- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Public discussion Feb 25th | Snow & Ice Removal on the AT Network
by Beth McKechnie 13 Feb '23

13 Feb '23

*Please share widely!* Apparently bike parking will be provided on the ground level under hall C. (Thanks to Kristine Hayward for the heads up.)

1 0

City of Winnipeg's Reduced-Speed Neighbourhood Pilot
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

The City of Winnipeg’s Reduced-Speed Neighbourhood Pilot website is now live: https://engage.winnipeg.ca/reduced-speed-neighbourhood-pilot The website contains: - Information on the pilot - Information on what we already know about speeds on residential streets in Winnipeg - Case studies from select Canadian jurisdictions that have reduced speed limits - Highlights from previous research on the impacts of reduced speed limits - A travel time estimator tool - A mechanism to sign up for project updates or ask the project team a question

1 0

WFP: Councillor pitches pilot project to scrape snowy sidewalks (Feb1'23)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

Councillor pitches pilot project to scrape snowy sidewalks https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/01/31/councillor-seeks-… ONCE winter conditions set in, Tom Jones rarely leaves home, unless he’s headed to work. If sidewalk snow and slush threaten to trap his wheelchair in place, the Winnipeg resident prefers to avoid the risk of travel. “I stay home all weekend. I just won’t venture out because you just can’t take that chance of getting stuck. If I wanted to walk over to the store, half the time I can’t get there because the sidewalks aren’t cleared properly,” said Jones. Friends and family regularly help him run errands during the winter; however, if the city could clear sidewalks right down to the pavement, getting around independently would be much easier, Jones said. “(Then) I could still travel without having to worry. If it was complete concrete, I would have no problems. I could go out in -20 C weather because I could just dress for it.” Ideally, he would love to see the city raise its snow-clearing standards to that level for all walkways, all winter. Jones believes any added cost would be worth the benefit for all Winnipeg pedestrians to travel safely. “Even a healthy person (without mobility challenges), with the way sidewalks are, you even see them slip and slide. Everybody has fallen or slipped on this ice,” he said. Lori Ross, who also uses a wheelchair, said snow- and ice-covered sidewalks create a major impediment to getting around with any kind of mobility device. “The reality is that this is one of the barriers to people with disabilities functioning in the community,” said Ross, noting even crossing the sidewalk outside her condo to reach a Transit Plus stop can prove challenging on some days. A Winnipeg councillor hopes a new pilot project could mark the first step toward making the city more accessible for anyone who uses sidewalks. If council approves, Coun. Matt Allard’s motion would have city crews clear one sidewalk per council ward to bare pavement next winter then report back on the benefits, challenges and costs of doing so. Allard also wants city staff to then provide options to expand the pilot project using city equipment and staff. “Currently, the standard for streets is (snow clearing to the) pavement. I would like to see a city where a person can safely walk on a sidewalk all year round, without fear of slipping and falling,” he said. The St. Boniface councillor said convincing more Winnipeggers to walk instead of drive could pay off through improved health and reduced vehicle emissions. Allard began to call for a higher standard of sidewalk clearing a few years ago after some of his own walks proved treacherous. “I don’t have a mobility issue and I was making the choice to walk on the street more often than not because the snow-clearing bylaw wasn’t being respected,” said Allard, who believes sidewalks are often cleared long after city policy dictates. “In terms of level of services, if we want people making choices other than driving, then we need to create the conditions in which it’s desirable to not drive.” The former public works committee chairman noted conditions can become even more treacherous following freeze-thaw cycles that lead compacted snow to melt into odd, uneven layers before refreezing. Allard said he believes his request for the small pilot project can be funded within the city’s existing budget. “This would be a special assignment per ward that I believe the public service could handle internally.” Last year, Allard proposed a pilot project that would have had city crews clear all sidewalks deemed to be in “good” condition to bare pavement. That motion was rejected. Winnipeg policy calls for sidewalks along major routes, non-regional bus routes and collector streets to be cleared to a compacted snow surface following about five centimetres of snow. Such sidewalks in the downtown are cleared to a paved surface whenever conditions allow. Snow-clearing officials declined to weigh in on the feasibility of Allard’s new motion Tuesday, deeming it premature to comment on the impact or cost of the potential pilot project. The proposal would require full council approval. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

1 0

WFP: Congestion, safety concerns outside school pickup zones prompt calls for change (Feb1'23)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

