- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Changing Lanes | February 25th
by Mel Marginet 11 Feb '26

11 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. On February 25th, Green Action Centre will welcome Todd Litman of the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute for Changing Lanes. Changing Lanes: Better Value From Winnipeg Transportation Investments North American cities are trapped in a wasteful cycle: more driving, reduced travel options and pressure to build and maintain ever-more costly infrastructure. Cities need better solutions to traffic problems. Roadway expansions are expensive, and typically provide only temporary relief until added traffic fills the new capacity. There are “win-win” solutions that reduce congestion while also advancing other community goals including affordability, pollution reduction, trade diversification, equity, public health and safety. Applying these solutions requires a shift to accessibility-based planning that recognizes the many benefits provided by multimodal planning and compact neighbourhoods. In this keynote address, Todd Litman will share important insights from his latest work: Smart Congestion Relief, Affordability as a Transportation Planning Goal and The Mobility-Productivity Paradox. His research provides practical guidance for making infrastructure investments more cost-effective, improving affordability and fairness, and creating more inclusive, livable communities. BOOK YOUR TICKET<https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/changing-lanes> THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Councillor Emma Durand-Wood Landmark Planning and Design Peg City Car Co-op Councillor Brian Mayes Mel Marginet | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 300-286 Smith Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1K4 | 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. [https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif] 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/> [https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xnHIzg-oNAxItLMxFnB1HS5HGb…]<http://gomb.ca>

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WFP: City of Winnipeg looks at delaying projects to tackle province’s wish list
by Patman, David 11 Feb '26

11 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. City of Winnipeg looks at delaying projects to tackle province’s wish list By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 6:17 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 The installation of new spray pads and improvements to road safety could be shelved for a year so the City of Winnipeg can pay for projects the provincial government wants instead. In a report to be considered by the executive policy committee next week, the administration recommends council amend its 2025 capital budget, which was approved more than a year ago, to put $5 million toward the Assiniboine Park Conservancy animal health centre and $520,000 for renovations to the St. Boniface Museum. In addition, the city would reallocate unspent funds from other projects to pay for the Waverley West fire station after the province gave the city $508,000 less than expected for its construction. The administration says council should cancel this year’s $2.5-million spray pad program and $2.5 million road safety improvement program, to pay for the animal health centre. To pay for the fire hall, it suggests using unspent funds earmarked for the St. Boniface industrial area and Windsor Park station consolidation, as well as the Waverley West modular station and site development project. “Obviously it’s frustrating,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty, chairman of the civic finance committee, on Tuesday. “Council passed the budget on Jan. 29, 2025, and then we didn’t hear from the province until December of 2025 and they had different priorities for us. “You lose spending power… we lose construction season on things like road safety and spray pads when it takes them a year or two to sign off on our strategic infrastructure basket of priorities.” Browaty said he doesn’t understand why the province has made the two projects a priority. “If something happens, like there is a new massive important priority for the city and the province, I can accept making those changes, but in my opinion the Assiniboine Park Conservancy animal health centre and the St. Boniface Museum renovation are maybe a little questionable,” he said. The finance chair said road safety, spray pads and the fire hall are just as important. A spokesman for Glen Simard, the municipal relations minister, said in a statement the province is committed to working with the city on shared priorities, noting it gave Winnipeg $94 million for strategic projects, as well as $6.9 million it can allocate for any project it wants The spokesman said the province will continue to meet with the mayor and city council “to benefit Winnipeggers with better service and amenities.” The city had been planning to build new spray pads this year at Beryl Watts Park and the Tyndall Park Community Centre, but under the recommendation, they would be delayed until 2027. Construction of other spray pads in future years, including at Chalmers Community Centre, Bord-Aire Community Centre and the Norberry-Glenlea Community Centre, would be moved back a year; while the spray pad planned for the Riverview Community Centre in 2029 would be cancelled and considered as part of next year’s multi-year budget process. A city spokesman said road safety projects can include new pedestrian crossings, traffic signals, rail crossing improvements and adding left turn signals at intersections. kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP Community Weekly: Call to restore 50/50 transit funding (Feb11'26)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Feb '26

11 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Call to restore 50/50 transit funding Adam Johnston, who owns a home in the Talbot-Grey section of Elmwood and has lived in various parts of Elmwood and East Kildonan his entire life, has launched a campaign to restore shared provincial funding for transit. Back in November, talking to other transit users and advocates, Johnston learned that many others shared his concern over a “lack of consistent funding” for transit. The Province of Manitoba formerly had an agreement with municipalities whereby the province would fund 50 per cent of transit operations[1.1]. This agreement was ended in 2017 by the previous provincial government. A survey from 2018 [2.1]showed that around 80 per cent of Winnipeggers wanted it restored. The current provincial government has not yet restored the transit funding agreement. Johnston believes inflationary pressures, rising fare costs, and Winnipeg Transit’s 2025 switch to a new network has revealed the inadequacy of funding for bus service and the insufficiency of transit service. Rising fares are a particular concern for Johnston, who argues they can lead to more fare disputes — which undermine safety. While some of Winnipeg Transit’s new routes, such as the Frequent Express Regent-Grant (FX3) line, have been more convenient and frequent for Johnston, other changes have resulted in worse service. As an example, he notes that the D17 (Direct Talbot - Selkirk) ends earlier on weekends than the route it replaced 44 (Grey). “It’s not the system, it’s the service levels – and that comes down to funding,” Johnston said. For Johnston, provincial funding is a matter of equity and planning for growth. He notes that women, those with lower incomes, and Indigenous peoples are overrepresented as transit riders. He also notes that those living in older communities, such as Elmwood, are more likely to take transit. As Winnipeg has over 800,000 residents and could reach a million in the not-too-distant future, it’s important to realize that not everyone will be driving cars for every trip and an effective, well-funded mass transit system is necessary to support growth. Johnston said this ties into various provincial policy concerns, including climate. “Half the city’s carbon emissions come from transportation and most of those come from private automobiles. When you support public transit, it’s a climate justice and transportation justice issue… you’re addressing two challenges with one stone” Johnston said. To learn more about the campaign to restore 50-50 provincial funding for transit you can visit 5050transitwpg.wordpress.com Dylon Martin is a community correspondent for Elmwood.

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Fwd: Funding Support to Help You Attend the Canadian Trail Summit / Du financement pour vous aider à vous rendre au Sommet canadien sur les sentiers
by Anders Swanson 10 Feb '26

10 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. If anyone know someone who would like to attend but could use support to attend the trail summit happening in Winnipeg. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Anders Swanson <ed(a)winnipegtrails.ca<mailto:ed@winnipegtrails.ca>> Date: Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 10:30 AM Subject: Fwd: Funding Support to Help You Attend the Canadian Trail Summit / Du financement pour vous aider à vous rendre au Sommet canadien sur les sentiers To: Anders Swanson <andersswanson(a)gmail.com<mailto:andersswanson@gmail.com>> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Trans Canada Trail <communications(a)tctrail.ca<mailto:communications@tctrail.ca>> Date: Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 9:00 AM Subject: Funding Support to Help You Attend the Canadian Trail Summit / Du financement pour vous aider à vous rendre au Sommet canadien sur les sentiers To: <ed(a)winnipegtrails.ca<mailto:ed@winnipegtrails.ca>> [Image placeholder] – Version française plus bas – Hello Anders Swanson, Trans Canada Trail has launched a new fund that can help members of non-profit organizations attend the 2026 Canadian Trail Summit<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImY2Y2JjNzM0LWYyNWU…>. The Organization Capacity Building & Professional Development Fund helps volunteer groups and non-profit organizations pursue opportunities that enhance the skills, knowledge, and leadership capabilities of staff, volunteers and board members. This includes professional development funding to help cover costs associated with attending the Canadian Trail Summit. How to Apply + Deadline: * Apply online through our online form<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6IjRlOTE0N2QxLTQxNzE…> (make sure to select “Professional Development”) * Deadline: February 28, 2026 Things to know before you apply: 1. Select “Professional Development” - The online form includes two options. Click the box beside “Professional Development” to apply for funding for the Canadian Trail Summit. 1. No membership required - This fund is open to non-profit groups or trail organizations either on or off the Trans Canada Trail. 1. For-profit organizations are ineligible – Applicants must work, volunteer, study or be affiliated with a non-profit organization. 1. One grant per organization - A maximum of one participant per trail organization may receive funding. 1. Do your research – Please be prepared to provide a rough budget for your costs associated with attending the Summit. This includes: registration fees, travel expenses, accommodation, meals, and any additional expenses (please specify). APPLY NOW<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6IjU2YzAxODY0LWViZWM…> Funding is limited, so there is no guarantee every eligible applicant will receive a grant. For any questions, please use our contact form<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImM5ZmE3YzA4LTdjYzc…> and a member of our team will get back to you as quickly as possible. ________________________________ Bonjour Anders Swanson, Sentier Transcanadien a mis en place un nouveau fonds afin d’aider les membres d’organismes à but non lucratif à assister au Sommet canadien sur les sentiers 2026.<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6Ijk5YjE5MjA5LTdkYzc…> Le Fonds pour le renforcement des capacités et le développement professionnel aide les groupes bénévoles et les organismes à but non lucratif à explorer les possibilités de développement professionnel qui améliorent les compétences, les connaissances et les capacités de leadership du personnel, des bénévoles et des membres du conseil d’administration. Cela inclut du financement pour du développement professionnel pour aider à couvrir les coûts associés au Sommet canadien sur les sentiers. Comment faire une demande + date limite : * Faites une demande en utilisant le formulaire en ligne<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImE3M2FjMjQ4LWEwNDQ…> (assurez-vous de sélectionner « Développement professionnel ») * Date limite : 28 février 2026 À savoir avant de faire une demande : 1. Sélectionnez « Développement professionnel ». Le formulaire en ligne offre deux options. Cochez la case « Développement professionnel » pour faire une demande de financement pour le Sommet canadien sur les sentiers. 1. Pas d’adhésion obligatoire. Ce fonds est accessible à tous les organismes et groupes de sentier à but non lucratif qui se trouvent sur le Sentier Transcanadien ou non. 1. Les organisations à but lucratif ne sont pas admissibles. Les demandes doivent venir de bénévoles ou de personnes qui travaillent, étudient ou sont affiliées à un organisme à but non lucratif. 1. Une subvention par organisation. Un maximum d’un participant ou d’une participante par organisation de sentiers peut recevoir une subvention. 1. Faites vos recherches. Vous devrez fournir un budget approximatif des coûts associés à votre présence au Sommet. Cela inclut : frais d’inscription, frais de déplacement, hébergement, repas et toute dépense supplémentaire (veuillez préciser). FAIRE UNE DEMANDE<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6IjFhZDYzZDQ0LTU3MjQ…> Le financement est limité, il n’est donc pas de garanti que toutes les demandes admissibles recevront une subvention. Pour toute question, veuillez utiliser notre formulaire de contact<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6IjQzOGU3NDRiLTNiOWE…> et un membre de notre équipe vous recontactera dès que possible. [Facebook]<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6IjYzOWQwMzY3LTgxZTA…> [Twitter]<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6IjY4NjlkOWQwLTlmNzU…> [Instagram]<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImZjM2EyNGI2LWI3Nzg…> [LinkedIn]<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImZlYzdhYWQ2LWE2MjA…> [YouTube]<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImY2MTA1NjYzLTk2ZGI…> This email was sent by: Trans Canada Trail 150 Elgin Street, 8th Fl, suite 1053 Ottawa, ON, K2P 1L4, CA Copyright © 2026 Trans Canada Trail, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. To update your preferences or to unsubscribe, click here.<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6ImU3NDk3NTJmLWZiMGE…> Update Profile<https://click.communications.tctrail.ca/profile_center.aspx?qs=eyJkZWtJZCI6…>

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WFP: Driver admits guilt for crash that killed two cyclists on Kenaston (Feb6'26)
by Beth McKechnie 07 Feb '26

07 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Driver admits guilt for crash that killed two cyclists on Kenaston https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/02/06/driver-admits-gui… A Winnipeg man has admitted responsibility for a drunk driving crash that killed two cyclists on Kenaston Boulevard last summer. Kuldeep Singh Gill pleaded guilty in court Friday to two counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of failing to stop at the scene of a collision. Gill was arrested Sept. 13 after a high-speed crash that killed 25-year-old Kerry Ashley Bonner and her common-law partner, 31-year-old Egor Popov. The couple had a young child. Gill, who has permanent resident status in Canada, sat beside a Punjabi interpreter as he responded in a barely audible voice to a series of questions by defence lawyer Jesse Brar in which he confirmed he was aware of the consequences of his guilty pleas. The 46-year-old, who remains free on bail, will be sentenced at a later date following the completion of a court-ordered pre-sentence report. Brar said Gill faces a “significant” penitentiary sentence and deportation proceedings. Court was told Gill had consumed an “unknown amount” of alcohol while driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck along Kenaston Boulevard. Witnesses had already called police to report the vehicle driving erratically when Gill veered around slower moving traffic and onto the paved shoulder at the intersection of Enterprise Drive. Gill was still driving on the paved shoulder when he crashed into Bonner and Popov on their bicycles at approximately 9:15 p.m. Popov was pronounced dead at the scene while Bonner died in hospital a short time later. Gill, who had abandoned his vehicle and ran away, was arrested shortly before 11 p.m. as he walked in the area of Kenaston Boulevard and Scurfield Boulevard. “Police immediately observed indicia of intoxication” Crown attorney Mike Himmelman told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts. Gill provided a breath sample and his blood-alcohol level was estimated to be as high as .137 at the time of the collision. Criminal charges are triggered for drivers with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher. Police analyzed location data on Gill’s phone, which showed he had been in the vicinity of a Keewatin Street Liquor Mart earlier that afternoon. A review of security video at the store confirmed Gill had bought a bottle of 5-Star whiskey at the store. “A partially consumed bottle of the same whiskey was located post-collision in (Gill’s) vehicle’s centre console,” Himmelman said. An analysis of the truck’s crash data revealed Gill had been driving 131 km/h at the point of impact, which is 51 kilometres over the posted speed limit. Following the deaths, Bike Winnipeg released a statement in which it said the site of the crash isn’t safe. “This devastating incident highlights a long-standing and dangerous reality: Kenaston Boulevard between Sterling Lyon and McGillivray Boulevard lacks safe infrastructure for people walking and cycling, forcing vulnerable road users onto an unprotected shoulder.” A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $10,000 to help the Popov family pay for funeral expenses. The tragedy wasn’t Gill’s first arrest for impaired driving. In July 2016, Gill was driving a Jeep Wrangler at a high speed in a residential area when he drove onto a boulevard, struck a school zone sign and crashed into a tree before coming to a stop on a resident’s front lawn. Gill tried to run away, but was followed by witnesses until police arrived and arrested him. He later pleaded guilty to driving over .08 and was fined $1,500 and prohibited from driving for one year. In 2020, Gill was convicted of failing to comply with licence restrictions after driving without a licence and driving while suspended. dean.pritchard(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP OpEd: Creating a city where kids can safely walk, bike to school (Feb6'26)
by Beth McKechnie 06 Feb '26

06 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Creating a city where kids can safely walk, bike to school MEL MARGINET https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2026/02/06/creating-a-ci… IF there’s one thing that all Winnipeggers can agree on, other than potholes, it’s the chaos of getting kids to and from school. The frustration extends to households without children who live a short distance to local schools and must deal with traffic jams twice a day. Coun. Markus Chambers brought the fury of his ward residents into the public eye in early January when he made the first moves on a “stopdrop- go” motion to limit parking to one minute in designated school zones. How did we get here? Local news outlets asked on their social media for stories from Winnipeggers about their school travel experiences. Comments flowed in about childhoods spent walking and biking to school with friends, and how that has been replaced with door-to-door drives. Meanwhile, MPI reported in October that 36 kids were hit by drivers in the last year. So what changed in the last few decades? First, there are far more vehicles on our roads, and those vehicles are much bigger and heavier than cars of the past. Second, we’ve allowed our municipalities to essentially engineer a meaningful walk out of the lives of the majority of people, with residential neighbourhoods spread out further and further from facilities. Finally, we have few, if any, municipal policies to discourage the door-to-door school drop. Instead, parents who do encourage their kids to walk or bike to school share stories of social norms that make them feel like bad parents for allowing their kids to partake in the “risky” activity of biking or walking to school. Honestly, if we’ve created neighbourhoods where independent, active travel to and from school is likened to childhood endangerment, we truly have lost our way. How do we fix this? While the councillor’s motion to limit drop offs to one minute is well-intentioned, it is a Band-Aid, not a solution. It treats the symptom while offering no cure. This strategy does nothing to reduce traffic levels — it would actually add more stress (assuming there’s even a way to meaningfully enforce this rule). However, there are time-tested solutions to encourage active and safer travel to school that we can and should implement. There is no single magic action that city staff can undertake; rather, we need to do a lot of little things better all at once. Here are a few places we can start. Speed. We can’t force vehicle manufacturers to make vehicles with fewer blind spots and less weight. In fact, this problem is only going to get worse as we see more electric vehicles, which are much heavier. If you can’t control the size or the weight of the vehicle, what can the municipality control? The speed. Fifty km/h kills, 30 km/h means those involved in a collision will likely walk away. That’s not an opinion, that’s physics. Winnipeg has had a “safe speed” report in the works for close to two years now, and it’s time we see the results and start calming our residential streets. Design. This follows on the heels of speed. Wide, straight roads encourage speeding. Narrow roads around schools would provide the mental cues to drivers to slow down. This can be quickly implemented and tested with some planters or other fun designs. City councillors could work with schools in their wards to apply this before the end of the school year. Connection. If children can’t get from their homes to their school without having to interact with traffic, how do we expect the adults in their lives to feel safe letting them get to school independently? Whether it’s missing sidewalks or lack of protected bike lanes, we need to close these gaps. This also doesn’t have to be expensive, again using the idea of planters to create space on the road for bikes. Moving forward, new developments should include a strong focus on design that encourages residents to easily and safely walk or bike to common destinations in their neighbourhood, such as schools. And no, being able to walk around a retention pond is not walkability. More vibrant and active communities translate into more people and more “eyes on the street,” which helps to address the “stranger danger” fears. Health. We need to get serious about creating safe neighbourhoods for our kids to walk and bike in for more urgent reasons other than solving traffic chaos. With more driving and less walking, we know that kids are no longer getting the recommended activity they need each day. The sad reality is the amount of physical movement they need is often equivalent to the amount of time it would take for most kids to walk to school. Whether it’s asthma, anxiety, obesity, air quality or the myriad of issues that result from a sedentary lifestyle, we can solve many of them by ensuring that walking to school, the community centre, the grocery store and the park is possible in our neighbourhoods. As children age into tweens and teens, the need for independence grows. Having to rely on rides to access activities, first jobs or just hanging out with friends creates unnecessary stress on families. Parents are forced to do the driving or plan the rides, and the kids lose out on the opportunity to be more independent. Who has the happiest kids in the world? The Dutch. Kids in the Netherlands have the freedom of movement kids in our city can only dream of. It hasn’t always been this way. In the 1970s, death and injury to children was on the rise in the car-clogged country and parents had enough. A “Stop de Kindermoord” (Stop Murdering Children) campaign was launched. This coincided with the government looking at their balance sheets and realizing the infrastructure needed to move most people by vehicle was going to bankrupt them. Change wasn’t easy, but 40 years later they are enjoying the fruits of coming through a frustrating time focused on changing their transportation system for the better. They have made many, many (many) changes, big and small, to get to the top of the 2025 UNICEF Report for happy kids. This is probably the point in the article where you might be thinking “well, but winter ...” I encourage us to stop using winter as a reason for dallying on strategies to move conveniently and safely without a personal vehicle. Plenty of winter cities around the world have found a way. In Oulu, Finland, thousands of kids bike to school in the depths of winter. Montreal has also made great leaps to tackle their ice and snow. Let’s move on from this excuse. It’s time for us adults to do the work and give kids in Winnipeg the chance to move freely, safely and happily here, too. Mel Marginet is part of the sustainable transportation team at Green Action Centre and she’s the publisher at Great Plains Press, which publishes The City Project.

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WFP: Without key data, transit plan lacked direction (F
by Beth McKechnie 05 Feb '26

05 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Without key data, transit plan lacked direction Tech problems meant city ill-equipped to make necessary adjustments to new network https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/02/04/without-key-gps-d… FOR the first six months after Winnipeg Transit’s $20.4-million network overhaul, city officials had little information to assess how well the new system was working. The city’s data had been plagued by a faulty GPS tracking system that left major gaps in the first four months of ridership and performance numbers, which prevented Winnipeg transit from making significant adjustments to the network. Flaws in the vision meant to rekindle the city’s relationship with transit have been widely reported — ridership is down, service hours are shorter and passengers are so underwhelmed, some users, in rare cases, have reportedly bought cars for the first time. Instead of encouraging more Winnipeggers onto the bus, the system appears to be driving users away. The Free Press/Narwhal set out to understand when and why ridership was lagging. While the independent analysis showed declines on weeknights and weekends are far steeper than previously reported, transit officials warned the city’s publicly available figures are unreliable. The city’s own data analysis, which estimates daily ridership based on sensors installed on about 20 per cent of the buses, shows the average weekday passengers dropped nearly 14 per cent this fall compared to a year ago, and is expected to result in a $8.5-million hit to fare revenue this year. Bjorn Radstrom, manager of service development for Winnipeg Transit, said the problem with transit’s GPS system — which was not resolved until early November — meant the city was missing reliable information from September and October, the busiest months of the year, leaving him “leery to draw any solid conclusions” from the numbers. “The GPS problem has tied our hands far more than people realize,” Radstrom said. The lack of information is problematic, particularly during the early stages of an overhaul, Orly Linovski, an associate professor of city planning at the University of Manitoba, said. “It’s impossible to make evidence-informed decisions if we don’t have the evidence,” Linovski said. Passenger counts are one of several metrics transit planners use to evaluate whether the network is working as intended, identify problem areas and make future adjustments. In the wake of what Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham had called the “most significant change to transit” in the city’s history, a lack of reliable ridership numbers and on-time performance data made planning decisions more challenging, Radstrom said. Still, “we do know ridership has dropped,” he said. “There’s no question.” Between September and December 2025, approximately 178,500 people boarded a bus every weekday, down 14 per cent from just over 207,000 the year prior. But according to the Free Press/Narwhal analysis, ridership appears to decline more steeply after students and rush-hour commuters get home. Passenger counts decreased 23 per cent during the evening hours (6:30-10:30 p.m.), while nighttime ridership (after 10:30 p.m.) dropped nearly 40 per cent. Weekend drops were even more dramatic, prompting surprise from Radstrom. While he later confirmed the Free Press/Narwhal’s calculations were correct based on the publicly available passenger counts, he stressed the city’s data was unreliable. The city only sampled about half the number of trips it normally would on Saturdays and Sundays, meaning the counts are more likely to be inaccurate, he explained, and are based almost exclusively on November and December, when ridership starts a seasonal tail-off. Based on data from the tap-to-ride (Peggo) fare system and ticket sales, Winnipeg Transit calculated ridership dropped 22 per cent on Saturdays and 18 per cent on Sundays. Those drops are each about 50 percentage points lower than the numbers in the city’s publicly available database — further demonstrating a marked disparity between datasets. As part of the network redesign, transit reduced late-night operating hours. As a result, the Free Press/Narwhal analysis found, the number of nighttime bus trips across the city dropped 22 per cent on weekday evenings and nearly 50 per cent on weekday nights. The nighttime service cuts were widely criticized by riders, prompting the city to extend hours for its on-demand service. In the spring, it plans to juggle some route schedules to extend service until after midnight. “We wanted to start doing this in September with the summer data, but we didn’t have it because of GPS problems,” he said. “We also wanted to start doing it earlier with fall data, but we didn’t have it.” It’s only in recent weeks Radstrom and other planners have been able to “dig in” and plan adjustments for spring. Radstrom said transit wants to “demonstrate some actual progress” when April’s schedule is released, and will be able to “do a few really good things … but not as much as if we’d had all the data for the full amount of time we wanted it.” On Wednesday, transit delivered an unplanned verbal report to the public works committee acknowledging the GPS issues have now been resolved to within one per cent of baseline error levels. Linovski said the city needs more than just numbers to assess how well the new network is performing. “(Ridership data) gives us no information about why people are taking transit or not taking transit. It gives us no information about what their experience is like on transit,” she said, suggesting surveying users and non-users would help form a clearer picture. “Service really needs to improve if you’re going to switch people over to transit.” A 2018 study by the Canadian Urban Transit Association has determined a 10 per cent increase in hours a bus is on the road (called vehicle revenue hours) leads to a 10 per cent increase in ridership. The association also found that a 10 per cent increase to operating budgets translates to a 5.5 per cent increase in revenue hours, even when the costs of labour, fuel and maintenance are factored in. Despite steadily increasing its operating budget and allocating more property tax dollars to Winnipeg transit since 2020, it is underfunded compared to agencies across the country. In late January, James Van Gerwen, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents transit operators, was one of several public advocacy group representatives to call on the province to increase climate funding in its upcoming budget. Van Gerwen advocated specifically for the province to restore a 50-50 transit funding partnership with the City of Winnipeg that was cut in 2016. Since then, the Manitoba government has provided about $42 million to Winnipeg Transit every year. But as transit’s operating budget has grown, the province’s share of the costs has shrunk to just 15 per cent. Van Gerwen is confident “the ridership will be there” with a properly funded system that can commit to expanded service, more safety and more reliability. Radstrom is on the same page. He expected some people to stop riding the bus as service changed, but that ridership would recover as new users realized there is “better, more frequent service closer to them,” he said. A healthier budget would allow him to implement the changes needed to make the system convenient for more riders, he said. julia-simone.rutgers(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Step in right direction: GPS issues on buses fixed, Transit says (Feb5'26)
by Beth McKechnie 05 Feb '26

05 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Step in right direction: GPS issues on buses fixed, Transit says https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/02/04/step-in-the-right… WINNIPEG Transit says the GPS failure that wreaked havoc with bus schedules for several months has been fixed. That will provide much more extensive and accurate data to help improve the new primary transit network, said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West). “It’s just so huge because there’s a lot of conversation and suggestions and feedback that we’re getting that the buses aren’t connecting (well)… We can now take some of those buses that aren’t being utilized (enough and) put them on routes that need higher frequency, so we can make those connections. This (repair) is huge and this is great news,” said Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee. On July 7, a “widespread” GPS issue meant incorrect bus arrival times appeared on Navigo, bus schedule boards and Transit’s website, Transit previously noted. About 18 to 24 per cent of bus location reports were incorrect at the peak of the problem. On Wednesday, Transit said the number of GPS error messages is now within one per cent of a normal “baseline” error level of about three to four per cent of all reports. That improvement was first achieved in November but hasn’t impacted routes yet, since schedules take time to plan out. Transit expects the more accurate data will start helping to improve some routes in April, since the GPS system collects ridership data as well as bus timing details. Lukes noted the GPS failure began at the worst possible time, shortly after Transit switched to a new route network on June 29, which changed virtually every route in the city. The new spine-and-feeder concept, where direct spines along major corridors are supported by a network of feeder routes, means many rides that begin outside of a main route now require transfers, making bus timing even more important. Lukes said the failures had nothing to do with the route change but added confusion just as riders were learning the new system, noting it wasn’t clear what caused some missed and late buses. Following a presentation at a public works meeting Wednesday, Winnipeg Transit officials said the more accurate data that’s now available will allow the city to pinpoint where some changes are needed. “It gives us the ability to know where our passengers are with a higher degree of certainty. So, when we look at making some of the changes in terms of redistributing frequency (of buses) … we know exactly where and when you want to place the frequency,” said Adam Budowski, a senior Transit planner. “(We’re) looking forward to April (when) we’re making additional changes, more changes to frequency of routes like the F8. We’re improving that even more,” said Budowski. Transit declined to offer further details of upcoming changes, noting those will be released in a future report. The fix should also make some buses easier to track for riders. That’s because arrival times posted online for buses with glitching GPS systems would rely only on the bus schedule, instead of reflecting real-time delays. Winnipeg Transit director Greg Ewankiw said the issue required a lengthy process to fix. “We had to install a cable on each bus. And as you get to the older models of buses, the cabling becomes more complex, so it actually takes longer for each bus to (be fixed),” said Ewankiw. He said about 45 remaining buses still have cable issues that are now being addressed, a relatively small portion of Transit’s 640-bus fleet. “We actually have better reporting (on locations) now than what we did before this problem even started,” said Ewankiw. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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Globe editorial on plowing bike lanes and sidewalks
by feaver＠mts.net 04 Feb '26

04 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. This was the Globe and Mail's editorial yesterday: The slippery politics of snow removal The Editorial Board Published Yesterday Open this photo in gallery:<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/v2/5VLMW5TCONDQVN2E5VJLBVF5Y4.JPG?a…> [cid:image001.jpg@01DC95C0.B1A6A460]<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/v2/5VLMW5TCONDQVN2E5VJLBVF5Y4.JPG?a…> Bike lanes running along Toronto's Bloor Street remain blocked on Sunday, Feb. 1, a week after the city received a historic dump of snow. Kathryn Mannie/The Canadian Press 189 Comments<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-the-slippery-pol…> After a recent snowstorm hit Southern Ontario, an obvious pecking order revealed itself in Toronto. The roads were clear enough within days that drivers could move around at will. But people on foot or bike were left to fight through uncleared snow for more than a week. This was not the first time the city has struggled to deal with the aftermath of a storm. Who could forget former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman calling in the army and making the city butt of a national joke? But snow removal is no laughing matter. Delays in clearing can leave people trapped at home, or put them in dangerous situations. Doing it right is one of the fundamental responsibilities of local government. Snow clearing is also a matter of political choices. It's understandable that no city will have enough equipment and personnel to dig out immediately after an atypical snowstorm. The roughly 50 centimetres that fell on Toronto late in January was the snowiest single day on record. So choices have to be made, priorities determined. The choice not to clear many sidewalks and bike lanes is one Mayor Olivia Chow must wear. Something failed here. If the policy is the problem, change the policy. If crews are shirking, light a fire under them. If the snow-removal contracts Ms. Chow inherited are flawed, renegotiate them. Toronto is still digging out of a record-breaking dump of snow<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-toronto-is-still-digging-out…> Frustratingly, Toronto also fell down on the job<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-toronto-falls-do…> of clearing sidewalks promptly after another storm, less than a year ago. Was nothing learned? This pattern breaks the deal the city made with residents. Toronto pushes much of its growth to a small number of areas, which puts a premium on sidewalk space there. As well, the city no longer requires new developments to include parking spots. The logic is that local roads can't absorb more traffic, so many new residents will opt to walk or ride bicycles. However, Toronto is not living up to its side of the bargain: providing safe spaces for active transportation. Clearing snow is, like picking up garbage or running transit or keeping water fountains flowing, among the key tasks of big-city government. Doing these well is table stakes for urban life, allowing people to spend their time, safely and pleasantly, out in public. More stories below advertisement Before the rest of the country snickers too much at Toronto's winter woes, these are tests more easily aimed at than achieved. Snow clearing is a perennial complaint in cities across Canada. In many cases, people are right to complain. This is not kvetching, this is demanding competence. Without proper snow clearing, people can't get around. And it's illustrative to note just who gets left behind. Uncleared snow can result in disabled people being unable to leave home. Anyone with a stroller or a cart faces tough slogging. Cyclists are forced into traffic with motor vehicles, a dangerous scenario the city has spent tens of millions of dollars building infrastructure to prevent. Delivery riders risk their lives to bring food. This is unacceptable, particularly for a city as obsessed with equity as Toronto. Digging out? How to minimize the toll shovelling snow takes on your body<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/advice/article-shovelling-snow-how-to-…> With the city missing in action after the storm, many Torontonians stepped up to clear the sidewalk in front of their home. That's to be commended. But that it fell to them illustrates the inequity at play. The city wouldn't dream of relying on residents to shovel the road. Adding to the insult, the city gaslit its residents. There are examples of people complaining about a particular stretch of uncleared snow and being told that it had been taken care of, although it hadn't been. This recalls dishonesty after the storm last winter, when the city claimed sidewalks had been plowed while simple observation showed they hadn't. There was also policy incoherence. Some transit stops were cleared by moving the snow to an adjacent bicycle lane. Curb-lane parking spots on residential streets were being cleared out before all sidewalks were properly plowed. The approach must be rethought before the next storm. The first priority should be to ensure roads are clear enough for emergency vehicles to get through. Beyond that, deploy resources so that no manner of getting around is disadvantaged. Or, better yet, make the political choice to tackle snow removal more aggressively on sidewalks and bicycle lanes than roads. Cars can be mounted with snow tires but people can't, leaving them more vulnerable to winter conditions. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-the-slippery-pol…

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WFP: Nearly real-time look at plowing (Feb4'26)
by Beth McKechnie 04 Feb '26

04 Feb '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. NEARLY REAL-TIME LOOK AT PLOWING THE City of Winnipeg has updated its snow-clearing operations map to allow pedestrians to see where sidewalks and paths have been plowed in near real time. The city is now using automatic vehicle location technology built into its clearing equipment to update its online map every 15 minutes with the latest plowing progress on sidewalks, pathways and bike lanes, the municipal government said Tuesday. Previously, staff entered the information manually for an entire area, typically at the end of a 12-hour snow-clearing shift. “Winnipeggers want clear, timely information they can rely on,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham in a news release. “By using automatic vehicle location technology, we’re giving residents near real-time updates on snow-clearing progress so they can plan their trips safely and confidently.” https://www.winnipeg.ca/people-culture/our-city-our-stories/updating-you-fa…

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WFP: Analysis mixed on $900-million Chief Peguis extension (Jan30'26)
by Beth McKechnie 30 Jan '26

30 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Analysis mixed on $900-million Chief Peguis extension https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/01/29/analysis-mixed-on… SUPPORTERS of a $900-million proposal to extend the Chief Peguis Trail predict it would help spark the construction of 15,000 new homes and create thousands of new jobs, while raising $59 million annually in new city tax revenue. Critics of the project that would extend Chief Peguis from Main Street to Brookside Boulevard say the money would be much better spent on other transportation priorities. A city staff report released Thursday shares details from a cost-benefit analysis of the project, which is now expected to cost $759 million. The city would spend another $140 million on interest if it funds the construction solely through debt. A Deloitte analysis concludes benefits of the project would exceed its costs by $42 million, down from a previous estimate of $98 million. However, city staff say more advanced traffic modelling shows the project would reduce more congestion than first expected, leading to higher “time savings” in travel. That could raise the estimated benefits to nearly $280 million, the city says. An interview request was not granted Thursday, so further details of the estimate were not available. Mayor Scott Gillingham said the massive investment would pay off, no matter which number the city relies on. “I really do believe as we continue to grow… the extension of Chief Peguis Trail is very important for the future of Winnipeg,” said Gillingham. The mayor promised to pursue the project during his 2022 election campaign, declaring it a key trade corridor. The benefits of extending the thoroughfare go beyond reducing commute times, to “create new homes and job opportunities in northwest Winnipeg,” the staff report states. Specifically, the extension should help develop an area next to CentrePort Canada, paving the way to create 5,600 jobs and make more housing development possible, it says. The municipal government can’t afford to fund the project alone, however, since the massive price would not fit within the city’s self-imposed debt limit, said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works. Lukes (Waverley West) said the extension should be prioritized for potential provincial and federal funding in the future, especially if the senior governments seek new infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy. “We can’t do it alone…. (But) in today’s day and age, we have to be prepared,” she said. The city predicts the provincial and federal governments would collect $65 million each annually in new tax dollars when land adjacent to the project is fully developed. However, critics say it is far too expensive and will take scarce resources away from other necessary projects. Coun. Matt Allard said the analysis shows the extension doesn’t justify its cost. “I find the cost benefit to be low relative to the investment. We have enough liabilities in the city… that we need to fund,” said Allard (St. Boniface). “I don’t think we need to go and pick up a big new one.” If the city is willing to spend $900 million, it should instead split that money between Winnipeg Transit and renewing existing roads, he said. “All of a sudden (you would have) a transportation system that’s much better and a whole lot less potholes,” he said. An environmental activist would also like the city to spend its money elsewhere. “This (project) is going to just increase car dependence even further and we’re going to push that traffic into other neighbourhoods,” said Mel Marginet, a member of the Green Action Centre’s sustainable transportation team. Marginet said the benefits of the project appear to be dwindling. She believes spending more money on Winnipeg Transit instead would help decrease Winnipeggers’ reliance on single-occupant vehicles, a goal of the city’s Transportation Master Plan. “We’re seeing… lower and lower cost benefit analysis projections…. (And) we know it’s going to take money away from (key) transit projects,” she said. The mayor said he’s open to considering more transit spending, but stressed the city is already making significant investments in the new primary transit network, which it launched in June. City council is expected to consider the Chief Peguis Trail extension in its next strategic priorities action plan, with work on that expected to begin sometime after the Oct. 28 municipal election. The cost benefit analysis report does not recommend any immediate spending on the project. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Online database, city hall exhibition showcase photos of civic transit over the decades (Jan26'26)
by Beth McKechnie 26 Jan '26

