everything for me. Ian was eager to hear all about it. He waited excitedly for me to text him when I got to work and was waiting by the door when I came home. I kept researching how to stay warm on my long commute and Ian pointed me to a Discord server started by a Winnipeg cyclist named Andrew. The server was dedicated to anyone using the bike for transportation or recreation — what I like to call the bike community in Winnipeg. The (mostly) guys on there were quick to help, offering tips, tricks and asking if I wanted to borrow their bikes. My commute was long, and I was struggling with the balance of staying warm (but not too warm), battling the wind and dealing with the lack of snow clearing on the path that had been my bike highway and safe haven in the warmer months. Was I the only one going through this? I wondered who else in the world had the same questions, challenges and issues. So, I took to X (Twitter, at the time) and I asked my handful of followers the following questions: Do you ride your bike in winter? How long is your commute? Where do you live? What are your biggest hurdles? What are your favourite accessories? My feed blew up and I gained thousands of followers overnight. These winter cycling people were passionate, fanatical and bent on getting more people on bikes in winter. AS my algorithm started to fill up with bike things, I started to notice that we also shared one more thing in common: a feeling that we didn’t matter to decision-makers. Our safety and our concerns were not seen to be as important as those of drivers. I saw mostly men in this space, and they were experiencing something that women experience just by existing: neglect, rage and a feeling of not being welcome in a space. I wondered if switching to an e-bike would make a difference in dealing with the Prairie winds and cold, so I began researching this new topic and found that again, there were even fewer content creators in that space. There were no women talking about riding an e-bike in winter. So, Ian and I got e-bikes and decided we would document my journey as I learned to ride my e-bike in winter. Real winter, not that rainy U.K. stuff. I decided that was going to be the purpose of my YouTube channel: to show people how an e-bike made winter cycling easier and more accessible and hopefully encourage more women to do it. As I shared my videos on social media, I slowly gained a local celebrity status. I can’t tell you why that happened, but I think that being a Brazilian woman in her 50s trying and succeeding at winter cycling and being super vocal about it had something to do with it. I wasn’t ashamed to look ridiculous on my social media, and I had a knack for saying what people were thinking. I didn’t care about likes and follows, I just wanted more bike lanes, safe streets and a city that allowed women to feel on bikes the way men feel in big trucks: powerful and invincible. Or at least safe.

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WFP: City streets see fewer collisions, injuries: report (Nov1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Nov '25

02 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. City streets see fewer collisions, injuries: report https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/01/city-streets-see-… Fatal and serious injury collisions on Winnipeg roads have significantly decreased in recent years. Data from the city shows the average number of fatalities and major injuries was 121 in 2023, below the city’s baseline of 176 for its road safety action plan. The long-term strategy aims to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions by 20 per cent by the end of 2027. The baseline metrics are based on a five-year annual average between 2015 and 2019. “Data from 2022 and 2023 illustrates that this reduction has not only already been met but has been exceeded,” the report said. The report notes less road travel owing to the COVID-19 pandemic can be partially attributed to the decrease and the numbers are not exclusively due to road safety investments. Traffic kilometers travelled increased in 2023 compared to that during the pandemic, but the numbers are still approximately 10 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels. The number of fatal and major road collisions in 2018 was 218 and 174 in 2019. In 2021 there was a nine-year low of 115 fatal and major injuries. Data for 2024 was not published in the report. The mode of transportation during the injuries and fatalities in 2023 was primarily passenger vehicles, followed by pedestrian, motorcycle, bicycle and various other forms. The city announced the strategy in 2022 with the goal of preventing injury and death on roadways by mapping out infrastructure, enforcement and education. Between 2012 and 2018, 98 people were killed and 1,113 people suffered serious injuries because of crashes on city roads. The city identified five key areas to improve safety: signalized intersections, pedestrians, cyclists, speed and road safety culture. Those areas resulted in 67 actions, of which 65 per cent are in progress, the report states. At the time of the plan’s announcement, the city said it would spend $30 million over the next six years for the action plan. In March the city implemented “leading pedestrian intervals” which allow pedestrians a five-second head start at crosswalks before drivers are given the green light to travel in the same direction. Other actions underway include working with the Winnipeg police on speed enforcement, piloting traffic calming curbs at 15 locations, hosting road safety events and workshops for the public and a new transportation data system to identify intersections with the greatest safety risk. Last August, the city announced the new system would collect traffic counts and collision data. At the time, Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said the addition will provide better data to help the city identify where it needs to make changes and investments to improve the system. The city said the system would aim to make better use of vehicle, cyclist and pedestrian counts, which are gathered through radar, intersection video cameras, pneumatic road tubes (tubes laid across the road to gather data) and other devices. nicole.buffie(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Surge pricing part of city’s new parking plan (Nov1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Nov '25

02 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Surge pricing part of city’s new parking plan https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/10/31/councillors-to-vo… THE City of Winnipeg has unveiled a five-year parking strategy that includes more spaces and “surge pricing” during busy times and special events. If the plan is adopted, the $270,000 strategy would pilot electric vehicle-charging stations downtown, develop an app for all parking needs and update accessibility signs for drivers with disabilities. The strategy aims to manage the parking stock amid increased curb use. “With the federal government providing funding for housing and transit, the city is densifying and we need our parking policies to better reflect that,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, who is chairwoman of the public works committee, which will vote on it Nov. 6. It requires final approval from council. The strategy falls in line with the city’s recently implemented transit master plan, as well as CentrePlan 2050, which is in the works for the development of downtown parks, streets and buildings over three decades. Rideshare pick-ups, taxis, food deliveries, carsharing and loading all compete for curb space; the limited areas need to be managed to “meet community needs while also advancing broader goals like sustainability and city-building,” the report states. More paid and time-limited parking could be added in different areas. Surge pricing — charging more during periods of high demand — could help manage the city’s limited parking space in high-traffic areas, Lukes said. Baseline parking prices wouldn’t necessarily change. “If there’s a big event downtown and everyone wants parking, maybe the rates are higher so we keep parking available in areas where people would otherwise be parked for hours,” Lukes said. Demand for paid parking has steadily recovered since the pandemic. Drivers paid for 2.5 million hours of parking in 2023, a 25 per cent jump from one year earlier but still below the 2019 high of 2.8 million, the report states. In 2024, purchases climbed again to 2.6 million hours, only five per cent below pre-pandemic levels. Last year, the city managed approximately 3,850 street spaces plus nearly 1,250 stalls in one city-owned downtown parkade and seven lots. The strategy could empower the Winnipeg Parking Authority to ticket rule-breakers in private parking lots. The document also suggests the city establish several designated rideshare loading zones, such as in front of the downtown arena and Burton Cummings Theatre on Smith Street. Vehicle-for-hire trips have grown rapidly, to more than 10 million in 2024 from 6.7 million rides in 2022, the report said. Lukes said it’s time to fall in line with other major cities that have implemented similar strategies. “We need to have a better, unified system,” she said. “Our city is growing and the demand on street parking is greater and greater.” The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ and other local improvement zones participated in sessions about the strategy and say its focus is ensuring the proposed changes support accessibility and vibrancy downtown. “It’s important that any new measures don’t create additional barriers for how people get to and move through downtown, and that they don’t negatively impact our local businesses, their staff and the community they serve,” Downtown BIZ chief operating officer Rhiannon Hayes said in an email. nicole.buffie(a)frepress.mb.ca<mailto:nicole.buffie@frepress.mb.ca>

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