- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Request for literature - built environment impact in rural, remote and northern communities
by Beth McKechnie 27 Feb '13

27 Feb '13

Request for Literature: We are conducting a literature review (academic and grey) on the impact of built environment features on physical activity and/or healthy eating and/or health equity in rural, remote, and northern communities. This project is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The final product will be a knowledge synthesis report that includes an annotated biography. This report has the potential to provide guidance in addressing the unique challenges and needs that these communities face in improving the health outcomes of their populations. In addition to conducting a search for peer-reviewed literature in databases (e.g. PsychoINFO, MEDLINE) we are also seeking practitioner and/or academic input. REQUEST: If you are aware of academic literature OR grey literature (reports, conference proceedings, dissertations and theses and white papers) on this topic, please send us a link or reference information to Kim Bergeron @ kim(a)buildingbetter.biz by March 8, 2013. Please disseminate this request widely. Sincerely, Kim Bergeron and Sue Cragg Research Consultants Kim Bergeron, Ph.D. Sue Cragg Bergeron Consulting suecraggconsulting.ca

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Invitation to participate in GMF's next webinar: Shifting Gears — The Road to Sustainable Transportation, Friday, March 1st
by Beth McKechnie 27 Feb '13

27 Feb '13

We are not around to host this FCM Green Municipal Fund webinar at the EcoCentre on Friday afternoon but if you're interested in viewing it, you can register (for free) at the link below. cheers, Beth ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Stéphanie Bohdanow <sbohdanow(a)fcm.ca> Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 8:04 AM Subject: Invitation to participate in GMF's next webinar: Shifting Gears — The Road to Sustainable Transportation, Friday, March 1st Hello, Given your past participation in one of GMF’s transportation-focused webinars, I’d like to invite you to participate in our upcoming webinar entitled “*Shifting Gears — The Road to Sustainable Transportation*<http://fcm.ca/home/events/upcoming-events/webinar-shifting-gears-the-road-t…> *”*. The webinar will be taking place this *Friday, March 1, 2:30–4:00 p.m. EST*. A description of the webinar can be found below. Registration is free and can be done online by clicking *here*<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=N5dd7OTOVNSXu9qU_2foLBew_3d_3d> . I hope you’ll join us! Kind regards, Stephanie Voir la version française<https://vem.fcm.ca/elink.aspx?edb0457d-6180-e211-ba40-005056bc2614Q1JNUFJPR…>. | View email in your browser.<https://vem.fcm.ca/elink.aspx?eeb0457d-6180-e211-ba40-005056bc2614Q1JNUFJPR…> [image: cid:vem_e2efa84b-63ac-43d0-aa57-20ade57c6bd2] [image: cid:vem_cfc28f5f-d3f1-4ff6-826e-c76300043729]<http://www.facebook.com/pages/FCM/201746766534992> [image: cid:vem_b999b53e-1af3-46df-9e88-3201edbdc5a5]<http://www.linkedin.com/company/federation-of-canadian-municipalities> [image: cid:vem_dc6c16a7-0e9d-4b41-a0b1-03c5b80fc778]<http://twitter.com/#!/FCM_online> [image: cid:vem_aa9f2929-0bcb-4aaa-859a-9b452fea8615] February 26, 2013 Register for our March 1 webinar: Shifting Gears — The Road to Sustainable Transportation FCM is pleased to announce a new free Green Municipal Fund<http://www.fcm.ca/gmf>(GMF) webinar: *Shifting Gears: The Road to Sustainable Transportation** Part 4 of GMF’s Leading Trends in Municipal Sustainability webinar series* *Friday, March 1, 2012, 2:30–4:00 p.m. EST* *Speakers* - Damien Forbes, P.Eng., Senior Project Engineer, Toronto Transit Commission <http://www.ttc.ca/> - Erik Backstrom, Senior Planner, Transit Oriented Development Planning, City of Edmonton <http://www.edmonton.ca/> - Malcolm Shield, Climate Programs Engineer, Sustainability Group, City of Vancouver <http://www.vancouver.ca/> Communities of all sizes are encouraging the use of alternative transportation to help reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, promote active lifestyles, and ensure accessibility for citizens of all ages and abilities. This webinar will feature innovative municipal initiatives that support the transition to electric vehicles and help create built environments that encourage active living and increased use of public transit. Speakers will share the keys to their success and the insights gained from their experiences, and provide participants with valuable knowledge, which can be applied to their own communities. Register<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=N5dd7OTOVNSXu9qU_2foLBew_3d_3dhttp://…>for this webinar online. You will receive a confirmation within one working day. *Questions?* Please contact Stephanie Bohdanow <sbohdanow(a)fcm.ca> at 613-907-6262. For more great sustainability resources, visit our website<http://fcm.ca/home/programs/green-municipal-fund/program-resources.htm> . ------------------------------ *What is a webinar? *A webinar is an interactive, web-based workshop that will inform and inspire you from the comfort of your home or office. *How much does it cost? *FCM’s Green Municipal Fund webinars are free of charge. *Learn with your colleagues.* Book a meeting room with a phone and an Internet connection and invite your colleagues to participate. Webinars are a great opportunity to discuss how the featured topics relate to your community. The Government of Canada endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) with $550 million to establish the Green Municipal Fund™. The Fund supports partnerships and leveraging of both public and private-sector funding to reach higher standards of air, water and soil quality, and climate protection. [image: cid:vem_75c737af-06e8-4ff7-83a6-cc5b7234fb57] [image: cid:vem_6ba54ce8-d664-44c8-a766-f5b9e2fb932c] Green Municipal Fund Update is a publication of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities <http://www.fcm.ca/>. ©2013. Comments, inquiries and suggestions can be directed to Lorie Boucher<lboucher(a)fcm.ca> . 24 Clarence Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5P3 • T. 613-241-5221 • F. 613-241-7440 | Privacy Policy <http://www.fcm.ca/home/privacy-policy.htm> | Unsubscribe<velferink@fcm.ca?subject=Please%20unsubscribe%20me%20from%20your%20mailing%20list> [image: https://vem.fcm.ca/elink.aspx?efb0457d-6180-e211-ba40-005056bc2614Q1JNUFJPR…] Stéphanie Bohdanow Program Officer, Capacity Building | Agente de programme, Renforcement des capacités Green Municipal Fund Fonds municipal vert <http://www.fcm.ca> 24, rue Clarence Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5P3 T. 613-907-6262 | F. 613-244-1515

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Parker lands BRT route news fails to mention AT benefits
by Beth McKechnie 26 Feb '13

26 Feb '13

(Please see message below) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Terry Zdan <tjzdan50(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:48:14 -0600 Subject: Parker Lands BRT route news fails to mention AT benefits http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Committee-OKs-rapid-transit-corridor… -- Terry Zdan 126 Duncan Norrie Drive Wpg MB R3P 2J9 CANADA tjzdan50(a)gmail.com <tjzdan(a)gmasil.com>

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WFP: Walk this way - Pedestrian signals, street redesigns helping to make intersections safer (Feb.23'13)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Feb '13

23 Feb '13

Walk this way Pedestrian signals, street redesigns helping to make intersections safer By: Bruce Owen http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/walk-this-way-192666351.html It's been blinking for less than a year, but already it's being trumpeted as one of the best ways to make busy city intersections safer for pedestrians and drivers. It's called a pedestrian countdown signal and it sits at the corner of Portage Avenue and Donald Street across from the MTS Centre. Like its name, it counts down the number of seconds pedestrians headed to a Jets game or an arena concert have to safely cross the street before the traffic signal for the oncoming lane turns green. It was installed in June by the city as a way to introduce Winnipeggers to something more common in other cities. The countdown signal is just one tool traffic experts use to make streets safer, but how soon we'll see more of them in the city is unknown. They can only be installed where existing software and wiring can support them, and more importantly, when the city's budget process supports it. The cost of the countdown signal is about $10,000 per intersection. "There's no plan with timeline," Winnipeg traffic signals engineer Michael Cantor said of future installations. "We're trying to push for it. There's a benefit from them. It gives pedestrians an enhanced feeling of safety when they're crossing. They know exactly how much time they have to cross." Pedestrian countdown signals are now mandatory in the United States -- any new or replacement pedestrian signals being installed must include countdowns unless the pedestrian change interval (flashing upraised hand) is seven seconds or less. In Canada, they are not, but many cities (Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary) have installed them anyway, simply because of the safety benefit. Asif Iqbal, senior traffic safety engineer with the City of Edmonton, said the benefit of countdown signals is best seen in that city's downtown area, where there is a lot of foot traffic. He said Edmonton's policy is that any new interaction location or reconstruction is considered for a countdown signal. The city's first countdown signal was installed about five years ago. "Drivers like them too, because it gives them an idea on how much time they have before the light is going to turn amber," Iqbal said. "Our message, though, is that these are for pedestrians, and drivers should not rely on them." Cantor said the single countdown signal at Portage and Donald has already sparked several requests from city councillors and members of the public to have them installed at other locations, mostly in the downtown. He said there is mixed research on the cost-benefit of the signals -- do they reduce pedestrian collisions and costs to the health-care system? Cantor said the research isn't decisive and that in some jurisdictions, people get used to the countdown signals and their novelty runs out, so any safety benefit is temporary. "Different studies say different things," he said. "We want to put them in because we feel that it will give more of a safety component and better decision-making tool for pedestrians before they cross. It just feels safer when you know how many seconds you have to cross." Traffic engineers are also looking at other ways to make intersections safer but still maintain traffic flow. Edmonton's Iqbal said the most common crashes at intersections are rear-enders, mostly caused by the trailing vehicle following too closely. By re-engineering the geometry or design of some intersections, Edmonton has found it can lessen the chances of those collisions and also reduce the possibility of more severe right-angle or side crashes. Iqbal said a re-designed intersection makes it easier for drivers making right turns to turn their head sideways to see opposing traffic. "If the angle is such that when you are going through that right turn, it moves you away from that stream of traffic, it becomes difficult to turn your head, because you have to turn your head almost 180 degrees so that you can see if someone is coming," Iqbal said of older intersections. What Edmonton has done at some of its intersections is reduce the size of the right-turning lane or eliminate it, making oncoming traffic more visible to drivers going right. "What we did was when you are making a right turn now, the angle is such that when you go into the intersection, you basically make a 90-degree right turn," he said. "We call it a high-entry angle." By its design, a high-entry angle not only improves visibility for drivers turning right, but forces them to slow down before entering the intersection, he said. "If you look at statistics for most major cities, intersections are overrepresented for most collisions," said Gerry Shimko, executive director of Edmonton's Office of Traffic Safety. "Typically, more than 50 per cent of all collisions are intersection-related." An example of a change of intersection design in Winnipeg is at Salter Street and Jefferson Avenue. Last year, the four-way stop signs were replaced by traffic signals. They were installed as a way to better control an increasing amount of traffic on both streets during rush hour. In the process, a right-turning lane northbound off Salter to go east on Jefferson was eliminated. A small pedestrian island also disappeared. That was done more to realign the intersection and facilitate the installation of the traffic signals, city road engineer Stephen Chapman said. However, the road change now makes it easier for drivers turning right onto Jefferson from northbound Salter to see oncoming traffic and pedestrians. The change has also "calmed" traffic down. Chapman said traffic signals were also installed at Sinclair Street and Inkster Boulevard at the same time to reduce right-angle crashes. "We had a pattern of westbound with southbound right-angle collisions," he said -- there were 19 over a three-year period. Chapman said other busy intersections don't get traffic signals -- they get turned into roundabouts, which also reduce the chance of right-angle collisions. The most recent examples are Grassie Boulevard at Molson Street, and Lakewood Boulevard at Beaverhill Boulevard. For the worst intersections in the city, such as Leila Avenue and McPhillips Street, they see more crashes simply because of the high volume of traffic. Most collisions are fender-benders, such as rear-end crashes. "That's not necessarily something that can be engineered out," Chapman said. Shimko said Edmonton is also targeting high-risk drivers as a way to reduce collisions. That includes identifying drivers with a high number of traffic violations -- 12 or more over a two-year period. It's those drivers, who also tend to have criminal records, who are typically involved in serious collisions. "There are high-risk drivers that need to be dealt with and identified for police intervention, because that will be the only thing that will basically deal with them," he said. "Police go out and target the registered owners of these cars to deal with the offending drivers. They've had some initial good success." What Edmonton also does is divert some of the proceeds from its automated or photo-enforcement program back into traffic safety, including road redesign to lessen right-angle collisions. In Winnipeg, photo-enforcement revenue goes into policing. "We made a conscious choice that traffic safety is important," Shimko said. *bruce.owen(a)freepress.mb.ca* ** *TOP 10 worst intersections for vehicle collisions, June 2002-June 2012* Leila Avenue and McPhillips Street 1,736 Kenaston Boulevard and McGillivray Boulevard 1,719 Lagimodiere Boulevard and Regent Avenue 1,347 Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard 1,343 Bishop Grandin Boulevard and St. Mary's Road 1,162 Bishop Grandin Boulevard and St. Anne's Road 1,077 Archibald Street and Marion Avenue 1,017 Portage Avenue and Moray Street 986 Portage Avenue and Main Street 943 Bishop Grandin Boulevard and Waverley Street 919 * * *TOP five worst intersections for vehicle-pedestrian collisions over five-year period 2007-11:* Portage Avenue and Cavalier Drive 9* Henderson Highway and McLeod Avenue 8 McPhillips Street and Jefferson Avenue 8* Isabel Street and William Avenue 7* Osborne Street and River Avenue 7 *denotes location of one of city's photo-enforcement intersection cameras *Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 23, 2013 A4 *

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WFP: Review of speed limits planned - Province to soon begin wide probe seeking consistent, safe standards (Feb.14'13)
by Beth McKechnie 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Review of speed limits planned Province to soon begin wide probe seeking consistent, safe standards By: Bruce Owen http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/review-of-speed-limits-planned-19117… The Selinger government is days away from announcing a provincewide review of speed limits on Manitoba's roadways. Infrastructure and Highways Minister Steve Ashton said Wednesday the goal of the review is to devise more consistent standards of how speed limits are set on Manitoba's highways and streets, including in Winnipeg and Brandon. That includes addressing the "patchwork-quilt" application of speed limits by municipalities and taking into account newer, better-designed roadways that can handle higher speeds. "You're not going to get one-size-fits-all," Ashton said. "But there are certain basic parameters that do apply and there are ways of dealing with things. "What we're trying to get here, and the balance of the review will reflect that, is making sure that we get the recognition of local realities, but at the same time have some consistent speed limits and guidelines." He said the two basic speed-limit guidelines in Manitoba are that when driving in the city, the speed limit is 50 km/h unless otherwise posted and when driving on the highway, the speed limit is 90 km/h or 100 km/h unless otherwise posted. "We'll look at all those elements," he said. "We're going to look at the general parameters in terms of speed limits and a combination of everything from the convenience side of it to safety. Safety will always be paramount." CAA Manitoba and the Manitoba Trucking Association welcomed the upcoming review, saying it's badly needed to address inconsistencies in how speed limits are determined. "A lot of development has been done over the last 10 to 20 years and as they've added roads, Bishop Grandin and Kenaston, I don't think there's been a lot of consistency," CAA Manitoba vice-president of marketing and sales Tim Scott said. "A lot of roads have been developed from single lanes to two lanes and that makes a big difference. "But the litmus test is always safety." Terry Shaw, general manager of the Manitoba Trucking Association, said more consistent speed limits would mean better efficiencies for the trucking industry. "Efficiency comes through setting speeds based on an informed decision, which comes from a legitimate study," Shaw said. "Our concern is the inconsistencies -- the 60 to 50, the 70 to 50, items like that, the inconsistencies without legitimate reasons or legitimate purpose or inconsistent signage." Ashton said the review -- which will include public consultation -- will not alter the province's position on reduced speeds in school zones. Last year, Ashton introduced legislation to give local authorities the power to create reduced-speed zones for schools. Last August, Winnipeg city council voted unanimously to reduce the speed limit to 30 kilometres per hour in elementary school zones. Last month, a city committee rejected a call to reduce the residential speed limit in Winnipeg from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. A city report said many studies conducted throughout North America showed driver speed is affected by the road conditions and not by speed-limit signs. Ashton said the provincial review is separate from the work of the province's Highway Traffic Board, which is considering raising speed limits on selected stretches of city streets, including sections of Dugald Road, Grant Avenue, Pembina Highway and Waverley Street. The board held public hearings late last fall. However, he added the provincial review will examine the role of both the Highway Traffic Board and the Motor Transport Board. The boards were amalgamated more than a decade ago and serve different functions: The wHighway Traffic Board is responsible for the administration of speed limits, and the Motor Transport Board is responsible for the licensing of truck operations and intercity buses, plus regulating rates for intra-provincial bus operations. The province last increased the speed limit on certain sections of twinned roadways in Manitoba to 110 km/h in July 2009, including the Trans-Canada Highway from the Saskatchewan border to Virden and Highway 75 from the Emerson border crossing to St. Jean Baptiste. bruce.owen(a)freepress.mb.ca *A DRIVING FORCE*: CAA Manitoba recently questioned 8,628 of its members on driving and speeding *How acceptable do you personally feel it is for a driver to drive above the speed limit on a highway?* Completely acceptable 5.8% (498) Somewhat acceptable 43.6% (3,755) Somewhat unacceptable 25.1% (2,161) Completely unacceptable 25.0% (2,155) I don't know 0.04% (34) *How acceptable do you personally feel it is for a driver to drive above the speed limit on a residential street?* Completely acceptable 2.0% (169) Somewhat acceptable 4.7% (400) Somewhat unacceptable 17.2% (1,478) Completely unacceptable 75.8% (6,496) I don't know 0.3% (29) *When on a residential street, how often do you drive over the speed limit?* All the time 0.6% (49) More than half the time 1.5% (130) On occasion 13.8% (1,172) Very rarely 48.0% (4,080) Never 36.0% (3,064) Not applicable 0.1% (12) *When on a highway, how often do you drive over the speed limit?* All the time 6.2% (525) More than half the time 23.6% (2,006) On occasion 38.4% (3,266) Very rarely 24.0% (2,045) Never 7.5% (636) Not applicable 0.4% (34) *Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 14, 2013 A3 *

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WFP online: Lower vehicle speeds, separated bike lanes lower risk of cyclist injuries - study (Feb.20,13)
by Beth McKechnie 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Lower vehicle speeds, separated bike lanes lower risk of cyclist injuries; study By: The Canadian Press http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/reduced-vehicle-speeds-separated-bi… TORONTO - Some simple changes to the infrastructure of Canadian cities could go a long way towards keeping the country's biking enthusiasts safe from harm, a team of researchers suggested Wednesday. Erecting physical barriers between traffic and bicycle lanes, ensuring relatively flat commuting surfaces and regulating vehicle speeds all have the potential to curtail cycling injuries on city streets, they said. The findings came from a cross-country team of researchers and was published in the Journal Injury Prevention. The team's objective was to explore the factors that contribute to Canada's strikingly high rate of cycling-related injuries, according to the study's lead author. Anne Harris, assistant professor with Ryerson University's school of Occupational and Public Health, said several previous studies have established that North American cyclists are eight to 30 times more likely to be injured on the road than their counterparts in European countries such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The figures could not simply be chalked up to cycling volumes, she added. "In the cycling countries of northern Europe, you see a much larger proportion of trips taken by bicycle and much lower injury rates," Harris said in a telephone interview. "We thought one of the reasons that there might be differences is because of the availability of bicycling infrastructure." Harris and her team interviewed 690 cyclists who were injured badly enough to require a trip to a hospital emergency room between May 2008 and November 2009. The injuries came on either the streets of Vancouver or Toronto. Researchers compared the point at which the interview subject got hurt with earlier intersections along the route that were passed without incident. The findings, Harris said, allowed the team to draw some conclusions about potential safety innovations for Canadian city streets. One comparatively simple measure would be the introduction of bike lanes that are physically separated from the street, she said. "Just as we know that separating pedestrians from motor vehicle traffic is a really important thing to do with sidewalks, we're seeing evidence that we need to separate bicyclists from motor vehicles with the use of segregated facilities." Those facilities need not be elaborate or expensive, she said, adding rows of planters are often enough to provide a protective barrier between cars and bikes. Such lanes are the norm in Europe, she said, adding designated bike paths marked out only by a painted line do not offer the same degree of protection. Regulating traffic speeds could also prevent injuries, Harris said, adding accidents were 50 per cent less likely to take place at intersections where traffic moved at 30 kilometres an hour or less. Traffic circles also posed additional dangers to cyclists, the study suggested. Harris said researchers also noted certain types of terrain that were more likely to result in a trip to the hospital. Upward slopes were safer than downward ones, she said, adding flat surfaces offered the most protection of all. Canada's naturally hilly cities would be powerless to address this concern, she conceded, but added centres such as Toronto are ideally equipped to implement infrastructure changes that could have benefits beyond road safety. Increased cycling use, she argued, could have positive ramifications on everything from gridlock to the environment. "Much of the infrastructure changes that would make things safer are also attractive to bicyclists, so it would encourage more people to ride," she said. "It's a public health issue."