26 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Online database, city hall exhibition showcase photos of civic transit over the decades Riding through history https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/01/25/riding-through-hi… THE transit buses, trolleys and Red River carts that carried Winnipeggers around for nearly 150 years are the driving force behind a new city project. The city’s archives department is in the process of preserving thousands of photos showing the history of civic transit in Winnipeg. Hundreds of photos are already available to view from a searchable database online. A select few will be part of a temporary exhibition at city hall. Until recently, the photos were sitting unseen in the yellowing pages of more than two dozen photo albums on shelves tucked away at Winnipeg Transit’s complex on Osborne Street. Members of the Manitoba Transit Heritage Association said they are thrilled the public will have the collection at their fingertips any time they want. “I think this is a really wonderful project,” said David Wyatt, secretary of the association. “We’ve seen some of the historic photos through the many, many years and they are great.” Alex Regiec, the heritage association’s vice-president, spent 30 years working at Winnipeg Transit in its operations department. He said the organization helped city archivists identify some of the photos. “When I worked at Transit they were in a series of binders close to my office,” he said. “I put the annual calendar together and drew on the photos for it. They were in good shape. “I’m very happy they are in very good hands.” Sarah Ramsden, senior archivist with the archives, said her department is pleased to house the collection. She said 600 of the 6,000 photos her department received are now online, with others to follow. Those that can’t go online due to copyright will still be preserved and the records available at the archives. “The exhibit is to make this collection better known,” said Ramsden. “We wanted to give people a little taste of what we have.” Greg Ewankiw, director of Winnipeg Transit, is also pleased the public will now have access, especially since between himself, his dad, brother, son and son-in-law, his family has spent 83 years at the public transit agency. “I drove a bus for 14 years,” Ewankiw said. “My father drove (an electric trolley). “We are so pleased the archivists could take this on and preserve it for everyone.” Gwen Friesen, an archival intern at the archives, recalls spending much of 2025 going through the photo collection and adding information to each including the photographer’s name, the type of vehicle, and where the photo was taken. “It was overwhelming to see so many and to know each one of them was going to get a description,” Friesen said. “It was a bit daunting at first… when I first saw them they were on a couple of shelves in very thick binders full of thousands of photos.” Friesen said the oldest photo in the collection is from 1882, showing a horse pulling an enclosed car. There is an even older photo from 1880, showing people being pulled in a Red River cart, but that image belongs to the Manitoba Archives Collection. Within a few years there was rail on the road, electric lines in the air, and streetcars were pushing aside the horsecars. From there came trolleys and, ultimately, different types of diesel buses over the decades. Friesen said the most recent photo is from 2005, when the first low-floor buses came into service. Regiec, whose organization preserves a collection of more than a dozen former Winnipeg Transit buses and others from Grey Goose, Northern Bus Lines and Beaver Bus Lines, said his favourite photos are ones showing trolleys. “I grew up in Winnipeg and, with my mom, I went on the North Main-Corydon route,” he said. “I have memories of the pole coming off the (electrical line) at Selkirk and Main Street and the driver, no matter what the weather, would have to go out and connect it again. “Now everyone can see what they looked like at the time.” The photos can be viewed at: wfp.to/transitarchive<http://wfp.to/transitarchive>. The temporary exhibit is set up on the main floor of the Susan A. Thompson building at city hall at 510 Main St. It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca> [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] CITY OF WINNIPEG ARCHIVES [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] Above: Bus No. 138 heads eastbound along Portage Avenue in 1987. Left: Children in formal wear prepare to board a chartered gasoline bus pointing south on Memorial Boulevard in 1929. [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] Streetcars sit on Portage Avenue in front of the Osler Hammond & Nanton Building in the 1940s. CITY OF WINNIPEG ARCHIVES [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] Above: A man holds hands with two children in front of westbound streetcar No. 672 on Route 21 on Portage Avenue at Edmonton Street in this undated photo. The Eaton's department store is visible in the background. CITY OF WINNIPEG ARCHIVES [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] CITY OF WINNIPEG ARCHIVES [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] Left: A White Star Manufacturing horse-drawn cart in 1902. Right: Trolley bus No. 1540 heads east on route 73 (Sargent Avenue) passing Richmond Pharmacy (495 Sargent Ave.) in the 1940s. [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…] Sarah Ramsden (left), senior archivist, and Gwen Friesen, archival intern at the City of Winnipeg Archives, with the binders with yellowing pages in which many of the photos were stored for decades at the transit offices. Ramsden holds one of the photos depicting Winnipeg Electric Street Railway streetcar No. 10 on the St. Johns-Kildonan route, ca. 1892–1904 (City of Winnipeg Archives, Box A2266, File 62, Item 4.) MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

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WFP: Police looking to be wheely fast on electric bikes (Jan21'26)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Police looking to be wheely fast on electric bikes https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/01/21/police-looking-to… Police won’t be working up a sweat while chasing criminals this summer — they will be on e-bikes. The Winnipeg Police Service has issued a tender to buy 16 electric bikes in time for spring. Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Stephen Spencer said the bikes will be divided equally across the city in the service’s four districts for its foot patrol and community support units. “Bicycle patrols allow officers to respond more rapidly, engage easily with the public, get place to place with speed and operate in areas that would otherwise be inaccessible using traditional modes of transportation,” Spencer said Wednesday. “Similar police e-bike programs in other major Canadian cities have proven successful and have been welcomed by the community. It is another tool available to officers to better meet and enhance community expectations.” Marc Cohoe, of Bike Winnipeg, said officers will quickly realize the benefits of cycling instead of driving. “I think it’s a nice idea. Having police on bikes, as opposed to a car, it gives you that personal touch and a more live interaction,” Cohoe said. “It humanizes officers.” E-bikes, compared to the pedal-driven bicycles used in the past by police officers, will give them the ability to go further and faster to respond to calls or take action, Cohoe said. “The e-bike gives you a lot more range. You’re not as restricted as you are on foot,” he said. St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard, who regularly walks or cycles from his ward to city hall, said police will see several benefits when going through areas of the city on two wheels. “I walked from Provencher to city hall (on Wednesday) and I saw things I would never have seen if I was in a car,” Allard said. “When you think about boots on the ground, I think the bicycle is jut the right speed, especially for riding the beat. They’ll be able to see a lot, plus they will be faster than on foot. I see this as a good step.” Deadline for the tender is Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP Editorial: Fixing Winnipeg Transit’s core problems (Jan20'26)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Jan '26

20 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. EDITORIAL Fixing Winnipeg Transit’s core problems https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2026/01/20/fixing-winn… WINNIPEG Transit’s latest ridership numbers are sobering, but they should not be surprising. Between September and December 2025, average daily ridership fell by 14 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, dropping to about 178,500 from 207,224. City officials have pointed to reduced immigration and the upheaval of a once-in-a-generation network overhaul as explanations. Both matter. But focusing too heavily on either risks missing the deeper, longer-standing problems that continue to push people off the bus in Winnipeg. There is truth to the immigration argument. Winnipeg Transit manager of service development, Bjorn Radstrom, is right to note that international students and temporary foreign workers tend to rely on transit at higher rates than the general population. Federal caps on international students have cut Manitoba’s allocation dramatically, and national immigration targets are lower than they were just a few years ago. Fewer newcomers inevitably means fewer transit riders, and Winnipeg is not alone in seeing ridership soften as a result. Mayor Scott Gillingham is correct that this is a national trend. But immigration numbers do not tell the whole story, and they do not absolve the city of responsibility. Ridership was already fragile before Ottawa changed course. Winnipeg Transit has struggled for years with problems riders know all too well: buses that do not show up on time, routes so overcrowded that drivers pass people by and schedules that cannot be relied on for something as basic as getting to work or school. These are not abstract complaints. They are daily experiences that teach people, over and over again, that the bus is a risk. The new primary network, launched in June 2025, was supposed to address some of those weaknesses by simplifying routes and focusing service where demand is highest. In principle, it made sense. In practice, however, the rollout has been painful for many riders. Some trips now take significantly longer, while others require transfers that add uncertainty and inconvenience. Evening service has been cut on certain routes, leaving students and shift workers scrambling for alternatives. City council and transit officials insist adjustments are being made each season, and that the full picture will only be clear by mid-2026. That may be true. But for riders who lost service that worked for them, patience is hard to summon. The uncomfortable reality is that Winnipeg attempted a major transit redesign without first fixing the underlying issue that undermines everything else: chronic underfunding. High-level routes are only attractive if buses come often enough that riders do not have to consult a timetable or worry about missing a connection. Reliability improves when spare capacity exists to absorb disruptions. None of that is possible on the cheap. If Winnipeg truly wants to reverse the decline, it needs to make the bus a default choice again — not a last resort. That means more buses on the road, higher frequency across the network and continued investments in transit priority measures that make trips faster and more predictable. It means acknowledging that complaints about pass-ups and unreliable schedules are not growing pains, but warning signs. Ridership will not magically rebound with warmer weather or better marketing. It will improve when people can trust that the bus will be there, on time, and often enough to fit real lives. Until the city and the province commit the funding required to make that happen, Winnipeg Transit’s struggles will continue — regardless of how many newcomers arrive or how elegant the network map looks on paper.

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WFP: Fewer newcomers, bus network overhaul blamed for ridership drop (Jan17'26)
by Beth McKechnie 17 Jan '26

17 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Bus network overhaul, fewer newcomers cited in seasonal drop Winnipeg Transit ridership plummets https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/01/16/fewer-newcomers-b… FEWER people rode Winnipeg Transit in the fall, a trend some blame on reduced immigration and a recent bus network overhaul. Transit data shows average daily rider counts fell 14 per cent in September to December 2025, when compared to the same period of the previous year. The average rider count fell to 178,505 from 207,224. “This is on track for what I thought we would see … The fact that it’s that much, (since we) were already seeing a ridership drop for other reasons, it doesn’t surprise me. We just now need to work at addressing what the issues are, making the improvements and making sure the system’s as good as it can be,” said Bjorn Radstrom, Winnipeg Transit’s manager of service development. Radstrom said ridership began to decline several months before Transit implemented a new primary network that changed virtually every route in the system on June 29, 2025. He believes the initial reduction is directly tied to federal policy changes that reduced immigration, leading fewer temporary foreign workers and international students to come to Winnipeg. “Those are groups of people that tend to use transit at a higher rate than the general population … so that would definitely explain some of the drop in ridership,” he said. Radstrom said other passengers likely did stop taking the bus due to the network change, adding to the decline. “You’ve got the one group of people that the new system is not better for and some of them might have decided not to take transit … What’s going to drive an increase in ridership is people who have never really considered taking the bus before who now have better service available to them. But it takes time for them to learn it’s there, realize it’s there and to give it a shot,” he said. Radstrom said he hopes more people will start to discover their Transit routes have improved this spring. Mayor Scott Gillingham said many Canadian cities saw public transit ridership decline in late 2024, likely due to immigration changes. Manitoba was allotted 11,196 spots for international students this year, due to a federal cap, down from 18,951 in 2025. The latest federal immigration plan aims to add 380,000 new permanent residents across Canada in 2026, down from a 485,000 target in 2024. Those opting not to board buses due to the network changes should be aware the city is closely monitoring Transit and making changes in response to public feedback, said Gillingham. “We’re making record investments in the transit system, and it’s been a significant, monumental change (with the network) that we have introduced to transit. It’s going to take some time for that change to settle in,” he said. The mayor said the city should be able to better gauge the full impact of the network around June 2026, one year after it took effect. “We’ve made the most significant change to transit … in, really, probably the city’s history … We’ll continue to monitor the data and see what adjustments need to be made,” said Gillingham. The new network has triggered many rider complaints, with some passengers stating their routes now take far longer to complete, while others said service ends too early for them to get home from school or work. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said the city has made adjustments every season to respond to feedback, which will continue. She stressed the new network is not the only factor driving down ridership. “We didn’t expect the hit with the international students … On transit ridership, it’s a massive hit, if you don’t have thousands of people taking the bus because they’re not in the country,” said Lukes (Waverley West). The councillor said the lost fare revenue will pose a challenge to the city’s bottom line. The head of a group that has long pushed for more Transit spending said the new network was needed, even if it led some riders to stop taking the bus. “There’s no going back. This was emergency foundation repair. There is no way that we could truly grow as a city under the old system,” said Kyle Owens, president of Functional Transit Winnipeg. Rider frustration should be expected, though, because the city has long failed to spend enough money on Transit to ensure the system operates as frequently as it should, said Owens. “This changeover was not a changeover to an ideal transit system. The system is still vastly underfunded,” he said. To attract more riders, Owens suggested Transit speed up bus trips by adding more Transit corridors and bus priority signals at intersections. The signals give buses a head start before all other traffic. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP Columnist: More and more parking spaces amid empty promises (Jan9'26)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Jan '26

11 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. More and more parking spaces amid empty promises https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/2026/01/09/more-and-mo… I tell my teenage stepdaughter to slow the car down as the security guard approaches. I’m giving her an evening driving lesson in the most obvious venue in West Broadway — the enormous, barren expanse of concrete that is the parking lot behind the Canada Life buildings on Osborne Street. The guard knocks on the window and asks us what we’re doing on the property. I explain, but he asks us to leave. I explain we’re going to have to switch drivers but then we’d be on our way. We head out to the Hydro parking lot on Taylor Avenue, where I first learned to drive years ago. While disappointing, this less-than-warm greeting should have been expected from the company formerly known as Great West Life. For years as I passed by, I watched as the old house at 51 Balmoral St., adjacent to the parking lot, slowly rotted in place. The story goes that it was the last home standing after Great West Life flattened all surrounding dwellings during their expansion in the 1970s and ’80s. The owner was elderly, and wished only to die in the home, upon which it would be forfeited to the company and slated for demolition with the others. However, the resident lived long enough that the house was designated of historical value and levelling it was no longer an option. So, the company was saddled with a structure they wished to remove to make way for even more parking. I was on the West Broadway Development Corporation board during the years Great West Life was desperately trying to offload 51 Balmoral, lest it remain saddled with its increasingly expensive upkeep. Eventually the decision to allow demolition came to a vote for the board. I was the lone holdout against demolition that eventually resulted in Great West Life partnering with the YMCA to renovate and expand the house into a 100-space daycare, with 90 of those spaces reserved for its own employees. I recall thinking at the time, “What was so difficult about that? Why couldn’t it have repurposed it long ago instead of fighting us for so long?” But it shouldn’t have surprised me. Because the history of Great West Life/Canada Life in West Broadway is one of ceaseless unneighbourliness and willful ignorance to the needs of the community in which it conducts its business. The area upon which Canada Life now stands was once home to Shea’s Brewery, Osborne Stadium and the Winnipeg Amphitheatre, a hallowed and unheated building from where the first hockey game ever broadcast by radio was played. It was also home to an apartment building and eight heritage homes on the first block of Whitehall Avenue. All eventually made way for 450 vehicles to park. In the 1970s, Great West Life petitioned the city to demolish not only the homes on the remaining block of Whitehall, but also the homes on Good Street and on the east side of Balmoral. Its design promised condominiums and rental units, and only a modest increase in parking spaces. Of course, we got none of the housing, and parking in a decidedly immodest quantity. The result? West Broadway was gutted of its historic homes, its cohesiveness and dignity as a residential community, and, importantly, much of the mixed-income housing our city now so desperately needs. The homes that remain on Balmoral, overlooking the “graveyard” of their once-neighbours, are a testament to the fine architecture that was laid to waste in the pursuit of parking stalls and empty promises. Now, when the city has agreed to build back some of the housing that was destroyed, promised and ultimately never delivered by Great West Life, the Granite Curling Club is paying the price through the loss of its parking lot. The club has reported it's been unable to make any long-term arrangements with Canada Life to use even a portion of its embarrassing legacy of neighbourhood erasure to serve the community in which it dwells. Instead, the last companion of the original stadium and arena continues to be crowded out by the land-hungry insurance giant. The present moment offers an elegant opportunity for penance. It’s long past time to recognize that the housing being built on the Granite’s lot is a mere fraction of what Great West Life themselves promised for the neighbourhood, and trading that for the parking which replaced it is an act of neighbourhood reconciliation desperately needed if this city is to define a better path forward. With 67 years of encroachment upon the lives of the people of West Broadway, Canada Life might do well to remind themselves of an old adage: the best time to make amends is yesterday, and the next best time to do so is today. winnipegfreepress.com/rebeccachambers<http://winnipegfreepress.com/rebeccachambers>

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WFP Editorial: Transit service must be dependable (Jan8'26)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Jan '26

08 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. EDITORIAL Transit service must be dependable https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2026/01/08/transit-ser… IF there’s anything worse for a public-transportation user than waiting in the winter cold for a Winnipeg Transit bus that never arrives, it surely must be waiting for a bus that does arrive but, being already overpacked with a standing-room complement of riders, passes by without stopping or opening its doors. That, however, is the reality currently faced by too many users of Winnipeg’s transit system, which last year underwent a massive reorganization of its routes and schedules in an effort to make the service more efficient, more reliable and — perhaps most important — more appealing to this city’s car-dependent population as a viable option for getting from one place to another. According to data released in December by Winnipeg Transit, the number of pass-ups — defined as when a bus is too full to allow more passengers to board, or is unable to accommodate a wheelchair either because the bus is too full or both wheelchair positions are already in use — experienced by the service last September (3,375) was the second-highest on record, eclipsed only by the 3,414 that occurred in September 2019. Between September and November last year, 6,971 pass-ups were recorded (bus operators have access to a button which is pressed when a passup occurs), compared to 5,779 in the same period the previous year. In 2019, 8,297 were recorded. “Defeating” is how one frequent rider characterized his recent pass-up experiences after waiting for scheduled buses but being unable to catch a ride home from work, adding “when it happens so frequently, it feels like no one cares and they’re not trying to fix it.” That is definitely not a description befitting a transit service that has become more efficient, reliable and/or appealing to its users. In fairness, Winnipeg Transit has been, and still is, attempting to address the deficiencies in its reconfigured system. Major overhauls such as the one the service enacted last year are bound to experience setbacks, hiccups, frustrations or whatever other term one might use to describe a failure for performance to match promise. Since the June 29 imposition of the new primary transit network — replacing the long-established model with a more streamlined configuration in which “feeder” buses connect riders with a smaller number of primary “spine” routes — Transit has made numerous adjustments, based in large part on feedback from (mostly dissatisfied) customers. But the system remains very much a work in progress, as evidenced by the recently released pass-up figures, and the reasons offered by Transit officials — including a return to full service levels on all routes (many had been reduced during the pandemic) and the fact some transit users are having difficulty adjusting to the route reorganization — will provide little comfort to those enduring the frozen frustration of being passed up by yet another overburdened bus. It also must be noted that the unacceptable pass-up rate is not the only critical issue with which the public-transit enterprise is grappling. Fare evasion and the on-board safety of both operators and passengers remain serious concerns that also affect public perception of the service and discourage ridership on buses. But nothing is more fundamental to the viability of public transport than it being readily available to those who have chosen to use it. For a full-time transit user, transit is their route to work, school or home — it isn’t optional. Leaving would-be passengers stranded at stops thousands of times per month — particularly during a winter city’s most inhospitable season — while overcrowded buses pass them by is a failure that must be addressed before Winnipeg can expect the public to get on board, both literally and figuratively, with public transportation.

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WFP: Highway Traffic Act amendment in effect Jan 1 - sets out rules for drivers when passing cyclists (Jan3'26)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Jan '26

03 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT AMENDMENT IN EFFECT A LAW passed last spring to protect highway workers and people on Manitoba roads came into force Jan. 1. The Highway Traffic Amendment Act (Traffic Safety Measures) sets out rules for drivers when passing cyclists and winter maintenance vehicles. Tow-truck drivers and roadside assistance operators can now place cones and signs to alert drivers and divert traffic from work zones. Drivers approaching or passing snowplows with blue warning lights activated must stay back 30 metres on roads with an 80 km/h speed limit or lower, and 100 metres on roads with a speed limit above 80 km/h. Drivers must not pass if the view ahead is obstructed or passing risks interfering with the vehicle or work. The law also requires a safe passing distance for cyclists. Drivers must leave at least one metre of space when passing — a requirement already in place in other provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario.

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WFP: Giving pedestrians a head start on vehicles improves safety, has no effect on traffic, city finds (Jan2'25)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Jan '26

03 Jan '26

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Giving pedestrians a head start on vehicles improves safety, has no effect on traffic, city finds https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/01/02/giving-pedestrian… City staff are giving pedestrian head starts at downtown intersections the green light, and are working to expand the safety measure to locations further from the core. The four- to six-second delay for vehicles waiting at red lights — referred to as leading pedestrian intervals — were installed at 91 of downtown’s 111 intersections in March; 65 per cent at all four corners and the rest at two. In a report that will be presented to city council’s public works committee Thursday, David Patman, the city’s manager of transportation planning, said analyzing video taken at 10 of the intersections, both before and after the interval was implemented, found a “reduction in conflict rate” between pedestrians and drivers. “This lead time allowed pedestrians to establish themselves in the intersection and become more visible to drivers,” Patman wrote in the report, which was published online Friday. “It resulted in an increased time gap between conflicting vehicles and crossing pedestrians.” The initiative also found “no significant changes” to traffic congestion downtown as a result of the short delay. City staff are in the process of deciding how many of Winnipeg’s approximately 560 signals outside of downtown should have the interval installed. Patman said they are considering the level of risk and possible safety improvements, using factors, including the volume of crossings by people on foot, and the proximity to schools, hospitals, senior facilities and major transit stops, among others. “Candidate locations should be carefully selected to ensure that safety benefits can be achieved without adding unnecessary delay to high-volume Winnipeg roads,” said Patman. Public works chair Janice Lukes said expanding the project is a no-brainer. “I love it, because it’s virtually no cost other than the staff figuring out where to do it, and then we just change the timing of the lights in the central station,” she said Friday. Lukes said it’s important for historically dangerous streets for pedestrians be prioritized. “When you look at the map that is in the transportation master plan, streets like McPhillips (have) all these dots of collisions,” she said. The report said staff will consider safety studies, pedestrian volume and area with higher rates of poverty when deciding which streets to prioritize. Some signals, like those on Goulet and Marion streets, have upcoming reviews already planned, and will receive the new timing during those reviews. There is no added cost to implement leading pedestrian intervals and takes about 90 minutes per signal using existing staff. The project will be carried out over the next five years, with 60-75 new leading pedestrian intervals installed yearly. Approximately 275 pedestrians were involved in vehicle accidents downtown, including 13 that resulted in major injuries and eight in fatalities from 2015 to 2022. The Winnipeg Police Service said nine pedestrians died last year after being hit by vehicles. In total, there were 17 fatal crashes. Hillary Rosentreter, an advocate for safety improvements on Winnipeg streets, said she’s noticed a significant difference when walking or cycling across downtown since the leading pedestrian intervals were introduced. “You’re able to get yourself into a position where you’re most of the way through the intersection, or at the very least, extremely visible before drivers are even meant to start moving,” she said. “Visibility is a big factor in safety.” She’d like the expansion of the project reach as many streets as possible. “It’s been nice to see… I think they benefit most (in) obviously heavily pedestrianized areas, but would be valuable everywhere that people walk, so anywhere that there’s a sidewalk, basically,” she said. malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP OpEd: We need more Wellington Crescent bike lanes (Dec30'25)
by Beth McKechnie 30 Dec '25

30 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. We need more Wellington Crescent bike lanes KELE SCHRECKENBACH https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/12/30/we-need-more-… AT the beginning of November, the City of Winnipeg announced an initiative to add a temporary bike lane to Wellington Crescent. It will stretch across the entirety of the street, and will, of course, require modifications to how parking and driving work, as well as having the speed limit reduced to 40 km/h. The plan, the city says, is to have these temporary measures in place until the funding can be found for a more permanent solution to be installed. This is a great step for the city to take, and installing this bike lane (and hopefully others like it in the future) will have major benefits for both the city and residents. One of the most obvious benefits is safety. I imagine most people reading this are aware of Rob Jenner, the cyclist who died in a tragic collision with a reckless driver. By adding a protected bike lane (again, ideally not just here but on many other streets as well), we make it safer for cyclists and help to prevent more awful deaths like his from occurring. By reducing the speed limit, it’s also safer for drivers. It’s just common sense: driving more slowly gives more time to react, reducing the chance of a collision. If a collision does occur, it’s at slower speeds, so it has less chance of being fatal. Another benefit is for the residents along Wellington Crescent. It has been proven in other cities that when proper protected bike lanes are installed, more people are willing to cycle. For the residents, this means fewer car trips passing by their house, leading to a quieter street and a quieter life overall. Finally, there’s having the option to not have to drive. No one is saying that the residents aren’t allowed to drive if they want to do so. However, if their car breaks down, or if a trip they need to take (like to the grocery store) is short enough that they don’t need to take the car, or they don’t want to use their car for some other reason, this gives them a different option they can use. Let’s look more closely at a group that benefits from the bike lane, which might seem unintuitive to some people at first glance: drivers. They might look at this proposal and think this will worsen their experience, and I can totally see where they’re coming from. For example, losing a lane (or at least part of a lane) and getting the speed limit lowered might seem very inconvenient. However, the complete opposite is true. By making life better for cyclists, the bike lane entices more people to cycle, leading to less cars on the road. This leads to less time waiting at red lights for drivers, less chance of being blocked by someone needing to make a turn, and just generally more time spent getting where you need to go instead of idling. The cyclists will also be in the bike lane, and not on the street, slowing down the cars behind them, as sometimes happens (to be clear, this is not blaming the cyclists in any way; often they simply don’t have a choice but to go on the road). In short, it leads to fewer impediments and more time spent driving for drivers. On top of all that, there is of course the safety element mentioned earlier. Fewer cars on the road means fewer collisions and potential fatalities. I would like to also address a few other concerns that people may have about the bike lane. A common one that comes up when building bike lanes: the loss of parking. People get worried that spots will be lost due to the bike lane. First and foremost, the city did already do some public consultation, so they will likely try to minimize the impact the best they can. But more importantly, as mentioned previously there will be fewer people driving. Guess what that means? Less competition for parking spots. Another common worry is that the bike lanes will be unusable in winter for a variety of reasons: it’s too cold, too slippery/icy, too unpleasant. While winter biking is not for everyone, that should not be a reason to not build the bike lane. With proper support from the city (properly plowing the lane comes to mind), bike lanes are more than feasible to use, even for people who might not want to use it in incredibly cold temperatures. As stated, this is a great thing for Winnipeg to be doing. Other Canadian cities such as Edmonton, Vancouver and Montreal are already making great strides by adding bike lanes, and I would love a future where our city gets mentioned among the great cities of Canada, like the ones I’ve just mentioned. Let’s get this bike lane built and get started towards creating that future. Kele Schreckenbach is a student at the University of Manitoba who has an interest in urban planning and city design.

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WFP OpEd: Winnipeg Transit: imperfect, but indispensable (Dec29'25)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Dec '25

29 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Winnipeg Transit: imperfect, but indispensable ADAM JOHNSTON https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/12/29/winnipeg-tran… ANOTHER cold morning finds Winnipeg riders shivering at bus stops — delayed buses crawling past, full buses passing them by, safety concerns lingering and fares climbing higher. Yet thousands still depend on transit to reach jobs, classes, recreation and volunteer commitments. As 2025 closes, Winnipeg Transit faces mounting challenges. Revitalizing public transportation is not optional — it is essential. Transit is a public good, the backbone of equity, climate action and economic vitality. Sustained investment and bold support are critical to ensure it serves those who rely on it most. Bus safety is a major concern. Violence has surged — up 281 per cent between 2016 and 2024. Headlines of machetes and air pistols fuel further fear. Mayor Scott Gillingham’s community safety officers, launched in 2024, were meant to reassure riders. Yet with limited authority and risks of racial profiling of Indigenous and racialized riders, results have been underwhelming: 325 violent incidents were reported in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, the new Primary Transit Network promised better service but delivered cuts. Despite some improvements, late-night service was slashed, hitting low-income neighbourhoods hard. Affordability compounds the crisis. Adult fares will climb to $3.45 next year, while Peggo and WINNpass add unnecessary red tape. Around 90 per cent of violent incidents on Winnipeg Transit involve fare disputes — proof rising costs fuel conflict. Trust is collapsing. A 2025 City of Winnipeg survey shows satisfaction with Winnipeg Transit has dropped to 48 per cent, alongside falling ridership compared to 2024. Years of underinvestment have left the system unsafe, unreliable and unaffordable. Winnipeg deserves better. In an uncertain future, transit matters more than ever. With Winnipeg expected to reach one million residents within the next few decades, public transit safeguards the most vulnerable, giving them access to mobility. As Dan Hendry of Kingston, Ont.-based Get on the Bus noted in a November edition of Not Necessarily the Automobile Winnipeg radio show/podcast, transit gives youth access to volunteering, jobs and skill-building, which are critical for adulthood. The financial case is clear: owning a car in Manitoba costs around $12,000 annually. For many in financial crisis, transit is the only fiscally responsible option for transportation. Transit is an effective climate tool, considering nearly half of city emissions come from transportation. Expanding transit cuts emissions, eases congestion and is essential to meeting climate goals. Investment strengthens equity and community health. The Southwest Transitway, opened in 2020, improved cycling access to the University of Manitoba and Blue Bomber games, reducing isolation and connecting neighbourhoods. The choice is stark: remain car-dependent or invest in transit as a lifeline for climate, equity and resilience. Winnipeg will pay a heavy price if we cling to the status quo — or worse, revert to an outdated system that no longer meets the needs of a growing city. Public transit is not a luxury; it is a necessity on par with postal service and health care. Underinvestment in transit threatens Winnipeg’s competitiveness. Strong transit systems attract talent, making cities more vibrant. Prospective newcomers don’t ask about more roadways — they ask if they can get around without a car. Ignoring core transit problems widens inequality. Vulnerable residents — low-income families, Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities and students — depend on buses to access jobs, education, recreation and connection. Cutting service or failing to improve safety only deepens divides. Yes, frustration with Winnipeg Transit is real. But short-term anger must not push us toward greater car dependence. The real danger is derailing the investment needed to build the transit system Winnipeg deserves. Rebuilding trust is key to repairing Winnipeg Transit. Security must improve — but not through more police or community officers. While some feel safer, this heightens tension for racialized and Indigenous Peoples who lack faith in policing. As author and activist James Wilt told The Uniter in 2024, “Law enforcement is systematically racist,” warning that more officers deter riders who fear profiling. Wilt argued investment should go to wraparound supports — affordable housing, universal health care and addictions treatment — to address root causes of insecurity. Service improvements are vital. Winnipeg Transit’s Bjorn Radstrom said they made small adjustments after the rollout. Extended hours and revised scheduling for some routes were updated recently, but far more is needed — more feeder routes, buses, drivers and comfort at stops. Fare reform is equally urgent: Winnipeg Transit should cap adult fares at $2, make youth free, scrap Peggo/WINNpass and engage with riders consistently. Action is needed to restore Winnipeg Transit as a public institution. Reinstate the 50/50 provincial- municipal funding cut in 2017 to support service and lower bus fares. Citizens must step up as well: ride the bus, attend council meetings, write letters and demand transit funding over road projects like Kenaston. Groups like Functional Transit Winnipeg show what’s possible. Creation of a riders’ union, like in Toronto or Seattle, could hold city hall accountable and win real gains. Public transit is imperfect, but it’s a public good. As 2026 arrives, Winnipeg needs an efficient, safe and affordable system to meet climate goals and ensure livability for all. Adam Johnston hosts Not Necessarily the Automobile, a show on public and active transportation Thursday mornings on 101.5 UMFM. He can be reached at notnecessarilytheautomobile(a)gmail.com<mailto:notnecessarilytheautomobile@gmail.com>

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WFP: Province giving $3M to repair rail bridge at The Forks (Dec24'25)
by Beth McKechnie 24 Dec '25

24 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Province giving $3M to repair rail bridge at The Forks https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/23/manitoba-to-give-… THE Forks is celebrating new funding it says will help reopen a popular active transportation bridge. Premier Wab Kinew has promised $3 million on behalf of the Manitoba government to support a $9.3-million project to restore The Forks Historic Rail Bridge, The Forks said. “It was a nice early Christmas gift for The Forks and the people of Winnipeg,” said Adam Dooley, corporate communications director for the downtown site. The rail bridge closed due to safety concerns in 2023, while a campaign now aims to raise funds to repair it. “There was a giant counterweight built into that bridge because it was a lift bridge… to allow boat traffic to go underneath. That gigantic counterweight was starting to deteriorate and chunks of concrete were falling to the pathways below, so that’s why we had to close it,” said Dooley. While the counterweight has been removed, new decking and repairs to the steel structure are still needed to reopen the “vital” link, said Dooley. “More than 350,000 people used it annually before (it closed)… It connects the main (Forks) fort site to Niizhoziibean, which is the Indigenous historical site and cultural gathering place with great significance in our city’s history,” he said. The Forks is still seeking funding for the rest of the project, so there is no set timeline on when the bridge could reopen. “We’re hoping to have more news in the new year,” said Dooley. The provincial government confirmed the funding Tuesday afternoon. The bridge, which allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Assiniboine River from South Point Park to The Forks, closed without notice in June 2023. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga CBC coverage: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/forks-gift-manitoba-government-9.70…

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Milan Street Design Slows Cars More Than Speed Limits, Research Finds - Bloomberg
by Beth McKechnie 24 Dec '25

24 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Thanks to Ken Klassen for the share... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-15/milan-street-design-slow… There’s a Better Way to Win on Traffic Safety Backlash has undercut the success of 30km/hour speed limits. New research finds that a less controversial policy can be more effective in slowing cars. October 15, 2025 at 10:20 AM CDT Milan has faced backlash to its law capping speed limits to 30km/hour. Photographer: Piero Cruciatti/Anadolu via Getty Images In recent years, modest urban planning ideas have sparked outsized backlash. The “15-minute city” concept — designing neighborhoods so amenities are available within 15 minutes by foot or bike — became a flashpoint in conspiracy theory<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-02/how-did-the-15-minute-ci…> circles. Now, new citywide speed limits of 30 kilometers per hour are the latest target in many European cities: a sensible safety measure turned culture-war fodder. These reactions have put local and national governments at odds over policies that aim to tackle traffic safety and livability. But recent research results<https://arxiv.org/html/2507.04434v1> suggest such political battles may be beside the point: In studies we have conducted at our Senseable City Lab, we found that the posted speed limits often have little effect on how fast people drive. Instead, the policies that work involve the design of the street itself. The movement for citywide speed limits of 30 kilometers (19 miles) per hour gained visibility during Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s 2020 campaign. The logic was compelling: Slower traffic means safer streets and quieter neighborhoods. Furthermore, as our past research showed<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275122004498#:~:….>, “slow zones” attract nearly twice as many people, drawing diverse visitors and enriching the city’s social mix. Once re-elected, Hidalgo enacted the policy, and other mayors followed. From Milan to Brussels, Bologna to Amsterdam, many began testing or implementing lower-speed zones. Particularly in my home country of Italy, the backlash came quickly. To some motorists, a lower speed limit felt less like protection and more like control. In the clickbait economy, the measure was recast as suspicion of an authoritarian drift. Even our lab at MIT got pulled into the storm. In July 2024, we presented results<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5264874> on the impact of 30 km/h zones in Milan. Using real vehicle telemetry from the Italian insurance company Unipol, we were able to accurately assess changes in vehicle speed and evaluate their consequences. We found that increases in travel times were negligible — at most an average of about 34 seconds per trip — while previous research had found a decrease in fatalities of around 37%. We also found that air pollution levels remained mostly stable, with only a minimal increase. Despite the breadth of our findings, headlines in Italian news outlets focused entirely on an increase in air pollution. In fact, Italy’s Transport Minister Matteo Salvini seized on our study as “scientific evidence” that the 30 km/h policy created more traffic jams and pollution. Since making that comment, Salvini and his colleagues in Italy’s national government have worked to erode<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-09-25/bologna-s-citta-30-safet…> cities’ 30 km/h policies, imposing limits and banning the cameras used to enforce the policy in the cities that had enacted it. In response, we dug deeper. This year, we analyzed<https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.04434> Milan, Amsterdam and Dubai. We gathered over 73 million telemetry points and 1.2 million street-level images. Such data is now analyzable at speed and scale thanks to AI models — a theme we are also exploring at this year’s<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-06-22/venice-biennale-curat…> Venice Biennale Architettura. What we found suggests something surprising: Speed limit laws aren’t actually the best way to get residents to slow down. Drivers slowed only 2–3 km/h when limits dropped from 50 to 30 km/h, while the design of the streets played a much larger role. Narrow, enclosed streets with high building density tended to slow traffic, whereas wide, open roads with long sightlines encouraged faster driving. This suggests that design, more than legislation, sets the pace. A street map of Milan shows how smaller streets had higher compliance (purple) with the 30 km/h speed limit than larger streets (pink).Courtesy of MIT’s There are likely a few explanations for this. In many countries, particularly Italy, speed limits are considered merely a suggestion, meaning that legal changes won’t usher in cultural ones. Milan and Bologna, where speed cameras were eventually banned, offer clear examples of how difficult it can be to rely solely on punitive measures — even when noncompliance is widespread. Street configuration, by contrast, can change behavior in more palatable ways. Urbanists have long intuited<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-06/why-12-foot-traffic-lane…> that design can moderate traffic speed<https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/11/13/study-12-ft-lanes-are-deadlier-than-…>. With the first large-scale, cross-city uses of AI, those insights can be quantified and generalized across different contexts. Raised crosswalks, narrower lanes, or tree-lined streets are examples of the kinds of design interventions our model takes into account. In short, our model can now predict how fast people are likely to drive just from street imagery, offering urban planners a predictive tool to assess the impact of different design interventions. The MIT study focused on parts of Amsterdam where cyclists dominate traffic flow.Photographer: Selman Aksunger/Anadolu via Getty Images Applying our method across Milan, Amsterdam and Dubai showed how local context matters. In Milan, with UNIPOL, we studied traditional, mixed-use streets — compact urban corridors where drivers, cyclists and pedestrians share space. In Amsterdam, with the AMS Institute, we analyzed a cycling-first network — areas where bikes dominate traffic flows and car access is secondary, offering insights into how multimodal coexistence shapes speed. In Dubai, working with the Dubai Future Foundation, we tested car-centric streets under extreme heat. There, we found that heat itself can reduce average driving speeds by up to several km/h, showing how environmental stressors can influence behavior even in the absence of formal design interventions. These examples show how street geometry — but also culture and climate — shape how people drive, often more than regulations do. To be sure, changes to street design are not without controversy: Attempts to add bike lanes<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-27/why-does-ontario-want-to…> and pedestrian spaces or reduce road space dedicated to cars have faced pushback, too<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-22/trump-cancels-trail-bike…>. Still, our results may offer comfort to both sides of the political spectrum. Changing how people drive cannot be achieved by decree alone. But there is no grand conspiracy at work: It may depend, above all, on the configuration of our streets. Carlo Ratti is a practicing architect and a professor at the Politecnico di Milano and at MIT, where he directs the Senseable City Lab. In 2025 he’s directing Venice’s Biennale Architettura.