Congestion, safety concerns outside school pickup zones prompt calls for change ‘An accident waiting to happen’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/02/01/an-accident-waiti… VEHICULAR traffic concerns outside a Winnipeg elementary school — in no way an outlier in a city with sprawling suburbs, inconsistent sidewalk infrastructure and frigid winters — is reigniting calls for more 30 km/h streets to promote safe and active transportation. Throughout the last three months, Pat Burgess has reported the issues she witnesses daily after the final bell rings at 3:30 p.m. at Westdale School to anyone willing to listen. The grandmother has contacted school leaders, trustees and City of Winnipeg officials — but she said no one is willing to intervene and rectify the situation she describes as “an accident waiting to happen.” “I hold my breath every day when I see students running out between parked cars onto the roadway,” said Burgess, who has been picking up students from the Betsworth Avenue middle school for the last five years. “I know this situation is not unique to Westdale, but there has to be a better solution for the safety of our students.” A portion of the parking lot was historically designated for caregivers to use during pickup and drop-off. Citing local traffic being a safety hazard to students, school administration closed the concrete pad to the public at the start of the 2022-23 school year. The shift has simply moved danger from the lot to surrounding streets with faster-moving cars and few sidewalks, Burgess said, noting the decision was made without consulting drivers and she has obtained recommendations from the city that promote on-site school pickup. The grandmother noted her safety concerns have heightened after hearing a J.H. Bruns Collegiate student was taken to the hospital after being struck during morning rush-hour two weeks ago. Westdale staff have urged families to drive part-way and have students walk the rest of the route to school, and try dropping off or picking students up outside of peak times, among their advice to reduce congestion. Following dismissal Tuesday, middle schoolers climbed over snow banks and dodged a combination of parked, double- parked and moving motorists to locate their rides. Many of them failed to check both ways before running across the roadway, whose visibility was obscured by the exhaust of idling cars. Several irritated drivers shook their heads as they squeezed between the lines of cars stopped on either side of Betsworth Avenue, despite the south-facing stretch being a no-park zone. One motorist honked at the backup of illegally-parked drivers. Ian Walker of Safe Speeds Winnipeg said the major impediment to more students commuting on foot and via bicycle is parent fears about car-pedestrian collisions, which ironically prompts them to drive children to class and increase the total fleet on the street. “We need to make driving harder. We’ve made driving so easy that everybody does it,” said the parent, teacher and chairman of the local advocacy organization. While noting many neighbourhoods do not have sidewalks, Walker said installing traffic-calming measures and reducing speed limits to 30 km/h on all routes near schools is critical so drivers, pedestrians and cyclists can share the road. “There’s no shared responsibility when cars are going 50 km/h. It just doesn’t work,” he said, adding school divisions and trustees should be advocating for changes to protect children and youth in their care. The Pembina Trails School Division indicated it has worked with city officials to reduce speed zones on Betsworth Avenue, instituted stop-and-go areas with signage and ensured an adult monitors the flow of traffic during busy times of the day. Superintendent Lisa Boles said “some close calls” in the school lot prompted Westdale administration to make a change to drop-off and pick-up routines. “The division takes all concerns about safety seriously and has engaged in an extensive review,” Boles said in a statement, which noted the division has used both internal and external resources to observe activity on surrounding streets and within the school parking lot. City communications officer Ken Allen said municipal officials are aware of traffic concerns and “actively working with the school.” maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca

1 0

2021 Census Mode Share Maps
by Mark Cohoe 05 Jan '23

05 Jan '23

Hi, I've been trying to learn QGIS, so I did some work with the 2021 journey to work census data over the last few days. Here <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PzXWIcBoVNkCpyoTfzU0FDeA0whuXnRf/view?usp=…>is a set of maps showing mode share by census tract, plus the difference in mode share between the 2016 and 2021 censuses. I did a breakdown of the bicycle mode share data for 2021 by dissemination area as well, which can be found here <https://drive.google.com/file/d/13tTpZ6gcgCNRSqFxpu7M7WWW6SEq2RP8/view?usp=…>. I'm thinking that I will put together some maps showing the work from home rates as well, as they seem to have a pretty drastic effect on everything. I'll forward those along when I've gotten them done. Cheers, Mark Cohoe Executive Director Bike Winnipeg t: 204-894-6540 e: mark(a)bikewinnipeg.ca

1 0

WFP: Reduced-speed pilot expected to start in March (Jan5'23)
by Beth McKechnie 05 Jan '23