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AT Webinar: Municipal Bicycle Parking Programs, Wed, Feb 27, 2-3 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 21 Feb '13

21 Feb '13

Green Action Centre and Stantec Consulting invite you to join us for a local viewing of the *second* of four APBP webinars on bicycle parking. It takes place at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) and will be followed by group discussion of local applications. * Municipal Bicycle Parking Programs** Wed, Feb. 27, 2013 | 2:00-3:00 pm CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * Municipal Bicycle Parking Programs This session focuses on the application of the basic principles to develop a municipal or regional bicycle parking program. A particular point of the presentation involves the development of an on-street parking program with both sidewalk and high capacity components. The APBP guide to development of codes and policies is discussed, as are funding and delivery methods for public bicycle parking programs. The session also covers differing requirements for residential, civic, commercial and industrial programs and the impact of bike share programs on bicycle parking. Who should attend? Municipal staff, transit agency staff, managers of educational, corporate and healthcare campuses, and members of Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees (BPACs), as well as elected officials and staff of bicycle advocacy organizations. Both the experienced agency manager and those new to developing bicycle parking solutions will benefit. *For future dates and topics in the Bicycle Parking Webinar series, see: * http://greenactioncentre.ca/event/apbp-bicycle-parking-webinar-series/

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Webinar Handouts - Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work
by Mark Cohoe 19 Feb '13

19 Feb '13

Hi, Just a reminder that Bike to the Future and the Green Action Centre are hosting the APBP webinar Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work tomorrow @ 2pm in the MB Eco-Centre. Handouts for the webinar can be downloaded here <http://www.apbp.org/?page=Webinar_Downloads>. See you there, Mark

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From the WFP
by Stacy Matwick 15 Feb '13

15 Feb '13

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION Winter cycling no longer weird in Winterpeg Numbers seem to be slowly rising By: Bartley Kives Posted: 1:00 AM | Comments: 0<http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Winter+cycling+n…>g [JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A cyclist rides on the pedestrian bridge towards Jubilee Avenue this week. There are no hard numbers on a rise in winter biking.] Enlarge Image<http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/4746248.jpg> JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A cyclist rides on the pedestrian bridge towards Jubilee Avenue this week. There are no hard numbers on a rise in winter biking. As recently as the 1990s, the only people brave enough to ride bicycles throughout a Winnipeg winter were a half-dozen crazy couriers and a few other Lycra-clad diehards willing to endure hostile road conditions and even more hostile motorists. Two decades later, Winnipeg winters remain almost just as frigid. Yet, seeing Winnipeggers bike to work in February is no longer any weirder than watching a lineup of cars snake out of a Tim Hortons drive-thru. Like almost every other North American city, Winnipeg has witnessed a rise in the number of people who commute by bike during the winter. The precise nature of this increase is unknown, however, as there are no reliable recent statistics regarding Winnipeg commuter-cyclist numbers. Seven years ago, the City of Winnipeg's seminal Active Transportation Study found 2.3 per cent of all Winnipeg workers and university students rode their bikes to their jobs or classes on a regular basis. The belief is that proportion has grown, as the cost of filling up and maintaining automobiles has only risen since 2006, along with the awareness of the health and environmental benefits of cycling. But no one has a clear handle on the number of regular Winnipeg winter cyclists, aside from anecdotal evidence. "Even among avid cyclists, winter cycling is an oddity," said Andrea Tetrault, a regular summer bike commuter and occasional winter cyclist who blogs at winnipegcyclechick.com. This morning, she'll be among the Winnipeggers taking part in Winter Bike To Work Day, an international event intended to encourage more people to try the once-unusual pursuit. While it may seem counterintuitive, she finds riding her bike in temperatures below -20 C way easier than cycling when it's just below zero, as extreme cold transforms the ice and snow on city streets into a harder, more predictable riding surface. Warmer winter weather creates sloppier conditions that demand more bike maintenance in the form of cleaning. Staying warm on a bike during the winter isn't all that difficult when you're moving, provided you take care to insulate your hands. Cleaning your bike during the winter is a bigger annoyance, which is why some cyclists just buy a garage-sale beater and ride it into the ground over the course of one season. The real limiting factor is road maintenance, suggests Anders Swanson, an avid cyclist who travelled to Oulu, Finland, this week to attend the world's first Winter Cycling Congress. Somewhat optimistically, Swanson titled his presentation Winnipeg, Winter Cycling Capital of North America, and immediately got called out on Twitter by an indignant Edmontonian. Oulu, which sits at 65 degrees north, is almost as cold as Winnipeg but quite a bit darker during the winter. Oulu also resembles Winnipeg in that it's not particularly dense, yet it still enjoys an extremely vibrant winter-cycling culture. "The first thing that's immediately apparent is everybody rides -- your grandma, teenagers and stylish young women," Swanson said over the phone from Oulu, where he said the McDonald's has more bicycle parking than motor-vehicle stalls. "Until you've seen something like that, it's hard to fathom." Swanson said the key to winter cycling's popularity in Oulu and other European cities is regular snow-clearing on all bike paths. Successful winter-cycling cities also clear their bike paths and pedestrian walkways before they clear their streets, he said. Such a move would provoke riots in automobile-centric Winnipeg. But Swanson said it's not that far from what this city already does, given that Winnipeg clears sidewalks long before residential streets are plowed. During the winter, Winnipeg clears snow off 130 kilometres of bike lanes on streets and also plows 75 kilometres of active-transportation corridors at a cost of $250,000 a year, city spokeswoman Tammy Melesko said. Clearing more paths may encourage more winter ridership. But the actual need remains unknown, even though it appears Winnipeg now has more winter riders. Motorists, meanwhile, have become more accommodating of winter cyclists, Tetrault said. "I think people are getting more used to it and are resigned to the fact we're not going away," she said. "In challenging conditions, I know I'm an inconvenience to get around, yet generally people are really courteous." bartley.kives(a)freepress.mb.ca<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/mailto:bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca>

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Lance Article from 1972 about cyclists
by Jackie Avent (ASRTS) 13 Feb '13

13 Feb '13

Hey Folks! Take a look at "The Tip" article from 1972 below (and attached). Has anything changed? Jackie [image: Inline images 1]

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AT Webinar: Driving Deaths Down, Wed, Feb. 20, 2-3 pm, EcoCentre
by Jessie Klassen 13 Feb '13

13 Feb '13

Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us for a local viewing of the following APBP webinar at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion of local applications.* *Detailed description provided below. *Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work Wednesday, Feb. 20th | 2:00-3:00 p.m. CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca 925-3772 * * * * * * * Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work This is a 60-minute webinar [image: hawk]The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has identified countermeasures that research has proven effective in driving down injuries and deaths from crashes. This webinar will provide detailed case studies of countermeasures that improve safety for vulnerable road users: the pedestrian hybrid beacon (HAWK), the pedestrian refuge or crossing island, and road diets. Tamara Redmon, Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Team Leader at FHWA, will provide an introduction that highlights research, guidance and key resources related to these facilities. In Scottsdale, Arizona, a HAWK beacon was installed in conjunction with a pedestrian crossing island on Scottsdale Boulevard, a busy commercial corridor that is also the boundary between Phoenix and Scottsdale. In Orlando, Florida, Edgewater Drive was an early road diet; 1.5 miles of 4-lane roadway (ADT approximately 20,000) were converted to 3 lanes plus bicycle lanes. Presenters will discuss project design details and information about cost and outcomes, including data related to the benefits to adjacent businesses and property owners. Presenters: - Jeffrey Arms, Project Manager, City of Orlando Public Works - Susan Conklu, Transportation Planner, City of Scottsdale - Tamara Redmon, Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Team Leader, FHWA

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Winnipeg to Oulu: Update prior to International Winter Cycling Conference
by Anders Swanson 12 Feb '13

12 Feb '13

Good morning at-network: As you may know, I am in Oulu, Finland, about to attend the first ever international winter cycling conference <http://www.ibikeoulu.com/>, here to make a presentation about the Winnipeg experience and seeking to learn from the latest research into what makes a winter cycling city tick. I will be absorbing and bringing back as much as possible, and there are formal follow-ups planned. But, since it has taken so much effort to get here, I wanted to take a moment to give one solid update to you folks beforehand. I know you will find it interesting. *Note: If you don't have time to read the "first impressions" story, skip ahead and tune in at your leisure. I want to be sure that you know that there are a few ways that you can follow along and learn along with me. Its in a more bite-size format too (Flickr, Twitter, etc..). See the end of this message for more info.* - - - First impressions of Oulu This is my first day in the northern Finnish city of Oulu. I have been in Finland for almost two weeks now, filming, documenting, interviewing and observing, visiting mainly two urban areas so far: Helsinki<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki>and Turku <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku>. People from Helsinki and Turku - at least the ones whom I had a chance to meet / asked what I was doing in Finland in February / had been to Oulu - were all effusive: they all told me that I hadn't seen anything yet. "Wait for Oulu, if you want to see bikes.", they said. "This is nothing.", they said. And they were right. * * I spent this morning wandering around with a camera, and I didn't have to wander far, or look for long, to find evidence. One step outside the hotel and it became clear. Everywhere you look, there are people on bikes. Tall people, short people. Fat people, skinny people. Old people, young people. Men, women, children. Able-bodied people and people with disabilities. Fashionable people (and not-so-fashionable people, me included). Keep in mind its the middle of winter... The typical bike they are riding is what we might call a dutch bike. Mostly black ones. The typical city bike. Sporting fenders and a rack and not much else. The occasional mountain or road bike appears, but they are in the minority. For some reason a lot of the city bikes are pink or red too. The next most popular colour seems to be light blue - like the Finnish flag. More importantly: Plain old steel frame. Comfy seat. No studded tires that I can see. No special equipment at all, really. Helmets are very rare. Maybe 1 in 20 or so. About the only special equipment I have seen are bike trailers (stuffed with kids), and an old adult trike for a gentleman that, when he parked it, clearly had mobility issues. My bike, its old steel frame sporting fancy wheels, shiny cranks and touring rack, looks almost spiffy here. Baskets full of groceries and shopping bags are common. No room in the basket? Wup: The bread, the cheerios and the roll of toilet paper bags go on the handlebar and off we go. The bikes in the racks seem to outnumber parked cars. Riding with one hand on the handlebars is quite possible (more than a few young people are carrying a handbag, smoking a cigarette or chatting on cellphones while riding - possibly too self-conscious to wear a backpack, sneaking in one last drag at the last minute before work or arranging an a after-class meeting-point before heading to university.Not sure. You know: the things people do when they are on their way to work and not out to set a record. You get the impression that the bike is an afterthought here, not a intrinsic item. Simply a bit quicker than walking. No higher purpose. Exercise and environmentalism by association only. And it must be safe. Most people are cycling alone, but more than a few are cycling along, side-by-side, as a couple or in groups, having conversations. They tend to stop often, entering stores. No joke. Not trying, yet again, to explain how bikes are good for business. I know because it is difficult to sometimes predict their behaviour when taking a video. They change their mind often, perhaps glancing into windows. It certainly is a lot quicker than trying to park a bike than a car. It's funny to watch and compare the too trying to park. It's also funny that people back home sometimes find it surprising that people can cycle in the winter. Here, it is even more apparent that cars are equally out of their element come wintertime. They get easily stuck in the icy, snowy parking spots, lose traction often and, when faced with throngs of bikes and pedestrians, seem to move about like frustrated, drugged-up, unwieldy rhinos. It is cold here too. Colder, actually, than home. I compared the weather in YWG <http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/camb0244> and OUL<http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/fiol0000> on the internet, just to be sure I hadn't gone soft. Yes, Oulu is on the ocean, which moderates things a bit - but this seems to be more than offset by the fact that it's super far up north!<http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=oulu+map&ll=63.548552,-2.8125&spn=131.974924,3…>. There is snow too. Lots of it. It has been snowing constantly in Finland since I arrived - not sure about Oulu necessarily (because I just got here and because it seems like they make an extra effort to clear the pedestrian malls, sidewalks and bike paths) but definitely Helsinki and Turku were a snowy, blustery mess, and the snowbanks are fairly high at the moment, so I can only assume. The landscape here in Oulu is quite similar to Winnipeg. In fact, compared to Helsinki, which feels very "continental European" and is so packed with stuff that it makes more sense to most people to just walk, the main part of Oulu doesn't seem any more dense than, say, Osborne village. There certainly aren't any skyscrapers, and the biggest building is certainly a lot smaller than Polo Park. It's a university town, but so is Winnipeg. Like Winnipeg, Oulu is extremely flat. The images in the Flickr album (link below) should give you some idea of "what" is going on, if not the "why" it is happening. I hesitate to draw any conclusions as to why winter cycling is happening in abundance here - or get into the numbers. Not yet, anyway. That will have to come later. I am here to learn after all. And for now, I am content to simply watch what's going on. - - - *Next steps* * * Tomorrow, the conference starts. On Thursday, I make my presentation. It was rather idealistically entitled "Winnipeg Winter Cycling Capital of North America <http://www.ibikeoulu.com/Program_WCC_2013.pdf>". Admittedly, that title should have been followed by a pretty big question mark. Crafted as it was at the last minute (with help from my generous compatriots at the Forks who likely have a more optimistic view on things thanks to the constant reinforcement of the nearby and very busy river trail), it might be a tough statement to pull off for someone who collects and analyzes (and ideally helps improve upon) bicycle and pedestrian data! I am a bit sheepish about trying to back up that statement in a room full of the world's leaders in this department - and with some Canadians and Americans in the room to boot. Even Yellowknife, with it's much higher winter mode share, may be miffed, for example. I already got called out on Twitter by someone from Edmonton. Oh well. Too bad. A theoretical capital is something you get to self-declare, and if someone wants to fight for the title, they can. There is no doubt that there is something special happening in Winnipeg - and I am glad people are paying attention. I will be quite proud to share what we are all working on. We can fight over who is truly the "capital" later. The recent summer mode share jump here is just one example of what is possible. And, if usage numbers on the one-of-a-kind Forks' River Trail<http://www.theforks.com/events/signature-events/river-trail>, the made-in-Winnipeg Winter Bike to Work Day's expanding list of communities<http://winterbiketoworkday.org/event-info/> and the physical/climatological similarities to Oulu are all indications, then there are some very good reasons to think that Winnipeg just might emerge as a leader. Anyway, I will be sure to bring along some good homegrown ideas to share on our behalf - and feel that they are indeed worth sharing with an international audience. ________________________________________________________________________________ *Staying in touch:* *Photos* See for yourself what cycling looks like in Oulu. I started a photostream. Most of the photos are only hours old. I will keep it updated with the other stuff when possible: Flickr Photostream - Winter Cycling in Finland<http://www.flickr.com/photos/andersswanson/sets/72157632747750585/> *Twitter* I started a Twitter account just for folks who might like to "virtually" tag along. It's @SwansonAnders. Yes, I know. Twitter is a stretch for me too. But, there are, I think, already a few interesting tidbits on there (see the bicycle/cross country skis storage setup they have on trains here, for example). The main purpose was to "live tweet" the salient points during the conference - so feel free to tune in. I hope you find it interesting. I will try to last longer than, say, Pat Martin<http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/20/rat-faced-whores-ndp-mp-pat-martin-…> or Neil Macdonald<http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/02/16/f-rfa-macdonald-twitter.html> . *Video / Audio* I have taken rather few photos, actually. Taking video is more fun. Thus, the good stuff is on video. I have collected some audio from some folks I've talked to, too. I plan to make a mini-documentary, but need the good computer back home. Stay tuned. *Conference Webcast* I have been colluding with Timo, the lead conference organizer, to try and beam back a live feed of the conference. We'll see if we can pull it together. Because of the time difference, it may not be worthwhile. Send me a message letting me know if a Winter-Cycling-Conference-Pyjama-party is in the cards for you. If so, I will try a bit harder. If not (perhaps watching the World Junior Championships over the holidays exhausted your willingness to stay up late anyway; the conference day starttime is at 01:00am CST), no need to worry: The City of Oulu is taking care of video-documenting the conference and I am told it will be available as an archive afterward. *I will share the archive link, at the very least. * *A Get-Together in Winnipeg Later* More importantly, as part of the deal with this trip's generous sponsors, I will both collect and then *share* and discuss the most important lessons learned - in some format, probably workshop/presentation/film night - when I get back. If you have input or would like to help organize, let me know. Otherwise, stay tuned. * * *Ask me anything* Got a question? I am taking requests. Wondering about something specific about what makes Oulu tick? Always wanted to talk to the city manager from Prague and ask her/him a question? Let me know. If they are at the conference, or if the answer is out there, I will try and find out for you over the next couple days. I am already on a mission for a few people/organizations and I will try and learn what I can for you. Yours, Anders Swanson *Acknowledgements* Many many thanks to the fine people and organizations that have been contributing to making this possible including Setu, the PHD student at Helsinki Polykopury (Helsinki Bikes) for sitting down with me to give me the latest on the state of Helsinki, Sari, Cecilia and Marjo at the Finnish Meteorological Institute for introducing me to their work on pedestrian issues, the City of Oulu and Timo Perälä and the rest of the team for putting on the conference.. AND .. the Manitoba Cycling Association, Travel Manitoba, Economic Development Winnipeg / Destination Wpg, Bike to the Future, Green Action Centre, Natural Cycle, Bikes and Beyond, The Forks, Rivers West – Red River Corridor Inc, the Winnipeg Trails Association, and Janice Lukes for contributing/helping to raise funds to get me here. Thank you, and I, of course, very much appreciate the support. (note: there are probably some others, but I will be sure to thank the final list at the presentation/workshop planned for my return). YOU can help too: No, I am not asking for money. *If you want to help, just go ride your bike. *Preferably during *Winter Bike to Work Day*<http://winterbiketoworkday.org/> * this Friday* <http://winterbiketoworkday.org/>.* *I probably need at least 1000 people to start winter cycling just to offset the carbon from this plane trip, so if you've got a nice route, and feel up for it, help me out. If you fall in love with it, you can thank me later. : ) If you can't ride, but support the idea, just like our Facebook page<https://www.facebook.com/WinterBikeToWorkDay> .

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Winter Walking Day - Provincial Proclamation & SOS scores $28, 000
by Janice Lukes 11 Feb '13

11 Feb '13

A couple interesting updates - PROVINCIAL PROCLAMATION - WINTER WALKING DAY: This past Saturday, at The Forks Minister Rondeau made a short speech at The Forks to 75+ hikers and 'proclaimed' the second Saturday in February as Winter Walking Day! (proclamation and photos attached). Minister Jim Rondeau and James Allum, MLA joined the Prairie Pathfinders on their annual special 'Winter Hike'. This year the 9 km hike was on the Red River, along Churchill Parkway and then into Fort Garry. The Prairie Pathfinders are Manitoba's largest organized hiking club - with over 600 members who hike weekly on planned outings. Complete details on the club can be found here <http://www.meetup.com/Prairie-Pathfinders-Walking-Club-Meetup-Group/events/ past/> . SAVE OUR SEINE to receive $28,000 of COUNCILLORS WARD ALLOWANCE: A recently elected Councillor fulfilling an election promise. See the full story here: http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/02/09/mayes-seeks-to-give-28k-to-seine-our-s eine Save our Seine has been 'saving' the Seine for over 20 years - their winter river walk is a magical experience - check it out if you've never tried it! http://www.saveourseine.com/ Janice Lukes

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How one km of bike lane sparked a revolution in Vancouver
by Dave Elmore 11 Feb '13

11 Feb '13

How one km of bike lane sparked a revolution in Vancouver VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 8, 2013/ Troy Media/ - As anybody who has seen astronaut Chris Hadfield's incredible images from space can attest, the single most prominent human-made features of cities like Toronto, Windsor or Edmonton are roads. Ever since the 1950s the car has been the accidental architect of our cities. Billions of dollars have been dedicated to roads, overpasses, tunnels and other car infrastructure. But this single-minded dedication to making sure cars got to where they wanted to go as fast as they could has had some pretty serious unintended consequences. As Andrew Coyne says in Macleans "Traffic is slowly strangling our cities." Cars in traffic use more fuel, pollute more and simply aren't productive. Coyne also quotes a German study which finds that "being in heavy traffic triples your risk of a heart attack within an hour." Enter the bicycle. It is the most efficient form of transportation on the planet. You can move five times faster than walking and go three times as far on the same amount of caloric energy. The benefits of the bicycle certainly were not lost on the City of Vancouver when it decided to flip the traditional urban script. "Since 1997 we established priorities with walking being the highest priority, cycling second, transit third, and the automobile is at the bottom of the list," says Jerry Dobrovolny, the director of transportation with the City of Vancouver. And unlike cities that dabble in making their cities more bike-friendly Vancouver has actually dramatically increased the use of bikes and decreased traffic congestion in downtown Vancouver. According to Dobrovolny, bike trips have gone up by 180 per cent over the past 15 years and the amount of people cycling to work has grown from 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent. Today, 12 out of every 100 trips in Vancouver are done via bicycle. And they did it not by focusing on the middle-aged-man-in-lycra (MAMIL) but by building bike infrastructure that kids, grandmas and people that aren't super proficient bike riders would feel comfortable using. "We know that there's many people that are interested in cycling, but they're not comfortable riding next to cars," says Dobrovolny. Nearly all cities have bike lanes, but paint on the road just isn't safe enough for these non-MAMILs. Instead, Vancouver is using separated bike lanes and bike boulevards. Separated bike lanes are dedicated lanes built only for cyclists that are physically separated from cars. Bike boulevards are repurposed residential streets that have been made bike friendly. "It's a regular street, but it's been designed so that bikes generally have the right of way," says Erin O'Melinn, the executive director of Hub, Vancouver's largest cycling advocacy organization. Separated bike lanes are the real game changer. On the Dunsmuir Viaduct four times more cyclists are using the road thanks to the separated bike lane. Safety has improved as well. "Since the separated lanes have gone in downtown we've seen a big reduction in the number of collisions of all types, including the number of people riding on sidewalks, so pedestrians feel much more comfortable," says O'Melinn. Reducing pollution and improving health are great reasons to invest in cycling, but another reason is that it's cheap like borscht. "Whereas heavy trucks and buses and automobiles break down the road infrastructure and result in a lot of added costs in terms of maintenance. When we build a pedestrian or bike facility they last for 100 years," says Dobrovolny. In 2010, Vancouver's city council approved a $25 million 10-year bike plan. For comparison, the Canada Line, the new rapid transit line from Vancouver to Richmond that was built in time for the Olympics, cost $2 billion dollars. Heather Deal is a Vancouver city councilor who says the decision to convert a whole lane of traffic on the Burrard Bridge into a bike lane was a real turning point. "That was the first time we took space away from cars. I was assigned the media, I thought this is the last time I'll ever get elected because I'm going down over one kilometre of one lane for traffic," says Deal. "We cut that ribbon and we cycled across that closed lane and nothing happened. There was no traffic backup. There was no Armageddon. Chaos did not ensue. The city survived and so did we. We went on to get reelected and build more bike lanes after the next election." http://www.troymedia.com/2013/02/08/how-one-km-of-bike-lane-sparked-a-revolu tion-in-vancouver/ Thanks Dave o _ ( \ _ (X)\ /(X)

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Winter Cycling - One Million Kilometers & Mainstream Winter Cycling
by Janice Lukes 05 Feb '13

05 Feb '13

One Million Kilometers of Cycling: A follow up on Lindsay Gault’s One Million Kilometer of Cycling Celebration on Saturday - with photos: - Upwards of 100 cyclists & walkers showed up the Fork port to be there for Lindsay - Lindsay the Legend! - There were bikes of every description on the river - fat tires / skinny tires / the yellow Velo banana bike cover and more! Lindsay graciously accepted a plaque recognizing his millionth from Paul Jordan, COO of The Forks - - and spoke of preparing for his second Iditarod race <http://iditarod.com/> coming up later in February. The legend continues! The wind-chill on the river trail was not as bad one would expect - and the huts were outstanding! A great day - Congratulations Lindsay!! Mainstream Winter Cycling: Do the words mainstream & winter cycling even belong in the same sentence? Add on ‘in Winnipeg’ and perhaps they do! Are we seeing more folks winter cycling than in previous years? I am. Who are these people ? Why do they cycle in the winter ? Is it easier than it looks ? Why is it that in so many cities around the world with climates similar to Winnipeg’s - people of ALL AGES are cycling in the winter ? Winnipeg has lots to learn about winter cycling - from trail maintenance to attitudes and more! And LEARN WE WILL ! The Forks, in partnership with partnership with the Winnipeg Trails Association, Bike to the Future, Green Action Centre, Natural Cycle Worker Co‐Op Limited submitted a paper to attend the first International Winter Cycling Congress occurring in Oulu, Finland (Feb 13 / 14) to share and learn. The paper was accepted and Anders Swanson, local cycling advocate - is flying off to Oulu (located just below the Arctic Circle). Anders will present “Winnipeg - Working towards becoming the Winter Cycling Capital of North America” and will learn about global best practices and the how and whys that work towards making winter cycling a mainstream activity. See conference schedule <http://www.ibikeoulu.com/programme> Currently over 100 people from around the world are attending the Winter Cycling Congress, from 10 different countries and 32 different cities. We have many organizations supporting our local quest to learn more - Tourism Manitoba, Destination Winnipeg, Economic Development Winnipeg, Manitoba Cycling Association, Rivers West - Red River Corridor, The Forks and more to be announced soon! The Forks communications team will be working with Anders to develop a couple ‘Lesson’s Learned’ presentations that will then be presented to various organizations - and to the general public - watch for dates and times. Janice Lukes

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Reminder: Webinar - Feb 8th, Promoting Safe Use of Roads & Pathways for Vulnerable Road Users
by Shoni Litinsky 04 Feb '13

04 Feb '13

Just a reminder that Green Action Centre will be hosting this webinar at the Eco-Centre Boardroom (3rd Floor - 303 Portage Avenue). We hope you will join us! Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm (CST) RSVPs appreciated, but not necessary. *Promoting Safe Use of Roads & Pathways for Vulnerable Road Users: <http://chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=url&urlid=384&ma…> *A <http://chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=url&urlid=384&ma…>Review of Canadian Promising Practices <http://chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=url&urlid=384&ma…> *This Fireside Chat is in collaboration with the Centre for Health Promotion, Public Health Agency of Canada* Many small, medium and large Canadian municipalities are proactivity promoting more active lifestyles and transportation to curb obesity, reduce greenhouse gases, and address the economic costs of vulnerable road user (VRU) injuries and deaths. The safe use of roads and pathways by VRUs (e.g. pedestrians and cyclists) is important to enable and encourage communities that are more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. The Fireside Chat presentation will highlight the results from a comprehensive review of Canadian promising practices that promote the safe use by VRUs of off/on-road facilities, especially shared-use facilities, as well as identify successful VRU safety education and enforcement programs. It will highlight communities across Canada that are successfully educating and enforcing the proper use of new built environment features intended to promote active transportation. *This Fireside Chat will be of interest to* *community decision-makers,* such as councillors, planners, engineers, public health practitioners, and other road safety stakeholders, with a goal to help them facilitate safer walking and cycling in increasingly crowded spaces. *Advisor on Tap:* *Dr. Gordon Lovegrove, PEng, MBA* Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, University of British Columbia Dr. Lovegrove is the UBC’s School of Engineering’s expert in applied sustainable civil engineering. Dr. Lovegrove was awarded a grant by the Canada Foundation for Innovation to set up his Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Research Lab. He has worked variously as a project and transportation engineer and consultant for over 20 years in communities throughout BC, and is regularly asked to speak on sustainable communities and transportation at conferences across the world. His leadership has facilitated research, planning, and implementation of projects emphasizing the promotion of sustainable land use and transportation. -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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INVITATION REMINDER - BIG CELEBRATION TOMORROW !
by Janice Lukes 01 Feb '13