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WFP: ‘It’s really defeating’: Transit pass-ups up from last year (Dec23'25)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Dec '25

23 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. City vows adjustments to decrease buses passing by riders ‘It’s really defeating’: Transit pass-ups up from last year https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/22/its-really-defeat… RYAN Nother says showing up at the bus stop on time has repeatedly failed to secure him a ride home. That’s because F6 buses regularly pass by the stop at Osborne and Mulvey, already full of passengers, when he’s trying to return home from work, Nother said. “It’s really defeating. It feels like you can tolerate it from time to time. But, when it happens so frequently, it feels like no one cares and they’re not trying to fix it,” he said. On some occasions, two or more consecutive buses have passed by the stop while leaving passengers waiting, making the additional wait futile, he said. He says his family is now paying hundreds of dollars more each month for ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft, to complete their commutes, and reluctantly planning to buy a vehicle. “It’s not something we were looking forward to doing. It’s not an expense that we really need. (Transit is) just not something we can rely on anymore,” said Nother. The number of full Winnipeg buses that pass by waiting riders grew this fall. Between September and November, there were 6,971 pass-ups, compared to 5,779 during the same period last year. The overall number is down from what riders experienced during the year prior to the pandemic, when 8,297 pass-ups took place during the same stretch of 2019. Nother said he noticed a significant increase in pass-ups at his stop after a new primary transit network took effect June 29, which overhauled virtually every local route. “Prior to that, it would be a very rare occasion when it would happen. It seems like there are more buses scheduled (now) but they’re not successful in actually appearing (and picking up passengers),” said Nother. “With the winter temperatures, I’m not willing to wait 40 minutes for another bus to maybe come.” The recent pass-up increase is related to this year’s return to 100 per cent service levels on Transit routes, after service was reduced during the pandemic, according to the head of the union for Winnipeg Transit drivers. “We were still on a reduced service (last year) so it’s difficult to assess (the trend). Obviously, every person passed up is bad for the service. You don’t ever want to leave anybody behind,” said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505. He said passing by riders is stressful for drivers, who are typically the first to receive complaints about the practice. “Every time a bus is full and can’t pick up people, there’s a potential for an escalating confrontation with the (driver of the) next bus that is able to take on that passenger or passengers that are missed,” said Scott. Transit data shows the number of pass-ups typically rises in September, when more people return to their fall routines and tend to ride buses during peak periods. The service also notes ridership has seen a general, gradual recovery after plummeting during the pandemic. Earlier this month, however, Transit noted ridership slipped to 89 per cent of 2019 levels by Nov. 30, down from 95 per cent of that amount throughout 2024. A Transit official said service changes are underway that aim to reduce the number of pass-ups as much as possible, including by shifting resources to the busiest routes. “Pass-ups are obviously something we don’t like having so… we already are making adjustments to try to deal with that,” said Bjorn Radstrom, Winnipeg Transit’s manager of service development. The changes include swapping regular and articulated buses between routes based on passenger counts, since a 40-foot bus can seat 38 people and an articulated (bendy) bus can seat 65. Transit’s winter schedule took effect Dec. 14, bringing in some tweaks, said Radstrom. Transit will also try to educate riders to ensure they choose the most efficient routes they can. Many passengers still choose routes similar to ones they rode before the network overhaul, instead of the most efficient current options, which can create unexpected crowding, said Radstrom. “Some of this still does have to do with the learning curve that people are having with the new network… a lot of people, instead of planning a trip using Navigo or the Transit app or calling 311 for some help, they’ll just walk to the usual bus stop that they’re used to… they end up taking the bus that’s least suited to them, that could be one of the more crowded buses,” he said. For example, he said many riders still take Blue Line buses to leave University of Manitoba, even though there are better routes available to reach their destinations. Radstrom said some increase in passups was expected as riders learn the new network. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said it’s positive that the number of pass-ups remains below pre-pandemic levels, though she understands every missed bus causes frustration for riders. “Pass-ups are concerning, period,” said Lukes (Waverley West). The city has ordered 30 more buses, including some larger, articulated ones, which should offer some relief when they arrive in January, she said. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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$3M Forks Historic Rail Bridge Investment by Province
by Beth McKechnie 23 Dec '25

23 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. From: The Forks Foundation <foundation(a)theforks.com<mailto:foundation@theforks.com>> Date: Mon, Dec 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM [https://phqf7vhbb.cc.rs6.net/on.jsp?ca=a8750c52-08d9-4670-b5ce-f3b3da9c9e06…] [https://files.constantcontact.com/fe0c2cbe901/8a9d99fa-28ae-4841-a1d7-dc2f9…] [https://files.constantcontact.com/fe0c2cbe901/0a6a3ce2-897d-4845-8b42-35750…] Thank you to the Government of Manitoba! Today, Premier Wab Kinew announced a $3 million investment to revitalize The Forks Historic Rail Bridge. This is the first step toward reopening this active transportation corridor and connection to Niizhoziibean, which features stunning public art and the first wiigwaam within city limits in more than a century. This commitment is especially meaningful now, as we look to open the Nestaweya River Trail – which runs under the bridge - in the days ahead. (The on-land trails opened last week, and the river trail won't be far behind.) The Forks Historic Rail Bridge has been closed since 2023 for safety reasons, and we look forward to reopening it as soon as possible. More than 250,000 people used this bridge as a part of their active transportation route each year. This investment will help restore access to a well-loved part of downtown that many Manitobans use and care about. The restoration is a $9.3 million project, and we invite everyone to contribute. To find out more, https://www.theforks.com/support/historic-rail-bridge. <https://phqf7vhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HpiTiiEVfxxp76g6wSpf1Mqt3oA3NDLIHO…> Thanks to Global News and CJOB for reporting on this. Stay warm, [Instagram]<https://phqf7vhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HpiTiiEVfxxp76g6wSpf1Mqt3oA3NDLIHO…> [Web] <https://phqf7vhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HpiTiiEVfxxp76g6wSpf1Mqt3oA3NDLIHO…> [Facebook] <https://phqf7vhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HpiTiiEVfxxp76g6wSpf1Mqt3oA3NDLIHO…> [Email] <mailto:foundation@theforks.com> [YouTube] <https://phqf7vhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HpiTiiEVfxxp76g6wSpf1Mqt3oA3NDLIHO…> The Forks Foundation | 130-123 Main Street | Winnipeg, MB R3C 1A3 CA

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WFP: Santa, cyclists brave nasty weather to spread cheer (Dec20'25)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Dec '25

20 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Santa, cyclists brave nasty weather to spread cheer https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/19/santa-other-cycli… THE weather was frightful — at times undeniably dangerous for cycling on city streets — but that didn’t stop more than a dozen riders from braving heavy snowfall and blustery winds for the 14th annual Cycle with Santa on Friday. Equipped with thick tires built for winter riding, goggles to shield their eyes from blowing snow and dressed in an array of festive Christmas outfits, the cyclists pedalled through Winnipeg’s inner city with more than 1,000 pieces of clothing strapped to their backs, delivering warmth and cheer to those in need. Event organizer Kerry LeBlanc donned his best Santa Claus suit to lead the pack as they rode through the city searching for people who could use a lift in spirit — or supplies. “Cycling with Santa is just going for a ride out in the community and trying to bring some love and joy to the streets through humour, through just riding our bicycles,” LeBlanc said. “It originated with me just going for a ride one year, wearing a Santa suit, and it’s grown to a 14-year now annual event, where we have as many as 25 riders come out and understand the need for joy and love in the streets at this time of year.” LeBlanc was adamant that the event would go ahead, snow or shine. “We’re going to be out on the road for 90 minutes,” he said. “The folks that we visit, the charities are doing it every day, 24-7. We think it’s a little bit of a challenge for us for 90 minutes, but just think of our people living in the streets every day, and the charity groups that are working in the homeless sector every day fighting the fight.” This year, the Brothers of the Fork crew — a casual group of philanthropic cyclists and humanitarians — also came bearing cash. The group donated $20,000 to five charities, including Resource Assistance for Youth Inc. and Inner City Youth Alive, which received their donations during a small gathering at True North Square before riders set out. “We’ve got plenty of youth that are sleeping outdoors,” said Kate Sjoberg, CEO of RaY Inc. “We don’t have enough housing in the city for the folks that really need it. “This is going to continue to be an issue for a little bit longer, and it’s really our privilege to work with people every day who know how to survive and trust us enough to help them a little bit along the way here and there.” Victoria, a young woman who accessed RaY more than a year ago while experiencing homelessness, said the organization has played a crucial role in her life. “RaY’s helped me quite a bit and not just in finding a new home, but getting to be more out there and more socialized, and I always feel like I have a safe place to go when I need to,” she said. “There’s counselling. There are people I can talk to, and the best part is they make me friends. So it makes me feel included, and I feel safe.” From True North Square, riders made stops at city hall and Centennial Concert Hall before heading to N’Dinawemak, their first major destination of the afternoon. “Every shelter has a closing time for cleaning, and people get stuck out on the street for that hour to hour and a half every single day,” said Nicholas Candaele, one of the N’Dinawemak directors. “So, what Kerry and his crew is doing out there is amazing. It’s really showing effort… and what our relatives go through every single day.” Each night during the winter months, roughly 200 people access N’Dinawemak’s Disraeli Freeway shelter, with daytime numbers more than doubling as people arrive for meals, outreach and other services. Those inside the building Friday received an added boost of holiday cheer, as the Downtown Community Safety Partnership dropped off dozens of blue backpacks filled with treats and essential winter clothing. “It’s never too much,” Candaele said. “We also get quite a bit of backlog stuff for the rest of the winter, which is awesome.” scott.billeck(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Judge convicts man who switched seats with driver after collision that killed cyclist (Dec19'25)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Dec '25

19 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Judge convicts man who switched seats with driver after collision that killed cyclist https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/19/judge-decides-pas… A Winnipeg man who admitted taking the driver’s seat following a high-speed collision that killed cyclist Rob Jenner has been found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Lyle Barker-Young, 19, remains free on bail and will be sentenced at a later date following the completion of a court-ordered pre-sentence report. Co-accused Beckham Severight, 20, was behind the driver’s seat of Barker-Young’s leased 2013 BMW sedan the morning of June 6, 2024, racing along Wellington Crescent when he rounded a curve near the intersection at Cockburn Street and collided with Jenner, who was cycling to work in the same lane. Police arrested the two roommates at their Elmwood apartment later that day. In a police statement, Barker-Young said he told Severight to keep driving after hitting Jenner. They drove a short distance, pulled over and switched seats before Barker-Young drove away without checking on the 61-year-old critically injured cyclist. “The comments Mr. Barker-Young made in his statement… support that (he) would have known this was a violent collision that must have resulted in at least bodily harm to the cyclist,” provincial court Judge Catherine Carlson said Friday, reading from a 24-page decision. Severight had only a learner’s permit. Barker-Young had a valid licence and accompanied Severight but did not qualify as a supervising driver. “So (the collision) happened and (Severight) didn’t know what to do,” Barker-Young told police. “Told him to keep driving up a bit. We stopped and I told him to get out and we switched… ’cause I knew he couldn’t f—king drive anymore.… It was my idea to go.” Prior to the collision, “we were going too much… like, we were going fast, like, too fast,” Barker-Young, said. Witnesses in the area at the time said they heard a loud bang and saw Jenner fly three metres into the air before landing on the ground. Witnesses said the car did not slow down or stop after hitting Jenner. One witness estimated the BMW was travelling 120 km/h when it hit Jenner, which would have been 70 km/h over the speed limit. Defence lawyers Debbie Buors and Melissa Serbin argued Barker-Young could not be convicted of leaving the scene of an accident because the offence was complete when Severight continued driving after hitting Jenner. By that time, any subsequent direction from Barker-Young to Severight to keep driving was too late to be considered aiding or abetting the offence, they said. That argument “imposes a narrow and artificial time limit on the decision not to stop that is not present or contemplated by (the Criminal Code),” Carlson said. “Mr. Barker-Young’s comments (to police) are consistent with him getting into the driver’s seat a short distance from the collision site,” she said. “Once he took over driving, he could have returned to the scene, stopped, provide particulars and rendered assistance. He did not.” Jenner’s death sent shock waves through the city’s cycling community and led to calls to reduce the speed limit along Wellington Crescent between River Avenue and Academy Road to 30 km/h. Severight pleaded guilty last March to dangerous driving causing death and was sentenced to three years custody. dean.pritchard(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Transit planner tacked on to 2026 budget (Dec17'25)
by Beth McKechnie 17 Dec '25

17 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Help needed to streamline new bus network: mayor Transit planner tacked on to 2026 budget https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/16/epc-adds-transit-… THE mayor’s cabinet wants to hire a full-time transit planner to chart out adjustments to the controversial spine-and-feeder network that’s been the source of persistent complaints since it was rolled out in June. The executive policy committee voted Tuesday to add the permanent planner to the proposed 2026 budget. The full council must vote on it. “We knew there would be adjustments needed this (coming) year. And, so, to expedite the work that is needed to make the system better requires a transit planner. We want to give our staff the resources they need, so that citizens see the ongoing improvements,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. The network overhaul, which took effect June 29, affected virtually every local bus route. The concept includes direct spines along major corridors that are supported by a network of feeder routes throughout the city. The changes were designed to increase bus frequency on main routes, but many riders have complained they now require more transfers and much more time to reach their destinations. Some have been stranded at work or school due to reduced night-time service. In some cases, passengers have reported buying vehicles to avoid frustrating delays. The city added more late-night service to some on-request zones on Dec. 14, while the budget proposes to extend hours on some fixed routes in April. Winnipeg Transit’s On-Request operates in some areas when feeder bus routes are not in service. The mayor said the new transit planner would help guide additional changes next year. “I’m confident it was the right decision to go with the new transit network. I’m not entirely thrilled, to be honest with you, at the number of adjustments we’re having to make, but we’re making them,” said Gillingham. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee, said the new position should help speed up Transit’s response to common complaints. “We’re really happy about all the feedback we’re getting and we really want to accelerate the changes,” said Lukes (Waverley West). A transit activist said he’s pleased the city is planning ahead for additional network changes. “Having somebody in place to help ensure that the city is thinking long term and also helping recognize the urgent need for specific infrastructure is very exciting,” said Kyle Owens, president of Functional Transit Winnipeg. Owens said the city must add more buses and drivers to ensure its network can meet riders’ needs. “What we’re seeing is that the years of lack of investment (in the past) mean that this one change is not enough. They are going to need to offer real improvements in service and investments. The (network) changeover was emergency foundation repair,” he said. Other new additions to the city’s proposed 2026 budget aim to pursue a new crime-prevention pilot project and expand needle cleanups at parks. One would seek federal funding to support an “inter-agency crime and incident prevention pilot” project. Gillingham said that would be part of the Safe Winnipeg Initiative he announced in March, which aims to increase collaboration between safety related organizations. “I’ve talked about co-ordinating our public safety agencies to provide a blanket of safety in the downtown. Crime rates have shown a drop in the last few years in the downtown, but there’s more work we have to do,” he said. The mayor listed the Winnipeg Police Service, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, Downtown Community Safety Partnership and the Community Safety Team as agencies that could participate. Details of the project itself are still being determined, he said. EPC also wants to expand a program that clears needles, weapons, drugs and other dangerous debris from parks. City staff removed thousands of needles and more than 150 weapons from 16 “high-risk” downtown parks and green spaces between April 14 and Oct. 3 via the seasonal program, according to a recent report. An amendment would see staff clean up six additional sites two to three times per week, including Vimy Ridge Park, Jacob Penner Park, Cornish Library, Alderman John O’Hare Park, Broadway Neighbourhood Centre and the Dynasty Building, if council approves. “We have seen a significant impact (from) our needle cleanup initiative. It’s making parks safer for families,” said Gillingham. The change is expected to cost $28,200 more each season, once the program resumes next spring. Another budget amendment would ensure three temporary full-time staff continue to be devoted to the unsafe conditions response team, allowing their work to continue throughout 2026. The team, made up of bylaw officers and building inspectors, expedites the city’s response to hazardous properties, included rubble-filled sites left behind after fires. That change is expected to cost $267,000 in 2026. The city could use the revenue from vacant and derelict building fees to help fund those positions in 2027, 2028 and 2029, pending future budget approvals. City council will cast a final vote on the 2026 budget today. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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Changing Lanes | Save The Date!
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '25

11 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Greetings, Green Action Centre is thrilled to bring Todd Litman to Winnipeg in February 2026 for Changing Lanes: Better Value From Winnipeg Transportation Investments. This keynote address will take place on February 25th. Please save the date! [Speaker Event Save the Date.jpg] Changing Lanes: Better Value From Winnipeg Transportation Investments with Todd Litman of the Victoria Transportation Policy Institute North American cities are trapped in a wasteful cycle of more driving, reduced travel options and more costly public infrastructure. Cities need better solutions to traffic problems. Roadway expansions are expensive, and only provide temporary relief until additional traffic fills the added capacity. “Win-win” solutions reduce congestion and help achieve other community goals including affordability, equity, public health and safety. Applying these solutions requires a shift to accessibility-based planning that recognizes the many benefits provided by multimodal planning and compact neighborhoods. In this keynote address, Todd Litman shares insights from his research, Smart Congestion Relief, Affordability as a Transportation Planning Goal and The Mobility-Productivity Paradox. Todd’s up-to-date research will provide practical guidance for more efficient infrastructure spending, increasing financial savings for families, and how to create more inclusive and livable communities. Tickets for this event will go on sale early in the new year. We hope to see you there! Mel Marginet | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 300-286 Smith Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1K4 | 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. [https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif] 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/> [https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xnHIzg-oNAxItLMxFnB1HS5HGb…]<http://gomb.ca>

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WFP Editorial: The traffic disaster that failed to arrive (Dec11'25)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '25

11 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. EDITORIAL The traffic disaster that failed to arrive https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2025/12/11/the-traffic… FOR pedestrians and motorists who have traversed Winnipeg’s most iconic intersection during the past six months, a quick upward glance would have confirmed what proponents of reopening the windy interchange to foot traffic have predicted all along: The sky has not fallen at Portage and Main. After years — perhaps decades — of doomsaying by those opposed to reintroducing aboveground pedestrian activity to the intersection, data collected since the June 27 reopening show the controversial change has actually had negligible impact on vehicular traffic flow. Adherents to the keep-it-closed school of thought had long argued that allowing foot traffic across Portage and Main would create varying degrees of gridlock-induced chaos and regrettable vehicle/pedestrian carnage. Instead, the transition back to a pedestrian-accessible intersection has been seamless and without any incidents of note. The study, undertaken by the City of Winnipeg, involved data collected from GPS-enabled vehicles travelling on four specified routes leading in and out of the Portage and Main interchange during peak traffic times in November. That information was then compared to data collected in November 2024, before pedestrian traffic was reintroduced. Morning travel on two of the routes was unchanged, while traffic on the other two experienced a delay of less than one minute. Afternoon travel time on three of the routes increased by less than two minutes, while the fourth actually experienced a one-minute decrease. The analysis did not account for nearby construction or other factors that might have affected traffic flow during the data-collection periods. Meanwhile, the analysis also showed that an average of 3,750 pedestrians have crossed Portage and Main daily since Sept. 1. Mayor Scott Gillingham summed it up this way: “Everybody heard the doomsday predictions about gridlock and accidents that would happen, and the data proves that those predictions were wrong. Ultimately, I don’t have a good answer as to why this was debated for so long.” He doesn’t have a good answer because there isn’t — and wasn’t — one. The recent wrangling over Portage and Main dates back more than a decade, to when then-mayoral candidate Brian Bowman made reopening the intersection one of his key campaign promises. After encountering resistance to his pledge, Bowman relented and said he would abide by the result of a plebiscite on the issue — which in 2018 ultimately showed a majority of Winnipeggers opposed reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians. A breakdown of that vote, however, showed the strongest opposition came from outlying suburban areas of the city, meaning most of the people who voted on the “no” side had likely never actually travelled through the intersection in question. But the politicization of the Portage and Main question by a few naysaying councillors kept the intersection closed, and it likely would have remained inaccessible to pedestrians had not the looming failure of the waterproof membrane protecting the underground concourse — the repair of which would have cost almost $60 million and created four to five years of traffic disruption — forced city council to reconsider the issue as a practical matter, rather than a political one. The newly reported numbers speak for themselves. The return of pedestrians has not affected traffic in any meaningful way. And the simple fact of the matter is that nothing catastrophic was going to happen at this intersection simply because pedestrians crossed the street there. Despite its local-icon stature, Portage and Main is no more complicated than thousands of other intersections in hundreds of other major cities that are traversed safely by millions of pedestrians every day. The wind will always blow at Portage and Main, but the sky was never going to fall.

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WFP: Free bus rides for all might be what’s needed to save Transit (Dec11'25)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '25

11 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Free bus rides for all might be what’s needed to save Transit DAN LETT https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2025/12/10/free-bus-rides-for-all-m… WHEN one looks at the multitude of problems facing Winnipeg Transit — declining ridership, increasing costs and chronic concerns about safety — it becomes increasingly clear that new and even radical ideas need to be embraced. One such idea is eliminating fares. That might seem like a pipe dream until it’s acknowledged just how critically important public transit is for the future of all cities, including Winnipeg. Robust transit ridership not only helps reduce carbon emissions — desperately needed to slow climate change — but also reduces the wear and tear on municipal infrastructure, adding years to the lifespans of roads, bridges and other transportation assets. Transit is also a tool that creates socioeconomic opportunities for even the poorest of citizens, enabling them to move about the city. Unfortunately, following the worst years of the pandemic, ridership has dropped in just about every city, threatening the viability of public transit. Winnipeg is an excellent case in point. This week, a City of Winnipeg committee was told Transit would earn $8.5 million less than budgeted for the current year, as nearly five million fewer rides were taken. Transit finance manager Laurie Fisher told the committee “the erosion of fare revenue” is a problem that has no easy explanation and, thus, no current solution. The city is working to improve transit services with last summer’s launch of a redesigned network and improved schedules. Although city officials believe the new system will, ultimately, be better for most riders, there are concerns the transition — combined with ongoing concerns about safety — has discouraged some people from taking the bus. And that is making Winnipeg Transit less viable. It will cost roughly $264 million this year to operate the service. Fares and provincial grants contribute about $140 million, but the balance — about $124 million — has to be taken out of the city’s general revenues. Despite the lost revenue from fewer rides, Winnipeg Transit is expected to end the year with a small surplus, thanks to lower costs of fuel and carbon taxes. However, unless paid ridership increases substantially in the next few years, it will find itself trapped in a revenue death spiral. Fewer riders every year, against a backdrop of increasing costs. It may seem counterintuitive to address the problem by eliminating fares. However, the broader analysis suggests the benefits would far outweigh the overall costs. Increasingly, we’re seeing other cities, faced with the same dilemma as Winnipeg, taking that bold step. In 2023, Iowa City, Iowa, decided to eliminate bus fares for two years on a pilot basis. Ridership rose above pre-pandemic levels by nearly 20 per cent. The city’s residents put 2.9 million fewer vehicle kilometres on city streets, reducing carbon emissions by 778 metric tons. Of course, with close to 80,000 citizens, Iowa City might not make the best point of comparison with a city such as Winnipeg that is 10 times bigger. Thankfully, we are also starting to see larger jurisdictions launch similar initiatives. Luxembourg, the landlocked western European nation bordered by Belgium, Germany and France, has a population of about 680,000. It made buses, trams and second-class train tickets free in 2020 and has experienced around a 12 per cent increase in ridership over pre-pandemic levels and around an eight per cent drop in CO2 emissions. What about bigger jurisdictions? When he was a member of the state assembly, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani helped launch a one-year pilot project that provided a free bus line in each of the city’s five boroughs. Service was faster, ridership on the free lines increased by as much as 38 per cent and — perhaps more importantly — around 38 per cent fewer assaults were reported. After he is sworn in on Jan. 1, Mamdani has promised to expand his “fast and free” vision for bus service within the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, arguing that increased revenue from vehicular-congestion pricing will help him cover the cost of citywide free bus service. For advocates of free transit, there is a lot of excitement focused on Belgrade, a Serbian city of around 1.7 million that eliminated fares at the beginning of 2025. No results have been made public yet, but the net impacts on ridership, infrastructure, emissions and safety will be of enormous value in determining the viability of free public transit. Could Winnipeg jump on the free transit wave? It would take an enormous amount of support from the federal and provincial governments, as the city on its own would be unable to cover the nine figures of lost fare revenue. If a deal could be cobbled together, however, the benefits to the city could be limitless. Along with non-financial benefits such as lower CO2 emissions, there would be millions of fewer vehicle miles crossing city streets and bridges. Increased ridership could free the city from wasting billions of dollars on expanding over-burdened commuter routes. For residents, it would mean faster commutes and greater safety by reducing injuries from vehicle collisions. That, in turn, would also bring down the cost of automobile insurance. Unless something radical is done, Winnipeg will be faced with a transit system that is increasingly more expensive and less appealing to riders. This is most definitely one of those situations where the cost of doing nothing is ultimately much larger than the cost of doing something bold. dan.lett(a)winnipegfreepress.com<mailto:dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com>

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WFP: Riding the bus ‘unbearable and stressful’ (Dec11'25)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '25

11 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Riding the bus ‘unbearable and stressful’ Transit system’s frustrating flaws amplified by cold, says committed customer shopping for car https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/10/taking-the-bus-ju… BUS rider Juan Fernandez has had enough of Winnipeg Transit’s new spine-and-feeder network after just five months and the onset of wintry weather. Fernandez, a Transit customer since he moved to the city three years ago, said he’s going to buy a car because his work commute times are double what they used to be, when buses are on time. “I’m looking at (a car) today because I’m done with the transit system,” he told the Free Press Wednesday. “Winnipeg had a very reliable transit system and now it doesn’t. Now, it’s just unbearable and stressful.” The return of freezing temperatures and snow hasn’t helped. While it hasn’t officially started yet, this is the first winter since the new network was introduced June 29. Fernandez said the switch means he spends more time waiting for buses in the cold. The mild start to the season was manageable, but last week’s -30 C wind chills were unbearable, he said. Many passengers complained about the decision to replace the decades-old hub-and-spoke model because it significantly altered their routes or travel times. Some riders now have to take one or more additional buses. The network change eliminated one of two buses Fernandez could take from a stop near his home to downtown, where he transfers to a different bus to complete his trip to work in the morning. He now has to take an extra bus to get to or from the downtown transfer and his commute has doubled to about 70 minutes each way. His travel times to the gym, stores and other destinations are longer. “I don’t want to go anywhere now because it’s taking too long,” Fernandez said. “I feel very angry. I feel we’re just being pranked.” He said buses on the F6 route are often so packed at peak times that people waiting at stops cannot board and have to wait for the next service. Fernandez said the scenario happened to him one night at Isabel Street and William Avenue in the inner city, where he ended up being chased by a man, who appeared to be a drug user, while he waited for the next bus. After the system overhaul was revealed in June, Mayra Manishigaki had to rethink her routes. Basic trips — going to the supermarket, for example — suddenly went from travel on a single bus to what she describes as “almost impossible.” Five months later, the self-described lover of public transit was bundled up in winter gear, waiting for her bus in Osborne Village. She said the cold was making a difficult change worse. “It’s just terrible. You have to plan ahead and usually in the winter, there are more late buses,” she said. “It’s kind of a bummer.” Many of the stops Manishigaki uses during the day don’t offer weather protection from bus shacks. Helping riders stay warm while getting used to the changes would go a long way, she said. “I just wish you could feel a little bit better, more comfortable,” she said. “Having a shack would mean a lot, especially during winter.” Transit is making some changes, based on complaints or requests, when its winter schedule begins Sunday. Fernandez, who reported concerns to 311, doesn’t think his experience will improve. Late-night service is expanding to most on-request zones, some schedules are being rewritten and trips are being added to some busier routes. “I really hope it makes a significant difference, but there are many different issues that people have,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chair of the city’s public works committee, which oversees Winnipeg Transit. “For certain people, this is going to be fantastic. For certain people, it’s not yet what they want.” Lukes (Waverley West) said Transit has never undergone such a fundamental change. She encouraged riders to continue to submit feedback because it will help to improve the network. More changes are expected in the spring. “We know there are issues because no change is perfect, but we are working to resolve it,” she said. “The spine-and-feeder system is a much better system to make changes and adjustments to.” Transfers are an integral part of the new system and that’s not going to change, she added. Lukes, a Transit user, said she has received positive feedback from riders alongside the negative and she expects good results in the long-term. She said bus shelters will be added next year based on customer feedback and an analysis by staff. Transit had shelters at 705 of 3,825 stops as of Wednesday, compared with 880 at 5,170 stops at the end of 2024, spokesman Brandon Logan said. The total number of stops was cut when the new network launched. Logan said Transit is assessing the condition of 150 shelters that were removed from cancelled stops to find out which ones can be installed at an in-service stop as soon as possible. Chris Scott, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents the city’s bus drivers, said members are happy with the new master plan because it is designed to help them remain on time and take breaks, barring delays caused by construction or weather. It appears most of the frustration among riders has been directed at department heads or council members, rather than front-line Transit staff, he said. “Understandably, humans as a species are averse to change but we are very adaptable and I think that will be the case here as time progresses,” Scott said. “Provided that the elected officials and department heads continue to respond to the issues that the riding public face, I think this system can grow to be far better than what the old system ended up being.” The Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone recently launched an online survey to find out how the network is affecting people who live, work or visit the area. “We’ve heard anecdotally that changes to the Winnipeg Transit network have increased commute times and are making it more challenging for people to get to and move through downtown,” spokeswoman Olivia Billson said. “We hope to gain further insights and ideas where improvements could be made to the system in the future.” Survey results will be shared with the city, she said. — with files from Malak Abas chris.kitching(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca>

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People are waking up to the fact that new vehicles are the Great Canadian Money Suck
by feaver＠mts.net 09 Dec '25

09 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/rob-carrick/> [Rob Carrick]<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/rob-carrick/> Rob Carrick<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/authors/rob-carrick/>Personal Finance Columnist Special to The Globe and Mail Published 10 hours agoUpdated 4 hours ago Open this photo in gallery:<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/v2/B5LSGINOJVB4RD7MRSJ3BTB644.JPG?a…> [cid:image002.jpg@01DC691F.50427EB0]<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resizer/v2/B5LSGINOJVB4RD7MRSJ3BTB644.JPG?a…> High payments for new vehicles can kill cash flow.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press 450 Comments<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-new-vehi…> The triangle of sadness in personal finance is houses, groceries and vehicles. Nothing in the outlook for 2026 suggests major relief is coming on any of those fronts, which leaves you to take action yourself. After five years of oppressive inflation, you've likely pared down your grocery spending as much as possible. Selling your home to cut living costs is no real option, either; it's a last resort and opens up a new set of problems. This leaves us with new vehicles, the Great Canadian Money Suck. The average new vehicle selling price was almost $45,000 at mid-year, and the average monthly loan payment was around $850, according to J.D. Power. Canadians have been amazingly open to carrying this load, but there are signs that is changing. Looking back over his 16 years as a bankruptcy trustee, Scott Terrio recalls how normal it was to point out to clients that high payments for a new vehicle were killing their cash flow. With monthly payments over $1,000, auto loans are increasingly like car mortgages<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-car-auto…> "The difference now is that I have spoken to at least five or six people who have actively said to me, before I suggested it, that they'd like to give their car back," said Mr. Terrio, the manager of consumer insolvency at Hoyes Michalos & Associates. "And that's never happened." You can see the burden of vehicle payments in the latest numbers from credit reporting agency Equifax. In the third quarter of this year, the number of borrowers who missed three or more payments on their auto loans increased 10.8 per cent, to a total of 1.9 per cent of borrowers. Mr. Terrio lays out the savings of getting rid of a car as follows: A monthly payment of, let's say, $700, plus $300 for insurance and another $300 for gas. "That's $1,300 per month - what other lever in your budget can you pull with that extent of savings?" he said. "Nothing. It's so glaring." Let me preface the coming rant on vehicle spending by saying that I have owned 16 cars and one SUV in the past 47 years. I have economized and overspent on vehicles, mostly new ones because I appreciate the improvements in performance, fuel consumption, safety and comfort. In my early 30s, having just bought a home, I sold a fairly expensive two-seat sports car to clear some space in our household spending. One vehicle-buying rule I always followed was to limit loan terms to five years rather than give in to six- and seven-year terms that would shrink monthly payments. Another rule was to put a $400 ceiling on monthly payments, which I'll now inflate to $500 to reflect higher vehicle prices. More stories below advertisement The unspoken consensus that it's fine to pay hundreds of dollars more per month for a vehicle was partly built on clever marketing by the auto industry, which got us hooked on higher-cost SUVs over cars. To ease the shock of higher costs, dealers and lenders commonly offer loan terms of up to seven or eight years and present financing deals by showing weekly or biweekly payments instead of monthly ones. Another explanation for our acceptance of high vehicle payments is that we're more than ever using cars and SUVs to manifest our best selves. Driving a fully loaded SUV says we're active people with busy lives who appreciate finer things. Mr. Terrio sees vehicles as a classic example of the conflict between needs and wants. "People will say to me, 'But I need my car,' and I say back to them, 'You need a car - you don't need that car.'" Rob Carrick: Four questions to help you navigate the personal finance challenges ahead<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-personal…> Rob Carrick: Eight lessons learned in 27 years of covering personal finance and investing<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-rob-carr…> The types of vehicles his clients drive is worth noting. Expensive German brands are common. Also, some Teslas and fully loaded pickup trucks owned by young men. Mr. Terrio noted how common it is for renters to own vehicles like these - he's heard a theory that people are buying luxury vehicles as consolation for being shut out of the housing market. The reason why we may be at a breaking point for the acceptance of high vehicle costs is the layering of generational levels of inflation on top of economic disruptions caused by the pandemic and then the trade war with the United States. If you're under maximum financial stress and see your car or SUV payments as part of the problem, Mr. Terrio says you can notify the lender or dealer that you're walking away from your loan. Any shortfall between the sale proceeds for your vehicle and the amount owing can be added to the debts that are part of your insolvency. Mr. Terrio believes Canada is "over-vehicled," which is to say we spend too much on cars and SUVs relative to income. "I'm not anti-car," he said. "I'm anti-broke."