05 Jan '23

*Reduced-speed pilot expected to start in March* A pilot project that would reduce the speed limit on residential streets in four Winnipeg neighbourhoods is expected to begin in March. The standard 50 km/h maximum speed limit would drop to 40 km/h in the Worthington and Richmond West neighbourhoods, and 30 km/h in the Tyndall Park South and Bourkevale neighbourhoods. While a call to amend a bylaw to allow the one-year trial still requires council approval, the public works committee voted in favour of testing speed-limit reductions in these areas in April 2022. In an email, city spokeswoman Julie Horbal Dooley said the city expects to begin consulting residents about the trial by the end of this month. “We plan to launch targeted pre-pilot engagement with residents of affected streets at the end of January, and to implement the speed limit changes in early- to mid-March.” Individual Winnipeggers and advocacy groups have lobbied the city to reduce the speed on residential streets for years, arguing doing so would make walking and cycling safer. By contrast, others launched a petition against the speed reduction, arguing the current speed limit is appropriate.

1 0

Slow bike lane development in Toronto
by Charles F 03 Jan '23

03 Jan '23

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-community-bikeways-coalition… from my phone.

1 0

WFP: City urged to boost street safety (Jan2'23)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Jan '23

02 Jan '23

Take steps to protect pedestrians, all road users: advocates *City urged to boost street safety* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/01/02/city-urged-to-boo… THE high number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in Winnipeg last year highlights the need for a greater commitment to safe streets, including better sidewalk and bike lane snow clearing, advocates say. Twelve pedestrians had been killed on city streets in 2022, compared to six in 2021, according to data from Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Public Insurance. The number of people who had been injured was not available, an MPI spokesperson said. Ian Walker, chairman of Safe Speeds Winnipeg, said while deaths are the worst outcome, injuries caused to pedestrians struck by vehicles can have life-altering consequences. “We don’t hear about (injuries)… they happen so frequently that a lot of people accept it as a cost of modern transportation,” Walker said. He recalls helping his then-80-year-old neighbour after she was struck by a vehicle while crossing the intersection at Tache Avenue and Marion Street. “It forever changed her life,” Walker said. “She broke her hip and she went from being this vibrant 80-year-old to someone who was housebound… She just never regained her mobility, which was terrible. It took away from her quality of life.” Walker added there are many steps the City of Winnipeg could take to bolster safety for pedestrians and cyclists. On his 2023 wish list, he’d like to see the city commit to the Vision Zero safer streets strategy that’s popular in Europe. The goal is to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. It involves redesigning roads to ensure driver’s mistakes do not cost lives or injuries, ensuring speed limits are at safe levels, and collecting and analyzing data to understand how different populations are disproportionately affected. Walker emphasized smaller steps can be taken immediately to improve safety, such as putting a priority on sidewalk and bike lane clearing. When that doesn’t happen, pedestrians are pushed onto roads that are not designed for them, he said. Walker referenced a recent Free Press column that detailed the plight of a man in a wheelchair forced to use the street because the sidewalk was covered in snow. “Those kinds of images are just heartbreaking,” Walker said. Winnipeg public works spokeswoman Julie Dooley said in an email pedestrian safety “is absolutely a priority” for the municipal government. She pointed to the council-approved road safety action plan “designed to set the direction and pace of Winnipeg’s road safety investments over the next five years and identifies actions that will help the city meet its road safety goal of achieving a 20 per cent reduction in fatal and serious injury collisions by 2026.” Dooley said the plan is based on the Vision Zero concept, which recognizes road safety is a shared responsibility and improvement requires a team effort by road designers, vehicle manufacturers, policy makers, enforcement agencies, families, workplaces and schools. Christian Sweryda, a Winnipeg researcher who independently analyzes city traffic data, says there’s a lack of data about traffic incidents in general. He’s critical of knee-jerk responses from safer streets advocates following a crash. For example, the call to lower the speed limit. Sweryda said while such steps can minimize the severity of a collision, other factors could prevent crashes altogether. He listed better designed roadways, improved eye-level lighting at crosswalks, speed limits appropriate for the area, longer yellow lights, and enforcement that targets dangerous drivers. Decisions should be backed up by data and evidence, he said. He questions if the pedestrian-cyclist-driver divisions prevent the public from seeing practical solutions. “The bigger problem we see is that interests of road users are not united,” Sweryda said. “It’s become an ideological bottomless pit really. “It is convenient to blame the driver because then you can defer responsibility away from actually making changes to the engineering.” His hope is evidence and data drive changes that boost safety, and all those who hold the relevant data — police, the city, and MPI among them — freely share what they know about how to improve safety for all road users. katrina.clarke(a)freepress.mb.ca