01 Feb '13

CELBRATE Lindsay Gauld's ONE MILLIONTH CYCLING KILOMETER! Saturday Feb 2nd - TOMORROW 11:30 am MEET: The Forks - IN the Port - ON THE RIVER OR meet at 11:00 on the Assiniboine River at the Middlegate / Hugo Docks access point and join Lindsay as he and others cycle to The Forks. Tomorrow is going to be a balmy day in Winnipeg - compared to today! While many of you may be die hard WINTER CYCLISTS - I hazard to say some of you aren't !?! SO . . . . how about trying something new and ride the river trail tomorrow! Dig out your bike tonight - check the air in the tires - and head on down to The Forks River Trail tomorrow am. For sure this will be a once in a lifetime experience - Peter and Paul Jordan will be MC's at the podium - and we all will be hoping Lindsay will stop cycling for a few minutes to receive some well-deserved recognition ! Janice Lukes

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Call for Delegates - 2013 Leading the Way Youth Summit on Sustainable Urban Transportation
by Shoni Litinsky 01 Feb '13

01 Feb '13

Hi All, ** ** ** If you know of anyone in Manitoba between the ages of 18-28 that is studying, passionate about, or working in the field of sustainable transportation, please forward them the following information to apply as a delegate to the 2013 Canadian Urban Transit Association - Leading the Way Youth Summit on Sustainable Urban Transportation. Calgary Transit will be hosting the conference this year from May 10-12, 2013. The deadline for delegate applications is Monday February 25th. Please help to get the word out to, we would love to have some great representatives that want to make our cities better for cycling, walking, transit, and carsharing. Thanks!**** Shoni ** ** ** ** *Subject: Call for delegates: Leading the Way Youth Summit on Sustainable Urban Transportation - Calgary, Alberta May 10-12, 2013***** ** ** If you are 18 - 28 years old with a keen interest in transit and sustainable transportation, apply to be a delegate at the *Leading the Way Youth Summit on Sustainable Transportation* taking place May 10-12, 2013 in Calgary. This regional youth summit event is presented by the Prairies and Territories Chapter and the BC Committee of the Canadian Urban Transit Association and hosted locally by Calgary Transit.**** ** ** Delegates will have the opportunity to learn, share ideas, network, and explore career paths with like-minded peers and professionals in transit and related industries. Inspiring speakers, sessions on best practices in transit and sustainable transportation, a career fair and social activities round out this weekend summit.**** ** ** *Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity! Accommodation, travel and meals are provided for delegates who are selected. * *Application deadline is Monday February 25, 2013. Apply early, space is limited.***** ** ** *To find out more about the event or to put in your application, go to* **** http://www.leadingthewayyouthsummit.com/**** ** ** To find out what exciting things are happening in Calgary in regards to walking, cycling, transit, TOD and why you should apply to the youth summit please check out our YouTube video:**** ** ** http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kO0Rj7dK-4s**** ** ** If you have any questions please feel free to contact us by email at questions(a)leadingthewayyouthsummit.com **** ** ** ** ** ** ** *David Cooper* RPP, MCIP Senior Transit Planner Calgary Transit The City of Calgary | Mail code: 8124 *T* 403.268.5224 |* F* 403.268.1874 | www.calgary.ca David.Cooper(a)calgary.ca P.O. Box 2100, #8124, Station M, Calgary, AB Canada T2P 2M5 **** *_____________________________***** **** ** ** ------------------------------ NOTICE - This communication is intended ONLY for the use of the person or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential or legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient named above or a person responsible for delivering messages or communications to the intended recipient, YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that any use, distribution, or copying of this communication or any of the information contained in it is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone and then destroy or delete this communication, or return it to us by mail if requested by us. The City of Calgary thanks you for your attention and co-operation. -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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Commuting > obesity
by feaver＠mymts.net 01 Feb '13

01 Feb '13

http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story.html?id=7888381 This article identifies commuting by car as a cause of obesity. Refreshing. All too often articles point to the benefits of being active, v. The health consequences of going everywhere by motor vehicle. When will we have health warnings on cars & trucks like we have on cigarettes? from my phone

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Improved Roundabout Design for Cyclists, Rightsizing Streets, PBIC YouTube Channel
by Beth McKechnie 31 Jan '13

31 Jan '13

*Evaluation of the C-Roundabout – an Improved Multi-Lane Roundabout Design for Cyclists* http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/research/reports/510/docs/510.pdf<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001JH1tBLwlsSK2D7Ib2o6ldGTQgMn-MbSTqPyGu04EA_k7…> Research Report: *New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA)* The NZTA research report evaluates field operations of the C-roundabout design, a new design to improve the safety of bicyclists at multi-lane roundabouts. The concept of the design is to decrease vehicle speeds through the roundabout by increasing the deflection of the roundabout and by reducing the widths of approach lanes and circulating lanes so that cyclists are required to travel in the center of the lanes. * * * * * *NEW RIGHTSIZING STREETS GUIDE RELEASED http://www.pps.org/reference/rightsizing/ * Rightsizing is the process of reallocating a street’s space to better serve its full range of users. Picture a four lane road that was built thirty years ago in an undeveloped area, but that now has housing, shops, and an elementary school in close vicinity. The needs of the community surrounding that road have changed over three decades – and the design of that road may need to change to meet those needs as well. It may need a sidewalks or a median to help people cross safely, or on-street parking for folks who want to frequent local shops, or other safety features to prevent injuries. * * * * * PBIC creates new YouTube Channel The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center <http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/> has created a new YouTube Channel for hosting and promoting its archived webinars, as well as other relevant PBIC videos. The site, www.youtube.com/pedbikeinfo<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?UNCHighwaySafetyRese/3224560524/e535421c0a/f578a7d7…>, features many of the center’s recent webinars including all webinars from the series on the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials newly updated “Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities” and from the series on the intersection of public health and transportation co-hosted with the American Public Health Association. Webinar recordings also remain available on the PBIC website, www.walkinginfo.org/webinars<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?UNCHighwaySafetyRese/3224560524/e535421c0a/61a803c1…> .

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Active & Green: Jack Frost Challenge, Creative Commuting, and a Trip to Finland!
by Jessie Klassen 29 Jan '13

29 Jan '13

I hope you enjoy this Winter 2013 issue of Active & Green. Please feel free to share with friends and colleagues. ** *Jessie Klassen* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca> Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.<http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f55cc&id=4414f5a9df…> Looking to improve commuter options at your workplace? Request resources<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> on cycling or carpooling tips, surveys, awards, secure bike parking, and more. Book a presentation<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…> on living greener at the workplace, school or at home. Attend a Creative Commuting Ambassador<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> workshop. It’s free! ------------------------------ Upcoming Events *Lindsay Gauld's One Millionth KM at The Forks*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…> February 2, 2013 *BTTF Fundraiser Concert*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> February 2, 2013 *Jack Frost Challenge*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> February 9-15, 2013 *Snow Trek*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…> Sunday, Feb. 10 *Creative Commuting Ambassador Training*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> Thursday, Feb. 14 *Winter Bike to Work Day*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…> Friday, Feb. 15, Winnipeg *Ice** It To Work Day*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> Friday, Feb. 15 *Actif Epica*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> Saturday, Feb. 16 *Snow Trek*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> Sunday, Feb. 24 *Commuter Challenge*<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> June 2-8, 2013 ------------------------------ Like what you see? If you are not already a member of Green Action Centre, take a moment to join us<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>. Membership is FREE. Please also pass this along to your friends and family. And if you like what we do, make a secure donation online easily and quickly at CanadaHelps<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>. Make a one-time donation or contribute monthly. Even small monthly donations make a big difference for Green Action in Manitoba. *Help us grow our membership and activities.* ------------------------------ *Call for Nominations: 2013 Commuter Friendly Workplace Awards * Does your workplace make it easy, convenient and affordable to bus, carpool, bike, walk or telecommute? Have improvements been introduced that merit recognition? If so, consider applying for the 2013 Commuter Friendly Workplace Award<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>. The application form also acts as a handy idea list for possible projects to improve commuting options at your workplace. Check out what Assiniboine Credit Union, last year's winner, accomplished here<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>. Sign up your team for The Jack Frost Challenge! Winter offers a whole new array of active ways to get around (besides our favourites of walking and cycling) – snowshoeing, skating, x-country skiing. Try 'em all during The Jack Frost Challenge<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>, Feb. 9-15, 2013. Sign up your team of 1-5 participants with the goal of logging 130 km that week. Last year<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>, 10,372 total km were completed by 67 teams, such as the Three Abominable Snowmen, The Fast and Flurriest, and the West End Winter Woolies to name a few. Sign up co-workers, classmates, friends or family. Prizes and bragging rights are up for grabs! Become a Creative Commuting Ambassador You are invited to a FREE, half-day interactive workshop on becoming a Creative Commuting Ambassador at your workplace! Get the tools and guidance to help improve commuter options on-site and support your coworkers to get the most out of their commutes. Receive training in bike route planning, Winnipeg Transit Tools, evaluating your workplace, and planning your own simple project. Thurs, February 14, 2013, from 12:45-4:00 p.m. Sign up here<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> Cycling in Winterpeg Ever been to Oulu, Finland<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>? Probably not. Neither has Anders Swanson but that will change when he attends the first international Winter Cycling Congress<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>taking place on Feb 13 & 14, 2013. It’s certainly a fitting location given that cycling accounts for 12% of all trips made in winter in Oulu (23% in summer). Anders will be presenting Winnipeg as a city where winter cycling is or can be "for everyone". Afterward, he will return to Winnipeg to share empirical, anecdotal and visual proof that this is, in fact, the case! Learn more here<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>. On a related note, a group of Manitoba Hydro employees prove that 360 Portage Avenue is the place to ride<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>, even in winter. Walkable Communities If you're interested in living in a more walkable community (and who isn't?), search the new online guide from America Walks and Sam Schwartz: Steps to a Walkable Community<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>. The guide has case studies from across North America, and is organized in categories such as advocacy, policy, land use, and encouragement & education. New Technologies: Heated Roads and Smart Cards The Dutch, once again, are leading the way in terms of new technology for cycle commuting. To improve biking in winter, they are using reflective crystals to increase the visibility of lane markings and underground heating on some roads. See the BBC video report<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> . Here in Winnipeg, Transit will begin updating its fare collection system<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…>in February 2013. The spiffy new fareboxes will have an electronic display and automatic coin counter. They will also print a coded transfer slip that will be electronically read when you get back on the bus. Later in the year, transit will introduce a Smart Card<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>to replace its paper tickets and passes. Riders will be able to preload cash or a variety of passes onto their card, and the scanner on the farebox will deduct the correct amount just by tapping the card to the box. Sweet! Saving Money and Making Friends: Ridesharing Imagine saving $100,000 pounds (that's $158,000 to us Canadians) by sharing your commute with friends. That's why this story caught our eye. Five fellows in the UK <http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a…>have shared their daily commute for over 20 years and become fast friends. In addition to saving a ton of money, they slashed their individual commuting emissions and found a way to take turns snoozing on the ride home to boot. You are receiving this email because you are an Active & Green subscriber. Unsubscribe<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> jessie_klassen(a)hotmail.com from this list. Our mailing address is: Green Action Centre 3-303 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B4 Canada Add us to your address book<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage1.com/vcard?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f…> Copyright (C) 2013 Green Action Centre All rights reserved. Forward<http://us2.forward-to-friend2.com/forward?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f55cc&id=44…>this email to a friend Update your profile<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3…> [image: Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp]<http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm…>

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Invitation: Lindsay's Cool Million @ Sat Feb 2, 2013 11:30am - 12:30pm (at-network@lists.umanitoba.ca)
by Anders Swanson 28 Jan '13

28 Jan '13

You have been invited to the following event. Title: Lindsay's Cool Million When: Sat Feb 2, 2013 11:30am – 12:30pm Central Time - Winnipeg Where: The Foks Port Calendar: at-network(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Who: (Guest list has been hidden at organizer's request) Event details: https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=dG50YTZrcWVxYzQzanB0d… Invitation from Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/ You are receiving this courtesy email at the account at-network(a)lists.umanitoba.ca because you are an attendee of this event. To stop receiving future notifications for this event, decline this event. Alternatively you can sign up for a Google account at https://www.google.com/calendar/ and control your notification settings for your entire calendar.

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EVENT INVITATION: Saturday February 2nd: Lindsay's Cool Million
by Anders Swanson 28 Jan '13

28 Jan '13

Dear At Network, You are cordially invited to take part in an historic event. *This Saturday, February 2nd at 11:30 am<http://www.theforks.com/events/calendar-of-events/date:2013-02#event_1631_2…> *, Lindsay Gauld will be riding his *1 000 000th* kilometer as he rides down the frozen Rivertrail into the Forks port. There will be a celebration honoring this achievement (*this is the equivalent of riding around the world 25 times*). As part of the celebration, The Forks is hoping to have *1000 riders on their bikes in the Forks port* to welcome Lindsay as he rides in. For those of you who don't know who Lindsay is...well...he's gotta be Winnipeg's only former-Olympian-turned-successful-bikeshop-owner-turned-year-round-bike-courier. He's also been meticulously documenting his kilometers ridden from a young age. While certainly many of those "kilometers-biked" haven't strictly been "for transportation", many of them have been (he's a bike courier after all) and, more importantly, Lindsay has been inspiring people and demonstrating what's possible - rain or shine, snow or sleet, no matter what your age - for a long time. One million kilometers is an incredible achievement of incredible scale. IMO, Lindsay is also a rather nice fellow too! If you've never ridden in the winter before, this is also your chance: The River Trail provides a nice well-packed, safe place to try it. Consider it an ideal place for a Winter Bike to Work Day<http://winterbiketoworkday.org>or Ice it to Work Day practice run, a chance to test your fortitude for Actif Epica <http://actifepi.ca/> or an opportunity to add a few kilometers to your team's Jack Frost Challenge<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/bougeons-en-hiver/>tally. Whatever your reason, get out there. It took Lindsay a million 'clicks' to get here, so it's probably the least we could do! Hope you can make it. Please invite any and all who would like to be there at this historic event. The Forks has asked that you please twitter, facebook, email, write letters but most of all, show up on your bike on the 2nd. Sincerely, Anders Swanson Lindsay's Cool Million *When* Sat, February 2, 11:30am – 12:30pm GMT-06:00 *Where* The Foks Port *Who* (Guest list has been hidden at organizer's request)

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Take on The Jack Frost Challenge!
by Beth McKechnie 24 Jan '13

24 Jan '13

Hi everyone We would really appreciate if you could share the following with your networks and consider signing up your own team of your co-workers, friends or families! Event poster attached and also available online<http://greenactioncentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bougeons_JackFrost_2…> . thanks, Beth ---------- *Registrations are now open for: Bougeons en hiver: The Jack Frost Challenge<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/bougeons-en-hiver-the-jack-frost-challe…> !** * Frolic in the snow and celebrate winter Manitoba-style. *SIGN UP*<http://jf.macroelite.ca>your team of friends, co-workers or classmates to skate, bike, ski, snowshoe, run or walk a combined total of 130 km the week of *February 9-15, 2013*. Prizes and bragging rights up for grabs. Check out a few of the stories<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/stories-from-jack-frost-challenge-2012/>from last year! Bougeons en hiver: The Jack Frost Challenge is a Co-Actif Epica<http://actifepi.ca/>event. * * * * * *Vous pouvez maintenant vous inscrire à l'édition 2013 de * *« Bougeons en hiver : The Jack Frost Challenge !<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/bougeons-en-hiver-the-jack-frost-challe…>» * Amusez-vous dans la neige, tous en célébrant l’hiver manitobaine ! * Inscrivez-vous*<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/bougeons-en-hiver-the-jack-frost-challe…>en équipe avec vos collègues de travail, membres de famille, amis ou camarades de classe pour faire le patinage, la bicyclette, le ski, la raquette, la course ou la marche d’un total collectif de 130km sur une durée d’une semaine, du *9 au 15 février, 2013*. Courez la chance de gagner des prix et de vous mériter le droit de vous vanter! Lisez des histoires<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/stories-from-jack-frost-challenge-2012/>de nos participants de l'année dernière. Bougeons en hiver : The Jack Frost Challenge ! est un co-événement d’Actif Epica <http://actifepi.ca/>.

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Winnipeg ranks 6th in Walkscore's most walkable Canadian cities
by Beth McKechnie 23 Jan '13

23 Jan '13

Walk Score's latest top 10 ranks <http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/canada/>Canadian cities by walkability: 1. Vancouver (Walk Score: 78) 2. Toronto (Walk Score: 71) 3. Montreal (Walk Score: 70) 4. Mississauga (Walk Score: 59) 5. Ottawa (Walk Score: 54) 6. Winnipeg (Walk Score: 53) 7. Edmonton (Walk Score: 51) 8. Hamilton (Walk Score: 51) 9. Brampton (Walk Score: 48) 10. Calgary (Walk Score: 48) [source: http://www.treehugger.com/public-transportation/vancouver-crowned-most-walk… ] [ http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1103091/vancouver-toronto-and-montreal-top-… ] "The ratings were tabulated by the [WalkScore] app, which generates a score out of 100 based on the proximity of amenities like grocery stores, cafes and libraries. To achieve a city-wide score, the data was calculated by applying the score of each block then factoring in population density." [source and chart: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1318764--toronto-ranked-second-most… ]

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Call for Expressions of Interest and Qualifications | School Travel Planning Web App
by Anders Swanson 23 Jan '13

23 Jan '13

Hello, See the unique and exciting opportunity attached. Please forward to tech-savvy folks with a background in software development (and perhaps a penchant for active transportation) whom you think might be interested. Thank you, Anders Swanson Project Manager Active and Safe Routes to School Program | Green Action Centre 303 Portage Ave, 3rd Floor | Winnipeg, MB | R3B 2B4 c. 1-204-797-1962 | anders(a)greenactioncentre.ca

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Six creative options for the bridge plaza (see #2)
by Anders Swanson 21 Jan '13

21 Jan '13

source: http://metronews.ca/voices/urban-compass-winnipeg/517196/five-creative-opti… Six creative options for the bridge plaza January 20, 2013 ** *_______________* ** I never thought placing a Salisbury House on the Esplanade Riel was a great idea. Nothing against the restaurant chain, which serves reasonable food at a reasonable price, but the idea always seemed terribly uninspired. After all, there was nothing “reasonable” about building a restaurant plaza in the middle of a bridge in the first place. It was a bold, expensive gambit to create a unique attraction for our city, and filling the space with another outlet of an ordinary restaurant chain didn’t come close to achieving that goal. And while a reasonable argument could be made that the plaza never should have been built, reality is that it exists now, and with the Salisbury House lease ending, the city has an opportunity to pursue more creative ideas. So with that in mind, let’s explore a couple of options: *1. Pop-up retail/restaurant.* Winnipeg has been typically slow to adopt the worldwide trend of pop-up commercial spaces. However, a group of entrepreneurs will soon open a pop-up restaurant along the river trail, and if all goes well then that could spark new opportunities. Having a flexible space on the bridge available for short-term rent could help get more ideas off the ground, whether it’s seasonal food concepts, art exhibits or even major retailers who want to test the Winnipeg market (like what Lululemon recently did with its pop-up retail store in Regina). *2. Urban cycling centre.* Inspired by the Midtown Bike Center in Minneapolis (which has the exact same square footage), the bridge plaza could be converted into an all-purpose bike retail/rental/repair/storage outlet that could serve as a hub for community outreach activities for the city’s cycling community. And as an added bonus, the lack of an adjacent parking lot isn’t a concern for this group. *3. Ice cream/burger mecca.* For decades, Winnipeggers have been lining up at the BDI and Sargent Sundae for a chance to buy ice cream and walk across a bridge. Combine that idea with some classic White Top/Mrs. Mike’s/VJ’s-style burgers, and you’re guaranteed success … for at least six months of the year. *4. Event centre.* Given its unique location, it’s easy to imagine the bridge as a French-Canadian-themed bar during Festival du Voyageur, a venue with a view for Folklorama, a spot for swanky cocktail parties during fireworks shows at The Forks, or even a cool site for wedding photos and small receptions. *5. French restaurant.* The original idea when the bridge plaza was built a decade ago was for it to become a bistro or creperie that provides a culinary complement to the bridge’s physical connection between downtown and St. Boniface. Maybe now the city would be willing to provide more of an economic incentive (free rent? no business taxes?) to make it happen. *6. Winnipeg Jets… something.* I don’t even have an idea here, but put the logo of our most recognized team on our most recognized piece of architecture, and it’s certain to draw a crowd at any time during the year. News Worth Sharing: <http://metronews.ca/author/cfast/>By Colin Fast<http://metronews.ca/author/cfast/> Metro Winnipeg Connect with Colin

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WFP: Cyclists, drivers can't point fingers (Jan.19'13)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Jan '13

19 Jan '13

Cyclists, drivers can't point fingers Collision data show both parties need to take better care on road By: Bruce Owen http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/cyclists-drivers-cant-point-fingers-… It's time to call a truce in Winnipeg's war between cyclists and drivers. It turns out both are at fault for crashes, injuries and even cyclist fatalities during the past decade, according to data released by Manitoba Public Insurance. The continuing rate of collisions between bikes and vehicles is one reason Manitoba's Public Utilities Board told MPI late last year to put together a more comprehensive public education campaign on road safety and messaging to motorists regarding cyclists, such as giving cyclists one metre of space when passing them. "We're both to blame," said Dave Elmore, director of safety and education for the cyclist lobby group Bike to the Future. "There's equal fault on both sides. The numbers that we've had in the past from MPI really show that at least 50 per cent of cyclists are at fault for most of their own collisions." MPI's numbers from 2001-10 appear to back that up. MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said 13 cyclists were killed and 68 seriously injured in that period, and there were 2,144 less-serious injuries to cyclists. Almost 68 per cent of reported collisions happened at intersections, as did 61 per cent of the 13 fatalities. In 63 per cent of those collisions, the cyclist was pedalling straight ahead and 20 per cent of the vehicles involved were turning right, meaning the driver likely turned into the cyclist without shoulder-checking. Of the cyclists in a collision with a motor vehicle: -- 10 per cent reported they were distracted or confused; -- 4.3 per cent failed to yield the right-of-way; -- three per cent disobeyed a traffic-control device. Of the motor vehicle drivers in a collision with a cyclist: -- 4.1 per cent said they were distracted; -- 4.8 per cent failed to yield the right-of-way; -- 1.1 per cent were speeding. "Everyone is expected to share the road," Smiley said. "Cyclists are entitled to be on the road. They are also expected to observe the rules of road, meaning stopping at stop signs, observing traffic lights and yielding when appropriate. Vehicles are also expected to share the road with cyclists." The numbers were compiled from claims filed with MPI. City police do not record these statistics. Elmore said the numbers he has show there is an overall downward trend in the number of car-cyclist collisions in the past decade, but that the numbers have edged up in the past two years. "I think that's really a result of the fact that we have more and more cyclists on the road these days, and fewer of them actually understand how they should be behaving on the road," he said. "In some cases, they don't possess the skills, and in some cases, they don't have the knowledge and understanding. "It's easy for drivers to point to cyclists who shoot through red lights and at stop signs, but they're by far the minority of cyclists. And the same holds true for cyclists, who say that drivers speed and also roll through stop signs." What's needed is a more rigorous public education campaign on cyclist safety, run by MPI and the province, as dedicated bike lanes on streets are slow in coming and costly. "People believe that there's this war between cyclists and drivers, but ultimately, I don't believe it's a war," Elmore said. "I think that really it's just a misunderstanding and it's created because of the knowledge gap. There's a huge gap in knowledge on both sides of the coin. Education is unfortunately overlooked as a solution." Smiley said MPI has met with cyclist groups to rework the information MPI gives to the public in brochures and on the Crown corporation's website. He said the worst months for cyclist fatalities are June and July, with 23 per cent of such deaths happening in those two months. June and July were also the worst months for injuries. No cyclist deaths were recorded in December, January and February. The worst day of the week for cyclist-car collisions is Wednesday, with 18 per cent recorded, and the worst time of day is the 3 p.m.-to-6 p.m. rush hour, during which 30 per cent of such crashes occurred. Smiley said 90 per cent of all bicycle-vehicle mishaps were reported, and 10 per cent were classified as hit-and-runs. *bruce.owen(a)freepress.mb.ca* ** *To avoid it, you have to see it* EVER wonder why motor-vehicle drivers don't see the person on the bicycle until the last second, if at all? It's not so much because they're not paying attention, it's because the human brain can only process the images the eyes see directly in front of them, not what's around them. It's another way of saying your eyes weren't designed for driving. Your peripheral vision is only as good as the size of the object approaching you from the side, such as a truck. Your peripheral vision would not necessarily pick up a cyclist, especially when lost momentarily in the blind spot of a car-door pillar. The lesson here is drivers should always look right and left at least twice before going into an intersection. It also means fully turning your head so your brain processes what your eyes see. For cyclists, it means wearing high-contrast clothing so they can be seen. Flashing lights front and back are a must at dusk and during the night. It also means not only looking at vehicles around you, but at the drivers. If a driver doesn't appear to notice you, or worse, is on a cellphone, play it safe and assume you have not been seen. Also be predictable in your riding. "A lot of people look at it like it's that old expression, 'it's just like riding a bike.' That's not true," said Dave Elmore, director of safety and education for Bike to the Future. "That's balancing a bike. Riding a bike in traffic is a totally different world." *For more information, go to www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists* Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 19, 2013 A4