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WFP: Transit loses millions in ridership revenue (Dec9'25)
by Beth McKechnie 09 Dec '25

09 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Transit loses millions in ridership revenue New network, safety concerns cited as ridership declines; surplus still forecast https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/08/transit-loses-mil… WINNIPEG Transit expects to earn $8.5 million less in fares than its budget predicted this year as fewer people have been taking the bus. During a public works meeting on Monday, committee members were told the number of riders fell to 89 per cent of 2019 levels as of Nov. 30, this year. That’s down from 95 per cent of 2019 (pre-pandemic levels) throughout 2024. Annual ridership reached 48,770,208 in 2019, the city’s website says. “The issue that we continue to struggle with is the erosion of fare revenue and this year’s forecast is to be under budget by $8.5 million… We did not anticipate the extent to which we have realized lower ridership numbers,” Laurie Fisher, Winnipeg Transit’s finance manager, told the committee. Fisher said riders who refuse to pay also affect revenue. Due to savings in fuel and carbon tax costs, Transit still expects to end the year with a $400,000 surplus. The service doesn’t have clear data to determine the exact reasons why ridership declined. However, a Transit official believes the bumpy start to a new primary transit network implemented on June 29 is partly to blame. “After the launch of the new network, we were expecting that we would have a bit of a decline in ridership, because… it’s going to take people a while to learn the new network. Some people are just going to not take transit anymore and there’s going to be a bit of a lag until people who have better service (due to the changes)… start taking the bus,” said Bjorn Radstrom, Transit’s manager of service development. The new primary transit network triggered many complaints from riders, with some reporting longer travel times, inconvenient stops and added transfers. Transfers are a key feature of the new spine-and-feeder system, which uses community feeder routes to connect to more central ones and aims to make many buses more reliable. Radstrom noted the decline in ridership began late last year, months before the new network was implemented. He said similar reductions have been experienced by other transit systems, though the reasons are not clear. “We’re all a little bit confused as to why this is happening,” he said. The chairwoman of council’s public works committee said she suspects reduced ridership may be linked to repeated security issues. “I’d have to say people are not maybe taking transit as much because they’re concerned about their safety,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West). Crime has been a persistent concern for Transit for several years. In September, the Winnipeg Police Service announced a “targeted safety strategy” in and around buses. Police noted 325 violent crimes were reported at Winnipeg Transit locations in 2024 alone, including on buses and near bus shelters. Lukes stressed the city and Transit have taken several steps to reduce public transportation risks, including adding community safety officers who patrol buses and bus stops. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 president Chris Scott called the loss in revenue “a bit of a surprise and a bit of a concern.” Scott suggested changes made by the Transit overhaul, namely the reduction in late night service, could be a major factor in ridership decline. Safety issues could also be a factor. “The two of them combined should put the city on notice that something is going to have to be done, and going to have to be done soon,” he said. Ridership has slowly gone up since the pandemic, Scott said, but the drop in revenue has him concerned about a potential “death spiral,” where a reduction in ridership could result in cuts in service from the city, then spark further reductions in ridership. “I do hope that this is just a hiccup in our increase in ridership.” Harleen Deol, a University of Winnipeg student, said she bought a car around three months after the Transit routes changed in June. Overnight, the trip from her home in Amber Trails to the U of W nearly doubled, to an hour or more from 35 minutes, and she had to walk over half an hour to get home some days because her bus did not run at night. “I can guarantee that if the bus routes had not changed, I would have never got the car,” she said Monday. Taylor Reisdorf said he used to catch the bus twice a day or more. Now, he uses the bus about one day a week. He also bought a car in response to the Transit overhaul after his commute from River Heights to his downtown office became 40 minutes or longer, in comparison to his original 15- to 20-minute commute. “I no longer rely on the transit system… I’ve lost faith in their ability to run the system properly,” he said. As the temperature continues to drop, he said he worries about Transit users who may be waiting outside more often and for longer periods, without additional shelters at stops to help them stay warm. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: WRENCH’s Cycle of Giving provides bikes to children in need (Dec8'25)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Dec '25

08 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. WRENCH’s Cycle of Giving provides bikes to children in need Hundreds of bicycles brought back to life https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/08/hundreds-of-bicyc… THE same thing that motivated Gerry Hagglund to participate in a bike-building marathon 14 years ago brought him back to the event on Sunday. “It just seemed like the right thing to do,” he said. Hagglund was one of more than 100 volunteers who participated in the WRENCH’s 15th annual Cycle of Giving, which sees the organization take bicycles bound for the landfill, restore them and give them to children in need. More than 350 bicycles were brought back to life during the 24-hour event, which started Saturday at noon. A retired dental supply company executive and avid cyclist, Hagglund arrived at the event at 6 a.m. on Sunday. Five hours later, he’d already repaired 10 bikes. “It’s kind of nice to see something like that get all fixed up and go off to a new person who will really enjoy it,” the 68-year-old said. “I can remember when our son got his first bike. It’s an amazing sight to see.” There were 16 repair stations set up at Lord Roberts Community Centre for the event, plus one corner where participants made sure each bicycle was equipped with reflectors. At the quality control station, two senior mechanics double-checked everyone’s work and gave each bike a test drive. “One of the joys of Cycle of Giving is watching large adults ride tiny bicycles — and usually pull it off pretty well,” Geoff Heath said, cracking a smile. Heath was one of the first employees at the WRENCH, which stands for Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub, when it was started in 2010. While he’s since moved on to other work, he still volunteers at the charitable non-profit. Taking a short break from his work at the quality control station on Sunday, the 42-year-old recalled pulling all-nighters during the first few Cycle of Giving events. “At some point, around 3 a.m., you really don’t want to fix bikes anymore,” he said. “It’s a marathon. To those that do it, kudos.” It’s a worthwhile cause, he added. “(For) so many kids in the city who might not have access to a bike, at the holiday season they’re getting a pair of wheels,” he said. “That’s pretty amazing.” After making it through quality control, every bike went to the washing station to undergo cleaning. Maren Tyc and Lauren Purves were set up there Sunday morning. It was the lifelong best friends’ first time participating in the event. “Maybe in future years we’ll be at the level to work at one of the mechanic stations,” Tyc said. “I’d be really excited about that.” Tyc and Purves decided to get involved after doing a cycling trip in Norway this past summer. The 26-year-olds rode more than 1,000 km on a tandem bicycle from Oslo to Tromsø, where Purves is studying urban planning. Both were impressed by the event. “There’s a lot of energy in the room… and so much generosity,” Tyc said. “It’s just really cool to see this many people come together for one cause.” The WRENCH aims to make the event accessible to participants of all abilities and skill sets, Heath said. At a final station, volunteers were creating homemade holiday cards that will be distributed with each bike. According to its website, the WRENCH offers community bike programming aimed at educating youth, empowering volunteers and providing people with affordable, sustainable active transportation options. It’s headquartered on Logan Avenue. Cycle of Giving is important because it gives the organization an opportunity to fix and distribute a large number of bikes in a short amount of time, said Anders Annell, bike shop co-ordinator. The WRENCH will distribute the bikes to about a dozen community partners who will give them to children who are nine years old and younger, he said. Staff and volunteers go to great lengths to make sure children receive something that works well and is clean, he added. “Any bike can be awesome if it’s free, but a bike that looks great and works great is even better — and it’s safer,” Annell said. Bruce W.J. Miller, executive director at the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council, said he feels fortunate his organization will be receiving some of the bikes repaired during Cycle of Giving. “We’re very thankful for the generosity of the WRENCH program,” Miller said. “As you can imagine, a bike can mean a world of difference to a young person.” aaron.epp(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Data shows opening Portage and Main to pedestrians has minimal impact on rush-hour travel times (Dec8'25)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Dec '25

08 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Data shows opening Portage and Main to pedestrians has minimal impact on rush-hour travel times ‘Doomsday predictions’ proven ‘wrong’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/08/doomsday-predicti… FOUR months after the intersection of Portage and Main opened to pedestrian crossings, traffic data shows there has been almost no impact to commuting motorists. It’s news that comes as little surprise to proponents of taking down the barricades that once held foot traffic at bay — and one that some hope will end a contentious debate that has raged in the Manitoba capital for decades. “Before the intersection was open to pedestrians, everybody heard the doomsday predictions about gridlock and accidents that would happen, and the data proves that those predictions were wrong,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said Friday. “Ultimately, I don’t have good answer as to why this was debated for so long.” The City of Winnipeg undertook a study to analyze travel-times for motorists crossing Portage Avenue and Main Street. It involved data collected from GPS-enabled vehicles travelling on four key routes leading into and from the intersection during peak traffic hours in November. That data was then compared to data collected from November of last year, before pedestrian traffic was introduced. Morning travel on two of the routes was unchanged year over year, while travel time for the others increased by less than a minute. In the afternoon, travel time on three of the routes increased by less than two minutes, and the remaining route saw a one-minute decrease. “Generally speaking, there has been minimal impact to travel times,” city spokesperson Julie Dooley said in an email. “These changes are all considered relatively negligible when looking at impacts to daily commutes.” Meanwhile, the data found the intersection has been crossed by tens of thousands of pedestrians, with foot traffic averaging 3,570 people per day. Dooley noted the analysis did not account for nearby construction, or other issues that could cause congestion. “I’m not surprised. It’s a modern intersection and we are employing modern techniques to manage traffic flow,” said University of Winnipeg urban geography professor Jino Distasio. “My hope is that, in the end, the average Winnipegger just sees the opening of Portage and Main as nothing more than a routine cleanup of an intersection that could have always allowed pedestrians to cross.” Despite its reputation as Winnipeg’s most iconic intersection, Distasio said Portage and Main is fundamentally no different from crossings in other major urban centres. “On any given day now, if you asked a tourist, ‘Is there anything distinctive about this intersection?’ Most would look at you and say, ‘What?’” he said. “I think today, we’ve just moved on. The issue is closed and the intersection is open.” Arguments over whether at-grade crossings should be permitted at Portage and Main have ebbed and flowed since it closed to foot traffic in 1979 and pedestrians were redirected to an underground concourse. Reopening the intersection was a key plank in former mayor Brian Bowman’s 2014 election campaign, but he encountered resistance from some on city council. The debate reached a fever pitch with the results of a 2018 plebiscite, in which the majority of respondents voted against reopening. Opponents cited concerns that pedestrian crossings may cause traffic congestion and compromise safety. It is unclear whether the reopening has resulted in an increase in collisions; Manitoba Public Insurance could not immediately provide such data on Friday. Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy said pedestrian crossings have not caused issues for officers. Coun. Janice Lukes, who at first opposed opening the intersection to pedestrians, later reversed course and was among the first people to cross during a grand-opening ceremony in June. She travels the route by car almost daily, and has noticed no difference to her commute in the months since, she said. “At the time, I didn’t support it. But, you know what, society changes, things change, life changes, people change,” she said. “I think back then, there was a lot of political drama about it. This current mayor said, ‘Look, it’s an intersection. We want to get it done, let’s do it.’ And we did, and I’m fine with it.” Adam Dooley was a key member of the citizen-led Vote Open campaign during the plebiscite. He said the decision became unnecessarily politically charged, and should have instead focused on improving accessibility downtown. “It was a feud between a couple of city councillors and the mayor of the day, and I hope that we can all learn that that kind of behaviour just poisons politics and leads to bad decision-making,” he said. “It’s very nice that it’s working out the way it is; it’s frustrating that it took us this long to get here.” Coun. Jeff Browaty, who also once opposed opening the intersection, agreed that doing so has not had a dramatic effect on travel times. He said the change coincided with other traffic improvements surrounding the intersection, including the addition of a new turning lane and an overhaul of the Winnipeg Transit network. “I think these are all real factors,” he said. “I think this does end the debate, and we will have to monitor things. I do believe there is still a segment of the population that is still anti-car… the vast majority of trips Winnipeggers take are by vehicle, and I think we do need to continue to recognize that fact.” tyler.searle(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Mayor sees solution to housing at curling club site (Dec4'25)
by Beth McKechnie 04 Dec '25

04 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. [This article is a bit outside the boundaries of the AT Network's purpose but I thought many of you would be equally interested.] City report says provincial board lacks authority to impose parking condition on development permit Mayor sees solution to housing at curling club site https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/03/city-proposes-roc… MAYOR Scott Gillingham says the city has a solution to advance the controversial housing project slated for the Granite Curling Club parking lot, although the club alleges the city doesn’t have the power to put it in place. “I believe there’s a win-win situation here to get the housing built that we need… and also to address the parking matter in a new lease,” said Gillingham. In February, city council approved an 11 storey, 110-unit residential building for the city-owned land. Half of the suites would have affordable rent for 99 years. But the Granite Curling Club appealed the decision to the Manitoba Municipal Board, arguing the location would eliminate 45 of its 80 parking stalls, rendering the operation no longer viable. In November, the municipal board directed the city and club to develop an “adequate” parking plan “to the satisfaction of the Granite Curling Club” and city, which the mayor opposed, arguing that would give the club veto power over the project. Since provincial legislation prohibits city council from passing a zoning bylaw that doesn’t conform to the municipal board’s recommendations, many considered the directive binding. However, in a new report released Wednesday, city staff conclude the parking plan condition is “not in respect of the proposed bylaw” and the provincial board has “no authority” to impose a condition on a development permit. That means city council is not legally bound to follow it, the report states. The staff report recommends council instead approve its original motion to allow the project. “We have the public service recommendation here, in consultation with the city’s legal team, that this is the way we should proceed and I’ll be supporting that,” said Gillingham. The mayor noted he is also calling on city staff to negotiate a new long-term lease with the board of the curling club, which includes an expanded leased area and dedicated on-site parking options. “I believe there’s parking space available in the area. This problem can be solved,” said Gillingham. The city has long deemed the proposed housing at 22 Granite Way as key to creating much-needed affordable homes near transit and other services. On Wednesday, a member of the Granite club’s board said he remains convinced the city would violate provincial legislation if it doesn’t follow the entire municipal board recommendation. “Although the city was unhappy with the decision, it doesn’t give the city the right to ignore the provisions of the city charter and the municipal board’s recommendation,” said Christian Pierce, the board’s secretary. “(This) is in clear contravention of the city charter provisions.” Pierce said the club doesn’t oppose the housing development itself but must have sufficient parking to ensure it can continue operations. He said the board is considering “all options” to oppose the city’s decision, which could include a legal challenge. “We’re just absolutely baffled that (the city is) taking the position that they don’t have to follow legislation,” said Pierce. When asked if the provincial government will take any action to ensure the city follows the board’s directions, Manitoba Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard did not directly answer. While he urged the city and curling club to “continue to work on compromises,” he also noted repeatedly that his government respects the authority of its municipal counterparts. “We’ll continue to look forward to having legislation in place so these types of incidents don’t happen in the future… The city has decisions to make. We respect them as a local and mature order of government to make those decisions,” said Simard. The provincial government is reviewing legislation that controls the municipal board’s powers. Winnipeg City Council’s executive policy committee will vote Tuesday on the plan to move the project forward. — with files from Carol Sanders joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Transit heeds ‘direct feedback,’ adds late-night hours to most on-request zones (Dec2'25)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Dec '25

02 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Transit heeds ‘direct feedback,’ adds late-night hours to most on-request zones https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/12/02/transit-heeds-dir… WINNIPEG Transit will soon add late night service to most of its on-request zones, allowing riders to hail buses until 2 a.m. most days. The city made the announcement in a news release Monday, saying the changes are a “direct result” of feedback that riders have submitted since June’s launch of the new spine-and-feeder bus network. “Winnipeggers have been clear about what’s working and what needs improvement,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said in the release. “Winnipeg Transit is using that feedback, along with what they see on buses and at transit stops every day, to keep improving the new network.” The city cut more than 1,000 bus stops when it overhauled the transit system, but expanded the on-request bus service that allows riders to request a bus pickup online, via an app or by calling 311. There are now 12 zones around the city where riders can request a bus to take them from where they are to a bus stop on the primary network. Ten of those zones will benefit from the changes, with zones 104 (St. Boniface Industrial Park) and zone 110 (St. Boniface) the only two unaffected, All zones that currently operate after 7 p.m. will extend service until about 2 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays and holidays, those zones will operate until about 12:45 a.m., the release said. The boundaries for zone 103 (North West) will also expand so passengers can take on-request rides to Garden City Shopping Centre and Walmart. “We’ve also rewritten schedules for buses that were regularly late and added capacity to routes that were regularly full,” the news release said. Other changes include a full rewrite of schedules for buses D12, D13, D16 and F8. In total, those routes will see 49 service hours added on weekdays. New trips will also be added to six school-serving routes that are experiencing capacity issues, the release said. Routes 557, 649 and 678 will see new trips added before and after school hours. Routes 442, 694 and 885 will see an extra trip added before school hours. A list detailing those schedule changes, and more, is available on the Winnipeg Transit website. The changes will take effect Sunday to coincide with the launch of Transit’s winter schedule. tyler.searle(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Que. coroner calls for better pedestrian safety after death of girl (Dec1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Dec '25

01 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Que. coroner calls for better pedestrian safety after death of girl MONTREAL — A Quebec coroner is recommending strengthened measures to protect pedestrian safety after the hit-and-run death of a seven-year-old Ukrainian refugee in 2022. Coroner Éric Lépine said in a recent report that the girl’s death was accidental, caused by the driver’s failure to stop fully at an intersection as well as the blinding morning sun. “My analysis of the facts leads me to conclude that the driver never saw (the victim) and that (the victim) never saw the vehicle,” Lépine wrote. “The collision resulted from a lack of vigilance on the part of the driver, due to an incomplete stop of his vehicle combined with poor visibility caused by glare from the sun.” However, he called on the city and province to take steps to improve safety at intersections, including adding sun glare as a criteria to consider when deciding which measures to put in place. Seven-year-old Mariia Legenkovska was walking to school with her brother and sister on Dec. 13, 2022, when a Jeep Grand Cherokee fatally struck her. The driver drove away without stopping but turned himself in to police later that day. He pleaded guilty in 2024 to failing to stop after an accident, and was later sentenced to a year of house arrest. Mariia and her family moved to Montreal in 2022 to escape the Russian invasion of their country. Her father, Andrii Legenkovska, was fighting for Ukraine’s territorial defence forces when she was killed, and he travelled to Montreal from the front lines to bury his daughter. Lépine’s Nov. 12 report redacts the victim’s name but notes that her death affected all of Quebec and prompted calls to better protect children in city streets. The report notes that the driver slowed down and looked both ways at the intersection where the girl was struck, but did not stop. The driver did not see the girl, but felt a bump under his tires, it states. He turned himself in to police a few hours later. The coroner noted that physical modifications such as bollards, speed bumps and curb extensions are the best way to improve pedestrian safety at intersections, and advised the city to continue adding them wherever possible. — The Canadian Press

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WFP: Child struck by vehicle Friday (Dec1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Dec '25

01 Dec '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. CHILD STRUCK BY VEHICLE FRIDAY A YOUTH was hit by a car while crossing the street on River Road near St. Mary’s Road just before 5 p.m. Friday. The child was sent to hospital as a precaution and is in stable condition, the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed Saturday. The driver remained at the scene and was co-operative with police.

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WFP: Pernicious cycle - Is there any strategy that can shift bike-theft crisis out of high gear? (Nov29'25)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Nov '25

29 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. PERNICIOUS CYCLE Is there any strategy that can shift bike-theft crisis out of high gear? https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/28/pernicious-cycle THERE’S perhaps no crime Winnipeggers are more likely to complain about. The hefty amount it costs Winnipeggers every year is impossible to calculate precisely, since the phenomenon goes as under-reported as it is seemingly omnipresent. Yet talk to local universities’ sociologists and criminologists, and they’ll tell you the crime — bike theft — isn’t particularly well-studied in Canada. The public’s picture of this “black market” is filtered mostly through aggravating personal experiences and news reports, which lately in Winnipeg have offered especially eye-catching headlines. Earlier this month, the Winnipeg Police Service told the public stolen bikes are being stripped down for parts that can be turned into weapons. And not just knives and sharp objects, but improvised shotguns. “We have concerns not only for the theft of bicycles that are being traded for money… or for drugs, but we’re also concerned about bicycles that are being taken apart and then used to create weapons,” said Insp. Helen Peters, adding a bike tube casing can be the right size to hold a shotgun shell. In August, city police shut down a bike chop shop at a riverbank homeless encampment in Point Douglas, charging two men with possession of stolen property and seizing dozens of bikes and hundreds of bike parts, as well as a gas generator, pressure washer and other materials. It’s believed to be the first time Winnipeg police secured and executed a search warrant for an encampment. The WPS also reported that people at the approximately 900-sq.-ft. camp — consisting of tarps on four sides, with multiple “rooms” — were working in shifts and did not necessarily appear homeless. Fabricating shotguns, engaging in shift work, stockpiling stolen goods in hidden dens, being thwarted by warrants — all this may at first give an impression that actors in Winnipeg’s black market for bikes are essentially, to use a loaded term, “organized” criminally. But talk to local outreach workers and to some of the actors themselves and a different picture emerges, one of a chaotic milieu driven by desperation, poverty and addiction. “What the police found (in Point Douglas) was more the exception than it is the rule… Generally, it’s very disorganized. It’s part of the flailing behaviour of drug addicts,” says Marion Willis, executive director of the non-profit St. Boniface Street Links, which works with people experiencing homelessness and addiction. Willis points to the hoarding tendencies of methamphetamine addicts, attributing some bike theft and chopping to the compulsive behaviours the drug can trigger. In fact, she says she’s lobbied city council for policies differentiating between hoarding disorders and meth addicts’ collecting behaviours so city workers don’t address the two with the same tactics. “People are attempting to frame (bike theft) as organized crime because there is, I think, at least a limited degree of consciousness around the idea of crimes of poverty,” says Bronwyn Dobchuk-Land, an associate professor in the University of Winnipeg’s department of criminal justice. Yet, she says, this doesn’t mean bike thieves aren’t “rational” or “organized” in other senses. “People organize to make the encampment safe for themselves. They steal bikes and organize (in ways) that arise from a shared set of problems in a particular context,” she says. “People are making choices based on a scan of their options…And that goes right down to choice of drugs. People take meth because they have to stay awake when it’s cold outside.” Point Douglas community activist Sel Burrows suggests there is often criminal co-ordination involved with bike theft, observing that a division of labour — between stealers, choppers and sellers — sometimes exists. But he agrees that it mostly falls well short of “organized crime” in the conventional sense. “There’s the professional bike thief who goes out looking for high-end bikes and has a battery-powered grinder… (and there’s) the two or three poor souls who definitely need their meth hit or whatever and they will chop up whatever bikes they can and take them down to the junkyard,” he says. ●●● Burrows and Willis, speaking from decades of experience working with underserved urban communities, both say bicycle theft is an important part of the economy fuelling the purchase of meth and fentanyl in Winnipeg, with bikes and bike parts often serving as currency. Illicit currencies can be laundered and in an informal sense this appears to be one of the roles chop shops play: a site not just for stripping bikes, but for spray-painting them, scratching off serial numbers and mixing and matching parts so that when bikes are resold, they can’t be easily identified. “(Stealing and chopping bikes) is part of the inner-city gig economy. You can’t get a job, you don’t have a car, so you can’t go delivering food and stuff like that… this is something you can do with very little skill,” says Burrows, who has held senior advisory roles with the provincial government. “It’s all about getting money to buy drugs or having something they can trade for drugs. That’s what it is. That’s the underground economy,” Willis says. Sellers of stolen bikes are known to offload their wares by a variety of means, such as online via Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji, or by selling them to passers-by on the street. James Audy, an outreach worker with Street Links, says dealers sometimes accept bicycles from customers, not to re-sell them, but for parts to tune up the look and function of their own bikes. He speaks candidly based not only on his experience with outreach, but as an ex-gang member who ended up homeless for a decade. “On the streets, the nicer bike you have, then the better the status you have, right?” he says. “If I was dealing drugs and if I seen a nice part, I’d buy it just to put it on my bike.” When vehicles are too expensive — and in a car-centric city with a floundering public transit system — Audy says bikes substitute as objects of pride and as means of transportation. So those drawn to using stolen bikes for lack of an affordable alternative ideally want to get around on something that doesn’t offend the eye and also provides a smooth ride, like virtually everyone else. ●●● “Someone’s always using a bike, it’s the hood… They use bikes — they don’t have money for transportation,” says Marty. He lives in one of downtown Winnipeg’s encampments and runs a makeshift bike shop outside his tent. He says he resells the bikes he works on usually for around $40 and sometimes services others’ two-wheelers in need of repairs. “You could just as easily throw them out,” he says of the old, loose parts scattered outside his tent. With a hint of humour, he describes his work as a form of recycling. Lee, who ran a makeshift bike shop in his yard before police intervened this summer, is hurt by the negative perception neighbours had of his family. He says he provides a kind of service for people wanting cheap bicycles and bike parts while making ends meet after an injury left him unable to work. “I had a couple people stop by — I give them a tire or nut… (later) the cops showed up and tried to say we’re drug dealers… People look at us like we’re bad people. But we’re trying to provide… (and) everyday is a struggle,” he says. “Everyone’s not perfect: the kids want to be tough. The kids and friends bring parts… and I go through them,” he adds. Lee says his family are not thieves, but if a few stolen parts mix into the piles he has on hand, “I don’t find it that big of a deal.” Marty’s attitude is similar. “People just drop them off, I don’t ask,” he says. “I know some parts are stolen, but… I’m against stealing. I think about if someone was hurt.” He says he has often been the victim of theft, himself. “Sometimes people steal from me. It’s my fault, it’s in the open,” he says. “It could be the same people who ask me to fix the bike… People act like children, stealing each other’s toys: they’re mad at something, I can’t put my finger on it.” Audy isn’t surprised by this and describes the underground market for bikes in downtown Winnipeg as a sort of warped circular economy. “Everybody’s in survival mode,” he says. “Everybody steals off everybody. It’s a greasy environment. The next generation is seeing all these older guys … stealing and thinking it’s cool, so now they’re trying to step it up a little bit, right?” ●●● Bike theft is not just a “crime of the poor.” Petty thievery can tempt people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and, unsurprisingly, there’s hardly a unified social-scientific explanation for bicycle theft. Dobchuk-Land says studying bike theft is also complicated by the fact there exists a rift between crime reporting and crime itself. Certain neighbourhoods and demographics are policed more, skewing perceptions of crime. However, there is no shortage of studies highlighting how low socioeconomic status — including poverty, unemployment and inequality — correlates in complex ways with certain forms of street crime, like petty theft. The sociologist is often drawn toward thinking about social systems and structures, and how these might be reformed, when it comes to addressing “crimes of survival” including petty thievery. This could mean not solely improving social opportunities but also reforming how such crimes are policed in the first place, sparking heated debates and a range of policy possibilities. But for the Winnipegger who enters their garage to find their brand-new city cruiser lifted, often the first and last thought is simply: “What a f—-ing pest!” If this is close to the average Joe’s conception of the bike thief, one of cinema’s most celebrated films offers a more ambivalent image. In Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) a struggling family in Italy’s economically desperate first years after the Second World War scrimps and saves for a bicycle needed for the father’s new job posting advertising bills around Rome. That bicycle is lifted from him by a thief on his first day of work, so he too, after much indecision, gives in to the temptation to steal a bike from a stranger, likely just as destitute as him. With a guilty conscience, he perpetuates a vicious circle. The social context is obviously very different: in Winnipeg, the meth and fentanyl addiction crises combine with forces like systemic poverty as factors encompassing bike theft. But the film highlights what academics less poetically term “victim-offender overlap,” a construct studied in fields like urban sociology. But recognizing the victim status of many thieves doesn’t make bike theft, particularly for poor and working families, any less vexing when it happens to them. “I mean, I use the example of one young woman who called me in tears. She finally had a job so… she bought her five-year-old a Princess bicycle at Canadian Tire for 100 bucks. And two days later, it was in the shed, and it was stolen,” Burrows says. Dobchuk-Land adds: “The impact of a low-level property theft will necessarily impact somebody who’s poorer — it’s more of a dent, literally, in their lives and their wealth.' ●●● The City of Winnipeg says about 3,000 bikes are reported stolen every year. It’s impossible to know what the actual number is, but Project 529, North America’s largest bike registry, estimates that only 15-20 per cent of bikes stolen in Canada are reported. If we assume a low average price of $150 per bike, that’s about $2.5 million in damages in Winnipeg, annually. Last year, as the Free Press reported, only 681 bikes were recovered and just 105 returned to their owners. This includes 64 returned by the city’s bicycle recovery officer, with help from Project 529’s free-to-use bike-registry app called 529 Garage. In April 2024, the City of Winnipeg began promoting the app to cyclists, and between April and December, residents registered 6,325 bicycles. In an interview with the Free Press earlier this month, Ins. Peters urged Winnipeggers to register their bikes, or at least take photos and record the serial number, and then report them when stolen, otherwise it becomes difficult for police to lay charges. “We know that bike chop shops can be linked to the creation of weapons — weapons such as zipguns — so obviously, it’s not just a theft concern then, it’s even more so a public-matter.” She added police have received an increasing number of calls about chop shops in the past year. Burrows has argued at crime-prevention conferences that bike registration should be mandatory at point of sale, with collaboration from retailers like Walmart and Canadian Tire, placing greater risk on thieves and making it easier for police to investigate and return stolen bikes. He’s not the first to float ideas like these, though they’ve rarely been implemented. Burrows also believes some working- class families are often reluctant to report stolen bikes and property because they mistrust police or fear reprisal. He emphasizes the need for a more “eyes on the street” approach, where communities feel empowered to monitor their own neighbourhoods and anonymously report crimes to a trusted liaison who, when need be, calls on law enforcement. (This is much like the approach of Burrows’ tip-line initiative, Point Powerline, which helped earn him induction into the Order of Manitoba in 2017.) “People feel powerless. They feel that nobody gives a shit about them and they’re mostly right,” he says. ●●● Because Willis, Burrows and Dobchuk-Land situate bike theft broadly in relation to more systemic issues of inner-city poverty, homelessness and addiction, punitive measures aren’t the first thing they talk about when they discuss bike theft-prevention strategies. “This whole idea of ‘broken windows’ policing has really effectively made its way into public consciousness,” says Dobchuk-Land. “We’ve got this association between disorder, low-level crime and danger to us that makes us feel violated… when really, assault and interpersonal violence are not correlated with low-level poverty crime.” In a similar vein, Willis is also troubled by what she sees as an overly punitive approach being taken in dealing with homeless encampments. She’s particularly critical of the city’s new encampment policy, introduced this fall. It prohibits camps in certain areas including near schools, playgrounds, seniors’ facilities, bridges, piers and transit stops, or where “life safety” issues exist. “I think it is an infringement of basic human rights to take something away without offering them either a shelter or a housing option that is real,” she says. Willis says we should be realistic and realize creating more social housing for people living in encampments wouldn’t solve all associated issues of theft and addiction. But she thinks it’s time Winnipeggers reflect more about the bigger picture surrounding nuisances like bike theft, which means more seriously acknowledging and addressing Winnipeg’s addiction and homelessness crises. “We normalized bike theft, we normalized homelessness, we normalized drug use, we’ve normalized encampment living — we normalized it all,” she says. conrad.sweatman(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Pedestrian deaths can’t be ‘business as usual’ (Nov29'25)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Nov '25

29 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Pedestrian deaths can’t be ‘business as usual’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/28/we-cannot-treat-p… A CANDLELIGHT vigil held to remember a Winnipeg woman who died while crossing an Osborne Village street drew more than 100 people Friday, demanding safer streets in her memory. Dozens gathered at the intersection of Roslyn Road and Osborne Street, where Rosalie Tennison was struck while crossing the street on Nov. 21. The 67-year-old was hospitalized after the collision and was awaiting surgery on broken bones in her leg when she had an unexpected medical event and died the next day. “She was an incredibly outgoing and dedicated person,” said Matthew Bowman, rector at the Parish Church of St. Luke on Nassau Street North, where Tennison was a member. Although Bowman only knew the author and communications professional for six weeks, it was long enough for her to make an impression on him. “(She was) an incredibly organized and driven person, an incredibly generous spirit that genuinely tried to live out her faith and bring joy to others,” Bowman said. The church organized the vigil with advocates for safe streets and the Osborne Village BIZ. Steve West, who has lived in Osborne Village for more than 25 years, said he was shocked and saddened by Tennison’s death but not surprised. He is an avid cyclist who has had close calls with motor vehicles. “When you’re on a bike or walking you have a very different perspective of what’s going on in traffic,” said West, who volunteers with Bike Winnipeg and has long been an advocate for making Winnipeg’s streets safer. “Drivers are not only going very fast but they seem distracted.” Tennison is the ninth pedestrian killed on Winnipeg streets this year, and the 16th person killed in a vehicle collision, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release earlier this week. “Think of the cascading effect of that,” West said. “There’s her family and her church community and her condo community and her friends — for each person that’s killed or seriously injured in a traffic collision, there are so many people that are affected directly or indirectly.” Downtown resident Mandalyn Unger said she attended the vigil because it’s important to commemorate the deaths of pedestrians killed in collisions. “We cannot treat pedestrian deaths as business as usual or expected collateral damage from having such a car-centric city or such a car-centric corridor there on Osborne,” Unger said. She called on Mayor Scott Gillingham and Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, to invest in infrastructure to make Winnipeg’s streets safer for pedestrians. The City of Winnipeg is undertaking numerous initiatives to improve road safety, Lukes told the Free Press Friday afternoon. They include introducing traffic calming curbs and providing dedicated infrastructure for walking and biking. Lukes empathized with Tennison’s family and friends, and said that her father was killed in a car crash when she was 18. “When life is taken in a second, everything changes, nothing stays the same and it’s with you the rest of your life,” Lukes said. Parish Church of St. Luke held a service prior to the vigil to remember Tennison, said Susan Roe-Finlay, reverend deacon at the church and a friend of Tennison’s. “The service was to remember her and to remind people to respect life, and this (vigil) is to remind people that we need safer streets,” Roe-Finlay said. She added that with the advent season beginning Sunday, the church recently hung four advent-themed tapestries that Tennison made last year. “She was very much part of the church fabric,” Roe-Finlay said. aaron.epp(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Local author, beloved church member dies after being hit by car in Osborne Village (Nov25'25)
by Beth McKechnie 27 Nov '25