1 0

WFP: Dad’s plea caps deadly year on city streets (Dec30'22)
by Beth McKechnie 30 Dec '22

30 Dec '22

Father appeals for help to solve son’s hit-and-run death *Dad’s plea caps deadly year on city streets* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/12/29/plea-for-informat… EVERY time Kevin Joss learns about another fatal collision in Winnipeg, the immense pain of losing his son in a still-unsolved hit-andrun comes back to the surface. The number of fatalities on city streets has tripled, with 28 people dying in collisions this year, compared with nine in both 2021 and 2020. Police figures show collisions killed 16 people in 2019 and 13 in 2018. “This year, the amount of vehicle and pedestrian accidents or hit-and-runs has just gone through the roof,” Joss said Thursday. “Every time someone else loses their life or is critically injured or leaves the scene, it sends such a ripple effect through to this family and to others that are going through the same things that we have.” Winnipeg Police Service central traffic division Const. Aaron Staples, the lead investigator in the 2014 collision that killed 21-year-old Cody Joss, said there is no specific trend behind the spike in fatalities this year. Still, a number of incidents involved dangerous behaviour such as impaired or distracted driving or speeding. “(This year) was, unfortunately, a terrible year for road fatalities in Winnipeg, and we’re looking to improve those statistics,” Staples said during a news conference at police headquarters. There were 41 collisions involving death or serious injury in Winnipeg, as of Dec. 16, said police. Of those, 19 involved pedestrians, with 12 of them dying. There have been eight hit-and-runs. In five collisions, the driver was impaired or suspected of being impaired, said police. Standing next to a framed photo of his smiling son on Thursday, tears welled in Joss’s eyes while he renewed his family’s appeal for information to help solve Cody’s death. “If you are the bearer of any clues or any knowledge of this accident, I want you to take a look at your loved ones and realize it can happen to you,” said Joss. “Everybody says it wouldn’t happen to me. I stand before you and tell you it happened to us. “If you are holding that info, whether you thought that it was minor, it can all lead to a resolution for this case, some knowledge for our family and for us to begin to heal. Please, folks, I beg of you.” Cody was walking north on McGregor Street when he was hit by a vehicle travelling west on Inkster Boulevard around 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2014. The vehicle fled before police arrived. Cody was taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he later died. All investigative avenues have been exhausted, but his family and police hope someone has information about the vehicle and its occupant or occupants that could help investigators and bring closure to his loved ones. Joss and Staples appealed to people who have a link to the person or people who were in the vehicle, and may know something. “Maybe your status, your social status changed, whereas you weren’t able to talk about what transpired and now you can,” said Joss. “It’s not too late. Any little bit of information that you have can really help us out. We need to know what went on, and we need to start healing.” Joss and police are holding on to hope someone who was driving in the area around the time of the collision may still have dashcam video footage that shows the vehicle. Staples said police do not know the type of vehicle that was involved, after receiving varying descriptions. The investigation remains open, with police committed to bringing closure to Cody’s family after an “incredibly difficult” eight years, said Staples. “Unfortunately, to this point, no one has come forward with any video of the event, and no one who has directly been a witness to the actual event,” he said. “It is very rare that a collision like Cody’s goes unsolved, and that’s why we are making such a continued ongoing effort and commitment to the family to push forward on this one.” Anyone with information is asked to call police at 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477. Every year around Christmas, Joss attends an event such as a news conference or vigil to plead for information. He has become a road safety advocate. “I’ve spoken in the past about how everybody has to make the right choices when they leave and start their day, whether you’re a pedestrian and being distracted walking across streets, whether you’re a distracted driver or you’re just a little too fatigued,” he said. “Everything you do has a ripple effect on everybody else. “The thoughts of the next person that’s going to lose their life to an accident that could have been prevented by making the right choice, it’s enough to make us tear up.” Staples said the traffic division’s strategy for 2023 includes targeted enforcement of impaired and distracted driving, and speeding. “We want to remind the public that the choices to drive impaired, drive distracted speeding — they can all have lethal consequences, and those simple choices you can make can truly be the difference between life and death,” he said. chris.kitching(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @chriskitching

1 0

WFP: Service honours 22-year-old cyclist killed by snowplow (Dec22'22)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Dec '22