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AT webinar: Basics of Bicycle Parking, Wed, Jan.23, 2-3 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 17 Jan '13

17 Jan '13

Green Action Centre and Stantec Consulting invite you to join us for a local viewing of the first of four APBP webinars on bicycle parking. It takes place at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) and will be followed by group discussion of local applications.* *APBP strongly recommends viewing this first webinar as a prerequisite to others in the bicycle parking series. *Basics of Bicycle Parking Wed, Jan. 23, 2013 | 2:00-3:00 pm CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * The Basics of Bicycle Parking APBP presents a series of four webinars that covers all aspects of bicycle parking. The first session reviews some of the basic principles of accommodating bicycles in both public and institutional environments. We will review types of parking in current use for both short and long term parking, and describe the conditions and constraints which guide selection of parking strategies and equipment. The session will look globally at the organization of the APBP Bicycle Parking Guidelines and preview the following sessions. Topics include core concepts, rack design and features, site planning and innovations. Who should attend? Municipal staff, transit agency staff, managers of educational, corporate and healthcare campuses, and members of Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees (BPACs), as well as elected officials and staff of bicycle advocacy organizations. Both the experienced agency manager and those new to developing bicycle parking solutions will benefit. *For future dates and topics in the Bicycle Parking Webinar series, see: * http://greenactioncentre.ca/event/apbp-bicycle-parking-webinar-series/

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FW: Active Transportation - Request for Documents
by Kristine Hayward 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

Hi AT folks - see below the request from the Leisure Information Network (LIN) for additional resources on Active Transportation. Kristine Hayward in motion Coordinator 2nd floor - 490 Hargrave Street Winnipeg, MB R3A 0X7 Telephone 204 940-1676 Cell 204 232-7546 Fax 204 940-2690 Email khayward(a)wrha.mb.ca Follow Winnipeg in motion on Twitter - @wpginmotion Sign up to receive updates from Winnipeg in motion @ http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/ <http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/> PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE MOVED (MAY 5, 2012) - our mailing address and fax number has changed. From: LINNEWS [mailto:acroxford@lin.ca] Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 1:01 PM To: Kristine Hayward Subject: Active Transportation - Request for Documents <http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?t=1112166007465.0.1101653690364.795&ts=S0859& o=http://ui.constantcontact.com/images/p1x1.gif> LINNews Banner<http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs074/1101653690364/img/20.png> Find us on Facebook Find LIN on Facebook <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0019cgJmpIvtKzwel6kNElk0pFN5rJRxUkDS4tQbhmE I8H42xaRE8tkdJyLffX7fMVrjCF4sYischyFm8J9yBUYibfBVhF3akuKFYzVbplPX7FVWRtG Ctt8xCIBDnuwopNLkjjCd2VvuDzoiR9IVtSkOIjQvrv7I1HN2gr-GEuAv946gkJsNP2widGK NEYMyuuEDw6Gw5Nnrn_p_DF_c0fhS9QOvnaiDO_C> LIN maintains a database of all messages sent out on LINNEWS and most of the responses. You can search it at any time by going to: http://www.lin.ca/index.cfm?fa=resource.linnews <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0019cgJmpIvtKwJcSBJeYtRwpbFY0c6dzS01zIBJeYs lePaMvGsBU3Xe2L2qVWa8SkYInjcvQshmwPWGDWYBhrGoUmQMBNF_ILRtI0Aev1dJ1noqiKN g1gW5fTZD_Vi3iUU0PW6gQzLrTM3XXUDZXDVHQ==> To help us, please make sure that your replies to messages are copied to archive(a)lin.ca <mailto:archive@lin.ca> (there will be a reminder on every message we send.) To post a message to this listserv, address your email to linnews(a)lin.ca Active Transportation Request for Documents for the National Recreation Database Happy New Year everyone In our recent survey on the National Recreation Database, the vast majority of respondents said they would submit documents to the database, if they were asked for specific items... so now we're asking! Many specific examples were given and we will be making requests on a regular basis. Those who submit documents will have their names entered in a draw for prizes at the end of the year (we don't know what the prizes will be yet, but we're working on finding some really good ones). This week we're looking for active transportation plans, research, policies etc., so if your organization has anything like this, please take a few minutes to send them along. You can send us the full document, or a link to something on your own website (if you think it will remain there permanently). Let's see how quickly we can make the database grow in 2013! By the way, you can see a report on the survey results on our home page: www.lin.ca <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0019cgJmpIvtKyOz8cXoAiUjuhmtowvKb036tn2PYxR BlbW1KIqE46ieaBTDNlGvZ_kwDzfAxmJqdsg_kv4puqgLu_vgzqu9df1F1k_bQSsYGI=> Forward email <http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=74r994bab&m=1101653690364 &ea=khayward%40wrha.mb.ca&a=1112166007465> <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=001ytzJgXCdPi6eNDPx28rAn dQIGyfgIfxy&t=001Ej9Ta588qOPUr0htbZk9bA%3D%3D&lang=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&rea son=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=74r994bab> This email was sent to khayward(a)wrha.mb.ca by acroxford(a)lin.ca | Update Profile/Email Address <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&mse=001ytzJgXCdPi6eNDPx28rAn dQIGyfgIfxy&t=001Ej9Ta588qOPUr0htbZk9bA%3D%3D&lang=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&rea son=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=74r994bab> | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=001ytzJgXCdPi6eNDPx28rAn dQIGyfgIfxy&t=001Ej9Ta588qOPUr0htbZk9bA%3D%3D&lang=001FCSs65SMrsI%3D&rea son=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=74r994bab> (tm) | Privacy Policy <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp> . Leisure Information Network | 1 Concorde Gate, Suite 302 | Suite 502 | Toronto | ON | M3C 3N6 | Canada This email and/or any documents in this transmission is intended for the addressee(s) only and may contain legally privileged or confidential information. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, copying or dissemination is strictly prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and return the original. Ce courriel et tout document dans cette transmission est destiné à la personne ou aux personnes à qui il est adressé. Il peut contenir des informations privilégiées ou confidentielles. Toute utilisation, divulgation, distribution, copie, ou diffusion non autorisée est strictement défendue. Si vous n'êtes pas le destinataire de ce message, veuillez en informer l'expéditeur immédiatement et lui remettre l'original.

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U.S. Federal Safe Routes to School Program reduces child injuries by more than 40 percent in New York City
by Beth McKechnie 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

[Sold evidence of the positive impacts of the Safe Routes to School program. If you're not aware of the program in Manitoba, check it out here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/program/asrts/>. Thanks to Terry Zdan for sharing! -cheers, Beth] U.S. Federal Safe Routes to School Program Reduces Child Injuries by More Than 40 Percent in New York City http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130114092702.htm Jan. 14, 2013 — The national Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program was funded by Congress in 2005 in an effort to create safe environments for American children to walk or bike to school. Has the program been effective? In New York City, most definitely, according to a new study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health that evaluated the program here. Researchers found that the annual rate of injury to school-age pedestrians ages 5-19 fell 44% during the peak times for walking to school, in neighborhoods where the program was implemented. Significantly, the injury rate did not drop in parts of the city where the SRTS safety program was not in place. Findings of the report are published online in *Pediatrics*. The researchers analyzed motor vehicle crash data for 169,000 pedestrian injuries between 2001 and 2010 for different age groups and neighborhoods with and without SRTS interventions to assess the program's effectiveness. Interventions for reducing pedestrian injury included new traffic and pedestrian signals, the addition of exclusive pedestrian crossing times, speed bumps, speed boards, high-visibility crosswalks, and new parking regulations. More than 120 NYC schools were selected by the NYC Department of Transportation for the interventions because they had the highest rates of pedestrian injury. The researchers created a school-travel time indicator variable to further identify crashes that occurred during days and hours when school-aged children would be traveling to or from school. This time period was defined as 7 AM to 9 AM or 2 PM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday between September and June. "Our data show that interventions to make the built environment safer can greatly reduce injuries to children as they walk to school," says the lead author of the study, Charles DiMaggio, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology and research director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia. The Safe Routes to School program was funded through 2012, and is now in place in all 50 states at approximately 10% of elementary and secondary schools. Under the current federal transportation bill, MAP-21, the Safe Routes program will no longer have dedicated funding. It is now one of a number of possible programs eligible for funding based on state and local priorities, making it "even more important to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of programs like Safe Routes to School," according to Dr. DiMaggio. "Our study provides compelling empirical evidence that is essential to guiding policy makers," says senior author Guohua Li, MD, DrPH, Mailman School professor of Epidemiology and Anesthesiology and director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention. "It indicates that the Safe Routes to School program has made a marked difference in improving the safety of school-age children in New York City."

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WFP: Lower speeds on residential streets rejected (Jan.12'13)
by Beth McKechnie 12 Jan '13

12 Jan '13

Lower speeds on residential streets rejected By: Jen Skerritt http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/lower-speeds-on-residential-streets-… A city committee decided to put the brakes on a call to reduce speeds on Winnipeg's residential streets. On Friday, council's public works committee rejected a push to do a further study on the issue. An administration report released earlier this week examined whether Winnipeg should reduce the residential-street speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h to improve safety, especially for pedestrians and cyclists. The report said many studies conducted throughout North America have shown driver speed is affected by the road, not speed-limit signs. Other cities that have lowered the speed limit on some residential streets, including Montreal and Edmonton, did not see a significant drop in the average speeds, according to the report. It said some drivers will follow the lower speed limit but others will ignore it, which may increase the potential for collisions between slower and faster drivers. The report recommended Winnipeg not move ahead with proposed speed-limit changes. Several councillors said they were disappointed by the report's conclusions. River Heights Coun. John Orlikow said to refuse to calm traffic on residential streets is a "tragic mistake." On Friday, health officials, cycling advocates and politicians told council's public works committee to further review how the city could reduce driver speeds and improve road safety. Winnipeg Regional Health Authority medical officer of health Dr. Sande Harlos said reducing speed is key for lowering the risk of serious injury for pedestrians and cyclists, noting speed is a factor in 25 per cent of all fatal collisions. But Harlos told the committee lowering speed limits alone is not the most effective strategy, and she urged the city to consider combining it with enforcement, public education and other ways to calm traffic. She said the report did not include statistics from other cities that have seen significant reductions in injuries and fatalities after lowering speed limits, including those in Norway that saw a 45 per cent drop in fatal crashes. "It's the least we could do," Harlos said of lowering the speed limit in residential areas. "When it comes to the health of the public, we should be doing the best we could do, so I think we could do more than that." Public works director Brad Sacher said lowering the speed limit to 40 km/h alone will not reduce vehicle speeds, as drivers typically use other factors, such as the number of pedestrians and the width of the road, to determine how fast they should drive. Sacher said Winnipeg has not had a widespread problem of residential collisions, and the city continues to investigate ways to cut drivers' speeds in problem areas, such as with traffic-calming circles or speed bumps. The committee decided against further study of the subject and voted against reducing the residential speed limit to 40 km/h. Public works chairman Coun. Dan Vandal (St. Boniface) said the bulk of reported vehicle collisions occur on regional streets, and he's more concerned about a provincial initiative to raise the speed limit on roadways such as Provencher Boulevard. Coun. Harvey Smith (Daniel McIntyre) initiated the push for lower speeds and said the committee should have consulted the public before voting on the issue. Smith said he plans to meet with Harlos and bring forward another motion on road safety. "To me, it's just saying status quo and we don't care," he said. jen.skerritt(a)freepress.mb.ca How bad is that crash? Medical experts say when a pedestrian gets hit by a car, speed can make a huge difference in the severity of injuries. - Injuries sustained in a 50 km/h collision are equivalent to falling from a three-storey building. - Injuries sustained from a 75 km/h crash are equivalent to falling from a seven-storey building. - Injuries sustained from a 100 km/h crash are equivalent to falling from a 12-storey building. Likelihood of surviving a crash: - At 30 km/h, five per cent of pedestrians struck by a vehicle will die. - At 40 km/h, 25 per cent of pedestrians struck by a vehicle will die. - At 50 km/h, 55 per cent of pedestrians struck by a vehicle will die. *-- source: Putting the Brakes on Speed / Bike to the Future*

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[VIDEO] Dutch try heated cycle tracks and glow in the dark roads - BBC
by Anders Swanson 11 Jan '13

11 Jan '13

*See the brief video report from BBC news at: * http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20942340 "A team of Dutch designers is pioneering technology to make winter journeys even safer for and more attractive to cyclists. Reflective crystals make lines in the road more visible in poor light, while other roads are getting underground heating. Anna Holligan reports from Zwolle."

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Job Opportunity, 3-4 Bike mechanics req'd
by Natural Cycle T1 11 Jan '13

11 Jan '13

NOW HIRING! Natural Cycle is a cooperatively owned and operated commuter-focused bicycle shop specializing in custom work and performing regular repairs and maintenance. Established in 1999, we started in a small room in the back, and thanks to the overwhelming support of our customers, we have since taken over the whole lower level of the building. As the only bike shop in downtown Winnipeg, we wanted to create a fair place to work, and shop. We get a lot of satisfaction from empowering our customers to ride their bikes, fix them, then ride them some more. For more information about Natural Cycle, please visit our website: www.naturalcycle.ca. We are currently hiring for full-time and part-time seasonal positions beginning in March 2013 and ending in the beginning of August 2013. Responsibilities and tasks will first focus on bicycle repair and customer service and will include other aspects of running a small business. Assets: - Skills or experience related to running a small business. - Experience with bicycle repair or other mechanical aptitude is preferred but not necessary. - Experience with worker cooperatives or other experience with group decision making. - Passion for cycling or involvement in the Winnipeg cycling community. - Customer service experience - Self-motivation and creativity - Ability to attend weekly staff meetings on Wednesday evenings. To apply, please drop off or mail a resume and cover letter. Cover letter should include interest in full-time or part-time. Natural Cycle at 91 Albert St, lower level, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 1G5 email us at cycleworks(a)naturalcycle.ca Applications will be reviewed upon receipt.

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TRB: Pedestrians 2012, A Distance-Based Method to Estimate Annual Pedestrian and Bicyclist Exposure
by Beth McKechnie 10 Jan '13

10 Jan '13

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Local Job Opportunity: volunteer coordinator position The WRENCH
by Anders Swanson 09 Jan '13

09 Jan '13

Please see the attached document for further info on this exciting position. Thanks, Anders

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AT Webinar: Best Practices in Pedestrian Wayfinding, Wed, Jan.16th, 2:00-3:30 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 09 Jan '13

09 Jan '13

Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us for a local viewing of the following APBP webinar at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion of local applications.* *Detailed description provided below. *Best Practices in Pedestrian Wayfinding Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 | 2:00-3:30 p.m. CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * Best Practices in Pedestrian Wayfinding This is a 90-minute webinar [image: image]Walking benefits a city’s transportation system, economy, and public health. Wayfinding designed specifically for walkers encourages pedestrian traffic by helping people navigate—whether they are tourists, residents, new walkers or persons with disabilities. During this 90-minute webinar, agency staff and consultants who pioneered legible city wayfinding projects in London and Bristol describe state-of-the-art programs in Philadelphia, Vancouver and New York City. Planners, engineers, and elected officials should attend this webinar to explore the principles of legible city wayfinding and learn how to create a complete movement and information system for walkers. Information included in this session: - How wayfinding requirements for pedestrians differ from other modes - The concepts and principles of legible city wayfinding, including the need to shape universal ideas to the local context - Steps to build a program, from policy through design, finance and implementation - The architecture and elements of a wayfinding system, including the role of social and digital media - How to maintain and manage a system - Ways to add value by connecting to transit and other modes and leveraging GIS data to serve multiple systems and partners Presenters: - Adrian Bell, Partner, Applied Information Group North America (Vancouver, B.C.) - Wendy Feuer, Assistant Commissioner of Urban Design and Art, NYC Department of Transportation - David Kanthor, AICP, Transportation Initiatives Manager at the Center City District, Philadelphia - Mike Rawlinson, Design Director, City ID (Bristol, UK) - Keri Tyler, City Planner/Project Manager at NYC Department of Transportation

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Mark your calendars! upcoming AT webinars
by Beth McKechnie 08 Jan '13

08 Jan '13

Hello everyone, Given the number of excellent webinars coming up, please mark your calendar to ensure you don't miss any that you'd like to see. We will be providing group viewings of all of these at the EcoCentre boardroom (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) with the exception of the Jan. 30th Public Health and Walking interactive discussion forum. Here's the schedule with details to follow the week before each webinar: * Best Practices in Pedestrian Wayfinding (APBP)* Wed, Jan. 16th, 2:00-3:30 pm Co-hosted locally by Green Action Centre & Bike to the Future *Pedestrian and Bicycle Engineering 101 for School Travel (Green Action Centre)* Fri, Jan. 18th, 12:30-1:30 pm Presenter: Anders Swanson. Find more details here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/walking-and-wheeling-webinar-series/> . *Bicycle Parking Webinar Series #1 of 4 : The Basics (APBP)* Wed, Jan. 23rd, 2:00-3:30 pm Co-hosted locally by Green Action Centre & Stantec Consulting * Public Health and Walking: Turning Programs and Policy into Action (America Walks)* Wed, Jan. 30th, 1:00-2:00 pm **NOTE** This is an interactive discussion forum by phone for individual participants. Find more details and register here<http://americawalks.org/2013/01/forum-public-health-and-walking-turning-pro…> . *Promoting Safe Use of Roads & Pathways for Vulnerable Road Users - A Review of Canadian Promising Practices (Public Health Agency of Canada & Centre for Health Promotion)* Fri, Feb. 8th, Noon-1:00 pm Join us for a group viewing of this free webinar or register individually here<http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_rsevents&view=events&layout=…> . *Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work (APBP)* Wed, Feb. 20th, 2:00-3:30 pm Co-hosted locally by Green Action Centre & Bike to the Future *Bicycle Parking Webinar Series #2 of 4 : Municipal Bicycle Parking Programs (APBP)* Wed, Feb. 27th, 2:00-3:30 pm Co-hosted locally by Green Action Centre & Stantec Consulting *Bicycle Parking Webinar Series #3 of 4 : Bicycle Parking and Transit (APBP) * Wed, March 13th, 2:00-3:30 pm Co-hosted locally by Green Action Centre & Stantec Consulting * * *Dynamics of Effective Advisory Committees (APBP)* Wed, March 20th, 2:00-3:30 pm Co-hosted locally by Green Action Centre & Bike to the Future cheers, Beth

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Report urges no speed reduction in residential neighbourhoods
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jan '13

07 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Terry Zdan <tjzdan50(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 12:48:55 -0600 Subject: Re: Report urges no speed reduction in residential neighbourhoods Report urges no speed reduction in residential neighbourhoods > > By: Staff Writer > > Posted: 11:33 AM | *Comments: 14*<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Report-urges-no-speed-reduction-in-r…> > > *<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Report-urges-no-speed-reduction-in-r…> > * > > Winnipeg drivers may not have to further reduce their speed in residential > neighbourhoods. > > A new city report, released this morning, recommends Winnipeg not lower > the residential speed limit to 40 km/h. The report said many studies > conducted throughout North America have shown that driver speed is affected > by the context of the road and not by speed limit signs. > > > "Lowering the posted speed limit in isolation without concurrent changes > to the physical characteristics of the road can have negative > consequences," the report said. "Speed limits that are inconsistent with > driver expectation can lead to driver frustration." > > > In September, council's public works committee voted to review whether > Winnipeg should lower the posted speed limit on two-lane road in > residential neighbourhoods by 10 km/h. Such a move would require provincial > approval. > > > Other cities such as Montreal and Edmonton have lowered the speed limit on > some residential streets. An administrative report said a study in Montreal > concluded there was no significant difference in the average speeds after > reducing the speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. Similarly, the report > said the results of a pilot project in Edmonton were inconclusive. > > > Council's public works committee will review the report at a meeting this > Friday. > > > > > > > http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Report-urges-no-speed-reduction-in-r… > > > > > -- > Terry Zdan 126 Duncan Norrie Drive Wpg MB R3P 2J9 CANADA tjzdan50(a)gmail.com <tjzdan(a)gmasil.com>

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Jan. 9th Open House - Capital Region Transportation Master Plan
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jan '13

07 Jan '13

*Have your say on the Capital Region Transportation Master Plan<http://www.manitobacapitalregion.ca/> !* Okay, it may not sound very exciting, but it could have a major impact on active transportation opportunities between and within communities surrounding Winnipeg. Please consider sharing with your networks and participating in the discussion. *Open House*<http://www.manitobacapitalregion.ca/notices_detail.asp?notice_ID=196>: Wed, Jan. 9th, from 4:30-7:30 pm*,* City Hall in the Mayor's Foyer (510 Main St) *Storyboards* from the three open houses held to date can be found at: http://manitobacapitalregion.ca/_assets/downloads/story_boards.pdf *Can't make the Open House? Fill out the online survey instead*: http://surveymonkey.com/s/CRTMP Note that a workshop was also held in December in West St. Paul, which included representatives from the Province, various municipalities in the Capital Region, and a number of organizations and associations (including Janice Lukes from the Winnipeg Trails Association, Anders Swanson and Shoni Litinsky for Green Action Centre's Active & Safe Routes to School Program, Mark Cohoe from Bike to the Future, and Jason Carter representing the Manitoba Cycling Association). For consideration, here are the main points that I focused on during group discussion at our table at this workshop: - Ensure variety of transportation options - don't assume that, due to distances, people will only drive and will always drive - Make it feasible for residents to choose not to drive whether it's between communities or within their community - Ensure multi-modal options (residents able to combine bike and bus, regional connections, etc) - Need for regional transit strategy and collaboration between communities - Concerns around changes to Perimeter for increased and faster speeds of freight goods movement (CentrePort) – barrier that cuts off communities and makes it that much more challenging for AT users - Recognize the tourism opportunities in developing the plan – transit to Birds Hill Park and Grand Beach; cycle tourism in the area with popularity of cycling route to Lockport and to / within the provincial parks - Potential role that a Regional Transportation Authority could play - Potential tool - regional subscription to carpooling/ridematching service (e.g. RideShark, Pathway Intelligence, Carpool.ca) cheers, Beth