27 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Local author, beloved church member dies after being hit by car in Osborne Village Ninth pedestrian to die after being hit on Winnipeg streets in 2025 https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/24/local-author-belo… A local author, beloved by her church and community, has died after a motorist struck her while she was crossing the street in Osborne Village Friday afternoon. Rosalie Tennison, 67, was hospitalized after the collision and was awaiting surgery on broken bones in her leg. She had an unexpected medical event and died early Saturday, her sister Lynette Tennison told the Free Press. She is the ninth pedestrian killed on Winnipeg streets this year, and the 16th person killed in a vehicle collision, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release. “Rosalie was a person who was always thoughtful of people’s challenges, always thinking about the other (person) first,” said Dolores Tjart, a close friend who is president of the condo board at the Roslyn Road building where she lived. Police said the collision occurred at the intersection of Roslyn Road and Osborne Street around 1:20 p.m. The victim was crossing Osborne when she was hit by a 2014 Ford Fusion that was travelling west on Roslyn. She was taken to the hospital in stable condition, the release said. Police have not indicated whether criminal charges are being considered. The 32-year-old man driving the vehicle remained at the scene. The investigation continues. News about the tragedy shocked those who knew and loved Tennison, said Susan Roe-Finlay, reverend deacon at the Parish Church of St. Luke on Nassau Street North, where Tennison was a member. The close-knit congregation of about 50 people learned about her death Saturday night, and dedicated the Sunday morning church service to their late friend. “At church yesterday, they were just reeling; people were just overwhelmed. We were encouraging them at coffee to share, and I think some of them — they just couldn’t put words together,” Roe-Finlay said. “She is very much part of the fabric of our church. She is amazing.” Roe-Finlay said Tennison joined the church around six years ago, where she quickly developed a reputation for being “welcoming and warm.” Tennison was an active member of the congregation who participated in services by reading, taking collection and greeting parishioners. “She’s been part of our fundraisers. She often appeared at church with crafts and things that she would sell. She loved books and reading,” Roe-Finlay said. “She just seemed to be able to latch on to what people would like or need.” Most recently, she was organizing a fundraising event for the church that included a private screening of a Christmas movie partially filmed there. That event is set to continue in her honour on Saturday, Roe-Finlay said. The church is considering hosting a tea party in her honour next spring. “People will have to wear hats because Rosalie loved hats.” Ev Strong, who was friends with Tennison for 45 years, said she last spoke with her around 8:30 p.m. Friday, while Tennison was in the hospital awaiting further exams. “She said… she saw (the motorist) coming,” Strong said. “She was almost at her curb and she waved at him and he wasn’t paying attention, and then she said her arm hit his car and the next thing, he hit her.” Strong described her longtime friend as “intrepid” and “an inspiration.” “Everything that scared her, she went and did,” Strong said. “For her whole life, she wanted to write a book, and she did it.” Tennison’s debut book<https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/2025/05…>, Naomi’s Houses: A Memoir, launched with Heritage House Publishing last spring. It chronicled her childhood in rural Manitoba, where her family battled poverty, overcame tragedies and sought solace in one another. A biography on the publisher’s website noted Tennison was a longtime agricultural journalist whose career spanned weekly newspapers, agricultural trade magazines and a stint at a small-town radio station. She also worked in the communications department of the faculty of agriculture and food sciences at the University of Manitoba. Tennison earned a gold citation from the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation and was a gold-medal winner of a 2022 Canadian Online Publishing Award, the biography said. A spokesperson from the publishing house called Tennison a “lovely and enthusiastic woman” and said they were deeply saddened by news of her death. Tennison contributed to the pages of the Free Press, including sharing her thoughts in letters<https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2025/07/09/…> to the editor<https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2022/09/09/…>, and writing a 2019 opinion column<https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2019/02/23/rediscovering…> detailing her love for Manitoba winters. She was raised in Manitoba’s Swan Valley region, and later moved to Ontario where she was married and lived for about 25 years, her sister said. She returned to Winnipeg after her husband died about seven years ago. She did not have children, Strong said. Tennison will be buried in a family plot in Bowsman, a small community around 15 kilometres north of Swan River, in the RM of Minitonas. She is the second pedestrian killed by a motorist in Winnipeg this month. A 68-year-old man died after he was hit by a pickup truck at Salter Street and Selkirk Avenue at about 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 15. The driver was co-operative with police, and the investigation is ongoing, WPS said. Manitoba Public Insurance issued a warning last month to alert people to the vulnerability of pedestrians on the roadway. It said there has been an average of 19 pedestrian deaths in the province annually since 2019. As of Nov. 23, 16 pedestrians have died on Manitoba roadways this year, MPI said. In total, the data shows five people have been hit by vehicles at the intersection of Osborne Street and Roslyn Road in the past four years — including two people this year, one person last year and two more in 2022. Nobody was struck at the intersection in 2023. tyler.searle(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Bike memorial for couple killed in crash vanishes, investigation underway (Nov22'25)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Nov '25

23 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. ‘Feels very disrespectful’ Bike memorial for couple killed in crash vanishes, investigation underway https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/11/21/feels-very-disres… A GHOST bike memorial that honoured a Winnipeg couple killed in a collision involving an alleged impaired driver has gone missing, leaving their loved ones distraught and police investigating. The two-seat bicycle was chained to a metal pole next to Kenaston Boulevard’s southbound lanes, near Enterprise Drive, in memory of Kerry Bonner, 25, and Egor Popov, 31, who died Sept. 13. “I started crying. Who could do something like that?” Bonner’s sister, Julia Bonner, said of when she learned the bike was removed. “I was just in the moment of missing my sister and to hear that, I was devastated.” It’s not yet known who removed the bike or why. With the blessing of Bonner and Popov’s loved ones, the ghost bike was set up by members of Winnipeg’s cycling community during a vigil Sept. 26. The bike was gone when Samantha Beiko, a cycling community member, checked on it Tuesday night. “It just feels very disrespectful. It’s sort of like removing a grave marker,” Beiko said. A couple of severed chain links and a plastic flower, previously attached to the bike, were all that remained at the base of the pole. Painted white, the bicycle was welded together and non-functional. “For now, pretty much the working theory is somebody pulled up, cut the chain and took the bike for scrap,” Beiko said. “It just shows that this is how people view vulnerable road users.” She called the Winnipeg Police Service’s property crimes unit Wednesday morning to report the bike missing. Police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy confirmed an investigation is underway. The memorial was not removed by city staff, spokesman Adam Campbell said. Beiko posted appeals on social media in a bid to track down the bike, which was on a route used by tens of thousands of drivers per day. She contacted scrap yards in case someone tries to exchange the bike for cash. Bonner and Popov — survived by a young child — were on Kenaston’s southbound shoulder when the driver of a speeding pickup truck crashed into them and then fled the scene, police said in September. Police charged Kuldeep Singh Gill, 41, with two counts each of dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. He was granted bail in October. Court records show Gill was arrested for driving while impaired by alcohol in July 2016. After pleading guilty in provincial court, he was barred from driving for a year and fined $1,500. The cycling community and Bonner and Popov’s loved ones are discussing whether to put up a new ghost bike or a different memorial. Beiko said there are worries that a new ghost bike, if installed, would be removed, as well. Ghost bikes have been set up in cities around the world to remember cyclists killed in collisions. The memorials are intended to raise awareness about the risks cyclists face. Before it vanished, Beiko said advocates heard from some people who didn’t know what the bike on Kenaston symbolized. She said that demonstrates a need for more education. After the double fatal collision, Bike Winnipeg said Kenaston between Sterling Lyon Parkway and McGillivray Boulevard lacks safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, forcing them onto unprotected shoulders. Earlier this month, a driver crashed an SUV into a ghost bike — damaging a plaque — that was next to Wellington Crescent, near Hugo Street, and drove off, Beiko said. It happened the day after the city invited people to weigh in on a proposed temporary bike lane for Wellington between Academy Road and Stradbrook Avenue, she said. The bike paid tribute to Rob Jenner, 61, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while cycling to work at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in June 2024. Beckham Severight, then 19, was driving at least 159 km/h in a 50 km/h zone immediately before the crash, court heard in March. He received a three-year sentence and five-year driving ban for dangerous driving causing death and leaving the scene of a collision. chris.kitching(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP Analysis: Finding a better option than bigger roads (Nov20'25)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Nov '25

20 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 17 Nov '25

17 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 17 Nov '25

17 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 14 Nov '25

14 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 12 Nov '25

12 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 07 Nov '25

07 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 05 Nov '25

05 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 02 Nov '25

02 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 01 Nov '25

01 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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WFP: Transit proposes to expand evening service and hire 27 drivers to address complaints (Nov1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Nov '25

01 Nov '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Later hours, more jobs to cost $7M Transit proposes to expand evening service and hire 27 drivers to address complaints https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/10/31/transit-proposes-… WINNIPEG Transit plans to spend millions of dollars each year and add 33.5 new staff positions to ensure buses on some of its fixed routes can run later into the night. A new proposal calls for council to approve $3 million in 2026 (when many of the changes will start in April) and $4.4 million throughout 2027 to extend service on 11 bus routes. The funding will also pay to extend a separate extension to nighttime service for on-request routes. “This gives a lot of really good late night service to areas that never had late night service under the old network or under the first instance of this new network,” said Bjorn Radstrom, Winnipeg Transit’s manager of service development. Radstrom said the routes were selected for added hours based on gaps identified in transit’s new primary route network, which was implemented on June 29. The city also considered proximity to large workplaces with night shifts, ridership data and public feedback. Radstrom said further changes could be needed as circumstances change, such as the construction of new neighbourhoods or addition of large companies that rely on night shifts. Transit’s new hires would include 27.5 new bus operator positions, plus six more positions to cover operating, plant, equipment and administrative supports. While Transit has sometimes struggled to hire enough bus drivers, that’s not expected to be an obstacle to this plan. “We’re doing better with our hiring than we ever have… We’re continuing to hire about six operators a week,” said Radstrom. In 2025, Transit hired 234 operators, while 120 left their positions, he said. “We haven’t had a single service cancellation due to a shortage of operators since the launch of the new network,” he added. On Thursday, council’s public works committee will vote on a request to refer the plan to the city’s 2026 budget process. The committee’s chairwoman said she will support the proposal. “People need to get to work. Transportation and movement is the backbone of our economy,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West). Lukes said the changes match key complaints received by the city after the new network was implemented, with some residents noting they could no longer rely on the bus to get home from work or school. “We’re making these changes, we’re taking feedback,” she said. Mayor Scott Gillingham said he supports adding more night-time bus service, although he’s still reviewing the details of the plan. “If that’s what it takes to ensure that transit’s available late at night for transit users, then that’s an investment that I’m certainly willing to look at,” said Gillingham. If approved, the fixed route changes would kick in on April 12, 2026. The following routes would offer a last trip that starts after midnight: D10 Panet – Adsum; D14 Salter – Stafford; D16 Academy – Notre Dame; D17 Talbot – Selkirk; 28 Arlington – Stafford; 38 Mountain – Munroe; 43 Watt – Logan; 70 Roblin; 74 Kenaston – Keewatin; 224 Sherwin – Valour; 680 River Heights – Cambridge (on weekdays only). Currently, the last bus for fixed two-digit “connector” routes makes its final pickup around 10 p.m., while the last bus on three-digit “community” routes do so at 7 p.m. City council has already approved a separate plan to extend hours later into the night for 10 on-request bus routes, starting Dec. 14, with funding until April. The latest plan would extend its funding permanently as well. On-request service will end just before 2 a.m. from Monday to Saturday and around 12:45 a.m. on Sunday and holidays on those routes, instead of around 10 p.m. On-request service allows riders to request a pickup from their location to a stop on the primary bus network by using the Winnipeg Transit website, app or by calling 311. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: City pushing forward with Route 90 projects (Oct31'25)
by Beth McKechnie 31 Oct '25

31 Oct '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. City pushing forward with Route 90 projects Critics argue more Kenaston lanes won’t cure congestion, while costs also a concern https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/10/30/council-votes-to-… A MASSIVE project is moving forward to expand Kenaston Boulevard and replace key infrastructure around it, despite some concerns it won’t have a lasting impact on the area’s traffic-snarling congestion. On Thursday, city council voted 11-2 in favour taking the first steps to begin the plan next year, with construction to begin as soon as 2028. The proposal would earmark $5 million to start property acquisitions and set early planning to begin in 2027, pending approval in the city’s 2026 budget. “The Route 90 projects, plural, are all about the potential of Winnipeg. It’s all about… unlocking our future potential as a city,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham, deeming the boulevard a critical trade route. The mega project would widen Kenaston-Route 90 to offer three lanes in each direction between Taylor and Ness avenues. It would also replace the St. James bridges, separate aging pipes to reduce combined sewer overflows and add active-transportation pathways on both sides of Kenaston. It’s expected to cost $614 million, plus $143 million in interest, if the city funds it entirely through debt. In her first city council meeting after winning last Saturday’s Elmwood-East Kildonan ward byelection, Coun. Emma Durand-Wood joined Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) in opposing the project. “It’s just a very unaffordable project that takes away resources from other priorities that we have in the city,” said Durand-Wood. She said the city should instead focus its limited funds on expanding public transit and active transportation. “There’s ways that we can (improve transportation) without just adding more car lanes,” she said. Couns. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) and Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) were absent from the meeting and the vote. City council’s chairwoman of public works said widening the street is essential for promptly delivering goods throughout the city. “Transportation is the backbone of our economy, so we need to move people and we need to move goods. And the Route 90 (expansion) is doing all of that,” said Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West). The decision comes after members of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition urged councillors to reject the project. During Thursday’s council meeting, coalition member Tim Fennell argued the city simply can’t afford the Kenaston overhaul and shouldn’t “saddle” future generations with paying off the tab. “It’s a lot of money we’re talking about here… We’re planning to pay for it over 30 years,” said Fennell. Fennell also questioned why a third party cost benefit analysis was not fully released to the public. To date, only the executive summary has been published. That Deloitte review predicts the project would produce about $10 million more in benefits more than it will cost throughout its life cycle. Coalition member Brian Pincott said adding traffic lanes will attract more vehicles to the route, quickly eliminating any improved traffic flow. “Kenaston is horrible to drive on. They’re… thinking if we add another lane we’ll improve traffic flow, we’ll reduce congestion. Any transportation planner knows that induced demand chews up your extra capacity right away,” said Pincott, who acknowledged the need for bridge, sewer and road-resurfacing components of the project. Gillingham said a traffic increase in the area is not a risk but a guarantee, noting the Naawi-Oodena redevelopment of the former Kapyong Barracks is expected to add up to 3,100 more residential units in the area. “This is not an induced demand, this is an inevitable demand,” he said. The mayor said the road widening would be needed to create the capacity required to expand transit in the area. “The only way that we could expand transit is to expand that road. The potential growth of transit in that area would be completely tied to (that),” he said. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Trustees want say in school zone redesign (Oct31'25)
by Beth McKechnie 31 Oct '25

31 Oct '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Trustees want say in school zone redesign Move to make 30 kilometres per hour the residential default speed also on the table https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/10/31/trustees-want-say… TRUSTEES are calling on Winnipeg City Council to redesign 30 km/h school zones to better protect everyone who lives, learns and works in their wards — and they want a say in an infrastructure makeover. For Ryan Palmquist, an active cyclist, dad and first-term trustee, road safety is both a passion and frequent source of frustration. His son’s trek to École Varennes serves as a daily reminder of why he remains committed to the cause. “My oldest son crosses a crosswalk — every single day, twice a day, to go to school — where a kid died,” the father of three said. On Feb. 13, 2018, an eight-year-old boy was struck by a motorist when he was crossing Ste. Anne’s Road at Varennes Avenue. Grade 3 student Surafiel Musse Tesfamariam’s death resulted in significant upgrades at the intersection. No charges were laid. The tragedy and others like it are what motivated Palmquist to mount a 2022 campaign for Ward 3 trustee in the Louis Riel School Division. In the lead up to the last municipal election, he went door-to-door to promise voters he’d lobby for safer streets and learn-to-swim programs. Palmquist, who was previously an executive assistant for Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), a well-known supporter of active transportation, made good on both promises this fall. The Louis Riel School Division board unanimously approved his motion to ask metro boards to join forces to demand more inter-governmental collaboration so they are regularly consulted on “matters of traffic safety in and around schools.” The Manitoba School Boards Association is gathering trustees in Region 5 — seven boards inside the Perimeter — on Saturday to short list their priorities for 2025-26. If Palmquist’s motion is deemed a priority, it will be brought to the association’s 2026 annual general meeting of 38 boards. Also this weekend, attendees will vote on whether they should appeal to all trustees in Manitoba to petition higher levels of government to establish 30 km/h as the default speed limit on all residential streets. City hall’s special liaison for school boards has heard from multiple board chairs with concerns about school speed zones since Labour Day. Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) has asked trustees if they are in favour of 24-7, year-round reduced school speed zones — a proposal she received from the Winnipeg School Division last month. “School properties and nearby amenities are active well beyond those restricted hours,” Santos wrote in an Oct. 9 letter to board chairs. “Children, families and seniors regularly use these spaces — whether it’s teens attending after-school programming offered by the city or the school division, families visiting playgrounds during summer holidays, or seniors walking or cycling around school areas for recreation and exercise.” Santos is set to meet with board chairs to discuss the subject next week. The Free Press’ ongoing investigative series on school zone safety has revealed the 30 km/h limit in place to protect students has not reduced traffic violations. There are approximately 150 school zones in Winnipeg with reduced speed limits in place between Sept. 1 to June 30. They are typically in effect from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays over that 10 month period, regardless of whether classes are in session. Last year, there were nearly 32,000 photo radar violations between the top 10 revenue-generating stretches, according to enforcement data obtained via freedom of information requests. A University of Winnipeg research team’s historical database shows many of the 2024-25 hot spots — including behind River Elm School (Talbot Avenue) and beside Greenway School (St. Matthews Avenue) — are chronic problem areas. There have been more speed camera flashes on Talbot between Watt Street and Gateway Road than anywhere else since it became a designated 30 km/h area. There were upwards of 5,000 tickets generated in the area last year. There has been little political will to make signage or other infrastructure related improvements to reduce violations that raise tens of millions of dollars for the city annually. The majority of 30 km/h school zones in Manitoba aren’t enforced around the clock, but some — like those in Portage la Prairie — are, said Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association. Campbell said every school grapples with congestion during drop off and pick up, but he declined to weigh in on whether reduced speed limits are effective when it comes to changing motorists’ behaviours. “Ninety-nine per cent of schools in Winnipeg don’t have adequate drop-off zones,” said the longtime trustee who is a transportation director for a city school division. Many aging neighbourhoods, which were built to prioritize walkability, are not equipped for the current level of bus and personal vehicle activity, Campbell noted. As far as Palmquist is concerned, members of the Manitoba School Boards Association are among the most critical road safety stakeholders, but their input is often overlooked. He cited trustees’ concerns about the predatory nature of photo radar as one example. “Predatory speed traps could easily be redesigned or re-engineered to eliminate speeding,” Palmquist said. “I support what (Santos) wants to do in principle, but it is inextricably linked to this other problem that we have to fix before we can move forward.” Both Palmquist and Ian Walker, a trustee and member of Safe Speeds Winnipeg, has called on the public works committee to study ticket hot spots and make adjustments to deter violations. Board chair Sandy Nemeth said she’s optimistic other boards will endorse the Louis Riel motion because every school community is affected by traffic violations. Near-misses and collisions take a toll on individuals and school communities at large, Nemeth said. There have already been at least three incidents involving students at Louis Riel division schools since classes began in September. maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Seven kids struck by vehicles in one month (Oct24'25)
by Beth McKechnie 24 Oct '25

24 Oct '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Rash of ‘close calls’ prompts MPI to urge patience Seven kids struck by vehicles in one month https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/10/23/distracted-impati… MANITOBA children have been hit by vehicles 36 times this year. Seven of the incidents were in September, as kids made their way back to school after the summer break. Manitoba Public Insurance’s latest analysis of road incidents also reveals there have been dozens of collisions involving school buses in 2025. The numbers represent “close calls, injuries and lives forever changed,” said Maria Campos, vice-president and chief customer and product officer at the public insurer. “They show why extra vigilance around school buses and in school zones is so critical.” MPI unveiled a new awareness campaign Thursday calling on all road users to practise patience, especially throughout the 2025-26 school year. Rows of yellow buses belonging to the River East Transcona School Division served as the backdrop for the event. Martin Monette, the division’s transportation director, oversees a team of more than 100 people who get thousands of students to and from class every school day. Combined, his front-line staff rack up more than a million kilometres every year. They travel about 5,500 kilometres each school day. Monette’s drivers have reported that other drivers’ impatience and distractions are getting worse every year. And they’ve come to a collective conclusion that Winnipeg Transit’s recent system overhaul is contributing to the problem by backing up traffic “more than anything.” Asked about what motorists could do to make school bus drivers’ jobs and, as a result, their young passengers safer, Monette had a quick answer. “Stop at a stop sign,” he said. “It’s that simple.” It is illegal to pass a bus with flashing red lights — an indicator that it is either loading or unloading students. The rule applies to oncoming traffic, as well as vehicles behind a bus. The law demands that drivers stop at least five metres from a school bus if its overhead lights and stop-sign arm are activated. Rule breakers face a $672 fine and two demerit points on their licence. Campos noted that oncoming traffic is not exempt because children may be crossing in front of the bus. Speeding or distracted driving can have tragic consequences, she said midway through Manitoba’s annual school-bus safety week. “Treat every school zone like your own family is there,” she said. Sandra Hofer, now a trainer in RETSD, began her 25-year career as a school bus driver in 1999. Hofer, wearing high-visibility gear, participated in an interview from the driver’s seat of a bus equipped with a new extended stop sign to replace the one knocked off by a driver when the vehicle was stopped during a run on Henderson Highway last week. “These are your best friends as a driver,” Hofer said, pointing to the six mirrors in front of her. Hofer did not gesture to the seventh, the largest of the bunch: a rectangular panel used for supervising children. But student behaviour issues are not the top concern for drivers in her division; the problems are caused by commuters who share the road. “Everybody’s just in a rush to get where they’re going,” Hofer said. “They’re very distracted. People have 100 things going on at any time. “Everybody just needs to slow down.” Bus drivers don’t like holding up traffic, but getting students — especially the chatty ones who don’t yet understand traffic-delay annoyances — safely on and off is more complex and time-intensive than most people waiting realize. Over the last four years, since traffic began returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, school buses have been involved in 451 collisions in which MPI has recorded 105 injuries, 79 of which have occurred this year. While noting bus drivers play a key role in protecting Manitoba students, River East-Transcona secretary-treasurer Elise Downey said parents and other community members do as well. “Staying mindful and aware” around buses, as well as maintaining safe speeds near schools is an easy starting point, she said. Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas), who is the city’s designated liaison for metro school boards, recently reached out to trustees to organize a standard in-school year meeting. Downey said she anticipates schoolzone safety will be a hot topic, as it often is. Following a Free Press investigation into the city’s top ticket-generating school zones in 2024-2025, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he would consider supporting safety-related upgrades near schools if there is data to prove there are areas with chronic problems. None of the 10 most ticketed 30 km/h school zones in Winnipeg were located in the River East-Transcona division’s area last year, according to photo-radar enforcement data obtained via freedom of information. École Voix des Prairies (851 Panet Rd.), a francophone school within the English board’s borders, was No. 5 on the list. There were 3,429 traffic violations issued at that site between Sept. 1, 2024 and June 30. The West End’s St. Matthews Ave. made the top 10 list twice, with a combined 5,664 speed-camera flashes going off outside Greenway School (390 Burnell St.) last year. Eastbound traffic behind River Elm School (500 Riverton Ave.), which backs onto Talbot Avenue, was the top spot, generating 5,833 speeding tickets. maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: $2.1M for pathway for Winkler, Morden (Oct9'25)
by Beth McKechnie 09 Oct '25

09 Oct '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. $2.1M FOR PATHWAY FOR WINKLER, MORDEN OTTAWA is contributing $2.1 million to a new 10-kilometre pathway connecting Winkler and Morden. The pathway will also provide improved access to Boundary Trails Health Centre, the federal government said in a news release Wednesday. The cities of Winkler and Morden and the Rural Municipality of Stanley are contributing $2.25 million, split three ways. Almost $1.8 million was raised through local efforts. The federal money is from the active transportation fund.

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WFP Analysis: NDP neglects public transport on path to net zero (Oct8'25)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Oct '25

08 Oct '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. NDP neglects public transport on path to net zero OPINION https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2025/10/07/ndp-neglects-public-tran… THE NDP government’s new Path to Net Zero plan has the right buzzwords — sustainability, electrification, resilience — and plenty of good ideas in broad strokes. But for a government that has made so much noise about climate leadership, this long-awaited plan lands with more of a thud than a spark. It’s not that the plan, released Monday, is bad. It outlines the right goals: cutting emissions, transitioning to cleaner transportation, promoting renewable energy and positioning Manitoba to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. All of that makes sense. What’s glaringly absent is detail — the kind of concrete, measurable, costed-out actions that turn a vision into reality. The biggest disappointment, though, is what the plan leaves out: a meaningful strategy with specific funding commitments to grow public transit. Transportation is Manitoba’s second- largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions after agriculture. If the province is serious about reaching net zero, changing how people move around has to be a central part of that strategy. And that means building a far more robust public transit system — particularly in Winnipeg. Yet the NDP’s climate plan doesn’t include a single concrete funding commitment or clear target for improving public transit. It says the province will “work with municipalities to expand public and regional transit systems,” but offers no specifics. No new money, no timelines and no measurable goals for ridership or emissions reductions. That’s not a plan; that’s a talking point. Winnipeg’s transit system is underfunded and overstretched. Buses are too infrequent and unreliable to be a realistic alternative for most commuters. Outside the capital, public transit options are virtually non-existent. This isn’t just a transportation problem; it’s an emissions problem. If people can’t rely on transit, they’ll keep driving. If they keep driving, emissions won’t go down. The government could have used this plan as an opportunity to make a big, bold investment in public transit — something that would actually shift how Manitobans live and move. Instead, we got another glossy government report filled with broad goals but no road map for how to achieve them. The plan does make one big transportation promise: to expand Manitoba’s electric vehicle charging network. More charging stations are certainly needed. Manitoba has lagged behind most provinces in this area, and a stronger network will help make EV ownership more practical. But EVs alone won’t solve Manitoba’s transportation problem — not by a long shot. Electric vehicles are great for cutting tailpipe emissions, but they still take up the same amount of road space, require the same expensive infrastructure and contribute to the same congestion and maintenance costs as gas-powered cars. They don’t make transportation more affordable or accessible for low-income families. And they don’t reduce the overall number of vehicles on the road. If Manitoba’s goal is truly to reach net zero, then building more EV chargers while leaving public transit to wither, is like trying to fix a leaky roof by buying better buckets. It doesn’t address the underlying problem. A more sustainable transportation system means fewer cars — not just cleaner ones. It means giving people realistic alternatives to driving. Expanding public transit isn’t just good for the environment. It’s also smart economics. Fewer vehicles on the road mean less wear and tear on infrastructure — and that saves taxpayers money. Winnipeg spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year patching potholes, rebuilding streets and maintaining bridges. That’s partly because the city’s transportation system is overwhelmingly car-dependent. The more people drive, the faster roads deteriorate and the more main thoroughfares need to be expanded (at a cost often in the billions of dollars, such as the planned Kenaston Boulevard expansion). Investing in transit would ease that burden, freeing up resources for other priorities while extending the lifespan of existing infrastructure. The Kinew government deserves credit for at least producing a plan. After years of neglect under the previous Progressive Conservative government, Manitoba’s climate policy needed an overhaul. The problem is that Manitoba’s Path to Net Zero doesn’t break enough new ground. It’s cautious where it should be bold. Other provinces have made major, multibillion-dollar commitments to expand public transit as part of their climate plans. Manitoba, by contrast, is still talking about “working with municipalities.” That kind of small thinking won’t get the job done. Winnipeg’s population is growing, and its transit system has been substandard for years. Without significant provincial support, the city won’t be able to modernize routes, add frequency or expand rapid-transit corridors — all of which are essential if transit is going to become a true alternative to driving. And without better transit, there’s no realistic path to meeting the province’s emissions targets. The good news is that the government still has time to get this right. But that will require shifting focus from political slogans about “a green Manitoba” to the unglamorous work of funding and implementing real solutions. Premier Wab Kinew often talks about building for the next generation. That’s exactly what a serious investment in public transit would do. Until this government is willing to put real money behind that vision, Manitoba’s Path to Net Zero will remain just that — a path, not a plan. tom.brodbeck(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: 2025 - a summer of interesting urban changes
by Beth McKechnie 29 Sep '25

29 Sep '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. 2025: a summer of interesting urban changes https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/09/29/2025-a-summer… THE summer of 2025 was quietly a pretty good season for urbanism in Winnipeg. Over the last few months, the city has been busy implementing several new progressive city-building initiatives to enhance livability in our communities. A few of these programs made headlines, and others flew under the radar. Some had immediate impact, some set building blocks for future impacts, and others remain a work in progress. If you’ve been walking downtown recently, you might have noticed that the timing of traffic signals has been changed to become what is known as leading pedestrian interval lights. The signals now let pedestrians leave several seconds early, giving them a head start and allowing them to establish a presence in the intersection before drivers start moving. This simple change increases the likelihood that turning drivers will yield to pedestrians and allows slower-moving people an increased margin of safety. When this idea was implemented in New York City, it reduced fatal pedestrian collisions by 65 per cent. Those who have been walking downtown might have also noticed that they can now cross the street at the city’s famous Portage and Main intersection. The day the barricades came down, it immediately became just a normal place. The backs of buildings became the fronts, and people started coming back to a place they hadn’t been in decades. Standing there today, it’s difficult to even remember what the barricades looked like. In time, the improved connectivity will hopefully leverage new development happening at the corner and become a catalyst to improve a struggling Portage Avenue. None of the hyperbole and doomsday scenarios that paralyzed us for 50 years have come to fruition. That’s a lesson we might learn for future public decision-making. A block away from the newly opened intersection is Graham Avenue, a street that had its role as a bus corridor removed with a citywide transit route overhaul. Instead of simply giving the street back to cars, as would likely have happened in the past, the city made the bold and forward-thinking move of claiming it for public space. Saving it from cars, however, is only a first step, and we must work together as a community over the next several years to ensure it becomes a successful public place. As an active spine across downtown, it could create a renewed sense of place in the city centre and be a significant development catalyst in the future. Changes also happened outside of downtown this summer. The most high-profile being that transit route overhaul, a move that has faced well-documented challenges. It would have been easy to simply continue doing what we have always done, but it takes courage to boldly try something new in an effort to improve. The logic behind the changes has found success in other cities, but problems have unquestionably been exposed. Hopefully with greater investment and considered response to rider experience and feedback, solutions can be found that will allow the new system to meet the promise of its design. To make our neighbourhood streets safer, the city has begun implementing an innovative system of traffic calming installations at 16 locations across the city. Temporary curbs are being used to quickly and inexpensively alter street layouts and configurations to slow traffic. These yellow, concrete curbs work by narrowing parts of the road to encourage lower driving speeds, tighten corners to slow turns, and reduce crossing distances for pedestrians and cyclists. The temporary installations are allowing designers to study how the changes work before more expensive permanent road configurations are implemented. You might have seen little trees popping up along streets in your neighbourhood and in parks across the city all summer long. In its never-ending battle against the invasive beetles decimating our urban forest, the city traditionally plants between 1,200 and 2,000 replacement trees per year. Thanks to funding from the federal government’s 2 Billion Trees program and the adoption of the city’s Urban Forest Strategy, almost 7,000 new trees were planted in 2025. These increased tree planting numbers have made a noticeable impact on our streets and in our neighbourhoods and in time will help restore Winnipeg’s iconic tree canopy that has seen increasing losses over the last several years. Physical changes to our city over the summer were augmented by a controversial change to planning policy that will promote a gradual but impactful evolution of our neighbourhoods. The changes effectively eliminate single-family zoning, allowing at least a duplex, and in many cases a three or fourplex, to be built on almost any residential lot in the city. This will promote higher densities to capitalize on existing infrastructure and services, while supporting local shops and amenities like libraries, parks, community centres, and public transit. Greater housing diversity will provide access to good neighbourhoods for a broader range of people who can’t afford or might not want a single-family house, whether it’s a rental apartment for a young person, a downsizing option for a senior aging in their community, or a new family home in a townhouse. The summer of 2025 put in place several urbanist building blocks that will work together to create a more livable city in the future. We are of course far from finished. Issues to be worked on include better connected cycling networks in the city’s mature neighbourhoods, rapid transit investment, possibly including light rail, and much more aggressive action by all levels of government to find solutions to homelessness, and public safety. If we keep making positive steps forward, however, we can build the prosperous and progressive city that we all want for our children and grandchildren. Brent Bellamy is creative director at Number Ten Architectural Group.

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CBC & WFP: New active transportation path unveiled in northwest Winnipeg (Sept24'25)
by Beth McKechnie 25 Sep '25

25 Sep '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. CBC: Cyclist says path is a 'critical piece of infrastructure' that offers safe crossing under railway https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-keewatin-bike-path-1.76423… WFP: EXTENDED MULTI-USE PATH OFFICIALLY OPENS THE last leg of the Keewatin multi-use path officially opened in northwest Winnipeg on Wednesday. The 4.5-kilometre path now runs from Gallagher Avenue West at its southern end to the intersection of Water Ridge Path and Dr. Jose Rizal Way, north of Jefferson Avenue. The final 1.8 km of the path, between Gallagher Avenue West and Burrows Avenue, was completed earlier this year at a cost of $4 million. The project included a pedestrian half-signal at Keewatin Street and Tyndall Avenue. Another such signal will be installed at Keewatin and Manitoba Avenue later this year. New lighting along the multi-use path and 250 metres of pathway between Billy Mosienko Arena and the trails into Shaughnessy Park School were also part of the final phase of work.

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WFP Analysis: Funding Transit a necessity (Sep24'25)
by Beth McKechnie 24 Sep '25

24 Sep '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Funding Transit a necessity MEL MARGINET https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/09/24/funding-trans… WHILE the new Winnipeg Transit network launched in June 2025 has achieved many of its objectives, it’s important to assess what is and isn’t working in order to see Winnipeg Transit reach its full potential. Overall, the system change gives transit a chance to increase ridership while ensuring Winnipeggers have frequent, reliable access to destinations across the city. This redesign isn’t a final product, but a new frame to give city council many options to improve service across the city, should they choose to turn up the dial. Previously, our “spaghetti route” system had numerous congestion points — such as Graham Avenue — where buses stacked up. Adding more buses to a system like this is meaningless as buses inevitably get stuck behind each other. The spaghetti routes also created confusion, especially to those new to the city or trying to reach an area they don’t know well. Telling someone to “hop on the 16” but not that 16, lest they end up in a completely different neighbourhood, didn’t inspire confidence. The new system has given 75 per cent of Winnipeggers access to a primary transit stop (up from 40 per cent previously). Some of us have lost our old stops, and that can be hard to get used to. We can work with our councillors and transit on which stops should be restored, but we do need to remember that more stops add more time. When Transit asked during public engagement (Phase 1) “would you prefer a longer walk to a stop with more frequent service, or a shorter walk to a stop with less frequent service,” of the thousands of Winnipeggers who participated (75 per cent of them heavy transit users), 83 per cent said they preferred a longer walk to more frequent service. What the current system has not delivered on is level of service. Too many routes end too early, feeder routes are not frequent enough (the transfer times add too much time to the overall trip), and the frequent routes are too in-demand, meaning packed buses and pass-ups. New stops mean we need new shelters, and packed buses mean we need to up our cleaning game. The good news is that level of service frustrations can be easily fixed. The bad news is that it requires an increase to the operating budget to do it. This is where the system is struggling. When city council approved the network redesign, one thing was made abundantly clear to Winnipeg Transit: they did not have any increased operating funding to work with. This is where we’re at today. As someone who regularly rides the bus, I’ve had the pleasure of taking this new system to a number of new places at various points in the day. For the most part, it’s worked well for me and I’m grateful for that. But I can see where we can make improvements. I’ve been squished onto a Blue four minutes after an equally full Blue has passed by. I’ve been waiting for the F8 at a stop on Donald watching the bus creep behind single occupancy vehicles (requiring multiple light cycles to go a few blocks — madness!). And I’ve heard from several friends who are frustrated with the feeder routes in their neighbourhoods being too infrequent, adding too much time to their trips. All of these frustrations are fixable, but they require resources. It doesn’t matter what a city says it wants to be, a city’s vision is shown in what it chooses to budget for. No new operating funding for transit while continuing to budget hundreds of millions of dollars to expand Kenaston (to save, at best, 12 seconds of travel time in one area of the city) and road budgets with ongoing “record levels” of investment, makes it clear to transit riders: your comfort and convenience is not as important as those who drive. Transit is crucial for our cities as they continue to grow. It costs cities seven to nine times more per trip to move a person in a personal vehicle versus on a bus. To not invest in transit is wildly irresponsible. Winnipeg city council, the province of Manitoba, and our “nation building” federal government all need to come to the table to support public transit in our cities. Our system redesign has laid the foundation, we now need the resources to build on that foundation and deliver the transit system we need and deserve. Mel Marginet is part of the sustainable transportation team at Green Action Centre and she’s the publisher at Great Plains Press, which publishes The City Project.