22 Dec '22

Service honours 22-year-old cyclist killed by snowplow City’s Indian community mobilizes for funeral of foreign student https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2022/12/21/indian-muslim-community-… JAVED MUSHARRAF was warned to be careful when riding his bicycle in the winter, but the international student from India had two jobs and few options. The 22-year-old, who came to Winnipeg from the city of Hyderabad about two years ago, was struck and killed by a city-contracted front-end loader that was plowing snow in St. Boniface last Thursday. He was riding home to Balmoral Street and Cumberland Avenue on an electrically assisted bike. “He had to drive a bike to get to work,” said one of his three roommates, Mohsin Ahmed, 32. Ahmed said Musharraf told him riding the bus to work was difficult, and the devoutly Muslim young man did not have a Manitoba driver’s licence. Still, he got to his jobs at Canadian Tire and FedEx, where he worked shifts early in the day and late into the night. “He was a very good person… He was very hard-working, and very truthful,” said Ahmed. “We’re going through a tough time… he was like my younger brother… I personally feel very sad. It’s not acceptable (what happened.) He’s only 22.” Musharraf moved to Winnipeg to study automotive technology at Red River College Polytechnic, and had a bright future in his chosen field, having built the electric bike he was riding that night himself. Two off-duty Winnipeg police officers came upon the collision at about 10:20 p.m. on Dec. 15 near Mission and Plinguet streets. They gave Musharraf first aid while two Winnipeg Transit employees stopped to re-route traffic. Musharraf was pronounced dead shortly after emergency personnel arrived. The driver of the front-end loader stayed at the scene, police said. Musharraf’s roommates did not know, at first, why he hadn’t come home. “We didn’t hear (from him) for two days. He had passed a course, so we thought he might be celebrating with his friends,” said Shakir Shaikh, 22. “Normally he would go to work early and come back late at night, and we were so busy… On the second day, we called him.” Ahmed, who lived with Musharraf for about seven months, said he did not have many friends in Winnipeg, “because most of the time he worked hard and didn’t talk a lot.” But the young man had no issues with anyone, he said. The victim had no family in Winnipeg, and just an uncle and cousins in Calgary, while the rest of his loved ones are in India. The Community of Indian Muslims in Manitoba sprung into action after learning about the man’s death, said Irfanulla Rahamathulla, the organization’s vice-president. “We contacted the police and contacted the uncle (in Calgary), and we tried to arrange the funeral,” said Rahamathulla. “They were supposed to come, his family members, but flights got cancelled one after the other from Calgary, due to the snowstorm in Vancouver.” Rahamathulla said the community had arranged accommodations, food and transportation for the seven family members who planned to travel here to attend Musharraf’s funeral Wednesday, but because of the cancelled flights and unsafe winter driving conditions from Alberta, only Musharraf’s roommates and some members of the wider Winnipeg Muslim community were able to be at the service. Most of the mourners at the Winnipeg Grand Mosque on Waverley Street Wednesday afternoon did not know the young man whose funeral they were attending. “As a brother in Islam, we feel connected with everyone, to show compassion,” said Rahamathulla. Community members such as Atif Ijaz, 53, did not know the young student. “It’s very unfortunate, especially for the family, who are so far away and they cannot reach his funeral — it’s really heartbreaking,” said Ijaz, who is originally from Pakistan. “He was a student, and like so many other students, he was here to get educated, to get into the Canadian education system, and then enter professional life... It’s very unfortunate.” Bashshar Habibullah, 32, did not know Musharraf, either. “We have very few members of the Indian Muslim community — like 150 (people),” he said. “We are trying to help as much as we can… the worst part is none of his family can see him.” In the mosque, Imam Yacine Mamadou led about 100 people in prayer over Musharraf’s simple wooden casket, telling mourners to take life seriously and to do good deeds. As the mourners wheeled Musharraf’s casket from the mosque to a hearse that would take him to a Transcona cemetery, community members video-called his family so they could witness the procession. Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said Wednesday the investigation into the collision is ongoing. No criminal or Highway Traffic Act charges have been laid. “We have confirmed that an independent contractor for the (city) owns the front-end loader,” McKinnon said. Public works department spokeswoman Julie Dooley would not comment specifically on the incident, directing questions to police, but said in general, the city investigates all incidents on job sites, working closely with both police and provincial Workplace Safety and Health officials. “In terms of training, both city employees and hired equipment operators are required to undergo training that covers safety, policies and service standards and other topics,” she said. “City of Winnipeg operators receive extensive and ongoing safety training. Hired hourly operators are contractually obligated to provide workers who are trained and qualified for their respective equipment.” erik.pindera(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera

1 0