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ANF20 Committee on Bicycle Transportation: Bicycle Related Sessions at Annual Meeting
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jan '13

07 Jan '13

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Terry Zdan <tjzdan50(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 09:26:44 -0600 -----Original Message----- From: Ralph Buehler [mailto:ralphbu@vt.edu] Sent: January-07-13 9:16 AM Subject: ANF20 Committee on Bicycle Transportation: Bicycle Related Sessions at Annual Meeting Dear Friends of ANF20 (TRB Committee on Bicycle Transportation), Happy New Year! The TRB annual meeting is only one week away! Here is a link to a list of sessions that involve ANF20 and/or bicycling! http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/trbbike/conferences.cfm See you in a week! Greetings from Alexandria, VA Ralph Buehler ANF-20 Chair http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/trbbike/ http://www.spia.vt.edu/people/spiafacultybios/buehlerspiabio.html -- Terry Zdan 126 Duncan Norrie Drive Wpg MB R3P 2J9 CANADA tjzdan50(a)gmail.com <tjzdan(a)gmasil.com>

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Interesting article on why cyclists are not seen
by Dave Elmore 07 Jan '13

07 Jan '13

http://www.fatcyclerider.co.uk/2012/11/what-raf-pilot-can-teach-us-about-bei ng.html?utm_source=feedburner <http://www.fatcyclerider.co.uk/2012/11/what-raf-pilot-can-teach-us-about-be ing.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+FatCycleRi der+%28The+Fat+Cycle+Rider%29&m=1> &utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+FatCycleRider+%28The+Fat+Cycle+Rider%29& m=1 What an RAF pilot can teach us about being safe on the road Guest post from the London Cyclist Blog <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/> . What an RAF pilot can teach us about being safe on the road <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/> : "Sorry mate, I didn't see you". Is a catchphrase used by drivers up and down the country. Is this a driver being careless and dangerous or did the driver genuinely not see you? According to a report by John Sullivan of the RAF, the answer may have important repercussions for the way we train drivers and how as cyclists we stay safe on the roads. John Sullivan is a Royal Air Force pilot with over 4,000 flight hours in his career, and a keen cyclist. He is a crash investigator and has contributed to multiple reports <http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/Boards OfInquiry/ServiceInquiryInvestigatingTheAccidentToTutorAircraftGbyutAndGbyvn .htm> . Fighter pilots have to cope with speeds of over 1000 mph. Any crashes are closely analysed to extract lessons that can be of use. Our eyes were not designed for driving We are the result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. Our eyes, and the way that our brain processes the images that they receive, are very well suited to creeping up on unsuspecting antelopes and spotting threats such as sabre-toothed tigers. These threats are largely gone and they've been replaced by vehicles travelling towards us at high speeds. This, we've not yet adapted to deal with. Why? Light enters our eyes and falls upon the retina. It is then converted into electrical impulses, that the brain perceives as images. Only a small part of your retina, the centre bit called the fovea, can generate a high-resolution image. This is why we need to look directly at something, to see detail. The rest of the retina lacks detail but it contributes by adding the peripheral vision. However, a mere 20 degrees away from your sightline, your visual acuity is about 1/10th of what it is at the centre. Try this scary test to see quite how much detail you lose in your peripheral vision 1. Stand 10 metres away from a car. 2. Move your eyes and look just one car's width to the right or left of that car. 3. Without moving where you eyes are now looking, try and read the number plate of the car. 4. Try the test again from 5m. The test shows you quite how little detail you are able to truly capture from the side of your eyes. That's not to say that we cannot see something in our peripheral vision - of course we can. As you approach a roundabout, you would be hard pressed not to see a huge lorry bearing down upon you, even out of the corner of your eye - obviously, the bigger the object, the more likely we are to see it. But would you see a motorbike, or a cyclist? To have a good chance of seeing an object on a collision course, we need to move our eyes, and probably head, to bring the object into the centre of our vision - so that we can use our high-resolution vision of our fovea to resolve the detail. Here's when things get really interesting <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/clip_image005.png > Your brain fills in the blanks When you move your head and eyes to scan a scene, your eyes are incapable of moving smoothly across it and seeing everything. Instead, you see in the image in a series of very quick jumps (called saccades) with very short pauses (called fixations) and it is only during the pauses that an image is processed. Your brain fills in the gaps with a combination of peripheral vision and an assumption that what is in the gaps must be the same as what you see during the pauses. This might sound crazy, but your brain actually blocks the image that is being received while your eyes are moving. This is why you do not see the sort of blurred image, that you see when you look sideways out of a train window. The only exception to this, is if you are tracking a moving object. Another test to try If you are not convinced, try this test. 1. Look in a mirror. 2. Look repeatedly from your right eye to your left eye. 3. Can you see your eyes moving? You can't. 4. Repeat the test with a friend and watch them. You will see their eyes moving quite markedly. You can't see your own eyes move because your brain shuts down the image for the instant that your eyes are moving. This is called Saccadic masking <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking> . In the past, this served us well. It meant we could creep up on antelopes without our brain being overloaded by unnecessary detail and a lot of useless, blurred images. However, what happens when this system is put to use in a modern day situation, such as a traffic junction? Why we miss motorbikes and bicycles At a traffic junction all but the worst of drivers will look in both directions to check for oncoming traffic. However, it is entirely possible for our eyes to "jump over" an oncoming bicycle or motorbike. The smaller the vehicle, the greater the chance it will fall within a saccade. <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/clip_image003.png > motorbike in a saccade This isn't really a case of a careless driver, it's more of a human incapacity to see anything during a saccade. Hence the reason for so many "Sorry mate, I didn't see you" excuses. The faster you move your head, the larger the jumps and the shorter the pauses. Therefore, you've got more of a chance of missing a vehicle. We are effectively seeing through solid objects, with our brain filling in the image. Additionally, we tend to avoid the edges of the windscreen. The door pillars on a car therefore create an even wider blindspot. This is called windscreen zoning <http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E0E50D54-8A9E-4F21-9AC4-102A1453308F/0/Servi ceInquiry_TutorAircraft_Part_1_5_Causes.pdf> . The danger of playing music Our ears help us build up a picture of our surroundings. However, inside our cars or with music playing, our brain is denied another useful cue. Additionally, bicycles are almost completely silent, so won't be heard by car drivers. How accidents happen Let's say you are driving along. You approach a junction and you notice a lack of traffic. You look left and right and proceed forward. Suddenly you hear the blast of a horn, as a motorbike flashes in front of you, narrowly avoiding an accident. What just happened? On your approach, you couldn't see there was another vehicle on a perfect collision course. With a lack of relative movement for your peripheral vision to detect and the vehicle being potentially hidden by being near the door pillar, you miss it entirely. Lulled into a false sense of security you looked quickly right and left, to avoid holding up the traffic behind you, and your eyes jumped cleanly over the approaching vehicle, especially as it was still close to the door pillar in the windscreen. The rest of the road was empty, and this was the scene that your brain used to fill in the gaps! Scary, huh? You were not being inattentive - but you were being ineffective. Additionally, if you didn't expect there to be a cyclist your brain is more likely to automatically jump to the conclusion that the road is empty. Now that you've been warned. What can you do? <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/clip_image002.jpg > motorbike can't be seen Forewarned is forearmed, so here's what we can do. Drivers: * Slow down on the approach of a roundabout or junction. Even if the road seems empty. Changing speed will allow you to see vehicles that would otherwise be invisible to you. * A glance is never enough. You need to be as methodical and deliberate as a fighter pilot would be. Focus on at least 3 different spots along the road to the right and left. Search close, middle-distance and far. With practise, this can be accomplished quickly, and each pause is only for a fraction of a second. Fighter pilots call this a "lookout scan" and it is vital to their survival. * Always look right and left at least twice. This doubles your chance of seeing a vehicle. * Make a point of looking next to the windscreen pillars. Better still, lean forward slightly as you look right and left so that you are looking around the door pillars. Be aware that the pillar nearest to you blocks more of your vision. Fighter pilots say 'Move your head - or you're dead'. * Clear your flight path! When changing lanes, check your mirrors and as a last check, look directly at the spot which are going to manoeuvre. * Drive with your lights on. Bright vehicles or clothing is always easier to spot than dark colours that don't contrast with a scene. * It is especially difficult to spot bicycles, motorbikes and pedestrians during low sun conditions as contrast is reduced. * Keep your windscreen clean - seeing other vehicles is enough of a challenge without a dirty windscreen. You never see a fighter jet with a dirty canopy. * Finally, don't be a clown - if you are looking at your mobile telephone then you are incapable of seeing much else. Not only are you probably looking down into your lap, but your eyes are focused at less then one metre and every object at distance will be out of focus. Even when you look up and out, it takes a fraction of a second for your eyes to adjust - this is time you may not have. Cyclists and motorcyclists: * Recognise the risk of being in a saccade. High contrast clothing and lights help. In particular, flashing LED's (front and rear) are especially effective for cyclists as they create contrast and the on-off flashing attracts the peripheral vision in the same manner that movement does. There's nothing wrong with leaving these on during the day. (Especially if they are rechargeable <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/best-cycle-commuter-lights/> ) * The relatively slower speed of bicycles means that they will be closer to a point of collision if a vehicle begins to pull into their path. Turn this to advantage - when passing junctions, look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen. If the driver's head sweeps through you without pausing, then the chances are that you are in a saccade - you must assume that you have not been seen and expect the driver to pull out! * Recognise that with a low sun, a dirty windscreen or one with rain beating against it drivers are likely to have less of a chance of seeing you. * Cycle instructors have been saying it for years: Ride in a position further out from the kerb as a driver is more likely to be looking in this location. See: How to make your next bike ride safer than the last <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/safe-bike-ride/> . What should we do with our human weakness? John Sullivan's findings and suggestions are excellent. However, they rely on drivers changing well embedded habits. Personally I believe that, unlike RAF pilots, a driver is very unlikely to change their behaviour. Therefore, I'd suggest that this is another reason we should be looking at building safety in to our roads, with Dutch style cycling infrastructure. Two important takeaways for cyclists: Increasing your contrast helps you be seen. Think flashing bike lights. Also, remember the importance of good road positioning.

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Webinar Feb 8 - Promoting Safe Use of Roads & Pathways for Vulnerable Road Users - A Review of Canadian Promising Practices
by Shoni Litinsky 04 Jan '13

04 Jan '13

Free webinar provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Centre for Health Promotion. Unfortunately I am not able to host this one at Green Action Centre, but have provided the registration information below! *Date: *February 8th, 2013 *Time: *12:00pm-1:00pm CST *Registration:* Can be done for free here. <http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_rsevents&view=events&layout=…> Many small, medium and large Canadian municipalities are proactivity promoting more active lifestyles and transportation to curb obesity, reduce greenhouse gases, and address the economic costs of vulnerable road user (VRU) injuries and deaths. The safe use of roads and pathways by VRUs (e.g. pedestrians and cyclists) is important to enable and encourage communities that are more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. The Fireside Chat presentation will highlight the results from a comprehensive review of Canadian promising practices that promote the safe use by VRUs of off/on-road facilities, especially shared-use facilities, as well as identify successful VRU safety education and enforcement programs. It will highlight communities across Canada that are successfully educating and enforcing the proper use of new built environment features intended to promote active transportation. *Advisor on Tap:* *Dr. Gordon Lovegrove, PEng, MBA* Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, University of British Columbia Dr. Lovegrove is the UBC’s School of Engineering’s expert in applied sustainable civil engineering. Dr. Lovegrove was awarded a grant by the Canada Foundation for Innovation to set up his Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Research Lab. He has worked variously as a project and transportation engineer and consultant for over 20 years in communities throughout BC, and is regularly asked to speak on sustainable communities and transportation at conferences across the world. His leadership has facilitated research, planning, and implementation of projects emphasizing the promotion of sustainable land use and transportation. -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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MyPeg Video - Transportation Choices in Winnipeg
by Shoni Litinsky 04 Jan '13

04 Jan '13

Just wanted to share a great video from the Peg <http://www.mypeg.ca/>project that focuses on transportation choices and well-being in Winnipeg. This video features the story of a graphic designer Lucas Pauls and shows how he goes about getting around our city in Winter by walking, using transit, and the carshare. Beautiful footage of winter transportation in our city! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wznZAdRwEGc -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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Manitoba Capital Region Transportation Master Plan - Winnipeg Open House
by Shoni Litinsky 03 Jan '13

03 Jan '13

For those interested to attend, or share this open house information with colleagues, an additional open house has been added. Details below from the consultants MMM group: Good Morning,**** ** ** An additional Public Open House has been added for the *Manitoba Capital Region Transportation Master Plan*. We would like to invite everyone who was unable to attend our previous open houses held in late November 2012, throughout the Capital Region. The Open House will present the same information as the previous events and will be an opportunity to view information boards, map out transportation issues, ask questions and provide feedback and opinions. The open house is scheduled for:**** ** ** *Date:* Wednesday, January 9, 2013**** *Location:* Winnipeg City Hall – Mayor’s Foyer, 510 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba**** *Time:* 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.**** *Format:* Drop-In**** ** ** As well, please feel free to forward this email on to any other people who you think may be interested in attending or were unable to attend one of the previous open houses for the project. Thank you to everyone who has attended already and provided their feedback on the project.**** ** ** Regards,**** **** *Natalie Henault, B.Env.Sc., EPt* Environmental Planner** MMM Group Limited**** Suite 111-93 Lombard Avenue**** Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 3B1**** t: 204.943.3178 ext. 3849 | f: 204.943.4948 | c: 204.451.3054**** henaultn(a)mmm.ca | www.mmm.ca**** * *

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A Few Surprises in New Bike Scores
by Beth McKechnie 02 Jan '13

02 Jan '13

A Few Surprises in New Bike ScoresRichard Florida and Sara Johnson | Dec 19, 2012 The website Walk Score <http://www.walkscore.com/> announced Tuesday the extension of its "Bike Score" rankings for neighborhoods and places to 25 cities. (See The Atlantic's initial coverage of the launch<http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/05/walk-score-launches-bike-s…>.) The cities are scored on a 100-point scale<http://www.walkscore.com/bike-score-methodology.shtml>based on four factors: bike lanes, hills, destinations and road connectivity, and bike commuting mode share. It was developed in collaboration with researchers at Simon Fraser University and The University of British Columbia. Here's how the scoring<http://blog.walkscore.com/2012/12/bike-score-expands-to-25-cities/>breaks down. *Read the article here*: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/12/few-surprises-new-bi… **Canadian cities** – surprisingly, and rather oddly, the scores fall in the lowest category of "somewhat bikeable", even for Montreal and Vancouver, but maybe it's a function of the data provided by these municipalities (and there's no score for Winnipeg, boo! we'd do really well on the hills rating): - Toronto <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/ON/Toronto> - Vancouver <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/BC/Vancouver> - Montreal <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/QC/Montreal> - Calgary <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/AB/Calgary> - Ottawa <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/ON/Ottawa> - Halifax <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/NS/Halifax> - Victoria <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/BC/Victoria> - Saskatoon <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/SK/Saskatoon> - Charlottetown <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/PE/Charlottetown> - St. John's <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/NL/St_Johns> - Moncton <http://www.walkscore.com/bike/Canada/NB/Moncton>

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Walking to Work: U.S. Cities Map
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

Scroll over the dots to see more info. http://www.governing.com/gov-data/transportation-infrastructure/walk-to-wor…

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Cyclist turns New York into giant GPS holiday card
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/12/cyclist-turns-new-york-into-gi… Season's Greetings Terry Zdan BA MEDes Policy & Service Development Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation 1520 215 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3 please note this is my only phone C 204 227 3724 E Terry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca

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AT Webinar: Wayfinding Options for Cyclists, Wed, Dec.19th, 2:00-3:15 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 19 Dec '12

19 Dec '12

Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us for a local viewing of the following APBP webinar at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion of local applications.* *Detailed description provided below. *Wayfinding Options for Cyclists Wednesday, Dec.19, 2012 | 2:00-3:15 p.m. CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! Sounds like a good one. cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * Wayfinding Options for Cyclists Bicycle wayfinding signs are different than other signs placed in the right of way because they are part of a system of sequential destination information; thus, planning, [image: image]placement and maintenance are critical to maintaining the system. This webinar will go beyond the guidance found in the MUTCD and the 2012 AASHTO Bicycle Guide to consider the details of developing and implementing a city-wide bicycle sign system. Planners, engineers, municipal staff and consultants should attend this webinar to gain a better understanding of an increasingly common bicycle facility. The presentation will cover these topics: - The value of providing wayfinding for urban cyclists - Approaches to planning and implementation - Strategies to determine and prioritize signed bicycle routes - Issues of planning, placement and maintenance of signs, including sign design and placement within the right of way that integrates guidelines from the 2009 MUTCD, the 2012 AASHTO Bicycle Guide, and the AASHTO Green Book - Special issues related to trails Examples from Seattle, Baltimore, and other locations will be included. (Note that the APBP webinar on January 16 will address the topic of Best Practices in Pedestrian Wayfinding.) Presenters: - Virginia Coffman, Senior Planner, Toole Design Group - Robert Patten, Senior Planner, Toole Design Group.

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WFP: Traffic woes at schools 'universal complaint' (Dec.18'12)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Dec '12

19 Dec '12

[Hmmm, School Travel Planning anyone?! Bike, walk, anyone? -Beth] Traffic woes at schools 'universal complaint' By: Nick Martin http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/traffic-woes-at-schools-universal-co… TRAFFIC can be a nightmare around every school in the Winnipeg School Division. No, not just the speeders who treat a school zone as a freeway -- it's caused primarily by parents dropping off and picking up their kids. There's often nowhere to park, no loop in front of the main doors and nowhere for kids to get in and out of cars easily and safely. "It was a universal complaint about every school," said trustee Mark Wasyliw, but "no two schools are similar." Earlier this year, trustee Mike Babinsky requested a staff report on traffic problems around Meadows West School, near Keewatin Street in northwest Winnipeg. Wasyliw had already heard and seen lots of problems in southern schools, so he got board support to amend Babinsky's request to cover every school in the division. The results were staggering -- not one school reported itself free of traffic problems, said Wasyliw. "This is the No. 1 issue that is universal in every school. "No one realized this is a large and difficult issue," he said. "The transportation department is reviewing it with each and every school." Residents complain about cars parked and stopping all over the area of Kelvin High School, he said. J.B. Mitchell in River Heights is kitty-corner to St. Jean Brebeuf School, a Catholic school, creating double the chaos. At Robert H. Smith School, also in River Heights, residents park on the street, forcing parents to double- and triple-park, often letting their kids out of the car straight into traffic. "Grosvenor's fast," Wasyliw said. "They're (Grosvenor School) worried about putting grades 4 and 5 out as crossing guards." Several schools are asking for adult crossing guards, which adds to the division's budget dilemma, said Wasyliw. "We're looking at possibly doing staggered bell times," to ease congestion, and so buses could pick up and drop off kids for more than one school. Many older schools have no area in which parents can pull in, Wasyliw said. "Bus loops and cutouts, they're 100 grand each. We have 13 schools (that) want them." nick.martin(a)freepress.mb.ca

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Dear Santa
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 19 Dec '12

19 Dec '12

[cid:image002.jpg@01CDDDC3.862F2410] Season's Greetings Terry Zdan BA MEDes Policy & Service Development Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation 1520 215 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3 please note this is my only phone C 204 227 3724 E Terry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca

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"30km/h - making the streets liveable!". EU
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

http://en.30kmh.eu/ About the initiative 30 km/h (20 mph) limits are an inexpensive and popular way to improve safety, cut pollution and encourage smarter travel choices. They lead to improved traffic flow and less congestion. People can move without fear. We want to achieve these benefits for the whole of the European Union. What is our vision? 30 km/h shall become the standard speed limits for villages, towns and cities with local authorities being able to decide on exemptions. Therefore, we will set the agenda for the European Commission. We want the commission to come up with a proposal to introduce 30 km/h speed limits. We are organising a "European Citizen´s Initiative" - a fascinating, brand-new policy instrument in the European Union. That includes a huge effort as we must collect more than 1 million signatures within one year from at least 7 different member states of the EU. Season's Greetings Terry Zdan BA MEDes Policy & Service Development Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation 1520 215 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3 please note this is my only phone C 204 227 3724 E Terry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca

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Grist: Chicago likes bikes – and it's about to prove it in a big way
by Beth McKechnie 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

Chicago likes bikes — and it’s about to prove it in a big way By Lori Rotenberk <http://grist.org/author/lori-rotenberk/> http://grist.org/cities/chicago-like-bikes-and-its-about-to-prove-it-in-a-b… Look over your shoulder, Portland, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C. Chicago is about to roll out plans to lay down 645 miles of bike lanes by 2020. If you’re not careful, the Windy City is going to pedal off with the title of Most Bikeable City in the U.S. Today, the city’s bike-loving mayor, Rahm Emanuel, will unveil the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 <http://www.chicagobikes.org>, an aggressive bicycling blueprint that was a year in the making. With 30 miles of protected bike lanes already completed and another 70 promised before the end of Emanuel’s first term in 2015, the city’s new cycling infrastructure will weave through every neighborhood, assuring a path within a half-mile of every Chicagoan’s home. The unveiling takes place on Chicago’s once taxi-, auto-, and bus-infested Dearborn Street. The city spawned a wave of envy<http://streetsblog.net/2012/12/05/chicago-bike-lane-envy-sweeps-the-nation/…>among national bike bloggers this month when it removed a motor vehicle lane from the downtown artery, replacing it with a two-way protected cycling lane complete with bike traffic signals<http://grist.org/news/traffic-signals-for-cyclists-pop-up-nationwide/> . Michael Amsden, a project manager for the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Bike Program says swiping a lane from drivers took “lots of political know-how,” adding that “no other city has cut through dense traffic” in that manner. While other cities have been putting in bike infrastructure for years, what sets Chicago apart, Amsden says, is the sheer super-speed at which the city has laid down protected bike lanes, going from “zero to second-most in the country in just 18 months.” City officials hint that converting car lanes into bike lanes is the way of Chicago’s future. The mastermind of all this action is Chicago transportation czar Gabe Klein<http://grist.org/transportation/2011-12-15-zen-and-the-art-of-urban-transpo…>, known for cruising town on his Dutch-style two-wheeler sporting vintage linen suits. In many areas of the city, Klein says, lane installation is tied with planned infrastructure improvements, which will make the work less expensive. And while initial funding for the project is local, next year the city will work with federal funds awarded through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program. But the plan’s strongest asset, say supporters, is its backing from the public: It’s a grid designed by the people for the people. To create it, CDOT teamed up with the Active Transportation Alliance<http://www.activetrans.org/>, a local nonprofit advocacy group that set up community meetings in nine areas of the city. Alliance volunteers met monthly for a year with residents in neighborhood bars, restaurants, and homes to discuss where they wanted to see the bike lanes installed. Major obstacles included the city’s numerous rail lines, waterways, and high-crime areas. Large maps detailing the routes were delivered to CDOT engineers. “To my knowledge,” says Lee Crandell, the Alliance’s director of campaigns, “no other city has involved the public as much as Chicago has.” Klein hopes to see the number of cars on the roads — and their speed — decrease. (According to the 2010 census, only 1.3 percent of Chicagoans bike to work, but studies show more would if they felt safe.) Future engineering includes more pedestrian crosswalks, bus-only lanes, and digital speed signs for motorists along busy thoroughfares. Over time, Amsden envisions the Windy City becoming less frenetic as the “Mary Poppins Effect” <http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/the-mary-poppins-effect/> kicks in – that is, as racing bikes and Spandex give way to more casual cruisers and street clothes. “When motorists see someone dressed in their work clothes riding a bike with a bell and a basket, while sitting upright, they seem to slow down because the cyclist’s look calls for respect,” Amsden says. “Drivers in Amsterdam, for example, know how to drive next to a person on a bicycle.” There’s been little opposition to Emanuel’s quest to transform Chicago’s driving habits. One of the few outspoken critics is John Kass, a plump (“readers tell me that bicycling to work would seriously improve the sculpt of my buttocks”)*,* car-driving *Chicago Tribune* columnist who has often painted cyclists and their protected lanes as either hipsters or snobs. When Emanuel gushed about progressive transportation and the need for sustainability in times of environmental shifts, Kass wailed that bike riders are the “One Percenters of the Commuter Class.”<http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-22/news/ct-met-kass-0822-2012082…> “We thought we’d be able to get through the summer without reading a nakedly antagonistic-to-bicyclists story,” moaned a writer on the Chicagoist<http://chicagoist.com/2012/08/22/john_kass_bullshit_bike_lanes_post.php>blog. “Leave it to Tribune curmudgeon John Kass to piss in our Corn Flakes yet again.” Pete Scales, spokesman for CDOT, estimates the city spent $4 million on the 30 miles built in 2012. City Hall considers it a small investment with a large return. Bike lanes, Emanuel and Klein believe, will attract new and young entrepreneurs and high-tech companies to Chicago. Crandell adds that studies have proven that bike lanes help fuel the local economy. “It is said that the faster a credit card goes by your door, the less likely it is that card will be used in your store,” he explains. “When someone is on a bike, they can just pull over, hop off, and park. And biking creates more bike-related businesses.” Last year *Bike Magazine* listed Chicago as the 10th most friendly city for riding. This year it rose to No. 5. CDOT hopes that the Dearborn improvements will put the city in the lead. But can Emanuel really make good on such ambitious promises, given Americans’ love affair with the automobile? Word is that in Emanuel-speak, he’s f#!*ing determined. “I’m a big believer in getting things done versus talking about them,” says Klein. “So is the mayor. We have a moral responsibility to make change as soon as possible.” Lori Rotenberk is a Chicago-based journalist whose work has appeared in the *New York Times*, *The Boston Globe*, *Chicago Wilderness Magazine*, and the *Chicago Sun-Times*. She is also also wild about nature. Follow her on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/@loriandwhillie>.