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Montréal’s bike infrastructure hardly takes up any space from cars on city roads
by Beth McKechnie 23 Sep '25

23 Sep '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Interesting article on road space allocation: https://theconversation.com/montreals-bike-infrastructure-hardly-takes-up-a…

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CBC: Ontario court strikes down Ford government's plan to remove Toronto bike lanes (Jul30'25)
by Beth McKechnie 04 Aug '25

04 Aug '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. A spokesperson for Ontario's transportation minister said the government will appeal https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-ford-bike-lane-toronto-court…

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WFP: Transit scrambles to mitigate GPS confusion (Jul25'25)
by Beth McKechnie 25 Jul '25

25 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Transit scrambles to mitigate GPS confusion Update expected to be completed by 2028 https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/07/24/transit-scrambles… A GPS failure that led Winnipeg Transit to post incorrect arrival times for buses earlier this month is still wreaking havoc with some schedules. Two weeks ago, Transit posted an online notice to riders that a “widespread” issue led incorrect times to appear on Navigo, bus schedule boards and Transit’s website starting on July 7. On Thursday, Transit said about 18 to 24 per cent of bus location reports were incorrect at the peak of the problem, which has since fallen to 13 to 15 per cent. The regular “baseline” level for errors is three to four per cent. “We don’t have a firm timeline of when a more permanent fix will be in place, except to say it is expected in the coming weeks,” spokeswoman Megan Benedictson wrote in an emailed statement. When the Free Press first reported on the issue on July 11, Transit stressed the technical concern was not related to the launch of its new primary network, which took place June 29. The service noted a GPS repair was on the way from its supplier. Transit’s initial public alert about the problem suggested some posted arrival times varied greatly from actual ones. “On these buses, on-board systems that display and announce the next stop won’t work. Our real-time schedule information gives incorrect times. Buses that may only be a few minutes late can appear hours late online. We are unable to track the location of some buses accurately,” the notice stated. Transit recently posted an update that a short-term fix is helping reduce the frequency of the issue, while the service awaits a more permanent solution. “A fix deployed across our fleet has led to an improvement in our GPS performance. This has improved the accuracy of our schedules online,” it notes. Winnipeg Transit spokesman Brandon Logan said the GPS issue isn’t route specific, since buses travel to different locations each day, meaning the problem can affect all routes. “In cases where invalid GPS data is detected, we use previous GPS reports or post the scheduled time in place of real-time data. We encourage riders, if they’re able, to arrive (a few minutes) early at their bus stop when riding with us,” wrote Logan, in an email. Winnipeg Transit previously told the Free Press the GPS errors affect units that are about 20 years old and were already slated for replacement. Transit expects the broader replacement program for buses with dated GPS will be completed by 2028. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of council’s public works committee, said she has received complaints that bus transfer times are not accurate but it’s tough to tell how many are caused by the GPS problem. “I have had calls talking about the need to get better timing at the connections. Now that could be (for) many reasons, maybe there’s construction on that road, maybe the GPS isn’t working… but this is an area that I know transit is really focusing on,” said Lukes (Waverley West). “The framework, the backbone of the network, is the ability to connect, to transfer, so it makes it difficult when we’re not getting accurate times. It’s a totally independent issue (from the network), it’s just terrible timing.” Transit’s new primary network uses a spine-and-feeder concept, where direct spines along major corridors are supported by a network of feeder routes, meaning many rides that begin outside of a main route now require transfers. Kyle Owens, president of Functional Transit Winnipeg, said the technical woes could affect many riders. “If Winnipeg Transit is telling us that this is affecting 13 to 15 per cent of bus (location reports)… because (the new system) involves so many more transfers, that affects far more than just 13 to 15 per cent of riders,” said Owens. While he called the portion of inaccurate arrival times “significant,” the public transportation advocate said the new network’s frequency should help limit the amount of disruption the problem causes on main routes. “With more buses adding more frequency, we would see less of an impact in the future with other disruptions. It’s a way to ensure that the system remains reliable, even during disruptions,” said Owens. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP Analysis: Next spring too late for bike lane (Jul23'25)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Jul '25

23 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Next spring too late for bike lane ARO VAN DYCK https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/07/23/next-spring-t… ON July 17, I spoke before Winnipeg City Council, urging them to ditch the latest delay to the installation of a bike lane where Rob Jenner was struck and killed last year on Wellington Crescent. I was joined at the podium by Wendy Van Loon (Rob’s wife), and in the galleries by over 120 members of our cycling community, who came out wearing red for Rob to send a powerful message to city council: we are united in solidarity and we will not be ignored. According to the plan that was before city council, the public service would be required to engage in consultations until February of 2026 before installing the bike lane next spring. This delay is unacceptable, and that’s not just something that I can say for myself. The last two weeks at bike racks, intersections and cycling events, I have spoken with over 400 cyclists about the delays this bike lane has faced since April, and can say that I have never seen our community so moved to shock, anger and distrust in the system. Our community wants Winnipeg to be decisive and strategically agile in the pursuit of Vision Zero — a road safety initiative summed up by the idea that no loss of life is acceptable. Our community wants City Hall to set a new precedent in which fatal crashes trigger immediate road design interventions. In all these conversations, something became crystal clear. Whether City Hall intends it or not, delaying again sends a message to Winnipeg’s cyclists: We’ll protect you when it’s convenient for us. The report from the public works department on this bike lane (available on the city’s website) is revealing. It notes 13 reported collisions with pedestrians and cyclists occurred on this part of Wellington between 2012-2022 (averaging one every 280 days, which is a shorter period than the proposed delay). It also states that “Traffic modelling predicts the pilot would result in minimal traffic impacts.” With this context, I want to share one more quote: “It is important to note this four-phased approach is atypical of a traditional pilot. A pilot would typically see infrastructure put into place prior to any feedback collection. The proposed infrastructure could be implemented in 2025; the public service would then modify the plan to more closely resemble a typical pilot and collect feedback from both road users and fronting residents after they have an opportunity to experience the change.” Given the acknowledgment of Wellington’s dangerous design, the expectation of minimal impacts on traffic and the fact that this delay for consultation is inconsistent with typical city practices, our community came together to demand that city council ditch the delay. In response to the call from our community, Coun. Sherri Rollins advanced a motion to do just that, which received only two votes (her own and Coun. Cindy Gilroy’s) and was defeated. Wellington Crescent, where green “bike route signs” stand in sharp contrast to Rob Jenner’s white ghost bike, will remain as dangerous as the day he died until next spring. We have been watching the decisions made at City Hall. These delays have us angry at our political leadership, embarrassed at the state of our infrastructure and afraid our next bike ride could be our last. We are pessimistic about Winnipeg’s ability to meet big challenges when we see city council getting tangled in “atypical” red tape over one bike lane. We are tired of being villainized as disrespectful in our advocacy by politicians who confuse requests to be listened to for personal attacks. When our councillors can’t stay off their phones or even stay in the room during meetings that are designated as the place and time for citizens to weigh in on civic matters, they don’t have a leg to stand on calling us disrespectful. Honestly, I did not go to City Hall expecting they would ditch the delay. Public works chair Janice Lukes stated at last week’s executive policy committee meeting that the lane would not be built this year. Yet I had hoped that with a hundred observers, our community would be heard. Halfway through my delegation, Lukes left the room. Perhaps after our next election, we will have councillors who can sit through a meeting. Aro van Dyck is an advocate for safer streets.

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WFP: City installing traffic-calming curbs in ongoing battle with speeders (Jul22'25)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Jul '25

22 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. City installing traffic-calming curbs in ongoing battle with speeders https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/07/21/city-to-install-t… BLAME speeders for the installation of concrete traffic-calming curbs on several city residential streets. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the civic public works committee, said the first of them will be in place this week on Chancellor Drive north of Lake Island Crescent. “There are two elementary schools and a community centre, You would think with two 30 km/h zones, people would already slow down,” Lukes said Monday. “But no they don’t. It’s crazy.” The yellow concrete curbs shaped like thick surf boards are 2.4 metres long and weigh more than 900 kilograms. They will be marked by signage and placed in another 12 locations throughout the city before the end of August. “These are a lot cheaper than rebuilding the street. We are putting them in locations where we have studied them. This is changing the built environment in the best way,” Lukes said. “People just need to slow down — but it seems they can’t, so we have to change the darn road structure so they are forced to slow down. This is a pilot project to understand how effective these curbs will be and to observe how they stand up in the winter. “If it stops even one collision, that’s great.” If the curbs do what they are intended to do, the city will make them permanent in future street-renewal work, she said. Mayor Scott Gillingham said in a statement that “every neighbourhood in our city deserves safer streets.” “That’s why we created a new road safety unit, to find practical, cost-effective ways to reduce risk and protect all road users. These traffic-calming curbs are a smart solution that will make a difference right away.” The curbs are already used in other jurisdictions across North America to increase safety. They “minimize conflict between pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles,” a news release from the city said. A list of the 10 sites where the curbs will be installed, is available on the city’s website. Both Templeton Avenue and Cambridge Street have four locations apiece, while the other eight streets have single placements. The city is working with Art City to install asphalt art at select locations to increase visibility further and beautify the neighbourhood. kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca> [https://us5-bcdn.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/ajax-re…] A graphic shows the planned placement of traffic-calming measures on Chancellor Drive.

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WFP: Wellington bike lane pilot project greenlit (Jul19'25)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Jul '25

19 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. WELLINGTON BIKE LANE PILOT PROJECT GREENLIT CITY council has approved a plan to conduct a Wellington Crescent bike lane pilot project next year, despite intense lobbying from cyclists to take action much sooner. About 80 cyclists gathered in council chambers before the final vote took place Thursday, including two who spoke as delegates, asking council to implement the changes this year. The pilot project will test out one-way temporary separated bike lanes on Wellington and reduce part of the street to two lanes from four lanes. The plan would also cut the speed limit to 40 km/h from 50 km/h between Academy Road and Stradbrook Avenue. Supporters say the timing will allow for more consultation with property owners and others, before the changes take effect. 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. While the vehicle was travelling at 159 km/h, more than triple the current speed limit, many argued the design of the street makes it far too easy to speed through.

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WFP: School zones with most offenders targeted (Jul19'25)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Jul '25

19 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. ‘Our goal should be to get to zero tickets,’ says co-founder of Safe Speeds School zones with most offenders targeted https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/07/18/city-eyes-changes… A new motion directs city staff to review school zones with the highest number of speeding tickets and explore design options to slow drivers down in those areas. The motion calls for staff to report back on potential infrastructure changes to address the issue, such as new signs, raised crosswalks, crosswalk lighting, speed bumps and curb extensions. “The idea is not to keep ticketing people. The idea is to fix the problem. The ticketing is kind of an indicator where there are probably some structural problems on the road… So, it’s a good (way) to (determine) where we’re going to focus on,” said Coun. John Orlikow, who seconded the city council motion Thursday. Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) said the 30 km/h speed limit around many schools is not enough to address speeding on its own, so these extra safety measures should be explored. “They’re deterrents for sure, the tickets… But if it’s still not working, if we’re still giving out too many tickets, then we have to look at the infrastructure (at those sites),” he said. An advocate calling for the 30 km/h speed limit to be implemented on all residential streets said changing infrastructure to slow down drivers is a good idea. “It is a great start to changing the way that we think about speed enforcement in the city. School zones are an awesome place to start but… we should be using data to tell us where speeding is a problem throughout the city,” said Emma Durand-Wood, a co-founder of Safe Speeds Winnipeg. For example, she said curb extensions, also known as bump-outs, provide better visibility for pedestrians and reduce their crossing distance, while raised crosswalks cue drivers to slow down. “Most people aren’t setting out to disobey the speed limit. The biggest factor …. that influences how fast people drive is the design of the street. So, we know that (changing) the design of the street is the most effective way to change how fast people drive.” Durand-Wood said the city should incorporate safety infrastructure into road renewal projects and devote photo radar ticket revenue to design changes that make it harder to speed. “Our goal really should be to get to zero speeding tickets because that would mean people are driving safely,” she said. Durand-Wood is also a registered candidate in the Elmwood- East Kildonan byelection, which is scheduled for Oct. 25. However, council’s public works chairwoman said she thinks photo enforcement data alone doesn’t provide enough information to determine where road safety infrastructure dollars should be spent. Coun. Janice Lukes said she fears basing that decision on heavily ticketed school zones would not necessarily pick the best locations overall. That’s partly because police can’t patrol hundreds of schools in Winnipeg every day, so it’s not easy to ensure the most ticketed ones actually see the most speeding, said Lukes (Waverley West). Other important safety factors should also be considered to prioritize infrastructure investments, such as traffic volumes and engineering feedback, she said. “I (probably) wouldn’t support (the motion) because we’re not getting accurate data to base (infrastructure) investments on. I’m not going to base investment on just police ticket data,” said Lukes. The councillor said she’s very supportive of changing infrastructure to slow down vehicles in school zones but any work must fit within the city’s budget. “In my opinion, every school should have curb bump-outs … but we don’t have enough resources to do that,” said Lukes. “People just need to smarten up and slow down,” she added. Coun. Cindy Gilroy (Daniel Mc-Intyre), who raised the motion, could not be reached for comment by deadline Friday. The motion will be considered by council’s public works committee in September. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Art is afoot - new pedestrian corridor’s colourful transformation full of life, movement
by Beth McKechnie 12 Jul '25

12 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. ART IS AFOOT From parcheesi to paintings, new pedestrian corridor’s colourful transformation full of life, movement https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2025/07/12/art-is-afoot THEY’RE almost ready to be traversed, touched and skipped on: four blocks of street paintings from Carlton to Garry Street on Graham, including two playable murals. The murals are part of Reimagining Graham Avenue, which sees the former transit corridor transformed into a pedestrian-first corridor. “There’s going to be a giant parcheesi game right in front of the police services,” says Karin Kliewer, a senior planner at the City of Winnipeg. “And I don’t even know how to play parcheesi, but I’m definitely gonna learn!” Local artists began paving the streets with strokes on Canada Day and have been painting at a brisk clip — they’re expected to be wrapped up this weekend. Muralists include Marc Kuegle, Alex Plante, Kal Barteski, Kale Sheppard, Laura Lee Harasym, Mike Zastre, James Culleton, Architects at Play and artistic lead Takashi Iwasaki. The mark of Iwasaki’s unmistakable style — something like an extra whimsical Kandinsky or Miró for the video-game age — can be found on murals from Winnipeg to Churchill and beyond. He oversees the murals’ artistic direction and collaborates with both the city and project lead Stéphane Dorge, an organizer with CoolStreetsWPG, on the murals’ logistics and execution. “I like people to think of rhythm as they walk by. Once they look at the image, it’s not very stagnant,” says Iwasaki. The artist is also intrigued by people’s reactions on social media to the emerging murals, saying some older Facebook users have left skeptical comments, while younger Instagram users are applauding the new works and changes on Graham Avenue. “It’s a sort of casual survey of what kind of people exist around me… On Facebook, I think people say it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money,” says Iwasaki. “But it’s interesting: it’s all funded by Bloomberg, the U.S. philanthropy organization, so nothing of our tax money has been spent on the paint.” Winnipeg is one of only 10 cities in North America selected for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ US$100,000 Asphalt Art Initiative, after the Public Works and the Planning, Property and Development departments at the City of Winnipeg submitted an application. This funding is one reason why Reimagining Graham Avenue is as colourful as it is. “It’s not often where that scale of a (mural) project can happen this fast,” Dorge says. “I hope this isn’t the full catalyst, though. But I hope this… spurs prioritization from developers to focus on rebuilding (the) area and making it more vibrant.” It’s been an eventful couple of weeks for Winnipeg’s downtown. Reimagining Graham Avenue coincides with the opening of Portage and Main to pedestrians, as well as Winnipeg’s newly implemented transit model — all of which, while serving distinct goals, aim to transform the downtown into a more walkable social hub. Many significant planning initiatives in Manitoba’s history have been met with polarized reactions at first, even if some — like Duff’s Ditch in the 1960s, the Downtown Skywalk System in 1970s-80s, and The Forks redevelopment in the 1980s-90s — are now all but taken for granted as key pieces of infrastructure. Iwasaki says he hasn’t experienced any of this negativity at the street level. “People are curious. They always ask, ‘What is this? Why is this happening?’ Or it’s just a nice comment of, ‘Oh, that looks nice,’” he says. “No one yells at us, especially with the (reflective) vest. We look like city workers. They have some sort of respect when you wear the safety jacket.” “I think we are very critical as Winnipeggers, but this is a first step in creating the downtown that we deserve, which has a lot of beauty and a lot of places for people to go and gather,” Kliewer says. “I hope that people walk down this. I hope that people walk down Portage and Main,” she adds. “I hope people walk through The Exchange… and say, ‘Yes, this makes sense. Yes, I want to be here. I want to walk here, bike here. I want to make art here and enjoy it.’” conrad.sweatman(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Vancouver cuts speed limit on local streets (Jul10'25)
by Beth McKechnie 10 Jul '25

10 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. VANCOUVER CUTS SPEED LIMIT ON LOCAL STREETS https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/uncategorized/2025/07/09/vancouver-counci… Vancouver's city council has voted unanimously to reduce the speed limit on local streets to 30 kilometres per hour, down from the provincially mandated 50 kilometres per hour. The city says in a release that the vote “sets the stage” for the phased introduction of the new limit on residential streets without a centre line. It says new signage will be installed in 25 “neighbourhood slow zones” over the next three years, with other neighbourhoods being added later subject to budget allocations. The city says lowering the speed limit on local residential streets can reduce pedestrian fatality rates in a crash from 80 per cent to 15 per cent, as well as reducing stopping distances almost by half, thus lowering the number of collisions. The city also says lower speed limits can reduce noise and air pollution. B.C. currently sets a blanket speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour on residential streets in Vancouver unless otherwise posted, while the city says Vancouver “has a long-standing practice to lower speed limits” to 30 kilometres an hour on local street greenways, and playground and school zones. — The Canadian Press

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WFP: Wellington Crescent bike lane won’t roll till next year: city (Jul4'25)
by Beth McKechnie 04 Jul '25

04 Jul '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Wellington Crescent bike lane won’t roll till next year: city https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/07/03/wellington-cresce… A BIKE lane pilot project planned for Wellington Crescent remains on track to roll out next year, despite dozens of pleas to deliver it in 2025. On Thursday, council’s public works committee approved a plan to test out one-way temporary separated bike lanes on Wellington and reduce part of the street to two lanes from four lanes. The plan would also cut the speed limit to 40 km/h from 50 km/h between Academy Road and Stradbrook Avenue. About 40 cycling advocates urged committee members to get those changes in place this summer, as originally planned, instead of next year. While councillors did call for the next staff report on the matter to arrive by February 2026, the changes will still be tested that year, pending a final city council vote. “When implemented… (these changes) will address the concerns,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, the committee’s chairwoman. A city staff report states the delay to add the bike lanes will allow consultation with property owners and others before changes take effect. Lukes (Waverley West) said the delegates made a lot of valid points, noting she supported reducing the area’s speed to 30 km/h late last year before council voted against that change. “I support (the cyclists). I hear them… I have to talk to my other colleagues to get (the majority of city council members) to move it through,” she said. 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. While the vehicle was travelling at 159 km/h, more than triple the current speed limit, many argued the design of the street makes it far too easy to speed through. Most of those delegates also called for a 30 km/h speed limit on the route, instead of the proposed 40 km/h. Samantha Beiko, who commutes from Charleswood to downtown by bike, said implementing the pilot project and a 30 km/h speed limit would prevent crashes and injuries. “This (pilot) has been talked about for well over a year, that they have the materials in stock to do it now, to put in a temporary solution… This can be implemented right away,” said Beiko. City council is expected to cast the final vote on the matter on July 17. The report on interim solutions to make Wellington Crescent safer for cyclists and pedestrians was originally expected in April before being delayed until this month’s agenda. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP analysis: A new chapter for Portage and Main (Jun30'25)
by Beth McKechnie 30 Jun '25

30 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. A new chapter for Portage and Main https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/06/30/a-new-chapter… REMEMBER that time the entire city of Winnipeg voted on whether people should be allowed to cross the street? That was wild. The whole country looked on in curious amusement as a modern city tied itself into knots over what appeared to be an incredibly mundane issue. As a member of the Vote Open campaign, I can remember spending my evenings going door-to-door, or manning booths and handing out pamphlets at festivals and farmers’ markets. We organized a concert, started a website and argued tirelessly on social media. We had all the data and all the engineering studies. We could rebut any point. In the end, as we know, Portage and Main was a mythical beast too powerful to slay and the vote was a resounding NO. A few years later, we found out that it would be cheaper to take down the barricades than to repair the underground, so one day, Mayor Scott Gillingham announced in a reassuring tone, “It’s just an intersection,” and that was that. On Friday, almost 17,000 days after the last person legally did it, we walked across the street. We shouldn’t expect that rainbows will cascade down from the heavens and all that ails downtown will be instantly swept away. But in time, people on the sidewalks will bring life back to the centre of our city. More people work within 100 metres of Portage and Main than live in Steinbach, the province’s third largest city. Enticing even a fraction of these people back to the sidewalks might be the incentive needed to begin filling the many empty storefronts nearby, developing the 50-year-old gravel parking lot on Main Street and bringing life to the plazas and public spaces. An open Portage and Main will reconnect the different neighbourhoods of downtown so they can build on each other’s successes. It will re-establish the intersection’s traditional role as the centre of an urban pinwheel, a place of connection but also, in its own right, a place to be. Before long, people crossing the street will be the new normal and we will wonder what all the fuss was about. It’s then that we might challenge ourselves to dream bigger. Mayor Gillingham is right — it is just an intersection. But it’s also an opportunity. The windy corner, the gateway to the West, Canada’s coldest and most famous intersection has been celebrated in song and story. It began as a First Nations meeting place, later becoming a Métis trading route, then the birthplace of a frontier city and the economic centre of modern metropolis. It is a place we come to celebrate, a place we come to mourn and to protest. Portage and Main is a special place filled with lore and history, not just in Winnipeg but across the country. As you enter the 'Cities of the Twentieth Century’ exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, you are greeted with a giant mural of Portage and Main from a century ago. The image represents the very best of what a city can be, the intersection, the beating heart of a city filled with optimism and energy. Imagine if Portage and Main became a place where this spirit and history were woven together and celebrated through art, sculpture, lighting, landscape, interpretive design and storytelling. A place where we can come to learn about ourselves and to have others learn about us. Telling the story of Portage and Main through placemaking is to tell the story of Canada. The ultimate opportunity for Portage and Main is to be a remarkable place that tells a remarkable story. To achieve this, we might at some point reconsider the physical form of the intersection itself, giving more space to people and less to cars. New York City presents a strong precedent for this, closing Broadway through Times Square in 2009 and creating pedestrian plazas that have transformed it into one of the great public spaces in the world. Considering that it took Winnipeg half a century to accept people crossing the street, removing car space would certainly not be an easy sell, but our experience during the last nine months of construction has demonstrated that it can be done. When construction started on removing the barricades last year, two full lanes of traffic were closed on each side of Portage Avenue and Main Street. This effectively cut vehicle capacity in half. The result was a real-world experiment in traffic engineering. For a few weeks after the closures, maybe a month, traffic slowed during rush hour and it would take a couple minutes longer to drive through the intersection. As people got used to the changes, however, traffic found its way. Congestion decreased and for several months the intersection operated normally despite having far less space devoted to cars. Many cities across North America have used a strategy called “road diets” to permanently reduce the number of lanes on wide streets and create more pedestrian space. When road diets are implemented, drivers will frequently find alternative routes, travel at different times or even use different modes of transportation, often resulting in traffic eventually finding equilibrium. Road diets are always controversial, but the experience during construction at Portage and Main demonstrated that it is possible without significant impact to traffic congestion — knowledge that we shouldn’t forget as we contemplate the future of the intersection. Removing the barricades isn’t the end of the Portage and Main story. It’s the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. What we write in that chapter is now up to all of us. The opportunity for Canada’s most famous intersection is to be a place worthy of its fame — Hollywood and Vine, Shibuya Crossing, Times Square and Portage and Main. Why not? Brent Bellamy is creative director at Number Ten Architectural Group.

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WFP: Route-and-branch transit overhaul maps city’s devolution (Jun29'25)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Jun '25

29 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. ROUTE-AND-BRANCH TRANSIT OVERHAUL MAPS CITY’S DEVOLUTION By: Rebecca Chambers<https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/biographies/rebecca-chambers> https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2025/06/27/route-and-branch-transit… 10 Wolseley. 11 Portage. 12 William. 14 Ellice. 15 Mountain. 16 Osborne. 17 MacGregor. 18 Corydon. 19 Notre Dame. 20 Academy… Until this week, I hadn’t realized I could recite just about the full set of Winnipeg Transit routes and numbers by memory. Alas, this newly discovered party trick is destined to go unused as we bury these routes with the streetcar tracks they were originally designed to follow, the veins through a city that are remnants of a time when a much more closely-packed citizenry all needed the same things, and all of which were available in the heart of the city. I have mixed feelings about this evolution. Obviously, changes are needed to transit. Declining ridership and rising safety issues are clear indicators it’s not fulfilling its role of getting us where we need to go. But the days of jumping on the bus for all of our needs are behind us. Even if we wanted to go shopping downtown, we largely couldn’t, as there’s nowhere left to shop. A short walk down Portage or Graham will yield empty shop front after empty shop front. The mammoth department stores of two generations ago are gone, and many of the destinations that would have drawn us are now parking lots haunted by the ghosts of Winnipeggers past and the cars of Winnipeg present. I’m worried our transit overhaul reflects our devolution, instead of our evolution, as a city. It seems to be a reflection and acceptance of our problematic sprawl. With nothing to bump into on the outside margins of our town, we have nothing stopping us from expanding ever outward, trenching new sewer lines and paving new roads while the older ones rot and crumble, building new houses while addresses in older neighbourhoods are left as burnt skeletons or piles of rubble for months on end. Transit has been slow to extend service into newer areas, and inhabitants have been slow to adopt transit as a way to get around. While in some ways this redesign feels like an admission of defeat, a commitment to a future of further sprawl, it does give hope that somewhere in Winnipeg, someone involved in planning is acknowledging we cannot go on just waiting for our boomtown days to come back while more and more of our citizenry are making homes along river banks. In a rare example of cross-sector coordination, there are a few examples of this novel forward-thinking mindset. The city is looking at adding housing along the new “spine” routes, even incorporating residential units into transit infrastructure. The lofty plans for Graham Avenue — a pedestrian mall and shopping district — promise to bring people downtown to socialize, shop and dine. The new routes promise quicker commutes, better coverage and short waits for transfers — all good reasons to pull someone onto the bus who hasn’t considered it in some time. All in all, it’s a noble effort to make a rare and radical change to Winnipeg’s public services in an effort to actually serve the needs of the citizenry. But it’s not going to work. These noble “pull” reasons to take the bus will fail if there aren’t balanced and co-ordinated “push” incentives to get people out of their cars. We cannot simply emphasize the perks of taking the bus without also making driving more unattractive, and we are a woefully car-committed city. The fact we’re still entertaining the thought of widening Kenaston Boulevard is clear communication from the city itself that we don’t believe in public transit to move people. No, we must make way for more cars instead. It’s cars that move people in Winnipeg. And it’s cars that occupy the ever-expanding network of surface parking lots in our downtown: cheap, plentiful spaces have made driving to work easy and comfortable. Why would anyone take the bus where there is very little advantage? Transit is not just failing because the product itself isn’t working well. It’s failing because our city has planned for it to fail. There is no outcome for transit, in the current design of this city, that will strengthen its utility and usage, because we haven’t considered factors beyond the service itself. It’s clear the reliability and safety of transit must be improved, and some of that will be addressed by the changes that go into effect tomorrow, but until the infrastructure surrounding car use makes it preferable, I can’t imagine I’ll be memorizing many new route numbers. rebecca.chambers(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:rebecca.chambers@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Massive murals won’t just brighten Graham Avenue, they will make it safer (Jun28'25)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Jun '25

29 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Massive murals won’t just brighten Graham Avenue, they will make it safer TAKIN’ IT TO THE STREET https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2025/06/27/takin-it-to-the-… MURALS, not buses, will soon be running up and down Graham Avenue. Winnipeg is one of only 10 cities in North America — and just two in Canada, the other being Ottawa — selected for the US$100,000 Asphalt Art Initiative launched by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The project turns the formerly transit-heavy corridor into a whimsical urban canvas. Beginning Monday, local artists will cover the asphalt with large-scale, street-level murals. The public art initiative is part of the broader Reimagining Graham Avenue, which is seeing the four-block zone from Carlton to Garry Street transformed into a pedestrian-first corridor. “It’s not often where that scale of a (mural) project can happen this fast,” says project lead Stéphane Dorge, an organizer with CoolStreetsWPG, which specializes in transforming community spaces through art. “This is kind of like an arts festival, where we’re going to be up to 10 artists on site, plus helpers and volunteers bringing to life about 18,000 square feet of murals to animate the Graham Avenue space, so it’s a bit overwhelming.” Muralists include Marc Kuegle, Alex Plante, Kal Barteski, Kale Sheppard, Laura Lee Harasym, Mike Zastre, James Culleton, Architects at Play and lead artist Takashi Iwasaki. Like a cinematically colour-graded street scene, the project will have a rich, overarching palette, but each of the artists was given near carte blanche to create, with an emphasis on play and interactivity. Dorge describes Architects at Play’s 13,000-square-foot piece as a “playable mural where you can bring your own pocket dice or use a dice app on your phone to play.” “I can’t wait to unveil it.” Reimagining Graham Avenue dovetails with the city’s new spine-and-feeder transit model launching Sunday. Known as Primary Transit Network (PTN), the new system is a historic transformation that will shift transit’s focal points away from the downtown core towards other major corridors in the city, prioritizing bus frequency and greater neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood access across Winnipeg. But rather than diminish downtown’s place in the city’s civic culture, projects such as the PTN and Reimagining Graham Avenue — which coincide with the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street opening to pedestrian traffic — aim to transform the heart of the city into a more walkable social hub. Look up from the asphalt tableaus, and rather than buses you’ll soon see a public plaza, including street plants, picnic tables, furniture, benches, pingpong tables and access ramps. Car traffic will be allowed along other stretches of Graham, where protected bike lanes are also being added. “When these changes are in place, Graham will be more colourful, more dynamic, more pedestrian-friendly. One more reason for people to visit, explore and enjoy our downtown,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. The application to Bloomberg Philanthropies, a charitable organization in New York, for the Asphalt Art Initiative was submitted by Public Works and the Planning, Property and Development departments at the City of Winnipeg. “It was just a really well-thought-out, really inspired application,” says Nicholas Mosquera, one of the program leads at Bloomberg Philanthropies for the Asphalt Art Initiative. “It reminded us a lot of work that we’d been doing (in New York City’s Times Square). We saw a lot of similarities in the Winnipeg project and we’re happy to be a part of that effort.” Studies consistently show that pedestrian-friendly design makes neighbourhoods feel more connected. For example, research from a University of British Columbia review found walkable neighbourhoods build civic trust and spark friendlier interactions, while a U.K. study showed that quieter, low-traffic streets made people more neighbourly and less lonely. That same study also found that low-traffic, pedestrian-centric neighbourhoods can create public health gains up to 100 times greater than the costs of those plans. And while public arts and beautification projects are sometimes criticized as a superficial fix to the social problems undergirding urban distress, a growing body of literature shows the social benefits run deeper than fleeting eye candy. The Asphalt Art Safety Study, conducted by Sam Schwartz Consulting in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, analyzed 17 asphalt art sites across the United States. Among the outcomes reassuring them of their good work, they found that crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists were halved, while crashes resulting in injuries decreased by 37 per cent, along with a 27 per cent increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians with the right-of-way. “They’re really striking results. We’re really proud of that — (it’s) some of the first research, certainly to our knowledge, to look at multiple arts-driven street-design projects,” says Mosquera. A number of independent studies, mostly focusing on green projects, illuminate the effects of community beautification on improving mental health and community connectivity. “It’s incredible when we can see that the street is actually going to turn into a large piece of art,” said Kate Fenske, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ’s chief executive officer, of Reimagining Graham Avenue. “I hope this isn’t the full catalyst, though,” says Dorge. “We still need development of the surface lots and Graham. We need more housing downtown. But I hope this draws attention to that need and, hopefully, spurs prioritization from developers to focus on rebuilding that area and making it more vibrant.” conrad.sweatman(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP Editorial: Big changes for your bus trips (Jun28'25)
by Beth McKechnie 28 Jun '25

28 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. EDITORIAL Big changes for your bus trips https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2025/06/28/big-changes… WELL, fasten your seatbelts! Except you can’t. There aren’t seatbelts on Winnipeg Transit buses, but you know what we mean. Tomorrow starts the biggest set of changes at Winnipeg Transit in years: in reality, the first full-scale revamp of transit routes and services that any transit user is likely to be able to remember. The old route map has been torn up: there are hardly any surviving legacy routes, and it’s a new era for Winnipeg bus travel. The process has been unrolling slowly for several years, with transit officials designing a new feeder system, seeking input on proposed route changes, followed by a final route plan and a redrafted Navigo app, transit signs for new routes being installed, and temporary signs listing the routes that will be vanishing tomorrow. The idea changes the entire structure of the system, moving to a main “spine” Primary Transit Network and feeder system that promises sufficiently frequent buses that riders won’t need to schedule their trips and connections that thread out into different parts of the community from those “spine” routes. It’s a lot different from the system that’s in place now, but the goal is a familiar one — to get you from here to there as quickly and easily as possible. There will be problems. There will be hiccups. There will be angry passengers and frustrations. You can’t massively overhaul a system that had just under 67 million riders in 2024 and not have issues arise. Heck, the system will be brand new for bus drivers, too, and there are something like 1,100 of them who will have to get up to speed all at once. (A quick note here: bus drivers didn’t devise this new system, and if you’re angry about the changes, you’ve got no right to take it out on them, even if they are the first and only face of Winnipeg Transit you see in the flesh.) But keep this in mind: most of the changes to Winnipeg’s bus system in recent years have been incremental, building on a foundation that hasn’t changed greatly while the needs of a changing demographic certainly have. The system, where it worked well, worked well in spite of itself, not because of carefully managed and planned change. This is different. So, now to the “what’s next?” part. No one sets out to deliberately make things worse: there will be winners and losers, commutes that take more time for some riders and, hopefully, more routes that take less. But the whole process has been undertaken in an attempt to improve transit for the largest number of riders possible. Winnipeg Transit is making quite a few claims about the benefits of the new system. “You’ll benefit from a route network that’s more … Frequent: Buses arrive more often on frequent routes. Direct: Major routes are straighter, fewer take slow and winding paths. Connected: Service expands into new areas, and bus stops move to improve connections. Simplified: Routes are easier to figure out.” At least, that’s what the website says, That does all remain to be seen. But the changes are the result of a careful process, one that has tried to deliver the most benefits possible for the most people. Do that hardest of things: if you’re inconvenienced or confused at the beginning, try to give the new system the benefit of the doubt as kinks are worked out and you get used to how it can work for you. And be patient: at least at this point, Winnipeg Transit intends to keep this iteration of its bus routes and schedules in place for a full year before making significant changes. Enjoy the ride.

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WFP: Bring on the buses (Jun28'25)
by Beth McKechnie 28 Jun '25

28 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. New transit system promises faster, more reliable service. It’s now up to Winnipeggers to decide if they like the new ride Bring on the buses https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/27/bring-on-the-buses FORGET Hamlet, today’s great existential dilemma might be, “Do I wait for the next bus or start walking?” At least according to behavioural economists, who use the wait-walk dilemma to explore trade-offs between waiting for better opportunities or taking immediate action amid uncertainty. Winnipeg Transit gives the dilemma, in its literal form, an especially cruel edge. Winter lasts for months. Buses in many areas are infrequent. Routes can be as winding and indirect as the streets themselves. Miss a transfer and — walk or wait — you could be stuck in Mars-level cold for the next 45 minutes. With choices like these, it’s little wonder that more than 90 per cent of Winnipeggers say “not to be” when it comes to commuting via bus, preferring to drive, bike or walk. Bjorn Radstrom, manager of Transit Service Development at the City of Winnipeg, is the lead behind a new experiment he hopes will nudge ambivalent commuters in the right direction: stand tall and wait for Winnipeg’s public chariot. “I’m an absolute transit nerd… (and) this is a once-in-a-lifetime project,” he says of the Primary Transit Network, the city’s new system of bus “spine” lines, which debuts Sunday. It was designed and planned in collaboration with Stantec, a global design and consulting firm. “Not many cities have done a wholesale overhaul of their entire network like this. It’s probably the biggest ever in Canada or in the United States and it’s one of the biggest ever in the world.” ●●● The new transit network’s backbone is a series of high-frequency “spine” routes, with buses every 10-15 minutes, along major corridors — including St Mary’s, Grant, Portage, Donald, Osborne, Provencher, Pembina and Abinojii Mikanah. Commuters squinting at the display on approaching buses on these lines will spot an “F” or “FX” prefix, standing for frequent and frequent express. “(For a lot of routes), you won’t have to even consult a schedule. You can just walk out because the bus is going to be coming,” Radstrom says. The F lines join the network’s BLUE Line, Winnipeg’s first rapid transit service (arriving every four to 10 minutes during peak hours) connecting the downtown to the University of Manitoba and St. Norbert through the bus-only Southwest Transitway corridor. There’s also the new D (direct), R (regular) and E (Express) lines, which differ somewhat in terms of bus-stop spacing and service speed but like F and FX run along thoroughfares. As well as reducing wait times, the new network allows Winnipeg Transit to wring a de facto “grid” out of the city’s sometimes jumbled topology, a shape generally considered a marker of transit efficiency. All this means scrapping the buses’ oddly cherished naming system, where most were labeled with a number that often stuck for decades. Numbers like the “68”, “20” and “11” that for many evoke years of commuting and colourful, sometimes surreal, encounters with fellow riders. It also means tossing the city’s complex branching patterns — express-only and peak-only services and certain downtown corridors, like Graham Avenue’s transit mall. Those many overlapping routes and their multiple variants are now considered redundant. To ensure commuters don’t have to walk too far before hopping on a main line, the new system has three categories of feeder routes — connector routes (two-digit numbers), community routes (three-digit numbers) and on-request service. These offer lower-frequency buses connecting neighbourhoods to the spine network; little streams flowing into a big river. All the same, it’s easy to find commuters on Reddit and social media eulogizing the loss of a familiar, trusty line or venting about now having to walk longer or transfer more often. “I really value complaints, and I want people to complain if it’s not working for them. My only request is be specific and be constructive,” Radstrom says. “(But) with a change of this magnitude … there’s no way around it. Things are going to get more challenging for some people.” It’s also notable the new system requires more transfers on many routes — changes that may make some Winnipeggers bristle. That’s natural when they associate transferring with standing in the cold and checking their phones for a connecting bus that never seems to come. The redesigned network aims to address that with more reliable, regular service. You may have to catch an extra transfer, but the buses should come more quickly. Radstrom — fond of quoting transit pundit and consultant Jarrett Walker’s motto, “Freedom is frequency” — estimates transit will significantly improve for about 60 per cent of current riders and remain functionally the same for 20 to 30 per cent. On the other hand, he predicts things will become more difficult for the remaining 10 to 20 per cent. For the city, it’s a make-or-break moment. With years of stagnant ridership and revenue shortfalls, the status quo would no longer do. “For those that may be concerned about the changes, I can appreciate that, but I think the general principle I would ask everyone to please remember is that we would not be making these changes to make things worse,” Mayor Scott Gillingham says. “(It’s) the biggest modernization of Winnipeg transit service in 60 years.” ●●● City modernization initiatives almost always have trade-offs and discontentment and it’s no different with public transit. Among transit wonks, one of the hotter debates is whether cities are better off with the hub-and-spoke model Winnipeg is ditching or the spine-and-feeder approach behind the new system. The hub-and-spoke system is a radial one. It gets its name from its wheel-like shape: a central hub — typically downtown — with spokes stretching outward. Downtown has been the heart of Winnipeg’s transit system since 1891, when electric streetcars began running along River Avenue, radiating in and out from the city’s core. The story of Winnipeg’s modern transit system begins about a half century ago. In 1955, the city scrapped its streetcars — marked by a symbolic “funeral” with hundreds gathering at Portage and Main to watch a ceremonial streetcar parade and to flatten coins on the rails one last time. Over the next 15 years, Winnipeg’s transit switched gears, as rubber-tired trolleys — still powered by overhead wires — gradually gave way to diesel buses. In 1963, the city launched the Winnipeg Area Transportation Study. It reflected the post-war modernist ethos — promoting radial expressways, geared towards drivers in their big Meteors, Impalas and Fairlanes. It also recommended that the system be radial and downtown-centric. After all, the country was enjoying its postwar boom. The suburbs were young and multiplying, the middle-class now had cars and commercial life was centred around Portage and Main. A gloom had yet to envelope the downtown. There was still hope it might serve as a civic hub for residents of new suburbs like St. Vital and Tuxedo, with a slew of downtown cultural attractions like the Centennial Concert Hall (built 1967) and Manitoba Theatre Centre (1970) all soon on the way. In the 1970s, the city went all-in with diesel, rolling out Winnipeg’s classic buses, like the 66, the 75 and the 11 — funnelling riders to and from the downtown. “The (old) network doesn’t work because it’s built for the city of the 1950s, maybe 1960s, when everybody’s commuting into downtown in the morning, out of downtown in the afternoon,” Radstrom says. “But it didn’t serve people for all the other trips they want to do, for work, first of all, but also just for daily life — if they want to go shopping, visit their friends, all that kind of stuff.” It’s rare to see a city’s transit switch suddenly from a hub-and-spoke to a spine-and-feeder model. In this shift, Winnipeg joins cities like Madison, Wis. — which launched a new grid-like transit system in 2023 — and Dublin, Ireland, where similar changes began to take root in 2021. Winnipeg’s shift, while reflecting an ongoing downtown malaise, also evokes broader debates about how cities should grow. Urbanists tend to champion gridlike systems for transit and streets, viewing them as a more rational and efficient way to guide people and vehicles. This makes spine-and-feeder inherently attractive. However, large-scale efforts to reform transit with watchwords like “rationality” and “efficiency” are often criticized as too top-down. Conservatives and grassroots progressives alike share these concerns, wary of centralized overhauls that disrupt daily routines with new abstract frameworks — especially if they’re rolled out without public input. Others argue this view underestimates our ability to plan effective transit and that even large-scale systems like spine-and-feeder models can promote a different kind of decentralization. These models push back on the downtown-centrism of planning and reflect that over time cities tend to see jobs, schools and shopping services dispersed across neighbourhoods. They can do this by enabling transit users to travel across town rather than always through the core. When done well, spine-and-feeder systems promote transit frequency and directness — and, as many argue, help knit a city’s diverse neighbourhoods more closely together. ●●● While major city projects still evoke a technocratic image, today’s planners are expected to engage in deeper, more inclusive public consultation than in the past. “The new routes are built on extensive consultation with transit users and a deep analysis of anonymous data from cellphones, really looking at where people are coming from and going to,” Gillingham says. “What this is ultimately about is the people of Winnipeg and customer service to Winnipeg,” The mayor is referring to public consultation going back to 2018, unfolding over three phases through late 2020. It included surveys, open houses, pop-up events, workshops and virtual sessions. Starting in 2019, the city partnered with Stantec on public consultancy and released several summaries highlighting residents’ calls for more frequent service, better cross-town connections, and shorter walks to stops. These reports also detailed how public feedback shaped the new system’s planning. “If we heard from people that the current network mostly works, but it needs a few tweaks and changes and things like that, we would be willing to go in that direction,” Radstrom says. “But if we heard from everybody that, no, it absolutely doesn’t meet the needs of people today and where they want to travel, how they want to travel — we were going to do something completely different.” The city also used anonymous cellphone location data to map travel patterns — showing, among other things, that many trips bypassed downtown. Radstrom says this gave planners added confidence to push ahead with a bold redesign. Winnipeg Transit also says they plan to gather data for the next year, including by collecting feedback from users through 311, before making any significant changes to the new system. And gathering this data, to continue improving the system, means getting more butts on bus seats. “I would encourage all Winnipeggers this summer to get on a transit bus if you haven’t been on one for years — and just enjoy the new transit experience,” Gillingham says. ●●● Though some worry about the scope of change, others worry they’re not dramatic enough. “To get people to use transit, generally transit service has to be comparable to car use,” says Orly Linovski, associate professor at the department of city planning at the University of Manitoba. “Transit nerds (take buses) because we love transit, but even with me, if it’s going to take an hour and 20 minutes instead of seven or 15 minutes — that’s a big ask.” Linovski points out Winnipeg’s relatively low traffic congestion makes driving easy and convenient for most vehicle owners, giving little incentive to switch to public transit. At the same time, it’s not surprising political leaders hesitate to explore policies discouraging car use — and unleash a commuter rage fiercer than a Winnipeg deep freeze. The more popular option for commuters is to make busing more inherently appealing through upgrades and smart reforms. It remains to be seen how commuters will respond to the new network in the long term and the extent to which it will shorten average trip lengths, though Radstrom predicts significant improvements for more than half of riders. And there are other significant upgrades on the horizon for Winnipeg Transit, thanks to significant capital investments coming from all levels of government. This includes a rapid transit corridor design for downtown, rolling out 90 zero-emission buses, installing accessible bus stop platforms and implementing “intelligent transportation systems,” which are supposed to make transit smarter and faster through GPS, sensors, wireless networks and real-time data analytics. For Linovski a key factor is still missing. “The evidence is pretty clear that the way to increase ridership is to increase service vehicle hours and increase them substantially,” she says, noting the total number of hours buses are in service remains unchanged with the new system. Substantially boosting service hours, however, would increase costs for fuel, maintenance, drivers, administration and other expenses, further straining Winnipeg Transit’s operational budget, which is already subsidized at record numbers by the city. Despite those constraints on the new system, few people are arguing the old one was working well enough as it was. With only one in 10 Winnipeggers choosing bus as their primary mode of commuting — and public consultations showing a strong demand for reforms — this isn’t surprising. As Linovski emphasizes, the impact of the upgrades on ridership, users’ experiences and transit’s overall efficiency deserves close study, with challenges inevitable. For Winnipeggers, it may initially feel like the new system walks before it runs. But after decades of unreliable and underused transit, the city couldn’t wait any longer. conrad.sweatman(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca> Tales in transit We want to hear about your experiences with the new Winnipeg transit network. Share your thoughts via the online link: wfp.to/myride<http://wfp.to/myride>. Winnipeg’s transit system is changing. Here’s a survival guide: wfp.to/transittips<http://wfp.to/transittips>.

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WFP: Pedestrians step out onto Portage and Main for first time in decades (Jun28'25)
by Beth McKechnie 28 Jun '25

28 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Pedestrians step out onto Portage and Main for first time in decades ‘Felt great, but also unremarkable’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/27/felt-great-but-al… WINNIPEG’S landmark intersection, Portage Avenue and Main Street, officially opened to pedestrian traffic for the first time in more than four decades Friday morning. No longer will pedestrians be forced to walk for blocks or duck down into the underground concourse to cross the street. Concrete barriers installed at the intersection in 1979 have been a source of contention between pedestrians and motorists. “Today, we’re bringing an end to 46 years of debating whether or not people should be allowed to cross the street,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said, moments before opening the roadway to foot traffic. “Now, reopening this intersection isn’t a silver bullet. It’s not the answer for all of Winnipeg’s downtown challenges, but it’s important for the progress that we are making, step by step, block by block, to build a downtown for everyone.” A large crowd crammed onto the northeast corner, eager to hear the mayor’s remarks and witness what he described as another “historic moment” for the spot. Traffic roared past and people jostled for space, waved signs and cheered before they rushed forward to test the newly painted crosswalks and signals. Gillingham said the reopening would bolster safety and accessibility downtown and is part of the effort to strengthen the inner city. Critics have argued the concrete barriers prevent collisions and traffic delays. Advocates said forcing people underground created unnecessary challenges for pedestrians and people with limited mobility. The debate was settled in 2023, after a city report estimated it would cost $73 million to replace the leaky membrane protecting the underground business concourse. City council voted to reopen crossings last year and construction began in December. The work included removing the barriers; installing new traffic signals, streetlights, sidewalks and curbs; and introducing new transit stops. Signal timings have been adjusted, some traffic lanes have been changed and pedestrians can cross in all directions. Superintendent Chris Ritz, who oversaw the project on behalf of construction company M.D. Steele, said the effort was completed on time, within the $21-million budget and with minimal impact to traffic over the past eight months. Construction crews encountered some challenges, including a badly deteriorated foundation beneath the northwest corner and a pair of “unknown vaults” in the southeast and southwest corners that required significant structural repairs. “Despite these surprises, we knew that the June 27 date was important and we needed to get this met,” Ritz. City officials wanted the project completed by that date, so the reopening could coincide with the overhaul of the Winnipeg Transit system, set to take effect Sunday, Gillingham said. While the ribbon-cutting was not official until around 11 a.m., supporters of the move gathered hours earlier to watch as construction crews cleaned up debris from newly finished sidewalks amid the morning rush hour. “This intersection being closed has been such a chasm or an abyss in the middle of the city. Really, it just takes away from people being able to move,” said Emma Durand-Wood, a proponent of the Vote Open movement, which has long advocated for removing the barriers. Durand-Wood had her two children and bicycle in tow as she mingled with Vote Open supporters and other bystanders. They cheered on pedestrians who crossed the intersection before the official opening, stepping past temporary orange barricades and seizing the opportunity to cross between traffic signals. “I already crossed last night,” Durand-Wood said, smiling. “It felt great, but also, like, completely unremarkable.” Gillingham said the barriers were erected as part of a 40-year deal to shutter the intersection to foot traffic and drive pedestrians to the businesses in the underground concourse. “We were blocking life and economic activity from this intersection for 46 years and it’s preposterous when you think about that. All for the sake of a bad deal,” said Adam Dooley, the spokesperson for the Vote Open campaign. “This is a victory for the Winnipeggers in the 1970s who were against this. It’s a victory for the businesses in the area that wanted it open, for the residents and for people with accessibility issues.” A woman named Isabel, who declined to give her last name, said she worked near the intersection when she was a teenager — before it closed to pedestrian traffic. “I loved it. There was so much activity here and it was energy and people were on the streets. To me, once (the barriers) came, that was the beginning of the end. I’m so glad that I got to see this come back.” tyler.searle(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca>

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CBC: City report proposes protected bike lane, lower speed limit pilot on Wellington Crescent (Jun26'25)
by Beth McKechnie 27 Jun '25

27 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Changes to area where cyclist was killed last June would take effect in spring if approved by Winnipeg council https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-bike-lane-speed-limit-well…

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WFP Editorial: It’s been a long time coming — Portage and Main (Jun26'25)
by Beth McKechnie 26 Jun '25

26 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. EDITORIAL It’s been a long time coming — Portage and Main https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2025/06/26/its-been-a-… IT’S been a while. Forty-six years, to be precise, since the last time a pedestrian (legally) traversed the corner of Portage and Main at street level. That will change on Friday — to the great relief of many, and undoubtedly to the consternation of no small number, as well — when the city’s most iconic intersection is reopened to foot traffic for the first time since 1979. How long has it been? Well, consider this: when the opening of the below-ground concourse (formally known at the Portage and Main Circus) forced pedestrians off the street in February 1979, the Happy Days spinoff sitcom Laverne and Shirley was the top-rated show on U.S. television, the low-budget street-gang thriller The Warriors was the No. 1 box-office movie and Rod Stewart’s Do Ya Think I’m Sexy sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Yes, it’s been that long. Ironically, the decision to bar pedestrian traffic from the intersection — after more than a half-decade of city council debate and deliberation — was defended at the time as a move to revitalize Winnipeg’s downtown by streamlining vehicle traffic through one of its busiest interchanges. The prevailing mindset favoured cars over people, presumably in reaction to Winnipeg’s continuing outward spread. The city’s primary business and shopping stretch, from Main Street west along Portage Avenue, had begun to lose its lustre; suburban sprawl was drawing residential population to the fringes and the creation of major shopping malls in St. Vital and Transcona redefined the retail experience for most Winnipeggers. Downtown was struggling. Mega-project ideas for restoring its vitality were plentiful, including the addition of office towers at Portage and Main, creation of the aforementioned subterranean shopping concourse and construction of the massive Portage Place mall, but most — as visitors to the current version of downtown can readily attest — have proved fruitless. The idea of reopening Portage and Main has been part of the public conversation for at least a couple of decades; in 2014, then-mayoral candidate Brian Bowman pledged to re-introduce foot traffic if elected, but once in office he opted to abide by the result of a 2018 plebiscite on the issue, in which two-thirds of voters (most of whom were from the city’s far-flung suburbs and likely seldom visited the intersection) rejected the notion of reopening. Those who thought the issue was laid to rest received a rude awakening when a subsequent city report revealed it would cost $73 million to repair the leaky membrane underpinning the intersection, and that the work would disrupt above-ground traffic for up to five years. A massive rethinking of Portage and Main became a practical necessity rather than just a political- points opportunity. Afforded the latitude to reconsider the question, current Mayor Scott Gillingham wisely chose to take things in another direction. With a complete overhaul of public transit routing about to launch, and a major reimagining of Graham Avenue poised to reset the attitude of a major downtown component, the reopening of Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic now feels like the right move at the right (albeit long overdue) time. Over the past several months, the familiar and decidedly unwelcoming brutalist barriers have been removed from the corners at Portage and Main. More traditional curbsides have been established, crosswalks have been painted and the necessary electronic signals have been installed. And on Friday, a rather bold political step will result in the illumination of a “Walk” signal welcoming the return of actual steps — by people, who have once again, finally, been granted access to the city’s most famous intersection. Portage and Main. It’s about time.

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WFP: Mayor excited for ‘colourful, more dynamic, more pedestrian-friendly’ Graham Avenue (Jun24'25)
by Beth McKechnie 24 Jun '25

24 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Downtown pilot project will add furniture, art, picnic tables, ping pong tables Mayor excited for ‘colourful, more dynamic, more pedestrian-friendly’ Graham Avenue https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/23/mayor-excited-for… OVER the next three weeks, the city aims to breathe new life into a four block stretch of Graham Avenue, with a bright new look, ping pong tables, street furniture and art. As the Free Press reported last week, a pilot project will see Graham reserved for cyclists and pedestrians between Carlton and Garry streets, once a new primary transit network removes buses from the area on June 29. On Monday, the city laid out its vision for the pilot, which is expected to continue at least until the end of summer. “The buses will move off of Graham Avenue and in just three weeks … after that, we will completely transform this stretch of Graham,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. The city says roughly $750,000 has been committed to revamp Graham within and beyond the project so far, including funding from the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, some in-kind donations and $250,000 set aside by city council. The initial pilot project additions will include street furniture, plants, picnic tables, ping pong tables, benches, art installations and access ramps. The city also secured a Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art grant to fund the painting of street murals. “When these changes are in place, Graham will be more colourful, more dynamic, more pedestrian-friendly. One more reason for people to visit, explore and enjoy our downtown,” said Gillingham. The mayor said the pedestrian-centred idea is worth testing. “Too often we can be a little afraid to give ourselves permission to fail. We have permission to fail here. This is a bit of almost a blank canvas, and we’re going to try some things, and if they don’t work, we’ll move on to the next thing. But I think a lot of what initially is being proposed is really exciting,” he said. Hazel Borys, the city’s planning, property and development director, said the pilot project will help draw visitors to the area, moving toward a vision of filling it with “people and patios, economic activity, and life.” Kate Fenske, chief executive officer of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, said another change slated for Graham in the near future will add new lighting from Lights Unlimited. “(This will be) adding vibrancy and … increasing public safety. These lights are going to shift colours and patterns throughout the year. From our signature downtown biz colours to fullon Whiteout mode when the Jets go to the playoffs … It’s incredible when we can see that the street is actually going to turn into a large piece of art,” said Fenske. The new project should help revitalize Winnipeg’s downtown, said Rochelle Squires, chief executive officer of CentreVenture Development Corporation. “Today’s announcement is yet another milestone. Winnipeg’s first signature pedestrian street. What we’re starting on Graham Avenue will mark a turning point in how we envision, use and experience our downtown. “Bold ideas like this have to start somewhere,” said Squires. Karin Kliewer, a senior downtown planner with the city, said planning on how the street is used after the summer will start as soon as the pilot project changes are in place. On Friday, businesses gave a mixed reaction to reserving part of Graham to pedestrians and cyclists only, with some fearing they will lose customers when buses are rerouted. Fenske said the Downtown BIZ will monitor how the changes affect businesses, while BIZ ambassadors will touch base with visitors to Graham to help determine where they are coming from. “We want to learn from that so we can develop that (long-term) plan for the street going forward,” she said. The city also plans to add new protected bike lanes on Graham in areas where vehicles will still be allowed. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP Column: Righting Portage and Main wrong first step on way to a better downtown (Jun23'25)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Jun '25

23 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Righting Portage and Main wrong first step on way to a better downtown OPINION https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/22/righting-portage-… WINNIPEG is poised for one of the most important do-overs in its long and storied history. If all goes to schedule, Portage Avenue and Main Street will — finally, thankfully — be open to pedestrians this week. The intensive work to remove the brutalist concrete barriers is, rather remarkably, approaching completion. After having debated it for so long, Winnipeggers can now stop talking about if it’s going to happen and start asking themselves what it means. That is an incredibly different question to answer, given there is still likely a deep divide between those who think this is a good idea and those who consider it to be a colossal waste of money. Regardless of which camp you’re in, let’s consider what it could mean. The closure of the intersection to pedestrians was an enormous error. However, it was an error that was very much in lockstep with urban-design thinking in the late 1970s, when the barriers were erected. At that time, cities all over North America bent over backwards to make it easier for cars to move in, about and back out of downtown areas. The Portage and Main barriers, along with the Winnipeg Square underground mall, were considered best practices for helping vehicular traffic and giving pedestrians a safe and warm place to go. Today, we can see rather easily that this kind of approach to downtown design was deeply flawed. Making it easier for cars and trucks to move around is not conducive to a livable neighbourhood. Nor are measures that take people off the streets, even in a city such as Winnipeg, where harsh weather makes going outside a somewhat challenging concept. Cities of all sizes are undertaking do-overs for this kind of design thinking. Boston, San Francisco and Milwaukee have completed projects to remove downtown freeways built as monuments to the automobile. Even Halifax recently replaced its infamous Cogswell Interchange — a multi-level highway that bisected the downtown — with a more traditional street grid design that sought to restore pedestrian traffic and improve active-transportation links. That makes the decision to remove the Portage and Main barriers, which was undertaken rather courageously by Mayor Scott Gillingham and council last year, very much in keeping with current thinking. However, before anyone questions whether this contemporary mindset is, like its predecessors, doomed to be abandoned within a few more decades, consider that we’re quickly moving to a model of downtown pedestrian and vehicular traffic that has proven to be both successful and enduring in other countries. When you don’t spend money on building bigger, longer, wider roads, you have a lot of additional money to spend on other things, including walkability, active and public transportation and promoting densification of residential development. These are the building blocks of sustainable, livable downtowns. In fact, if we should hope for any single consequence from the reopening of our famous intersection, it should be that it’s just the start of more courageous decisions to make downtown more welcoming for foot traffic. The city is already inching closer to this idea in other areas of downtown. Graham Avenue, for example, will undergo an initial conversion, losing its designation as a dedicated bus route and allowing car traffic, albeit with a much lower speed limit. Longer term, Gillingham has talked about the possibility of turning it into a pedestrian mall and cycling route. The same conversation needs to unfold on the future of the west Exchange District. Bannatyne and McDermot avenues, along with Albert and Arthur streets, are ripe for a pedestrian mall. As it stands now, parts of all of those routes are closed periodically during the summer to accommodate music and theatre festivals. Those closures provide valuable insight into how a permanent pedestrian mall would impact that area. Just about everyone who lives or works in the Exchange knows that in the first few days after the barriers are put up for a festival, traffic is a hot mess as drivers get trapped on the area’s network of one-way streets. After the initial shock and awe, however, they choose different routes to avoid the most-affected streets and intersections. It’s proof that like rainwater, traffic that is stopped from going in one direction will eventually leak out and find another way to get where it wants to go. Our aversion to permanent pedestrian malls is one of the mindsets that prevents Canadian cities from taking downtown revitalization to the next level. In the United Kingdom, for example, it is rarer to find a town or city that has not closed its core to vehicles. Sometimes, vehicular traffic is allowed in these areas during business hours but is blocked during the evening and on weekends. Combine pedestrian malls with robust and accessible transit hubs — as is almost always the case in the U.K. — and you’ve got a tried and true way of pulling people into the core. On its own, reopening one intersection isn’t going to transform the downtown, but as an incentive for local government to continue pressing for similar innovations, it could be transformative. dan.lett(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: Pedestrian-only corridor to replace bus-only zone in pilot project (Jun21'25)
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jun '25

21 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Pedestrian-only corridor to replace bus-only zone in pilot project ‘New life’ for Graham Avenue https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2025/06/20/graham-avenue-stretch-to… THE city will turn a four-block stretch of Graham Avenue into a living lab when Winnipeg Transit’s network overhaul pulls buses off the downtown street. It will be cyclists and pedestrians only between Carlton and Garry streets in an indefinite pilot project scheduled to begin after June 29. “In July 2025, buses will be removed from four blocks, creating a rare opportunity to transform the street into a safer, pedestrian-first space. “With a focus on recreation, public gathering areas and cultural programming, Graham Avenue can become a dynamic hub of activity in the heart of downtown,” a city document states. Without changes, the area risks becoming a neglected corridor with minimal foot traffic once buses leave, it warns. “This is our moment to bring new life to Graham Avenue and downtown as a whole. By testing ideas and shaping long-term designs, we can lay the foundation for a permanent transformation into a thriving public plaza and park,” the document notes. The plans include adding street art, street paint, lighting, street furniture and planters, a competition to add an art installation and public seating to create a “once-in-a-generation” vision. Council’s public works chairwoman said she expects the changes will be “fantastic” for the area. “Because the buses come off, it will be bike and pedestrian…. It’s going to be a great little pilot project for downtown,” said Coun. Janice Lukes. “We’ve got more people moving downtown. Downtown needs neighbourhoods, downtown has (existing) neighbourhoods and… we want to put some green vegetation in, paint benches and just create a really interesting pedestrian space.” Lukes (Waverley West) said she did not know when the pilot will end but believes the decision on whether to make the change permanent will depend largely on public feedback. “Depending on how it plays out… maybe it will expand,” she said. Earlier this month, council’s public works committee approved additional changes to Graham Avenue, which still await a final city council vote. Those changes would reduce the avenue’s speed limit to 30 km/h from 50 km/h between Vaughan and Carlton streets and remove its full-time truck route designation. “We’re creating a more livable street,” said Lukes. Council previously approved $250,000 to revamp Graham Avenue, part of which can be used to cover the pilot project costs. There was a mixed response to the plan among Graham Avenue business owners Friday. John Dang, owner of Hue Shoe Repair, said he hasn’t seen as much foot traffic in the area since the pandemic and is concerned losing the bus-only section of the street could further reduce visits from Winnipeg Transit passengers. “Not a lot of people live in downtown…. So, we have to make everything convenient. Transportation is the first priority,” said Dang. And among people who do live in the area already, many reside in apartments and don’t have cars, relying heavily on buses, he said. Daniel Equbazgi, owner of Dan’s Cafe and Lounge, said his shop benefits from people at bus stops who visit while they wait for their next ride. “They come for coffee or whatever until their bus is coming. We were getting good business…. If they change (this), we’re losing business. I am not happy with that change,” said Equbazgi. By contrast, Eric Saniuk, owner of Blazing Chicken Shack, said he’s excited about the pilot and said he’d like to put some tables outside his restaurant. He hasn’t seriously considered it until now because of the noise from constant bus traffic. Saniuk said he hopes the pilot leads to more events that will drive more foot traffic. The general manager of Rudy’s Eat & Drink at Carlton and Graham also welcomed the change. “You see a lot of other major cities across the world that have those pedestrian and cycling streets designated to them in the core and heart of their cities and I think this could be a really great positive change for downtown,” said Mackenzie Robb. “As a business with a 150-person patio that faces right onto that beautiful street, I think the more foot traffic, the better for us.” Calls to “reimagine” Graham Avenue were first introduced as part of CentrePlan 2050, the city’s vision to guide the development of downtown, which aims to attract more residents and visitors to the area. City council approved that plan last year. CentrePlan noted the street could incorporate a “shared zone” with more room for pedestrians, cyclists and patios in the future. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Nearly five decades after forcing people underground, crosswalk traffic is about to return to Portage and Main (Jun21'25)
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jun '25

21 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Pitter-patter, pedestrians, it’s time to get at ’er Nearly five decades after forcing people underground, crosswalk traffic is about to return to Portage and Main https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/2025/06/… SINCE immigrating to Canada two weeks ago from Romania, Andrew Vlad and Vanessa Chira have been impressed by their newly adopted home of Winnipeg. But on Wednesday afternoon, the engaged tech workers stood at one corner of the city’s most famous intersection, attempting for the first time to solve the riddle of crossing Portage Avenue and Main Street. Vlad shook his head, overwhelmed in confusion: he could see from 201 Portage Ave. at the northwest corner his ultimate destination — the CIBC branch on the other side of the street — but for a building so close, it was still so far out of reach. The pair of new Winnipeggers were experiencing a rite of circuitous passage that will soon be eliminated for all downtown pedestrians. The following morning, Mayor Scott Gillingham announced pedestrians will be able to legally traverse Portage and Main in all directions at controlled, street-level crosswalks in a matter of days. For the first time in 46 years, a pedestrian won’t need to play chicken to cross at the juncture of this city’s most iconic roads. “June 27,” Gillingham told CBC during his monthly radio interview. “There will be a media event, but as I’ve said all along: Portage and Main, it’s important to Winnipeg’s history, it’s important to our future, but as I’ve said all along, at the end of the day, it’s just an intersection.” In a literal sense, the mayor is correct, but that simple intersection — below grade, on the sidewalk and in downtown boardrooms with an eagle-eyed view of the thrum below — has been the source of intense multi-generational debate, taking on an almost mythic stature at the heart of city life while defining the tenor of civic conversation. ●●● AS early as 1971, Jack Willis, the chairman of Metro Winnipeg, was advocating for the closure of the intersection to pedestrians, should the city begin construction on an underground walkway. Eight years before the intersection’s eventual closure, legendary Winnipeg Tribune columnist Val Werier was already sounding the alarm — or honking the horn — considering the idea of barring pedestrians as a harbinger of a car-centric city to come. “I have no quarrel with Mr. Willis’ proposal that an underground connection is required, for it is the busiest corner in Winnipeg and traffic will be more hectic with new buildings planned. In addition, pedestrians need some protection for the weather,” wrote Werier, who died in 2014 after 70 years covering the city for the Tribune and Free Press. “However, I would like to make a plea that instead of banning pedestrians, we ban the cars,” he continued. “Instead of designing a city based on the needs of the car, we should think of people. Unless some dramatic action is taken in these terms, Winnipeg will be like other large centres where the car determines the downtown character. “If anything is to be banned, it should be the cars,” he concluded. “After all, people are far more interesting.” The decision to shut down sidewalk traffic was preceded by a protracted debate, with the city council’s executive policy committee submitting a proposal for the total ban in September 1975, nearly four years before the underground circular concourse (officially called the Portage and Main Circus) opened in February 1979. While the change was considered a concession to the growing needs of vehicular traffic, it wasn’t met with unanimous support. Among the loudest — and boldest — detractors were the participants of the burgeoning disability rights movement, who argued the erection of concrete barriers and the funnelling of pedestrians into underground channels were violations of their rights to an accessible downtown. In the winter of 1979, wheelchair users and their allies breached the barricades to bring traffic to a standstill in protest. “Portage and Main is an iconic, symbolic place,” the late disability rights advocate Jim Derksen told this reporter in 2018, when the re-opening of the intersection was considered by plebiscite on the day of the civic election. “If we don’t take measures to update it according to our new values, in a sense we are recommitting the errors of the past,” added Derksen, a multiple barricade-skirting scofflaw. Former mayor Brian Bowman, who supported the idea of re-establishing pedestrian traffic at Portage and Main, vowed to honour the results of the plebiscite, which ultimately ended with a two-thirds majority opposing the reopening despite a vocal “Vote Open” movement. (Analysis showed the bulk of that majority were commuters who didn’t reside in the city’s core). However, a city report soon found that the cost of repairing the underground’s leaky membrane could cost $73 million and result in four to five years of traffic delays. Those anticipated costs were ultimately enough to tip Gillingham, who did not support opening the intersection in 2018 as a councillor, toward crossing the political aisle when it came to Portage and Main. It’s a decision that will not only help to improve the city’s image, but one which will encourage the development of a more accessible, welcoming downtown, says Melissa Graham, the executive director of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities. “It changes who that space is for,” Graham says. “It won’t just be for people who use cars. It will be for everybody.” “This is good for pedestrians, it’s good for businesses and it’s good for the entire city,” says Kirby Cote, the executive director of Accessible Sport Connection Manitoba. “As a city we should be celebrating our ability to be welcomed,” adds Cote, who is vision impaired and cycles through the area daily. “We designed a downtown to move cars through it as fast as possible and that’s not the reality of how it’s used.” WINDOW cleaning supervisor Don MacKinnon has for 15 years enjoyed an unparalleled vantage point of the intersection. At the end of their shift, cleaners often give in to the temptation to snap photographs from their platform outside the highest floors of the Richardson Building, which anchors the intersection’s northeast corner at 1 Lombard Place. “I never thought in my lifetime they’d open it up again,” says the 53-year-old swing stage supervisor, who was too young to remember crossing at the time of the closure. A longtime Jets fan, MacKinnon says he eagerly anticipates a Stanley Cup celebration at Portage and Main next season. For some downtown workers, the reopening is something they’ve been looking forward to for years. On her lunch break at her usual spot outside the Fairmont Hotel, just a stone’s throw away from the intersection, Joanna Oznowicz reflected on how much better the downtown looked without the barricades. But she also thinks the reopening will make life safer for pedestrians, so long as drivers give them proper attention. “I see people walking in the middle of the street before and I think, you’re going to get killed,” says Oznowicz, 60. “So I hope there will be caution on both sides as we get used to it.” PARALEGAL Cheri Harasym is less optimistic. “Horrible idea,” she says. “Too busy. There’s a reason they’ve been closed for 46 years. The drivers are already looking for too many things, and that’s just more distractions. (Around the office) we think people will end up getting hit, that there will be too many accidents.” Harasym also expressed concern about the status of the underground circus, which she says downtown workers rely on for relief from the harsh winter weather when going from corner to corner. “The long-term future of the concourse has not yet been determined,” says Julie Dooley, the city’s acting manager of corporate communications. “We have hired a consultant to assess any requirements of potentially decommissioning it.” For businesses operating in and around the underground concourse, there’s been very little clarity as to when such a change might occur. “The unknown is tough,” says Donavan Robinson, a co-owner of Pop CoLab, a corporate creative workshop business that opened two years ago in Lombard Place. “I don’t know that anyone really has an answer.” Still, Robinson says crossing at street level will help businesses such as his because pedestrians will have an easier time accessing the Portage and Main nexus as a whole. “Right now people just get confused,” he adds. Outside the former Bank of Montreal building, now owned by the Manitoba Métis Federation, road crews were putting the finishing touches on the pedestrian island at the midway point of Main Street. Standing next to them, a young woman stared across to the southwest corner. Seeing no northbound traffic, she ran to the median and, a few moments later, arrived at the opposing corner. “I had to run my errands,” reasoned Elsie Isiche. It was thrilling to watch. Come next Friday, it’s an experience every pedestrian can legally enjoy for the first time since 1979. ben.waldman(a)winnipegfreepress.com<mailto:ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com>

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What's happening on Graham Avenue
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jun '25

21 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Dear Graham Avenue owners, tenants, and friends; You are receiving this email because you are located on or close to Graham Avenue, and/or you have been involved in conversations related to Graham’s future redevelopment and this summer’s pilot project. Please share widely with your staff, building residents, tenants, and anyone who might be curious about what is happening with Graham Avenue. We need your help to spread the word. Graham Avenue is transforming! Some big changes are happening on Graham this summer, and we want to ensure you have all the information you need. When Winnipeg’s new bus network launches on June 29, 2025<https://www.winnipeg.ca/services-programs/transportation-roads-parking/tran…>, buses will no longer run along most of Graham Avenue. The section between Vaughan and Carlton (which currently allows cars) will mostly remain the same. The stretch from Carlton to Garry—currently restricted to buses and bikes—will become a pedestrian-focused area. Between Garry and Main, transit will still operate, but with added features for bikes. This marks the beginning of a larger vision to turn Graham into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly corridor in the heart of Downtown Winnipeg. Whether you're walking, biking, or enjoying art and greenery—Graham Avenue is becoming a space for everyone. What is changing this summer? 1. Street use and traffic * June 22-27: Protected bike lanes and a bus lane will be installed between Garry and Main. * Westbound vehicle traffic will no longer be allowed from Main Street to Fort Street. * June 29: Buses will be removed from Graham between Vaughan and Garry. Only the two blocks between Garry and Main will continue to have bus traffic. * Shared lanes for cars and bikes (with parking and loading zones) will remain between Vaughan and Carlton—just like it is today. * The current bus lane on Vaughan will become a two-way bike lane. * Graham Avenue will be removed from the designated truck route, and the speed limit will be reduced to 30 km/h between Vaughan and Carlton. * Cycling will continue to be permitted the full length of Graham between Vaughan Street and Main Street 2. Pedestrians, art, and events The four-block stretch from Carlton to Garry will become a pedestrian-first zone, featuring: * Street murals supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative * New artistic lighting and places to sit * Art installations * Planters, picnic tables, and ping pong tables * Custom-built street furniture * Festival space for events like the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) Championship Weekend Expect more art and activities to pop up along the street throughout the summer! This pilot project is being delivered in partnership with several local organizations and guided by feedback from the community. We are testing ideas ahead of any permanent reconstruction, so your feedback is important and welcome. In the meantime, come explore Graham Avenue this summer and help spread the word! Learn more: winnipeg.ca/reimagininggraham<http://winnipeg.ca/reimagininggraham> Questions? Call 311 or submit a request at winnipeg.ca/311<http://winnipeg.ca/311> Thank you, Karin Kliewer Project Manager Reimagining Graham Avenue Learn more: winnipeg.ca/reimagininggraham<http://winnipeg.ca/reimagininggraham> Questions? Call 311 or submit a request at winnipeg.ca/311<http://winnipeg.ca/311> [A map with red circles and black text AI-generated content may be incorrect.] Thank you, Karin Kliewer Project Manager Re-imagining Graham Avenue [Winnipeg 150 logo]<https://winnipeg.ca/150years> Karin Kliewer, RPP, MCIP (she/her) Senior Planner (Downtown) Urban Planning & Design Planning, Property & Development City of Winnipeg Connect with us: [Facebook]<https://www.facebook.com/cityofwinnipeg> [X (Twitter)] <https://twitter.com/cityofwinnipeg> [YouTube] <https://youtube.com/thecityofwinnipeg> [LinkedIn] <https://linkedin.com/company/city-of-winnipeg> [Instagram] <https://www.instagram.com/thecityofwinnipeg/> Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this message is intended solely for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. Any use, dissemination, distribution, copying or disclosure of this message and attachments, in whole or in part, by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and permanently delete the complete message and any attachments. Thank you. I respectfully acknowledge that my workplace is located within Treaty One Territory, on the original lands of the Anisinaabegswn, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Red River Métis.