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cyclelogistics - Moving Goods by Cycle
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

http://cyclelogistics.eu/index.php?id=4 cyclelogistics - Moving Goods by Cycle Running from May 2011 until April 2014 and spanning 12 countries, the EU-funded project CycleLogistics aims to reduce energy used in urban freight transport by replacing unnecessary motorised vehicles with cargo bikes for intra-urban delivery and goods transport in Europe. CycleLogistics will expand its niche market position and be regarded as a serious alternative for the transportation of light goods in inner cities. This will be achieved by: * Communicating topic and potential to the transport sector in order to shift more goods transport from cars to cargo bikes. Existing cycle couriers will also be encouraged to transport heavier loads by utilising electric assist. * Motivating municipalities to create a favorable regulatory framework and policies for cycle logistics, to analyze the internal potential to employ cargo bikes for municipal services, and to encourage business services to take advantage of cycle logistics. * Encouraging private individuals to use cargo bikes, trailers and baskets to transport shopping and leisure time equipment, while at the same time ensuring that retailers provide customers with incentives and necessary infrastructure. * Testing and reporting on various cargo bike transport products (cargo bikes, trailers, electric motors and bags & baskets), and therefore promoting their uptake by providing potential consumers - private, business and government - across Europe with access to valuable information. FYI the Ikea store in Winnipeg has bike racks but no cargo trailers for bikes. Season's Greetings Terry Zdan BA MEDes Policy & Service Development Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation 1520 215 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3 please note this is my only phone C 204 227 3724 E Terrry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca

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Cyclists and Pedestrians Can End Up Spending More Each Month Than Drivers
by Dave Elmore 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/12/cyclists-and-pedestrians-ca n-end-spending-more-each-month-drivers/4066/ Cyclists and Pedestrians Can End Up Spending More Each Month Than Drivers Kelly Clifton <http://kellyjclifton.com/> has heard this stereotype a number of times: "Cyclists are just a bunch of kids who don't have any money," says the professor of civil and environmental engineering at Portland State University. "They ride their bikes to a coffee shop, they sit there for four hours with their Macintoshes, they're not really spending any money." If you're a shopkeeper with such suspicions, you're probably not on board with any plan that would cut down on parking right outside your door. Cyclists are the ones with time to kill; drivers are the ones with money. This perception is problematic in a place like Portland, where the bike-friendly city government is now looking to extend the reach of bike infrastructure - and the appeal of bikes themselves - to newer riders and neighbourhoods farther afield from the urban core. "As we move out beyond those areas into more auto-oriented areas," Clifton says, "we start to see businesses say, 'Hey, wait a minute. You're taking away on-street parking to put in bike lanes, you're taking away the one parking spot in front of my store to put in a bike corral. I don't see many bikers around here. So what does this mean for me?" Until now there hasn't been much empirical evidence to allay such concerns. Clifton and several colleagues have attempted to fill that research gap in a project for the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium <http://www.otrec.us/> (read a PDF of the draft report here <http://kellyjclifton.com/Research/EconImpactsofBicycling/OTRECReport-ConsBe havTravelChoices_Nov2012.pdf> ). They surveyed 1,884 people walking out of area convenience stores, restaurants and bars, and another 19,653 who'd just done their supermarket shopping. Some of the results are unsurprising: Drivers still make up a plurality of customers to all of these businesses. And, with greater trunk capacity, they far outspend people who travel to the grocery store by foot, bike or transit. But for all of the other business types examined, bikers actually out-consumed drivers over the course of a month. True, they often spent less per visit. But cyclists and pedestrians in particular made more frequent trips (by their own estimation) to these restaurants, bars and convenience stores, and those receipts added up. This finding is logical: It's a lot easier to make an impulse pizza stop if you're passing by an aromatic restaurant on foot or bike instead of in a passing car at 35 miles an hour. Such frequent visits are part of the walkable culture. Compare European communities - where it's common to hit the bakery, butcher and fish market on the way home from work - to U.S. communities where the weekly drive to Walmart's supermarket requires an hour of dedicated planning. "It's not just a phenomenon born of the need to carry things," Clifton says. Walkable (and bikeable) communities by definition facilitate a more frequent interaction between patrons and businesses. This means these bikers and pedestrians are also more regular customers. "That also says something about marketing," Clifton says, "about customer loyalty, about neighborhood-based businesses." The study examined 89 businesses across the region, 11 of them grocery stores. At the bars, convenience stores and restaurants (all high-turnover sit-down pizza and Mexican spots), researchers snagged consumers on their way out between June and early October of last year. They gave them a 5-to-10 minute tablet questionnaire about their demographics and travel behavior, how they'd traveled that day, what they'd spent, and how often they estimated they visited the business each month. The researchers coordinated with a local grocery store chain to survey customers there during a single week this April. Their findings are neatly summarized in these three graphs. This first one shows how much consumers spent on average per trip, by transportation mode: Here, people estimated how many trips they took per month: And this is the total estimate of consumer spending per month: There are obviously some other factors at play here. Families with cars are less likely to eat out than single young professionals on a bike. And we'd all prefer that drivers run up smaller bar tabs than pedestrians. Clifton also raises another possibility (although this particular study can't verify it): "Does Portland have a green dividend?" she asks, citing a concept coined by economist Joe Cortright <http://www.ceosforcities.org/city-dividends/green/special-reports/portland/ > . Cars are costly. And Portland's green infrastructure means many people don't have to foot that expense. "Do we then have more money in our pockets," Clifton asks, "to spend on other things?" As Portland begins to make tougher decisions about bike infrastructure, this is an intriguing point. The "young and fearless," as Clifton calls them, are already biking there. These are the riders who will happily dodge cars and thunderstorms without much dedicated infrastructure. Now the city needs to coax what Clifton calls the "interested but concerned." These are the people who will require a higher level of accommodation - separated bike lanes, actual bike parking - and therefore some tougher conversations about what that might mean for scarce resources and roadway (and for the drivers who might be impacted by reallocating them). "If only we had asked these questions when we invested in the automobile," Clifton says. "On the one hand, we're asking the right questions. But we're also holding non-motorized modes up to a different standard than we have held the automobile."

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UPDATE: TOPIC CHANGE! (Presentation on The New Pedestrian Control Guide) Fwd: ITE Manitoba monthly lunch Presentation on Thursday, December 13th
by Anders Swanson 12 Dec '12

12 Dec '12

[ Hi folks, quick note: the topic for this lunch and learn had a last minute change, and now may not be quite as relevant to active transportation (although I imagine the lunch would still be tasty.) The Pedestrian Control Guide topic has been deferred to 2013. - Anders] Hi everyone,**** ** ** The topic of the December ITE Manitoba monthly lunch meeting has changed. *Dr. Jeannette Montufar* will still be presenting, but the new topic will be *CITE National Initiatives*. The presentation on The New Pedestrian Control Guide will likely be done sometime in 2013. Sorry for the sudden change! The information at www.itemanitoba.ca has been updated.**** ** ** We would also like to remind everyone that the ITE Manitoba Executive elections will take place at the December meeting. The details of the meeting are:**** ** ** Date: Thursday, December 13th**** Time: 12 noon**** Location: The Round Table (800 Pembina Highway)**** ** ** We still hope to see everyone come out next Thursday!**** ** ** *Björn Rådström,** **BSc**(CE), P. Eng.***** ITE Manitoba Secretary**** ** ** ** ** ** ** Hello everyone,**** **** It is finally here, the first ITE Manitoba monthly lunch presentation will be on Thursday, December 13th! As usual, it will take place at 12 noon at The Round Table at 800 Pembina Highway. Our presenter this month is *Dr. Jeannette Montufar, P. Eng.*, of the University of Manitoba. Dr. Montufar’s presentation is on *The New Pedestrian Control Guide*.**** **** Dr. Montufar is a professional engineer registered in Manitoba and Alberta, and Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. She is also Principal of Montufar Group, a transportation consulting firm specializing in road safety and freight transportation. Dr. Montufar has done extensive work in the U.S. and Canada on projects dealing with road safety, freight transportation, the application of advanced technologies to commercial vehicle operations, truck size and weight policy, goods movement in urban areas, traffic information systems, and the automation of data collection systems. She has worked for the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio; the Texas Transportation Institute in College Station, Texas; and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan.**** **** The cost for the presentation and lunch is $20 for members and guests, and $15 for students. This notice can also be found at www.itemanitoba.ca. We hope to see you all there next week!**** **** *Björn Rådström,** **BSc**(CE), P. Eng.***** ITE Manitoba Secretary****

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PUB orders MPI to improve cycling safety
by Charles Feaver 12 Dec '12

12 Dec '12

This fall, Bike to the Future collaborated with the Manitoba Cycling Association to make its first ever presentation to the Public Utilities Board identifying concerns that MPI fails to teach motorists how to drive safely near cyclists, both in their Driver Education booklet and in their public advertising. The PUB picked up on several points we emphasized in their Order [http://www.pub.gov.mb.ca/pdf/mpi07/157-12.pdf .]. 1. Section 10.0: "It is therefore recommended that: 3. MPI review and act upon the recommendations put forward by the presenters from Bike to the Future and the Manitoba Cycling Association with respect to road safety and messaging to motorists regarding cyclists." 2. Section 11: "It is therefore ordered that: A Road Safety Research Technical Conference take place to discuss Road Safety matters, involving interveners and community partners, to be held on or before March 31, 2013." ... that the PUB expects MPI "would seek to involve scientist and experts from North America on road safety issues such as . roadway bicycle safety, and the role of other road safety investments" and will include in the conference interveners and community partners, among others. Further, "The Board anticipates that at the next GRA [General Rate Application] proceeding, MPI will come forward with new road safety initiatives, including with respect to . bicyclists ., in addition to its ongoing initiatives relative to unsafe speed, impaired driving and seatbelt usage. 3. The PUB noted the Corporation's goal, as stated in its Strategic Plan, that it will become a community leader and act as a central repository to facilitate the sharing of data amongst stakeholders for research and making informed decisions, and to take a more active role in road safety research. This responds to Bike to the Future's request for more and better data relating to cycling safety. The Road Safety Technical Conference could have a huge impact on cycling and safety if it brings in experts from cities that have successfully increased cycling traffic, and develops a consensus among leaders of government departments and police forces on how to manage circulation in order to increase the safety of cyclists.

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Pro Walk Pro Bike link to videos and presentations
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

The bi-annual *Pro Walk Pro Bike* is the premier conference for everything walking- and cycling-related in North America. Even if you weren't able to attend the 2012 conference in Long Beach, CA (alas, I am among that group), you can check out videos of keynote presenters and powerpoints from breakout sessions here: http://www.pps.org/pwpb2012/presentations/ I haven't watched it yet but the rousing keynote by Mark Gorton that closed the conference was apparently quite popular: video - http://www.pps.org/we-are-the-majority-the-cars-dont-vote/ presentation - http://rethinktheauto.org/national-presentation/ Note that the next PWPB conference<http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburgh-to-…>takes place Sept 8-12, 2014, a little closer to home -- Pittsburgh. cheers, Beth

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Cycling Health and Safety - An overview of research
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

Cycling Health and Safety An overview of cycling health and safety research Prepared By: *Chris Cavacuiti BA, MD, CCFP, MHSc, ASAM* Staff Physician, St. Michael's Hopsital, Department of Family and Community Medicine Toronto, Ontario Introduction In my cycling-related research work with Share the Road and the St. Michael’s Dept. of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, I’ve been truly impressed with the breadth and quality of the studies that have been published on this topic. As anyone who has an interest in cycling health and safety research will tell you, there are some incredibly smart and dedicated researchers out there who have made this topic their life’s work. When I speak to other cycling researchers and advocates, one of the biggest challenges they tell me that they face is finding and organizing the wealth of data that is already out there. I am often approached by journalists, researchers and advocates who are looking for more information on a particular area of cycling research, but there was usually nowhere I could send them for quick and easy access to the information they wanted. These experiences made me realize that what I and many others needed was a well-organized, well cited and text-searchable overview of key cycling research that would contain many of the most important facts, figures and findings in this field. I approached Eleanor McMahon at Share the Road with this idea and asked her if Share the Road would be interested in helping to organize this overview and host it on their website. Share the Road thought this was a great idea and kindly agreed to help. So in the summer of 2012, Share the Road and I hired a very bright and capable young summer student (Matthew Cheah), to help us put together this overview. I’d like to personally thank Eleanor McMahon and Matthew Cheah for all their work in helping make this overview a reality. I’d also like to thank Cary Moretti for his IT input and support with this project (…and for putting up with me talking about this project on more than a few of our long rides together!) One final word - we’ve made every effort to keep the statistics and wording in this overview as close to the original documents as possible and to correctly cite each and every fact, figure and quotation we’ve included. However, this document is no replacement for reading the original articles and we’d encourage those who are using this overview to cross-reference our statistics with the original documents. Believe us - they are well worth the read! Happy searching! http://www.sharetheroad.ca/files/Cycling_Safety_Overview___2012_12_05.pdf

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(Presentation on The New Pedestrian Control Guide) Fwd: ITE Manitoba monthly lunch Presentation on Thursday, December 13th
by Anders Swanson 06 Dec '12

06 Dec '12

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Hello everyone, It is finally here, the first ITE Manitoba monthly lunch presentation will be on Thursday, December 13th! As usual, it will take place at 12 noon at The Round Table at 800 Pembina Highway. Our presenter this month is Dr. Jeannette Montufar, P. Eng., of the University of Manitoba. Dr. Montufar’s presentation is on The New Pedestrian Control Guide. Dr. Montufar is a professional engineer registered in Manitoba and Alberta, and Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. She is also Principal of Montufar Group, a transportation consulting firm specializing in road safety and freight transportation. Dr. Montufar has done extensive work in the U.S. and Canada on projects dealing with road safety, freight transportation, the application of advanced technologies to commercial vehicle operations, truck size and weight policy, goods movement in urban areas, traffic information systems, and the automation of data collection systems. She has worked for the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio; the Texas Transportation Institute in College Station, Texas; and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The cost for the presentation and lunch is $20 for members and guests, and $15 for students. This notice can also be found at www.itemanitoba.ca< http://www.itemanitoba.ca>. We hope to see you all there next week! Björn Rådström, BSc(CE), P. Eng. ITE Manitoba Secretary

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RFP - City of Winnipeg Cycling and Walking Master Plan NOW OUT
by Anders Swanson 06 Dec '12

06 Dec '12

Of interest to all planning/engineering/consulting firms with expertise in cycling/walking facilities: http://www.winnipeg.ca/MatMgt/FolderContents.asp?FOLDER_ NAME=891-2012&YEAR=2012

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Bicycling Infrastructure: Don't Let the Perfect Become the Enemy of the Good
by Dave Elmore 05 Dec '12

05 Dec '12

http://www.chicagonow.com/easy-as-riding-a-bike/2012/12/perfect-become-the-e nemy-of-the-good/ Bicycling Infrastructure: Don't Let the Perfect Become the Enemy of the Good By Brent Cohrs, Monday at 10:19 am When it comes to safe and efficient bicycling infrastructure, few nations can rival the Netherlands. It really seems that the Dutch have thought of everything. As this video shows, a transportation system that gives equal consideration to those choosing to travel under their own power by bike and purposely addresses the differences of speed and mass between bicycles and motor vehicles can result in a win-win for all road users. We need only look at the number of fatalities to see the proof. The Netherlands experiences 1.1 deaths per 100 million kilometers traveled versus the US average of 5.8 for the same distance. I pointed out in last week <http://www.chicagonow.com/easy-as-riding-a-bike/2012/11/wearing-a-bike-helm et/> 's post about helmet usage that the remarkable aspect of Dutch bicycling being five times safer is that their number of trips taken by bike is also twenty-seven times greater than ours. Success like this heartens bicycle advocates who truly believe in the Field of Dreams approach; "if you build it, they will come." In a perfect world - or more precisely a perfect United States - citizens would come together and demand a transportation system that accommodates all users equally. Whichever mode an individual chose for him or herself - personal vehicle, mass transit, bicycle, or own two feet - would be equally safe by design. There would still be trade-offs and sacrifices among choices, but personal safety wouldn't be one of them. As we cycling advocates talk amongst ourselves and admire the Dutch (and the Danes), we're all painfully aware that they didn't become ultra bike-friendly overnight. Political will for major changes began in the 1970s when the nation became fed up with the number of children killed by automobiles, the leveling of historic buildings to create parking spaces, growing traffic congestion, and worsening smog. They vowed to nip their problem in the bud and today have a much different flower to show for their efforts. We're not so lucky in the US. Our love affair with the car grew unabated through two oil shortages and volatile swings in gasoline pricing over the past 40 years. Vehicles didn't shrink in size like they did in Europe, they grew larger! Mass transit has had to fight tooth and nail for federal transportation funding. Bicycling and pedestrian advocates have only held a seat at the table for the past decade and we're still sitting on folding chairs. As much as we bicycling advocates would like to achieve the perfect, we'll be lucky if we can attain the "good enough". Not that we won't keep striving and pushing the general public toward that tipping point when not riding a bike will be viewed as more hazardous to one's health than riding a bike. We just need to stay patient, remain persistent, and continue to win little battles, savoring our victories and inspiring our troops. But we also have to be realistic. We need to acknowledge that right now and for the foreseeable future, we have an incomplete infrastructure. Too few protected bike lanes. Too many lanes that end abruptly or deliver us to unsafe intersections. Too much inconsistency with sharrows <http://gridchicago.com/2012/cdot-fast-to-build-new-bikeways-but-needs-to-re ctify-existing-ones/> , bike lanes, and cycle tracks. Lanes that put us in the door zone or subject us to the hazard of the right-hook. We all know the system's shortfalls. In the meantime, we still need to ride the streets we have and stay safe doing so. The best thing we Illinois cyclists have going for us is Public Act 095-0231 <http://ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=095-0231> or as I like to refer to it, the Three-Foot Law. In this 2008 transportation act, motorists must give a minimum of three feet of clearance when passing a bicycle traveling in the same direction. We are not only required to stay as far to the right as is practicable, but as is safe. This means that we may pass other cyclists on the left, move left to avoid potholes, ride clear of the door zone, cross to the left turn lane, and move to the left of the right turn lane at intersections. This is the law and these are our rights. While we wait for the good to become the perfect through the efforts of our advocacy groups, we can all learn to adjust our riding to the incomplete infrastructure we have in place right now.

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Close passing and edge hazard zones for cyclists (Gutierrez)
by Beth McKechnie 05 Dec '12

05 Dec '12

Hello everyone, The link below takes you to a series of slides that clearly articulate the space required for cyclists on the road. Thanks to Bob Kurylko for forwarding. Please note that it was identified as "a work still in progress by Dan Gutierrez." In my mind, Dan's diagrams and explanations perfectly capture why so many people are too scared to cycle in traffic. Being trapped riding in the edge hazard combined with the close pass zone creates a scary and dangerous situation that current standards for bicycle facilities don't address adequately. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-Gu4I2V0ZScbTR0MHhoZHh2RzQ<https://docs.google.com/a/greenactioncentre.ca/file/d/0B-Gu4I2V0ZScbTR0MHho…> cheers, Beth

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FW: AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities [ including Bicycle Transportation Networks]
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 03 Dec '12

03 Dec '12

FYI In my opinion much better than the Canadian TAC document “...1.1. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The objective of this project was to prepare a comprehensive update to the 1999 AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities. The Guide is recognized and accepted throughout the United States as the national guideline for bicycle facility planning and design. It has evolved over time - the 1981 edition of the Guide was 31 pages long and had only four pages of guidance on designing on‐road bicycle facilities. By the time the 1999 edition was published, the Guide had more than doubled in length, with considerably more information on planning, on‐road bicycle facility design, shared use path design, and operations and maintenance. Usage of the Guide has grown rapidly as nationwide spending on bicycle facilities has increased. Each successive federal transportation bill since ISTEA in 1991 has increased funding for bikeway construction in the U.S. Despite its popularity and utility, however, the 1999 edition of the Guide lacks important information, and does not reflect significant research findings of the past decade. Additionally, parts of the Guide need to incorporate changes from updated national references such as the "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices" (MUTCD) and the AASHTO "Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets," (AASHTO "Green Book"), among others. In 2004, the NCHRP Task 187 Report entitled "Updating the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities" conducted initial research, interviews, and a literature review to determine the recommended scope and content of the next edition of the Guide. That report made recommendations for numerous changes to the 1999 Guide. The new draft of the Guide incorporates these recommendations, along with new guidance and research, and practical experience gained through the design and construction of bikeways throughout the United States....” http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP_15-37_FR.pdf 204.488.8988

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Bikeway traffic control guidelines for Canada - Second edition (2012)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Dec '12

03 Dec '12

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Zdan, Terry (MIT)" <Terry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2012 08:55:27 -0600 Subject: Bikeway traffic control guidelines for Canada - Second edition (2012) Top of Form**** *Bikeway traffic control guidelines for Canada - Second edition (2012)***** **** Product Code: PTM-BIKEGD2-E**** *Bikeway Traffic Control Guidelines for Canada* outlines the appropriate traffic control for the installation of signs and pavement markings on bikeways and contains diagrams of typical installations. Many of the guidelines may be applicable to both on-road and off-road bikeways. **** This 118-page document was produced with the intention of providing guidance in the application of bicycle-related traffic control devices on bikeways that are within the public right of way. Signs and pavement markings must be designed carefully and installed properly to maximize their effectiveness. It is important that agencies responsible for the application of these guidelines use sound engineering judgement and principles when implementing bicycle-related traffic control devices. **** These guidelines are expected to evolve over time, depending on prudent engineering judgement, experimentation and testing which is anticipated to take place in an effort to continue addressing the needs of cyclists in Canada. **** Member Price: $150.00 *Regular Price: $199.50***** Bottom of Form**** ** ** ** ** Thank you and regards**** ** ** Terry Zdan BA MEDes**** ** ** Policy & Service Development**** Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation**** 1520 215 Garry Street**** Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3**** P 204 945 7381**** C 204 227 3724**** E Terrry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca**** ** ** ** **

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Ontario seeks public input for cycling improvements
by delmore＠mymts.net 01 Dec '12