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WFP: Marion Street upgrade proposal takes back seat (Jun20'25)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Jun '25

20 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. $133-M plan could take decades to complete Marion Street upgrade proposal takes back seat https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/19/marion-street-pro… A $133-MILLION proposal to upgrade Marion Street has been released, though a city councillor warns it may take decades to fund, while businesses fear it would eat up critical parking. For years, city council has debated how best to improve traffic flow on Marion, including the elimination of a major bottleneck for drivers at its intersection with Archibald Street. The new, unfunded plan aims to add protected bike lanes and multi-use paths, while also completing “major” traffic upgrades at Marion’s intersections with Archibald Street, Panet Road and Lagimodière Boulevard. “There’s great improvements on intersections (with some widening near crossings) … And I think it definitely improves the active transportation component. It makes it safer,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of council’s public works committee. Lukes (Waverley West) noted the proposal has been scaled back in scope and price from previous ideas to revamp the key corridor and will no longer separate vehicle and rail traffic. “It’s not over or under the rail line, which still presents a problem,” she said. Trains crossing at the surface level near Marion and Archibald have long been a key source of commuter delay. The Marion upgrade is not among council’s top priorities, so any funding may be decades away and the vision could be adjusted along the way, said Lukes. “We have a plan (at this point). In 15 years, 20 years, when we get money for it, maybe we’ll be tweaking things,” she said. Lukes noted billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects, including the Chief Peguis Trail extension, Kenaston Boulevard overhaul and major sewage treatment plant upgrades have all been ranked as more urgent priorities. The latest plan for Marion is facing opposition, mainly from nearby businesses, with about 50 written submissions posted on the city’s website. The Norwood Grove BIZ estimates the plan would eliminate 30 per cent of parking stalls in the area, which it stresses are critical to the survival of some companies. “Our area, compared to others, is more of a wellness hub … We have massage therapy, a medical clinic … (and having) a lot of seniors’ access and (parking for people with disabilities) is an integral part,” said Sheila Tan, executive director of the biz, in an interview. Tan believes most of her members oppose the proposed Marion upgrades and are also concerned about the location of bike lanes. “If these trucks are going to continue to pass by Marion and then we have those bike lanes, there’s going to be a huge impact on traffic … Customers would choose an alternative location to eat, to shop … It’s going to impact a potential long-term loss of revenue and possible permanent business closures,” said Tan. She stressed the opposition is about locating bike lanes along such a busy street, not adding them in general. The area’s councillor said concerns could be addressed through changes as the plan moves forward. “Many issues can be resolved through engineering design … Sometimes space is at a premium, and there needs to be compromises, but I’ll be talking with the BIZ and with the public service,” said Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface). Allard said he supports the overall plan and believes it offers a model the city could repeat. “If we accept that we shouldn’t be, essentially, demolishing large parts of communities in order to replace them with roads, then this is the way that you do it. You create a complete street that is attractive to all road users and, as you keep doing that throughout Winnipeg, more people will choose to take other modes (of transportation) than the single passenger automobile and that means more space for the people that do drive,” he said. The public works committee is set to debate the plan in July. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: One small step for pedestrians, one giant leap for Portage and Main (Jun20'25)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Jun '25

20 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. One small step for pedestrians, one giant leap for Portage and Main https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/19/one-small-step-fo… PEDESTRIANS will legally cross Portage Avenue and Main Street before the end of next week. On Thursday, Mayor Scott Gillingham said the reopening date is set for June 27. “After (more than) 45 years of debating whether it should be open or not, we’ve ended the debate. It’s opening and I’m getting very positive feedback from people in the downtown, that live in downtown, that work in downtown, that own businesses in downtown. I’m getting positive comments from people who live in the suburbs as well,” said Gillingham. At last check, the mayor said the project was within its current budget, up to $21.3 million from $13 million to cover its expedited schedule. The city had aimed to reopen the intersection to foot traffic by the June 29 unveiling of Winnipeg Transit’s new network. “It was very important, all along, that the pedestrian traffic be able to cross at Portage and Main and the construction related to the opening be completed before we make the change in our transit system,” said Gillingham. Pedestrian access was halted in 1979. Reopening it has been debated for decades, with 65 per cent of Winnipeggers voting against the idea in a non-binding 2018 plebiscite. Gillingham originally said he would follow the results of that vote but changed his mind after a city report estimated it would cost $73 million to repair the membrane to renovate the underground concourse. He then supported closing the underground, an idea the city is now studying, and reopening the intersection to pedestrians. “My thinking has (changed). When I drive through the intersection now, these days, I can’t help but think how welcoming … the space looks to invite people into all of the buildings,” he said. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said she hopes the debate is over. “Many people have a passion for Portage and Main. It’s a very significant hub in our city.” Opponents of the change argued it wasn’t worth its cost and could create significant traffic delays, while supporters argue the change will help rejuvenate and better connect downtown. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP Editorial: Last-minute cancellations bad look for council (Jun14'25)
by Beth McKechnie 14 Jun '25

14 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. EDITORIAL Last-minute cancellations bad look for council https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2025/06/14/last-minute… YOU have to ask if Winnipeg city council actually wants to hear from its citizens, or whether they just want the appearance of listening. That question of appearance versus reality was brought even more sharply into focus when roughly 30 people waiting to speak to the city’s public works committee about bike safety were abruptly told to go home Thursday and come back in July. “I’d like to suspend the rules to not hear any delegations today on that item because we’re laying it over. We’re going to be hearing all the details on July 3,” the committee’s chairwoman, Coun. Janice Lukes, said at the beginning of the meeting. The reason? A staff report on safety measures for Wellington Crescent bicycle users, due since April, still isn’t finished. Getting people to go through the registration process to present to a council committee and have them show up to be heard, only to hold a vote and temporarily cancel public input, is both insulting and counterproductive. It may well be that members of the council’s public works committee are correct that a discussion of bike lane policy would be much more informed if everyone had a chance to review the at-the-moment incomplete report on the issue before registering their ideas and concerns. Certainly, more information is always better than less. But at the same time, the committee had to have known long before Thursday that the report wasn’t going to be ready — and since those who want to speak to committees of council have to register in advance and provide their personal information, those who were interested in talking about bicycle safety on Wellington Crescent could have been contacted and advised of the need for a delay. (Anyone registering to speak to a council committee has to say what agenda item they wish to speak to, and whether they are for or against the proposal.) Instead, the presenters were left to wait until the day of the meeting to be told, in person, that their presentations had been delayed. (Council committees are already not particular respectful of the value of presenters’ time. The rules for speaking at a meeting state “All meetings of council and its committees take place in the council building at 510 Main St. Delegations should be present at the start of the meeting and remain in the gallery until their name is called.”) But this is just part of council’s apparent interest in having public input in name only — or at least in handy bite-sized pieces, easily digested (and perhaps rapidly excreted as well). Council has already cut the amount of time it lets citizens present their concerns from 10 minutes to five, saying that public input was making meetings run too long. (The same strictures do not apply to committee members, clear evidence of “do as I say, not as I do.”) The message is that councillors are more concerned about the value of their own time than they are about the time of the people those same councillors are selected to serve. In a time of growing citizen and voter apathy, council members should be doing absolutely everything they can to welcome and foster citizen engagement. The aim should always be to bring more people into the civic tent, not to make it more difficult and less productive to be able to make your position known to your elected officials. And yes, that is more difficult and takes more dedicated time and planning — right down to notifying people in advance when things change. Because things can change. But letting your guests know in advance that their event is cancelled is really only common courtesy.

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CBC: Makeshift bike lane set up on Wellington Crescent on anniversary of Winnipeg cyclist's death (Jun11'25)
by Beth McKechnie 13 Jun '25

13 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-wellington-crescent-diy-bi…

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WFP: Dozens of delegates who planned to voice concerns over active transportation safety turned away (Jun13'25)
by Beth McKechnie 13 Jun '25

13 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Dozens of delegates who planned to voice concerns over active transportation safety turned away Speakers furious after city delays hearing https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/12/speakers-furious-… DOZENS of delegates who signed up to speak on active transportation safety at City Hall Thursday were not heard, following a rare, last minute vote to cancel their time. About 30 people planned to weigh in on a delayed report on making bike travel safer on Wellington Crescent. Instead, their presentations were suddenly preempted by the public works committee decision. “I’d like to suspend the rules to not hear any delegations today on that item because we’re laying it over. We’re going to be hearing all the details on July 3,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, the committee’s chairwoman, at the start of the meeting. Lukes noted staff had asked for a one month extension to return with a safety plan for this year. The announcement was met with a few surprised laughs, at least one “boo” and some impolite language from people in the council chambers who were hoping to speak. Committee members asked security officers to step in after someone yelled out “bulls—t!” Couns. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert- Seine River) and Ross Eadie (Mynarski) joined Lukes to vote in favour of the change, while the committee’s third member, Coun. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) was absent during the vote. Linda van de Laar, a nurse who planned to speak, yelled out that she had taken a day off to be there. Afterward, van de Laar said she isn’t able to return on July 3 because of work, and expressed concern the vote will set a precedent. “I wish that our city councillors would be doing this job because they want to represent residents. It seems like they don’t…. They just silenced (us) and it isn’t even the first time that they’ve silenced delegations,” she said. In March, council voted to reduce the time each public delegate can speak at hearings, committee meetings and council sessions to five minutes from 10, a move the city said would shorten meetings that sometimes start at 9:30 a.m. and drag on late into the night. Those who lost their chance to speak Thursday have been pushing for changes to Wellington Crescent since cyclist Rob Jenner was killed in a crash with a speeding driver in the area on June 6 last year. The group has called on council to reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h from 50 km/h on Wellington from River Avenue to the western end of Academy Road, which was rejected last year. Council instead ordered a staff report on options to make the streets safer for cyclists this year, which was first expected in April but has been delayed since that time. Lukes said Thursday’s decision was not the first time a standing policy committee opted not to hear delegates, though she did not offer other examples. She said delaying feedback to the next meeting makes sense, since a new proposal to make cycling safer isn’t available yet. “I thought people would be wasting their time,” said Lukes (Waverley West). The councillor said she’s received 35 to 40 emails and phone calls on the topic over the last few days, which included some “non-repeatable” comments, so feedback is still being heard. “I’m disappointed in some of the things that have been said to me and to the committee members…. (The delegates are) disappointed that we don’t have a plan in place,” said Lukes. She expects city staff will ultimately recommend creating a protected bike lane and reducing the street’s speed limit but stressed more time is needed for consultations. Another councillor said she was left with questions after witnessing the vote. “I’m going to listen to the rationale because I honestly couldn’t hear for the yelling, but, generally, when people take time off and the standing policy committee is there to hear, you hear them. It’s really important when people take time out for democracy to understand that that costs them time, it costs them money,” said Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry). In an email, city spokeswoman Julie Dooley said members of the public are welcome to speak to each report “when it actually appears on” a committee agenda. “As the report itself was not being presented today, the committee moved to not hear from registered delegates. This is not unprecedented,” Dooley wrote in an email. Committees that made similar decisions have typically done so verbally in the past, so staff can’t search for specific examples or provide the number of times the practice has previously taken place, the city later added. An active transportation advocate who regularly speaks at city hall said this is the first time she’s been unable to speak due to such a vote. “It seems very heavy-handed, and it seems a bit aggressive towards the community who has been patiently waiting for this report…. (You) take the day off work, or you get leave from work, you get child care. It is a big step to come down,” said Mel Marginet, a member of the Green Action Centre’s sustainable transportation team. Marginet said she’s concerned the decision could set a precedent. “It is important for our democracy that people are allowed to come out and voice their support or opposition to things before city council,” she said. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP Analysis: Bike safety changes are overdue (Jun11'25)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Jun '25

11 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Bike safety changes are overdue LINDA VAN DE LAAR https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2025/06/11/bike-safety-c… JUNE 5 would have been Rob Jenner’s 62nd birthday. Instead of celebrating with him, we gathered where he died — on Wellington Crescent — to sing him “Happy Birthday” and remember a life taken too soon by road violence. This isn’t the way anyone should be commemorated. But for vulnerable road users in Winnipeg, it’s become heartbreakingly familiar. I didn’t know Rob personally. But as a fellow cyclist, I knew him. I’d pass him on Assiniboine Avenue. We’d exchange a greeting, a nod or a wave, the way cyclists are so closely connected, part of a community. For someone like me who cycles to work every day along one of Winnipeg’s major bike routes, Rob’s death is devastating. The city decided that green bike route signs would be enough to protect cyclists, but road signs don’t protect cyclists. Safe infrastructure and traffic calming measures do. As a nurse, advocating for safe infrastructure is my commitment to make this city healthier. I see the toll our car-dominated culture takes on people’s bodies and minds every day — rising rates of chronic illness related to our sedentary lifestyles. Cycling, walking and using public spaces are among the simplest, most powerful ways to build a healthier society. Like how I was connected to Rob without personally knowing him, sharing space through walking and cycling connects us. It makes us move, reduces emissions and builds safer, more vibrant communities. When our streets are hostile to vulnerable road users, we make our population sicker. Since Rob’s death, at least 12 pedestrians and another cyclist have been killed. Many others have been injured. Most of those stories don’t make the news. Like my partner, who lost his hearing because a driver did not stop at a signalized crosswalk. I believe our city leaders continue to fail us. I often feel like they treat parking spots as sacred and human life as expendable. In my opinion, they stall and postpone critical safety improvements like protected bike lanes and lower speed limits. It seems like they are afraid of the backlash from drivers instead of caring about my life and that of other vulnerable road users. I have had enough. I often hear Winnipeg was built for cars. Historically, pictures show that this is inaccurate. Winnipeg had beautiful streetcars, people walking and cycling. Decades of decisions made by councillors and mayors is what made Winnipeg into the car-dominated city it is today. But it is not too late to change this. Lives should matter more than speed. I can’t bring Rob back; it is too late for him. But I can honour his life by refusing to accept the status quo. I am demanding better from the people elected to represent me. I am asking all readers to demand better from their councillors too. Please call your councillors. Ask them why it’s taking so long to implement 30 km/h speed limits in residential neighbourhoods. Tell them to support protected bike lanes on Wellington Crescent. Insist they stop treating road deaths as inevitable, On June 12, two key motions that will make our streets safer might come before public works. I need everyone to show up, speak out and delegate. Together we can make our neighbourhoods places to connect again. These are our streets. And we owe it to Rob to fight like hell to reclaim them. Linda van de Laar is a registered nurse at St. Boniface General Hospital.

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City Update: Wolseley to Downtown Walk Bike Project
by Beth McKechnie 09 Jun '25

09 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. [City of Winnipeg | Ville de Winnipeg]<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…> Wolseley to Downtown Walk Bike Project Project updates Still more work to do... The Wolseley Avenue Neighbourhood Greenway has been in place for around six months. Motor vehicle speeds and volumes have gone down. But we’re still seeing more vehicles than desired in the eastern part of the project area. Additionally, motor vehicle speeds in all four locations shows that the 85th percentile speed is still more than five kilometers an hour faster than the posted speed limit of 30 km/h. You can see the motor vehicle speeds and volumes for several years on the traffic count map below which also highlights the traffic calming infrastructure that was constructed on Wolseley Avenue. Both numbers remain higher than we’d like for a neighbourhood greenway. This could affect whether cyclists feel safe and comfortable. We’re planning a few more features along Wolseley Avenue this summer, including: * More visible paint markings (like centre-lane sharrows) * Speed reader boards to remind drivers to slow down * New Neighbourhood Greenway signs Once these new features are in place, we’ll measure traffic speeds and volumes again to see if numbers come down. We plan to come back this winter with a full year of data. At that time, we’ll also want to hear your feedback on how the greenway is working. In the meantime, if you have anything urgent to share with the project team, please email us at wolseleytodowntown(a)winnipeg.ca<mailto:wolseleytodowntown@winnipeg.ca>. Map: 2025 conditions<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…> View the latest conditions of the neighbourhood greenway Board: Summer updates<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…> Learn more about planned updates this summer Learn more about this project winnipeg.ca/wolseleytodowntown<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…> Contact us Email: City-Engage(a)winnipeg.ca<mailto:City-Engage@winnipeg.ca> Phone: 204-986-4243 Connect with us: [Twitter]<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…>[Facebook]<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…>[YouTube]<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…>[LinkedIn]<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…>[Instagram]<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…> Share on X<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…> | Share on Facebook<https://communications.winnipeg.ca/ext/click/go/71ebfa129fce40624b3653ffef6…>

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WFP: ‘Reimagined’ 25-year city transportation master plan sets price tag at $4.7B (Jun7'25)
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jun '25

07 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. ‘Reimagined’ 25-year city transportation master plan sets price tag at $4.7B https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/06/reimagined-25-yea… A 25-YEAR transportation master plan designed to “reimagine” travel throughout Winnipeg would cost $4.7 billion to fully implement, though plenty of work remains to determine what will be funded when. Transportation 2050: Reimagining Mobility sets out the hefty cost estimate for all staffing, planning, design and capital costs needed to turn it into a reality. It’s unlikely the city would be able to cover the whole tab over the next 25 years, the head of council’s public works committee said. “We prioritize (projects) related to the money that we have … It’s good that they put a price tag on it just so people understand (the cost),” said Coun. Janice Lukes. Lukes (Waverley West) said some priorities will be covered by road and active transportation funding in current and future budgets, while partnerships with senior governments will help determine what else the city can afford. The staff report calls for funding to hire five new employees to implement the changes, which will be considered in the 2026 budget process. No other funding plan is recommended yet. Meanwhile, city staff are also proposing potential business studies to determine if the city should conduct pilot projects on designated truck lanes, popup active transportation infrastructure, secure bike parking, reduced parking on arterial roads and even autonomous buses. “Automated buses are ready for real-world testing and Winnipeg’s Southwest Transitway is an ideal testing location, as a fully separated right-of-way that experiences cold and winter conditions. Potentially, autonomous buses could be tested in this location outside of revenue service hours,” the staff report states. Lukes said she’s not convinced self-driving buses are in the city’s near future. “I don’t think we’re ready for it… we’ve got snow, we’ve got ice, we’ve got really varying road conditions,” she said. However, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he’s “very open” to exploring the idea. “Obviously, it has to be safe and all that analysis has to be done, but if it’s innovative and it can enhance the delivery of city services, then I’m all for it… I’m not about being innovative just for the sake of doing the latest thing. It’s got to enhance services for the people of Winnipeg,” said Gillingham. The mayor said the master plan aims to balance investments that support drivers as well as cyclists and pedestrians. “We do want to move people into more sustainable modes of transportation… by investing in our transit system to make it a better, more reliable, more frequent service, we believe that more people will choose transit,” he said. With a multibillion-dollar price tag, Gillingham noted the full master plan would take “a long, long time to fully implement.” Both the mayor and Lukes said the city should focus on improvements that support moving goods throughout and beyond the city to support economic growth. “We really need to look closely (at) investment in our trade routes. We talked about Kenaston/Route 90 and the upgrades that need to happen there, the Chief Peguis Trail extension, as well. Those are economic routes, those are trade routes (that are) really important to our community,” said Gillingham. Recent reports suggest extending Chief Peguis would cost $755 million, while revamping Kenaston Boulevard/ Route 90 would cost $586 million. “If we want to do new major upgrades like Kenaston, like Chief Peguis… we have to find external funding…. We’ll see what federal programs they come out with and how we can align those federal programs to our priorities,” said Lukes. In the report, city staff propose creating a funding strategy for a goods movement study and proposed truck route network by March 2026. Staff also suggest exploring future strategies on managing transportation demand, transit-oriented development and zero-emission vehicles. The strategy sets goals to ensure half of all trips are made using sustainable mobility options by 2050, active transportation is deemed a realistic option for everyday travel and people of all ages and abilities can safely move around. The plan also adds to Winnipeg’s decades-old debate over light rail transit, which the city has debated many times but never built. “The Transportation 2050 Plan directs the city to investigate when and where LRT might be needed in the future. High-capacity transit will be essential to increasing sustainable trips,” the report notes. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepresss.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepresss.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Moving trucks off Graham Avenue part of proposed revamp (Jun7'25)
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jun '25

07 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Moving trucks off Graham Avenue part of proposed revamp https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/06/moving-trucks-off… A NEW proposal would slow down traffic on parts of Graham Avenue and redirect trucks to other streets. A report calls for city council to reduce the speed limit on Graham to 30 km/h from 50 km/h between Vaughan and Carlton streets and remove the full time truck route designation. “Graham Avenue is going to become a very focal point for downtown. It’s going to become an area that will be activated … It’s going to become a much more people-oriented, populated, activity-oriented street and that’s been part of the downtown plan,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works. She noted Winnipeg Transit’s new primary network will move most transit service off Graham later this month, clearing the way for change. She expects a speed limit reduction would take a couple of months to implement. Lukes said the traditional reliance on the avenue as a key bus corridor, with some sections not even open to cars, means the changes shouldn’t create much commuter delay. The new rules should support a growing number of downtown residents, she said. “Downtown has to have neighbourhoods. It’s not just, go there, leave there. We’re putting a lot of housing in (that area),” said Lukes. Mayor Scott Gillingham said changes to Winnipeg Transit create an opportunity to transform the avenue. “It’s almost like Graham Avenue is a blank slate and it can be reimagined (to become) something really different and invigorating,” said Gillingham. The city’s key downtown vision, CentrePlan 2050, calls for an overhaul of Graham, suggesting it could become a cycling connection and open space. Gillingham said he’d like to see a pedestrian mall on the avenue and believes any driver delay from the changes would be limited. “When it’s such a short street, when you drive 30 km/h as opposed to 50, the difference on three or four blocks is seconds,” he said. Shifting buses elsewhere and reducing the speed limit could make the area easier to access, said one business owner. “Having cars added to Graham, I do think that’s probably a good idea and helpful for the local businesses. I think it was fairly chaotic having just buses ripping up and down Graham Avenue… As a general rule, I support speed reduction … I think having a calmer Graham Avenue is a good thing,” said Graham Bargen, co-owner of the Thom Bargen coffee shop at Kennedy Street and Graham Avenue. However, Bargen said he is concerned limiting truck traffic would create an obstacle for deliveries. “That will be an added challenge. We’re a coffee roaster and we receive pallets of coffee… we do need to be able to get product in and out,” he said. In a written statement, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ expressed support for the changes. “We believe these changes on Graham support the overall plan to improve safety, connectivity and vibrancy downtown. We’re looking forward to the transformation of this street into a pedestrian-friendly hub, where people can gather and connect,” wrote Kate Fenske, chief executive officer of the BIZ. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Cyclists mark anniversary of fatal collision (Jun7'25)
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jun '25

07 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Cyclists mark anniversary of fatal collision Condemn city’s lack of action on safety improvements https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/06/cyclists-mark-ann… BRIGHT red balloons attached to the handlebars of a white “ghost bike” memorial Friday marked the one-year anniversary of a cycling enthusiast’s horrifying high-speed hit-and-run death on Wellington Crescent. Rob Jenner was on his way to work at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights when a 19-year-old man driving more than three times the 50 km/h speed limit hit the rear tire of Jenner’s bike throwing him several metres into the air at the intersection of Wellington and Cockburn Street. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead one day after his 61st birthday. Anna Weier showed up at the corner Friday with her nine-year-old daughter Libby to join more than 30 others celebrating what would’ve been Jenner’s 62nd birthday Thursday, and demand action from the city to make the street safer for cyclists, after a report on biking infrastructure improvements was delayed a second time. “Rob Jenner’s death was really scary. It makes me really worried riding, especially with my kid,” said Weier. “We feel like the city isn’t listening to us that we want safe biking infrastructure now.” Jenner’s death ignited protests from members of Winnipeg’s cycling community about inadequate infrastructure and policies to protect riders. Advocates called for the speed limit to be reduced to 30 km/h, and for the city to install protected bike lanes on Wellington Crescent. Council’s executive policy committee rejected a lowered speed limit, but voted in December for city staff to report on other bike-safety solutions on the street. The report, delayed until this month, has been pushed back again after city staff requested a one-month extension for additional consultation on removing street parking and another look at the speed limit, said public works chair Janice Lukes. “I want the public service to get it right. We don’t want something put in that is going to again need adjustments, or again need tweaks or changes,” Lukes (Waverley West) said Friday. “There’s a lot of infrastructure we’d like to have in, but we can’t put it in overnight. We have to let them do their work.” She said active-transportation projects, such as building protected bike lanes, rarely get done in under a year. The effort to address concerns on Wellington Crescent is moving as quickly as it can, she said, adding she understands the urgency for cyclists. The proposed protected bike lane features barriers attached to the road instead of new curb construction to separate vehicles and bikes. Lukes said if council approves after receiving the report next month, she expects the project could be completed by the fall or next spring. She said the McDermot Avenue bike lane that was built in 2018, and described as “very similar” to the plan for Wellington Crescent, took three years to finish. “It’s too late for Rob (Jenner),” said Robyn Dyck, who was at the memorial Friday. “We will now have a whole summer without protection for cyclists. It’s infuriating.” In October, Beckham Severight pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and leaving the scene of the accident. He was sentenced to three years in custody and banned from driving for five years. His then-roommate, Lyle Barker- Young, the lone passenger, who was leasing the vehicle, was charged with fleeing the scene and remains before the court. matthew.frank(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca> [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…]

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WFP: Pedestrian scramble gets Exchange test (Jun3'25)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Jun '25

03 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Pedestrian scramble gets Exchange test ‘We want to create a more walkable, livable city’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/02/pedestrian-scramb… READY. Set. Scramble. An Exchange District intersection was the scene of Winnipeg’s first pedestrian scramble as a pilot project to test the concept began Monday. Traffic signals at the King Street and Bannatyne Avenue intersection stop motor vehicles in all directions once per cycle allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction, except diagonally. Aro Van Dyck made the trek to the street corner to see the signals in action and try it for herself. “An improvement like this, I’m excited to see it. I’m someone who cares a lot about pedestrian safety,” said Van Dyck, who works downtown. The 32-year-old said she was disappointed when the city scuttled plans to put a scramble crossing at River Avenue and Osborne Street last year. She hopes the pilot project, which was approved in March, proves popular and scrambles become more common on city streets. The scramble includes new no-right-turn and no-left-turn signs, cameras to record vehicle near-misses with pedestrians and loudspeakers that broadcast “walk sign is on at both crossings.” The scramble is expected to reduce crossing times and improve safety for pedestrians with no vehicles in the intersection, said city worker Danae Penner, who was attaching signs to explain how the crossing works. “If pedestrians want to go kitty corner to the other side of the street, they don’t have to wait for two signals. They can make it all the way around,” said the road safety outreach co-ordinator. Coun. Vivian Santos said she hopes the crossing will drive more foot traffic to the area. “We want to create a more walkable, livable city,” Santos said. “It’s about building a people-first city, especially in the Exchange District.” Crossing diagonally wasn’t included in the plans for the new scramble, she said, because extensive work was necessary to make sidewalks more accessible for those with wheelchairs. The scramble cost $1,000 to put in place, a March report from the public works committee noted. Santos said the pilot will be in place until winter 2026. David Pensato, executive director of Exchange District BIZ, is curious how the pilot project’s results will influence the city’s approach to pedestrian crosses. He said the chosen intersection has already been an informal scramble crossing when traffic dies down. “It doesn’t take an urban planner or traffic engineer to note that while the Exchange is among the most walkable areas in the city, there’s certainly some pinch points where it becomes more complicated,” said Pensato. “We’re always looking to better enhance the pedestrian experience.” Dennis Boyko, owner of Red River Book Shop, was surprised the city selected King and Bannatyne for the pilot. The Arthur Street entrepreneur said there are more dangerous crossings that need more robust infrastructure to protect pedestrians in the Exchange. To commemorate the new crossing, sandwich shop King and Bannatyne created a special scrambled egg wrap that will be given away at the corner at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. The city has launched a survey for residents to provide feedback on the scramble at wfp.to/scramble<http://wfp.to/scramble>. A report on the pilot’s results is expected in 2026. matthew.frank(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca>

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WFP: ‘Getting more butts on bikes’ (Jun2'25)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Jun '25

02 Jun '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. ‘Getting more butts on bikes’ Charleswood resident shares his passion for cycling through his volunteer work https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/06/02/getting-more-butt… DAVE Elmore recalls the ribbing he got as a teenager when many of his friends were buying their first cars and he bought a bike instead: a blue 10-speed CCM Turismo. “Cycling’s always been important to me,” he says. “It’s always been something I’ve done.” Today, the 70-year-old Charleswood resident shares his passion for cycling through his volunteer work as chairperson of Bike Week Winnipeg. The annual event features programming meant to encourage and engage cyclists. This year’s edition takes place June 8-14. “It’s all about getting more butts on bikes,” Elmore says. An engineer by training, Elmore was working as a project manager for the federal government when he started commuting to work by bike in the early 1990s. He co-founded the cycling advocacy group Bike to the Future, now known as Bike Winnipeg, in 2007. The following year, he helped start Bike to Work Day, an annual one-day event for bicycle commuters. In 2014, the event was rebranded as Bike Week. With the rebrand came an expanded mandate to engage cyclists of all kinds — whether they ride for everyday transportation, recreation or some other reason. Rather than create change through advocacy, Elmore says, Bike Week attempts to create cultural change by engaging riders, trying to get more people involved in cycling and growing their understanding that bicycles can be a part of the city’s transportation culture. While Bike to Work Day is still one of the week’s flagship events (it takes place June 10), this year’s Bike Week will feature numerous activities for people of all ages and abilities, including group rides, workshops, games and a wrap-up party on the legislative grounds on June 14. Last year’s Bike Week drew more than 14,000 people to 160 events over seven days, according to a report prepared by Fête Jockey Events Inc., which helps organize and manage Bike Week. Elmore expects similar numbers this year. Bike Week “adds to the culture and visibility of cycling across the city,” says Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg. “(It’s) creating those opportunities to give people that experience of cycling so they can get out there and imagine it as part of their everyday life,” he says. “It’s everyday people who are looking for those cycling opportunities — not just some radical core of people. It’s everyday folks. It’s our neighbours, our aunts, our uncles and our siblings that want to get out riding.” Cohoe praises Elmore’s efforts, describing the retiree as “tireless (and) ageless.” “(He’s) someone who’s committed a huge amount of time to making the city better, to helping us all be a little bit more environmentally friendly and sustainable, and someone who’s always ready to take on the task, big or small,” Cohoe says. “You get a smiling face, you get a hello and a warm welcome from Dave every time.” In addition to chairing Bike Week, Elmore is a mechanic at the WRENCH community bike shop, he teaches cycling skills to middle school students and he leads spin classes twice a week at the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg. The grandfather of two rides to these volunteer commitments on one of his eight bikes — usually either his red Surly or chrome Sekine. “Ultimately I don’t look at any of them as work because I enjoy doing them, and I guess I’m seeing the benefits because I’m seeing more and more people on bikes,” Elmore says of his volunteer commitments. “The things that we’re doing as different organizations, whether it’s Bike Winnipeg or Bike Week, are making a difference in our city, and that keeps me going.” If you know a special volunteer, email aaron.epp(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca>. [https://winnipeg-can.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.25012021/aja…]

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WFP: Businesses lose parking to buses (May22'25)
by Beth McKechnie 22 May '25

22 May '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Businesses lose parking to buses ‘The daily turnover of these ... spots generate substantial revenue’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/05/22/businesses-lose-p… MERCHANTS of Grosvenor Square are irate the city is relocating a bus stop along Grosvenor Avenue and removing several parking spaces they say are vital for business. “People tell me all the time, ‘I’ll come in if I can find parking,’ and this is going to seriously affect me,” said Chris Atkinson, owner of Lilac Bakery at 930 Grosvenor Ave. As part of Winnipeg Transit’s massive overhaul, all four current stops at the intersection of Grosvenor Avenue and Stafford Street will be removed and replaced with three new stops, including one in front of the bakery and several other shops. Atkinson estimates the new bus stop is taking away five parking stalls. City crews installed “no stopping” signage on the strip last week. “There was no consultation, no one had any idea this was even happening,” Atkinson said. Other businesses in Grosvenor Square include restaurants, a furniture store, boutique, dry-cleaning, a yoga studio and hair salon. Atkinson says much of his customer base park momentarily to pick up orders or a quick treat and he already competes for parking with the other businesses. The bakery has a few parking stalls in the back lane behind his shop but they are usually reserved for staff, he said. “We pay taxes and employ people. I’m all for active transportation but, unfortunately, we’re still a car-centric city and these spots are valuable,” Atkinson said. The bakery has seen increased walk-in traffic in recent years owing to a concentration of businesses moving into the area, but many still drive across town for a taste of Lilac’s coveted red velvet cake and other confections. A city spokesperson said parking would be reinstated where possible. Megan Benedictson said while some spaces would be removed in front of Lilac Bakery, an existing bus stop (northbound Stafford, near-side Academy) would be removed and parking added there. The new parking spaces will be a 20-metre walk from the front door of the bakery. Across the street at Metro Cleaners, owner Gus Lefas said the relocation of the bus stop means drivers will use his parking lot instead. Lefas has been at 917 Grosvenor Ave., since 1961 and has always had ample parking, but with the host of businesses now in the area, times have changed. He fears the new stop location will completely dry up Lilac’s business. “They can’t just move the stop 50 feet behind the houses? Won’t bother nobody, I don’t know why they’re doing this,” Lefas said. The city considered availability of space, transfer walking distance, pedestrian infrastructure, existing stop infrastructure, safety, adjacent land use and parking impacts in choosing where bus stops will go, Benedictson said. Atkinson wrote a letter to the mayor and area councillors Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) signed by six nearby businesses. “Unlike suburban areas where parking is ample, the Grosvenor Square merchants do not have that luxury and have relied on and built businesses with this parking in mind; we need it to survive. Most of us have no parking at all, outside street parking. The daily turnover of these mentioned parking spots generate substantial revenue for the neighbourhood businesses,” a portion of the letter states. Orlikow said while the stop isn’t in his constituency, he’s looking into the issue with Transit and exploring possible alternatives. He recognizes the imposition on business in the area. “This transit overhaul has been a massive project and you can’t consult absolutely everybody … but we’re making sure that transit understands the impact it’s going to have on those businesses and seeing if there’s any other viable options,” Orlikow said. The city’s new transit network is expected to go online June 29. On May 1, Transit posted the upcoming schedules online so residents can become familiar with the new routes. nicole.buffie(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca>

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ParticipACTION report on creating a social norm for physical activity
by Michelle Porter 16 May '25

16 May '25

Here is a new report from ParticipACTION<https://www.participaction.com/> about creating a social norm for societal physical activity: MOVING TOWARDS A NEW NORMAL<https://www.participaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Social_Climate_Pa…>. Some of this information is relevant to active transportation of course. Michelle Michelle M. Porter, PhD, Professor | Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management | Director, Centre on Aging | 338 Isbister Building | University of Manitoba | Winnipeg, MB CANADA | R3T 2N2 | (204) 474-8795 michelle.porter(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:michelle.porter@umanitoba.ca> | Centre on Aging | University of Manitoba (umanitoba.ca)<https://umanitoba.ca/centre-on-aging/> | https://bsky.app/profile/um-coa-porter.bsky.social | linkedin.com/in/michelle-porter-639890150<https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-porter-639890150>

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