01 Dec '12

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Province+seeks+public+input+cycling+i… seeks public input for cycling improvements The Ontario government wants to hear from you about how to improve cycling in the province. At a news conference Friday in Ottawa, Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Bob Chiarelli said the province is looking for public input to form the basis of a draft cycling strategy. The public has until Jan. 29, 2013, to offer comments on such things as improvements to cycling infrastructure, public education and legislation.Chiarelli said that starting in January, municipalities can also apply for funds under the new Municipal Infrastructure Program as it pertains to supporting the development of local cycling networks. Cycling infrastructure funds were not available to municipalities under the program in the past, but now they can apply for funds up to $2 million, he said.The draft cycling strategy will also look to create a provincial cycling network to connect destinations and recreational cycling and tourism routes, run public education campaigns with groups such as Share The Road, update the Driver’s Handbook to include better guidelines for cycling and sharing the road with other vehicles, and provide cycling safety and bike maintenance information with new bikes sold. “This means that what was in some respects a series of ad hoc initiatives that existed in Ontario by various stakeholders or municipalities and sometimes the province is (now) going to be much more comprehensive,” Chiarelli said in an interview.“It’s going to be better funded and it’s going to make a significant difference for cyclists, they’re going to be safer on the road, they’re going to have better infrastructure, and cycling will be more exciting for a lot of people because part of the policy is related to tourism so that we’re going to be connecting regions with cycling paths.”Chiarelli sad Ontario has “the safest roads” in North America, although cycling fatalities still do happen in the province. He said he hopes the new initiatives will help reduce the number of cycling fatalities in Ontario. “We’re going to have better infrastructure, more bike lanes and we’re going to have better educated drivers and cyclists. We think of cyclists becoming more educated, but automobile drivers need to be more educated and they need to know where the cyclists have the right to go on the road — they’re not only restricted to driving along the curb. They have access to the road under the appropriate circumstances and there are lot of drivers who don’t understand that,” he said.The announcement was welcomed by the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, a provincial cycling policy and advocacy organization, adding it was Ontario’s first cycling policy update in 20 years. “I think you are seeing a quantum leap forward in terms of parties in the legislature supporting this in each of their different ways,” Eleanor McMahon, founder of Share The Road Cycling Coalition, said at the news conference held at retailer Bushtukah. She founded the coalition after her husband, an OPP officer, was killed in 2006 by a motorist while cycling.“This is not the time for partisanship, it is the time for focusing on the safety of our most vulnerable citizens and making sure that there is clarity on our roadways so that motorists and cyclists can share the road in a safe way,” McMahon said. She said the coalition’s 2010 green paper on bicycling in the province, which was based on the responses of 1,200 people, outlined priorities on how the government could make Ontario more bicycle friendly. The coalition also endorsed the 2012 Coroner’s Review of Cycling Deaths in Ontario which called for cycling infrastructure and education investments.She said she hopes the province can meet municipalities “halfway” in coming up with a comprehensive cycling strategy.“Some of this stuff can seem quite mundane but it affects everybody in our day-to-day lives, if we want to cross an intersection and it doesn’t feel safe, or as cyclists we don’t have the proper turning opportunities,” McMahon said. “We’re taking about signage, infrastructure, bike lanes, and sometimes segregated bike lanes if at all possible. I know that any change creates opposition, but (public) education is important,” she said. Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/Province+seeks+public+input+cycling+imp…

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Metro Wpg: Idea to reduce residential speed limits gets more time (Nov.27'12)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Nov '12

29 Nov '12

Idea to reduce residential speed limits gets more timeBy Bernice Pontanilla | Metro Winnipeg http://metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/455414/idea-to-reduce-residential-speed-l… A City committee has ordered more study into a motion requesting a decrease to 40 km/h on Winnipeg’s residential streets. Councillors on the infrastructure renewal and public works committee voted in favour of a 60-day extension on the motion, which was originally brought to the July city council meeting by Coun. Harvey Smith (Daniel McIntyre) and Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski). Cycling and walking advocate Anders Swanson delivered a detailed PowerPoint presentation to committee members, stating that in collisions between cars, pedestrians and cyclists, speed is a huge determinant of the outcomes. “What chance do you give people?,” Swanson said. “Pedestrians have a less than 50% chance of surviving an impact at 45 km/h, pedestrians have almost no chance of surviving an impact at 80 km/h.” Swanson used pictures from his travels in Europe to demonstrate different methods of handling traffic, be it vehicles, bikes or pedestrians. He also showed what a street beside a Winnipeg school would look like if these European methods were used. Committee member Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) said she’d like the City’s administration to do a cost benefit analysis, with ideas on phased-in approaches or pilot projects. This motion has no bearing on the speed limit in school zones, which is 30 km/h.

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Which really is more deadly: cycling or sitting down watching TV?
by Dave Elmore 28 Nov '12

28 Nov '12

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2012/nov/28/deadly-cycling-s itting-watching-tv Which really is more deadly: cycling or sitting down watching TV? New scientific guidance about the 'invisible danger' of inactivity puts cycle safety in perspective Sometimes, it seems, to get some perspective on the vexed issue of cycling <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/cycling> and particularly cycle safety you need to chat not to a transport expert, let alone a government official, but a scientist. This occurred to me earlier this week as I watched three fairly eminent scientists with a specialism in public health unveil new recommendations by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence <http://www.nice.org.uk/> . Our news story on it is here <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/28/cycle-walk-maintain-health-ad vises-nice> , but in essence it calls for walking and cycling to become the norm for short trips as a way to combat the increasingly desperate extent of health problems connected to inactivity and obesity <http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/obesity> . After they'd introduced the report the floor was open for questions. One of the first was on cycle safety: had they taken into account the potential perils of riding a bike? The answer from Dr Harry Rutter <http://www.noo.org.uk/about/NOO_team> , lead author of the report and an adviser at the National Obesity Observatory - they gather data on obesity, as opposed to peering at the big-boned from a very great distance - is worth quoting in full: All activities carry a risk. For some reason there seems to be strong focus on the risk of injury associated with cycling. Clearly, when deaths do takes place that's tragic, and we need to do all we can to avoid them. But I think there is a perception that cycling is much more dangerous than it really is. This focus on the dangers of cycling is something to do with the visibility of them, and the attention it's given. What we don't notice is that if you were to spend an hour a day riding a bike rather than being sedentary and driving a car there's a cost to that sedentary time. It's silent, it doesn't get noticed. What we're talking about here is shifting the balance from that invisible danger of sitting still towards the positive health benefits of cycling. It's something most cyclists know about but it's worth reiterating. Plus, I like the notion of an "invisible danger". People go on at exhaustive length about the perils of cycling because cycling remains niche. Sitting around on one's arse watching EastEnders and eating Pringles is, however, a national pursuit, and not enough people make the connection between that and an impact on health which is, the scientists told us, now on a par with that from smoking. In the collection of quotes assembled for the press pack there was a good one on this point from Philip Insall, head of health for the active transport charity Sustrans <http://www.sustrans.org.uk/> : If a virus was this deadly it would fill the front pages and dominate debate in parliament. The second point that caught my attention came in response to a slightly carping question from me. Such advice, I asked, is all very well but will it really change much in the absence of concerted government action over safe walking and cycling routes? Professor Mike Kelly <http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/whoweare/seniormanagementteam/professormik ekelly.jsp> of Nice sighed very slightly and presented me with a parallel: efforts to curb smoking. It took a full 60 years after the proof of cigarettes' harm to reach the relative nirvana of a ban on smoking in public places. View the report, he said, not as an end in itself but as "one further accumulation of the evidence", part of a long-term process, albeit one he hopes will take less than 60 years. Good advice, particularly for a semi-professional cycle policy malcontent such as me. Perhaps the best point, however, came again from Rutter as he was asked what more could be done to promote active travel. He replied: There are two interventions that we know increase walking and cycling: living in the Netherlands and living in Denmark. Behind the half absurd statement lies this central truth: there's no magic behind getting people on their feet or on their bikes, it just takes sufficient political will. If the Dutch and Danish did so in the 1960s and 70s, so can we now.

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New Active Transportation Fund Launched
by Beth McKechnie 27 Nov '12

27 Nov '12

[In case you haven't seen it yet: http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/press/top/2012/11/2012-11-27-130900-15693.html] November 27, 2012 MANITOBA SUPPORTS ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL COMMUNITIES– – – *New Active Transportation Fund Launched* Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 27, 2012 – New Active Transportation funding is now available to help rural communities start projects and improve local infrastructure designed to encourage people to use alternatives to motor vehicle transportation. Municipalities and northern communities with populations of fewer than 50,000 residents are eligible to apply to the Active Transportation Fund, made possible by a $1-million investment from the federal Gas Tax Fund. “This program builds on the Small Communities Transit Fund launched in 2010, making $1 million in federal Gas Tax funding available to cost-share active transportation projects with eligible municipalities over the next two years,” said the Honourable Ron Lemieux,Local Government Minister. “People are becoming more health and environmentally conscious and are switching to public transportation, bicycles and walking. As these activities increase, people will see improved health benefits, lower transportation costs and fewer cars and trucks on the road. Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is good for us and for our environment.” “Our Government is committed to supporting infrastructure projects in municipalities across Canada,” said the Honourable Steven Fletcher, Minister of State (Transport) and Member of Parliament for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia. “We are proud of our $1-million investment in this program which will help municipalities across Manitoba promote environmentally friendly transportation. The Gas Tax fund is just one of the ways our Government is carrying out our promise to help create jobs and stimulate economic growth across the country.” The program provides 50 per cent cost-shared funding for eligible projects up to a maximum of $50,000 per project. Eligible projects include: - bike racks/lockers; - bike paths; - sidewalks and other pathways for pedestrian use; - lighting and signage on trails, sidewalks and bike paths; and - active transportation design/project plans that lead to future active transportation development. “The benefits of active transportation for Manitoba communities are wide ranging,” said Association of Manitoba Municipalities President Doug Dobrowolski. “This initiative will reduce pressure on our over-burdened municipal streets and roads. The health of our citizens is also important to local governments. That’s why active transportation options are a win-win – they reduce costs and improve our quality of life.” The Manitoba government is launching a dedicated active transportation website to promote and support small communities in developing sustainable active transportation options. The website offers Manitoba success stories; resources and tools for municipalities, schools and community groups; information on safety; maps of trails and pathways around the province; and information on programs and agencies that support active transportation. The new provincial government web address is www.gov.mb.ca/ia/index.html. Together, all these tools and resources will help municipalities integrate active transportation planning, design and implementation with land use and transportation planning. Today’s commitments are part of the Manitoba government’s three-year action plan to promote and improve active transportation across Manitoba. The Government of Canada’s Gas Tax Fund provides long-term funding to local governments to help them build and revitalize public infrastructure. In December 2011, the Government of Canada passed legislation to make the Gas Tax Fund a permanent annual investment of $2 billion per year. Through this fund alone, the federal government provides $66,157,000 in funding annually for municipal infrastructure in Manitoba. The Government of Canada has engaged provinces, territories, municipalities and key stakeholders in a series of roundtables to guide the development of a new long-term infrastructure plan that will support job creation, economic growth and prosperity. To improve infrastructure across Canada and ensure affordability and sustainability over the long term, the Government’s new plan will encourage greater use of public-private partnerships. This will help leverage new investments in infrastructure, while respecting Canadian taxpayers’ ability to pay. Lemieux noted the Action Plan on Active Transportation is part of Manitoba’s green plan called TomorrowNow, which sets out an eight-year strategic action plan for mobilizing Manitobans to work together to protect the environment, while ensuring a prosperous and environmentally conscious economy. More information can be found at: www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/tomorrownowgreenplan/. - 30 -

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Reminder: Manitoba's Walking and Wheeling Webinar Series
by Shoni Litinsky 27 Nov '12

27 Nov '12

Hi Everyone, This message is just to remind you about our Active and Safe Routes to School Program's upcoming Walking and Wheeling webinars. The first two webinars of the series are this Friday, November 30th. - 11:30am-12:30pm - How to start a bike repair program and shop in your school or community. Presented by Geoff Heath, mechanical director at The WRENCH. - 12:30-1:00pm - 10 Bike Safety Tips for kids age 9-11. Presented by Dave Elmore of Green Action Centre If you would like to register or learn more about any of our five sessions, please visit this page. <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/walking-and-wheeling-webinar-series/> Please circulate to interested friends and colleagues! Thank you, -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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Re: [At-network] Green Action Centre's submission regarding proposed speed limit increases
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 27 Nov '12

27 Nov '12

For your consideration google "vulnerable road users" ________________________________ From: at-network-bounces(a)lists.umanitoba.ca <at-network-bounces(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> To: AT network <at-network(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> Sent: Tue Nov 27 08:51:17 2012 Subject: [At-network] Green Action Centre's submission regarding proposed speed limit increases Hi everyone, In the spirit of sharing, here's the letter that Green Action Centre is submitting to The Highway Traffic Board regarding the proposed speed limit increases on four-lane divided roadways. cheers, Beth

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Green Action Centre's submission regarding proposed speed limit increases
by Beth McKechnie 27 Nov '12

27 Nov '12

Hi everyone, In the spirit of sharing, here's the letter that Green Action Centre is submitting to The Highway Traffic Board regarding the proposed speed limit increases on four-lane divided roadways. cheers, Beth

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30 km zones - Copenhagenize analysis
by Beth McKechnie 27 Nov '12

27 Nov '12

In the spirit of current discussions, here's some analysis [pdf attached] from Copenhagenize regarding the impact on pedestrians and cyclists of raising/decreasing posted speed limits. cheers, Beth

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BttF position against proposed higher speed limits
by Charles Feaver 27 Nov '12

27 Nov '12

Please find attached the policy position Bike to the Future will be presenting to the Highway Traffic Board hearing Tuesday opposing the raising of certain speed limits in the City of Winnipeg We are very concerned that higher speed limits on any residential or commercial streets would make those streets more dangerous and would put another barrier in the way of Manitobans choosing to make short trips on foot or by bike. Sign up to the Bike to the Future mailing list to be part of upcoming campaigns to push for lower speed limits and safer streets. http://biketothefuture.org/get-involved/email-list

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Oregon Scenic Bikeways --is something like this possible in Manitoba?
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 26 Nov '12

26 Nov '12

Oregon's innovative Scenic Bikeways program offers the very best of Oregon's scenic, historic, natural and cultural experiences - from the seat of a bike. Learn more about the Oregon Scenic Bikeways program<http://rideoregonride.com/inspiration/scenic-bikeways/>. Oregon: The land of dreamers. And the land cyclists dream about. The concept of the Ride Oregon site emerged from the creative energy of hundreds of cyclists who gather each year for the Oregon Bike Summit<http://www.oregonbikesummit.com/> with the goal of making Oregon the premier cycling state. The need for a site like this was identified years ago, but in 2008 the #1 recreation and tourism strategy targeted at the Summit was to develop an online epicenter for information on cycling in Oregon, to continue progress toward making our state the best place in America to ride a bike. Travel Oregon is the agency charged with encouraging economic growth and enhancing the quality of life in Oregon by strengthening the economic impact of tourism throughout the state. The agency stepped up to the plate and brought the site to life between 2008 and 2009 with the help of a diverse and robust work group (see Partners<http://www.rideoregonride.com/partners/>) and a brilliant digital branding firm, Substance.<http://findsubstance.com/> What you find on this site is the result of years of exploring. Years of building. And years of dreaming. Thank you and regards Terry Zdan BA MEDes Policy & Service Development Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation 1520 215 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3 P 204 945 7381 C 204 227 3724 E Terrry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca

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Fw: International Transport Forum recommends 12 ways for governments to make roads safer for pedestrians
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 24 Nov '12

24 Nov '12

________________________________ From: Dr. Lane <dr.lane(a)shaw.ca> To: Zdan, Terry (MIT) Sent: Sat Nov 24 11:20:57 2012 Subject: International Transport Forum recommends 12 ways for governments to make roads safer for pedestrians http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/11/itf-20121122.html Key recommendations of the report are: 1. Integrate the needs of pedestrians at the earliest stages of urban planning projects and transport investments. 2. Establish clear administrative responsibilities at all levels of government for coordination of initiatives to promote walking. 3. Improve knowledge about walking: Create a standardized methodology for measuring, reporting and monitoring pedestrian mobility. Create national pedestrian observatories and encourage international comparisons. 4. Treat public transport services as an integrated part of the development of new urban areas. This can support a shift towards higher-density, mixed-use walking and transit-oriented urban environments. 5. Give more space to non-motorized traffic in city centres: Provide easy, safe, well-maintained pedestrian access to public transport and city center destinations. Develop car-free areas, discourage over-use of cars in city centres, and prevent parking on pavements and pedestrian crossings. 6. Develop national pedestrian planning guidance for local administrations. Plans should routinely consider the impact of projects on pedestrians and cyclists. They should also include targets for future levels of walking. 7. Encourage employers to create incentives for employees to walk and cycle to work. 8. Adopt a “safe system” approach for the design of walking environments. (The “safe system” approach recognizes that road users make mistakes and requires road design to take account of this to reduce the risk of serious injury). 9. Implement traffic-calming zones and generalize 30 km/h zones (19 mph) in areas with high pedestrian activity. 10. Introduce high-quality road safety education in schools and local community centres. 11. Review current traffic codes to strengthen the legal and financial protection of pedestrians. 12. Commission more research to better understand mobility behavior and trends. http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?sf1=identifiers&st1=9789282103… Terry Zdan 126 Duncan Norrie Drive Winnipeg, MB R3P 2J9 204.488.8988

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AT Webinar: Data and Resources to Propel Local Walking Programs and Solutions - Thurs, Nov. 29, 1-2:30, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 23 Nov '12

23 Nov '12

Green Action Centre invites you to join us for a local viewing of the upcoming America Trails webinar at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion of local applications.* *Detailed description provided below. *Data and Resources to Propel Local Walking Programs and Solutions Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 | 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! Please note that this is a free webinar, so you can also register individually if you prefer (https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/886842880) . cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * All Things Walking Webinar Series *Webinar Topic #1: Data and Resources to Propel Local Walking Programs and Solutions* ** ** *Have you wondered how to keep up with all the tools and data available for successful local walking initiatives?* This webinar, the "kickoff" of a new series, will provide you with in-depth information and resources to support your work at the state, tribal and local levels. *Presenters* - Tom Schmid, Sr. Evaluation Specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Physical Activity and Health Branch - Laura MacNeil, Planner II, Sam Schwartz Engineering - Scott Bricker, Executive Director, America Walks *Tom* will talk about how the CDC has a growing interest in promoting walking as a critical intervention to improving public health, their recent Vital Signs<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001kaXRK9MspmNDCEyxIqMYkILiFxmAMjWzyMnv43jzxwcA…> report that highlights encouraging trends in walking among adults, and exciting work that addresses walking. *Laura,* whose engineering firm partnered with America Walks to develop the new Steps to a Walkable Community Guide<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001kaXRK9MspmMb-eT7xnBe9FeMvMNQbBQmBlUifO6Xjuh9…>, will talk about the Guide and how to use this book and our "soon-to be-launched" on-line resource to develop strategies toward walkable communities. * * *Scott* will give an overview of how America Walks is working to develop multi-sector partnerships to advance walking initiatives. He'll also talk about our on-line technical resources, community Walking Action Network workshops, and give an update on our national campaign strategy.

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Metro Winnipeg: Winnipeg cyclists not sold on speed limit increases (Nov.20'12)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Nov '12

23 Nov '12

Winnipeg cyclists not sold on speed limit increasesBy Shane Gibson | Metro Winnipeg http://metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/447360/winnipeg-cyclists-not-sold-on-spee… While the province’s Highway Traffic Board considers increasing the speed limit on a number of Winnipeg streets a group of city cyclists who advocate for bike safety say not so fast. Bike to the Future executive director Mark Cohoe told Metro the group would meet Tuesday night to discuss the changes proposed for many four-lane divided streets in Winnipeg. “It’s really seems they haven’t thought about cyclists,” said Cohoe. “They are just thinking about how to get cars moving quicker but they have to put the context of all road users into consideration as well.” The Highway Traffic Board has reviewed all the existing 50-km/h four-lane divided roadways within the city and is considering increasing them to 60-km/h. Board chair Al Rivers explained the idea is to eliminate sections where speed limits suddenly change—which have become popular spots for cops to set up speed traps. “It’s just far too confusing,” said Rivers. “Our job is to make everything as consistent as possible, and when you do that the roadways become safer.” Among the dozens of roadways being considered for increases are University Crescent between Chancellor Matheson Road and Pembina Highway, Broadway between Osborne Street and Main Street and Moray Street between Portage Avenue and Ness Avenue. Cohoe is also worried about pedestrian safety on roadways like Waverly Street between Taylor Avenue and Grant Avenue that have residential houses on both sides. “It seems like they’ve gone with the decision that if a roadway is divided it automatically goes to a higher speed limit, and for some of the areas that doesn’t really make a lot of sense,” he said. The board has three public hearings planned for Nov. 27, Dec. 4, and Dec. 11 to go over the proposed changes with Winnipeggers, and Rivers said it’s too soon to say if or when limits will increase. *A breakdown of streets under consideration for speed limit increases in Winnipeg*: On *November 27/12* the Board will be hearing the following streets: - Dugald Road, between a point 400 metres east and west of Plessis Road; - Grant Avenue, between Kenaston Boulevard and Stafford Street - Pembina Highway, between Ducharme Avenue and the bridge crossing the La Salle River (also under consideration is increasing the speed zone from 60 km/h to 80 km/h between rue des Trappistes to south of Turnbull Drive and increase the 90 km/h to 100 km/h between Turnbull Drive and the City limit); - Waverley Street, between Taylor Avenue and Grant Avenue. On *December 4, 2012* the Board will be hearing the following streets: - Corydon Avenue, between Kelvin Boulevard and Cambridge Street; - Roblin Boulevard, between Haney Street and Wexford Street; - University Crescent, between Chancellor Matheson Road and Pembina Highway. On *December 11, 2012* the Board will be hearing the following streets: - Broadway, between Osborne Street and Main Street; - Memorial Boulevard/Colony Street/Balmoral Street, between Broadway and Qu’Appelle Avenue; - Isabel Street/Salter Street, between William Avenue and Stella Avenue; - Main Street, between Assiniboine Avenue and Manitoba Avenue; - Inkster Boulevard, between Lansdowne Avenue and Main Street; - Moray Street, between Portage Avenue and Ness Avenue; - Wellington Avenue, between the east limit of James Armstrong Richardson International Airport and St. James Street. Additional streets not yet advertised: - Kenaston Boulevard; - Taylor Avenue; - Provencher Boulevard.

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Winnipeg Open House - Manitoba Capital Region Transportation Master Plan
by Janice Lukes 21 Nov '12

21 Nov '12

Just off the phone with Chris Baker, MMM group. Chris is organizing the Manitoba Capital Region Transportation Master Plan consultations <http://www.manitobacapitalregion.ca/downloads/Newsletter-November2012.pdf> . Chris assured me the decision has been made to hold an Open House IN Winnipeg - Date and Location to be announced. Currently the three open houses being held are outside of Winnipeg but due to multiple requests - MMM Group will be holding one in Winnipeg. SEE THE SURVEY posted - please respond - there are multiple active transportation questions: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CRTMP located on this website: http://www.wmcrp.com/ thanks Janice Lukes

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Life in the curb lane
by Dave Elmore 21 Nov '12

21 Nov '12

This is a pretty interesting perspective of life on 2 wheels. Can’t agree with the reference to “hugging the curb” but it unfortunately what many cyclists believe to be safe. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/life-in-the-curb-lane-1798475… Life in the curb lane A grandmother spends a summer as a bike courier -- and lives to tell the tale By: Bev Watson Bev Watson learned an important lesson in her summer of cycling: Bike couriers don't cry. Bev Watson learned an important lesson in her summer of cycling: Bike couriers don't cry. The traffic on St. Mary's Road didn't seem as busy one morning as I neared Fermor Avenue to head back to the Exchange District. I can pedal at a fairly fast clip when my legs feel like it. I was making good time; I could feel the strength in my quadriceps, and I smiled. I was becoming quite proud of the shape my legs were in and how many miles they could take me on my bike. As I cruised along, I became aware of the roar of a loud engine coming up behind me. That sound seems to spark a "spidey-sense" in cyclists; it usually means a large vehicle is approaching, and you automatically double check to make sure you're hugging the curb. Turning my head slightly to the left, I could see out of the corner of my eye a large dump truck gaining on me at a good clip, but he moved to the left lane. Suddenly, a second dump truck was speeding up to pass him in the curb lane; he was at my side in a split second: engine roaring in my ears, wheels up to my shoulder spinning in a blur, passing me by a whisper. I screamed out loud. And then swore. Out loud. It's my third week as a bike courier. I'm 51 years old. And I'm a grandmother. If I could have caught up with that truck driver, who was probably my son's age or younger, he would have had some finger wagging like never before. What if it were his grandmother, I'd say. How would you feel if someone did that to her? I'd ask him. She could be horribly hurt or even dead, all because someone was in a hurry, I'd nag, shaking my finger in his face. I'm sure he would no more than roll his eyes and drive away shaking his head at the crazy old lady. I worked for Natural Cycle Courier for four months this summer. They deliver anywhere in the city, 12 months a year. They use no cars; larger items are towed behind the bike on a trailer. And they're all very young. I swear I have 10 years on their mothers. But they took me on, and I had a summer like no other. My new job as a bike courier opened my eyes to life in the curb lane. I've heard that cyclists are a nuisance. I've heard sneers at their "saving the environment" and their young, granola-thinking attitudes. I've heard comments that they ride bikes because they just can't afford cars. I know otherwise. We're young; we're old. We're rich; we're poor. We're fit; we're fat. We do indeed "save the environment" to some degree every time we don't use a car, but we do own cars. A few of us weave in and out of traffic; most of us follow the rules of the road, and don't like to be lumped into the same group as the weavers. We are horrified when another cyclist -- stranger or not -- is injured or killed on the streets. And we don't like the "you're just asking for it" responses that we hear. The cyclist you see every day throughout the city is a student saving money to get through university. She's a girl who wants to play her part in doing something "green." He's a janitor making a few extra dollars working as a courier. It's a business woman taking a hiatus for a summer to take her mind off things. It's a grandmother wanting to get into better shape. And none of us want to lose our lives for a dump truck in a hurry. In my four months of pedalling, I've been hit by two cars and wiped out three times. I've cut my knee, scraped my legs and bruised my hips. I've been yelled at: "Get on the sidewalk!" "Get off the sidewalk!" "You're in my lane," and "Get your fat ass off the road." I've discovered a real camaraderie between bike couriers and bike commuters alike. "Girl power!" yelled one cyclist with her long thick red hair flowing out from under her helmet. "Good for you!" calls out one man with a salt-and-pepper beard as he pedals along with his own deliveries. We talk about our bikes, we brag of miles travelled, and we share stories of those close calls. I grew to love the painted bike lanes on the downtown one-way streets. There's something about that solid white line embracing that large white bicycle decal that seems to keep vehicles at a safe distance from our handle bars. Diamond lanes create somewhat of a safe haven for us, even though we share the lane with the biggest vehicles out there -- the city buses. Transit drivers may get frustrated with our speed, but most are amazingly patient. Unpainted streets create a different feel for a cyclist; at times we get crowded out for being "in the car's lane." While some drivers give us no space at all and even speed up to pass, others give us such a wide berth that it causes a danger to cars in the neighbouring lanes. Just take your foot off the gas for a few seconds, squeeze to your left, and you'll be on your way, and so will we. I shake my head at the poorly thought out bike lanes over the Main Street Bridge. If I take the bike lanes within the cement barrier, they force me onto the sidewalk with no safe way to get back onto the road. If I stay on the road, drivers yell at me to get on the other side of the barrier. And the positioning of the southbound bike lane? Thousands of cars headed into St. Vital are forced down to one lane due to a barricaded bike lane that I can't get on to or off of when I'm cycling. This makes no sense for cyclists or for motorized vehicles. I've seen it from both sides of the barrier. You quickly learn of roadways in our city that are not bike friendly, or even worse: downright dangerous. St. Anne's Road in South St. Vital has manhole covers in cement four inches higher than the road's surface. At a minimum, that's a horribly bruised crotch. At its worst, it's a deadly wipe-out waiting to happen. In St. James, the streets are roughest right along the curb. Add that to the very narrow lanes in the congested area and the impatience of the drivers, and it becomes one of the most difficult areas for deliveries. Lagimodiere is simply off limits for cyclists. There's nowhere to go; no paved shoulders and no sidewalks as a safe alternative, legal or not. Travelling in gravel does not work. Just ask my front tire. In my desperation to meet a delivery deadline, I tried to travel along the side of Highway 59 when my tire sunk into the dirt and threw me down hard. My helmet-covered head hit the dirt just a few feet from the white lined edge of the road. My leg slammed into the gravel, the bike chain ripped my skin and the handlebars stabbed into my side. I got up, brushed the dirt off my bleeding leg and straightened out my handlebars, while tears welled up in my eyes. I remember thinking "bike couriers don't cry!" So I walked along the gravel with my beat up bike and hurting body; blinking away tears until I reached the next paved intersection. Then I climbed back on my bike, and cycled away. Making my delivery on time. Bev Watson is a 51-year-old grandmother who has recently hung up her helmet and parked her bike for the winter. She is now driving her car to her much safer office job. Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 18, 2012 A8

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WFP: 'Painful' limits reviewed - Manitoba Traffic Board slates public hearings on speed zones (Nov.20'12)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Nov '12

20 Nov '12

'Painful' limits reviewed Manitoba Traffic Board slates public hearings on speed zones By: Bill Redekop http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/painful-limits-reviewed-180094781.ht… There's a stretch of Pembina Highway just outside St. Norbert where there's nothing but open highway in front of you... and a 60-kilometre-per-hour speed limit. "It's painful" trying to keep to 60 km/h, said Todd Dube of WiseUp Winnipeg, who argues the limit should be 80 km/h. "There are horses on one side, a wide-open field on the other, and it's a divided highway." Dube and other Winnipeggers can have their say next week when the Manitoba Traffic Board opens public hearings on several four-lane divided streets where some people think the speed limits are too low and inconsistent with other speed limits. The Manitoba Traffic Board sets speed limits throughout Manitoba, including Winnipeg. The first public hearing is slated for Nov. 27 at 204-301 Weston St. starting at 10 a.m. Two of the disputed sections are on Pembina Highway in St. Norbert. Officials are studying whether to increase the speed limit from 60 km/h to 80 km/h on the aforementioned stretch from Rue des Trappistes to south of Turnbull Drive. It is also studying raising the speed from 50 to 60 km/h on Pembina Highway from north of Ducharme Avenue to south of the bridge crossing La Salle River. "It's long overdue" on both scores, said Dube. "We get calls from people from out of town and from the U.S. (driving into the city on Highway 75) who just can't believe the City of Winnipeg would allow this." Another generator of speeding tickets to be reviewed is a stretch along Dugald Road east and west of Plessis Road. The four-lane divided highway's speed limit is 70 km/h, then drops suddenly to 50 km/h for just 400 metres, then shoots back to 70 km/h. Police are often seen hiding in a forested yard with a radar gun at the start of the 50 km/h stretch. "That is so egregious. We got a call from an RCMP officer who was so outraged at getting a ticket there that she said she was going to fight it," Dube said. WiseUp considers the stretch along Grant Avenue between Kenaston Boulevard and Stafford Street as the worst area in terms of the high volume of photo-radar tickets it generates. A dispute over the accuracy of a photo-radar mobile unit on Grant near Nathaniel Street launched the anti-photo-radar group. Also being debated next week is increasing the speed limit on Waverley Street between Taylor and Grant avenues to 60 km/h. A proposal is also being made to increase the limit to 100 km/h from 90 km/h between a point 300 metres south of Turnbull Drive and the southern city limit. CAA Manitoba also thinks Winnipeg has some questionable speed limits on some four-lane divided roads. "We think (the review) is a really good thing," said Liz Peters, communications manager for CAA Manitoba. "There are some areas where it's been a long time coming, St. Norbert in particular. But even places like on Kenaston, there isn't much reason why the speed limit couldn't be raised a bit." That would improve traffic flow, she said. At the same time, CAA wonders how higher speed limits will mesh with current attempts to reduce speeds in school zones to 30 km/h. CAA is for some higher speed limits "as long as it's not in conflict with things like schools," Peters said. The review is "not just about motorists. It's pedestrians and cyclists and thinking of kids in school zones, too." The Manitoba Traffic Board will hold a second public hearing on Dec. 4 at the same time and place to discuss proposals to increase the speed limit from 50 to 60 km/h on the following streets: -- Corydon Avenue between Kelvin Boulevard and Cambridge Street. -- Roblin Boulevard between Haney and Wexford streets. -- University Crescent between Chancellor Matheson Road and Pembina Highway. Speed limits on Kenaston Boulevard, Taylor Avenue and Provencher Boulevard are already under review. bill.redekop(a)freepress.mb.ca

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Invest in Less: Peg City Car Co-op new Video!
by Shoni Litinsky 19 Nov '12

19 Nov '12

Are you interested in seeing more sustainable transportation options in Winnipeg? Do you want to see less congestion, fewer cars, less parking pressure and less pollution? We share your vision, and that is why as a group of volunteers, we started Peg City Car Co-op which now has 4 vehicles in three neighbourhoods that meet the needs of more than 100 members. We can create more opportunities for biking, busing, and walking in our city and enable individuals to live car-free or car-light. Over the next* 2 years*, our co-op would like to expand into new neighbourhoods and have* 11 vehicles *that serve the transportation needs of *350 members. * *You can help get us there* **Peg City now has investment shares available for purchase! If you would like to see carsharing grow in Winnipeg, and help us reach our expansion goals, this will make it happen. We have been approved as an eligible enterprise under the Province of Manitoba’s *Community Enterprise Development (CED) Tax Credit Program. *<http://pegcitycarcoop.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=6e29483972e08a58af…> *What does this mean, you ask? Well it means that come tax time, *you will be eligible to claim a tax credit of *30% of the amount of* your investment. This is an opportunity to do good for your community (while getting something in return). How great is that? *Learn about the investment shares, and view our new video: * www.vimeo.com/pegcitycarcoop/invest www.pegictycarcoop.ca/invest Thank you, Shoni Litinsky Board Member, Peg City Car Co-op

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Dr Karen K Lee MD MHsc FRPCPC
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 19 Nov '12

19 Nov '12

http://www.iuhpe.org/uploaded/Regions/NARO/20110608_Symposium/1_FitCity_KLe… Thank you and regards Terry Zdan BA MEDes Policy & Service Developemnt Manitoba Infrastructure & Transportation 1520 215 Garry Street Winnipeg MB R3C 3P3 P 204 945 7381 C 204 227 3724 E Terrry.Zdan(a)gov.mb.ca

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FW: Pedestrian LOS for Unsignalized Crossings (plus Spreadsheet Tool)
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 19 Nov '12

19 Nov '12

Tools you can use. This compliments the US 2010 Highway Capacity Manual. From: Parks, Jamie Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 10:13 AM To: members(a)lists.apbp.org<mailto:members@lists.apbp.org> Subject: Pedestrian LOS for Unsignalized Crossings (plus Spreadsheet Tool) Hi All, Apologies in advance for a long, but hopefully helpful email. Most of you are likely aware of the new multimodal LOS procedures in the 2010 Highway Capacity Manual that produce LOS A-F scores for pedestrians and bicycles along street segments and at signals. Fewer people (or so it seems to me) know that the HCM also has a new method for Pedestrian LOS at Unsignalized Crossings (found in Chapter 19: Two-Way Stop-Controlled Intersections). The method uses traffic volumes, crossing distance, and the likely yielding behavior resulting from any traffic control devices that may be present (e.g., rapid flash beacons) to estimate pedestrian delay which in turn determines the LOS grade. Default yield rates for common treatments are provided based on NCHRP 562 and other research, but can be supplemented/adjusted based on local experience. The intent is to complement the NCHRP 562: Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings and FHWA Safety Effects of Marked versus Unmarked Crosswalks studies to (1) provide positive guidance on what treatments are likely to be most effective for a given location and (2) demonstrate the need for/impact of crossing investments using a readily understood metric (i.e., LOS). A quick example of how this works for a road diet and rapid flash beacon applied to a 4-lane undivided highway: Before Conditions: 4-lanes, undivided 44 foot crossing distance 2,000 vehicles per hour 10% yield rate (based on standard marked crosswalk) Results: Delay = 600s, LOS = F Note: actual pedestrians would not wait 10 minutes to cross here. They would likely walk to the nearest signal, pick a small gap in traffic and run, or cross "frogger-style" where they do not wait for the entire roadway is clear to begin crossing. The point is that any of these results are extreme inconveniences to pedestrians, and potential safety hazards. Conversion to 3-lane section with median island: 2-lanes, divided 11 foot crossing distance (x2 for each stage) 1,000 vehicles per hour (x2 for each stage) 10% yield rate Results: Delay = 15s, LOS = C Conversion to 3-lane section with Median Island (plus Rapid Flash Beacon): 2-lanes, divided 11 foot crossing distance (x2 for each stage) 1,000 vehicles per hour (x2 for each stage) 80% yield rate (based on rapid flash beacon research) Results: Delay = 4s, LOS = A The results show dramatic improvements for pedestrians from the road diet, which could be used to justify the expense or demonstrate the benefits of such a conversion (especially useful if the conversion were to degrade auto LOS). Compared to the urban streets Ped LOS, the methodology is easy to apply and generally provides intuitive results (for instance, road diets actually DEGRADE urban streets ped LOS in many cases). Of course I may be biased, since I helped develop the unsignalized methodology! Anyway, the biggest downside to the unsignalized methodology is that is requires a lot of math (probability associated with yielding across multiple lanes, etc.), and it recently came to my attention that unfortunately none of the 2010 HCM software yet includes the methodology. To that end, I have created what I hope is a user-friendly spreadsheet/computational engine to implement the procedures. With this spreadsheet, getting results takes only a couple minutes (I spent 4 minutes putting together the example shown above). I've placed a copy of the spreadsheet on my Dropbox here: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/92064587/Ch19_PedLOS.xlsx. Please take a look, play around with it, and see what you think. I've left everything unprotected so that people can what's going on, check the formulas, and alter it for their purposes, but please use caution not to disrupt the calculations! If you've read this far, thanks for bearing with me. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. Best, Jamie Jamie Parks, AICP Complete Streets Program Manager City of Oakland | Public Works Agency | APWA Accredited Agency 250 Frank H Ogawa Plaza, Ste 4314 | Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 238-6613| (443) 235-6873 Mobile Report A Problem | Public Works Agency Call Center | (510) 615-5566 www.oaklandpw.com<http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/Connect/ReportaProblem/index.htm> | pwacallcenter(a)oaklandnet.com<mailto:pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com> | Mobile app: SeeClickFix<http://www.seeclickfix.com/oakland/>

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AT and cardiovascular disease risk factors in US Adults
by Beth McKechnie 19 Nov '12

19 Nov '12

Active Transportation and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in U.S. AdultsGregg L. Furie<http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2812%2900602-2/abstract#>, MD, MHS | Mayur M. Desai<http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2812%2900602-2/abstract#>, PhD, MPH Download full pdf: http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2812%2900602-2/abstract Background Evidence of associations between active transportation (walking and bicycling for transportation) and health outcomes is limited. Better understanding of this relationship would inform efforts to increase physical activity by promoting active transportation. Purpose This study examined associations between active transportation and cardiovascular disease risk factors in U.S. adults. Methods Using the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), adults (N=9933) were classified by level of active transportation. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status, and minutes/week of non-active transportation physical activity. Analyses were conducted in 2011. Results Overall, 76% reported no active transportation. Compared with no active transportation, mean BMI was lower among individuals with low (-0.9, 95% CI= -1.4, -0.5) and high (-1.2, 95% CI= -1.7, -0.8) levels of active transportation. Mean waist circumference was lower in the low (-2.2 cm, 95% CI= -3.2, -1.2) and high (-3.1 cm, 95% CI= -4.3, -1.9) active transportation groups. The odds of hypertension were 24% lower (AOR=0.76, 95% CI=0.61, 0.94) and 31% lower (AOR=0.69, 95% CI=0.58, 0.83) among individuals with low and high levels of active transportation, respectively, compared with no active transportation. High active transportation was associated with 31% lower odds of diabetes (AOR=0.69, 95% CI=0.54, 0.88). Active transportation was not associated with high-density lipoprotein level. Conclusions Active transportation was associated with more-favorable cardiovascular risk factor profiles, providing additional justification for infrastructure and policies that permit and encourage active transportation.

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(no subject)
by Dave Elmore 19 Nov '12

19 Nov '12

http://road.cc/content/news/70705-campaign-launched-nationwide-20mph-speed-l imit-road-safety-week-begins Campaign launched for nationwide 20mph speed limit as Road Safety Week begins Simon_MacMichael <http://road.cc/users/simon-macmichael> , November 19, 2012 <http://road.cc/content/image/834-20mph415x275jpg> http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/preview_500/images/%5bparent-n ode-gallery-title%5d/20mph_415x275.jpg A number of charities led by Sustrans have joined forces to launch a campaign calling for 20mph to be made the default speed limit on roads in built-up areas. The campaign, GO 20 <http://www.go20.org> , is launched today to coincide with the start of Road Safety Week, which continues until next Sunday 25 November. While some local authorities in England have already introduced 20mph speed limits on all or some of their roads - Oxford and Portsmouth, for instance, have city-wide limits, while Merseyside is introducing it on an area by area basis - Brake and the organisations that have joined it the campaign are calling for such a limit to be introduced nationwide. In the meantime, they are asking more local authorities to implement the speed limit, as well as appealing to motorists to reduce their speed to 20mph when driving near schools, shops and residential areas. A survey of 8,000 schoolchildren aged 7-11 years conducted by Brake, Brain Injury Group and Specavers ahead of Road Safety Week and the launch of GO20 found: Seven in 10 (70%) say they would be able to walk and cycle more if roads in their neighbourhood were less dangerous More than three-quarters (77%) say drivers need to slow down around their home and school Four in 10 (43%) say they have been hit or nearly hit while walking or cycling, and more than half (54%) worry about being hurt by traffic when out and about 72% said they would like to walk and cycle more than they do at present 75% would like more traffic-free cycle paths in their area, while 61% would like more footpaths, pavements and crossings, which they could use to get to school, the park, shops or to see friends 38% said they are not allowed to walk unaccompanied and 47% said they are not allowed to cycle unaccompanied. Brake and the other charities involved in the initiative, which besides Sustrans include Living Streets, the National Heart Forum, 20's Plenty for Us, Campaign to Protect Rural England and Ramblers, say that implementing the lower speed limit would result in: Fewer casualties: at 20, drivers have much more time to react, to help them stop in time if they need to, like if a child runs out. Studies show that when 20 limits replace 30, it means fewer casualties among pedestrians and cyclists. More walking and cycling: danger from traffic is a major barrier in enabling more people to walk and cycle. Town and city-wide 20 limits have resulted in more people walking and cycling. Healthier, happier people: More walking and cycling means healthier people, and more enjoyable outdoors activity for kids and adults. It helps communities interact and be communities. Less pollution: GOing 20 means lower emissions from vehicle journeys. Plus if more people can switch their commute or school run to foot or bike, it means less polluting traffic. Lower costs: Poor health from inactivity costs society dearly. Road casualties cost even more, due to the suffering and burden on health and emergency services. Preventing casualties and improving health means GOing 20 pays for itself many times over. It also helps people save money by choosing the cheapest ways to get about: foot and bike. Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive of Brake, said: "GO 20 is all about enabling people to walk and cycle without fear or threat. "If we are to bring about a 2012 legacy of more active communities, we need to make our streets and communities safer places. "Fleet operators can play an essential role in bringing this about, by ensuring their drivers always put protecting people first, and understand the vital importance of slowing down. "Our main message in Road Safety Week is appealing to drivers to stay well within limits, and slow down to 20 around homes, schools and shops. "It makes roads safer for walking and cycling, and makes little difference to journey times. "It's great so many fleet operators are getting involved and helping to communicate this and other life-saving messages this year. "We urge other employers to register on the Road Safety Week website to get our free guidance on managing driver speed." The campaign will be formally launched at 1030 this morning with a walking and cycling street party at William Tyndale Primary School in the London Borough of Islington, the first in London to introduce a borough-wide 20mph peed limit. Malcolm Shepherd, chief executive of Sustrans, commented: "A 20mph national speed limit would save lives and make our streets better places to socialise, play, walk and cycle. "It would also improve our health, tackling obesity and heart disease as well as reducing the burden on the NHS. "A 20mph limit is already in place in many parts of the country, but a postcode lottery where children are safer in some areas than others is not acceptable. "A new national limit would save money for public health, education and transport budgets, and the Government should now act to lower speeds on streets where we live, work and play." Thanks Dave o _ ( \ _ (X)\ /(X)

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Kickstand SOLD OUT - Invitation: We Ride Here - Public Symposium at the Forks Friday Evening Nov. 23
by Anders Swanson 16 Nov '12

16 Nov '12

[ Although the kickstand Bicycle Policy Training Sessions are now sold out (and then some), we've added an exciting element that is made for to the public. This is a great opportunity for you to meet our out-of-town guests, get involved and celebrate. Space is somewhat limited, so arrive early. Please see the press release and poster attached (with text pasted below). Also, if you are a winter cyclist coming from the south end of the city, and would like to join us for a ride to the forks, there is a group leaving from the U of M's Welcome centre at 5:45. - Anders ] PRESS RELEASE *The World’s Love Affair with The Bicycle Comes to The Forks: European and Canadian Experts Share in Public Forum * Public “We Ride Here” Symposium at The Forks, Friday November 23rd, 7 pm – 9 pm Winnipeg, Manitoba -- Winnipeg is fast becoming one of our country’s bike-friendly cities and that fever is spreading throughout the province to towns like Morden, Thompson and Portage la Prairie. But, what would it take for our province to rival places like Denmark and the Netherlands where it’s ingrained in the culture and the psyche of its people? The “We Ride Here” symposium provides the answers. International cycling and city design gurus from Copenhagenize (Denmark) and Mobycon (Netherlands) are in Winnipeg to deliver a SOLD OUT two-day workshop, KICKSTAND, for professionals and leaders from across the Province. But, when the design workshop ends, participants and presenters will be heading to The Forks to celebrate and share what they’ve learned with the general public. “This is a great opportunity to come out and learn from some of the masters,” says Anders Swanson, local organizing committee chair, “They truly understand what it takes to plan and build a bicycle-friendly community that works for everyone. And, they understand how to do it in all seasons. They’re experts and we can learn so much from them.” “We’re excited by the enthusiasm and energy we’ve encountered in Winnipeg and look forward to contributing to making things happen,” says Angela van der Kloof of Mobycon. “Cycling is a perfect way to get around for children, adults, youngsters, and the elderly. It gives everyone independence, it saves everyone money and it is fun. Streets can be designed in such a way that it is safe for everybody to do so. Elderly people should not have to fear their lives on a bicycle. Children should once again be raised with bicycles and be able to use them all the time.” *The “We Ride Here” public symposium is an evening of culture, film, speeches, exciting announcements, refreshments, door prizes, and one lucky winner will get a grand-prize of a Dutch Van Gogh bike, courtesy of the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands.* “We are looking forward to not only hearing from the experts, but also to hearing ideas from our own community,” says Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike to the Future. “This is a chance for us all to learn, share, experience and make our cities and towns all that they can be for cyclists of all abilities and interest.” Open to everyone. Capacity is limited to 120 people. Parking for bikes (and cars) is free. -30- The Kickstand Sessions take place Thursday November 22nd & Friday November 23rd @ the University of Manitoba Event Centre. Participants will leave with a stronger understanding of best practice bicycle-related implementations and how to market them, and an opportunity for a continued partnership with both Dutch and Danish experts. Mobycon is Netherlands-based independent research and consulting company with 25 years of experience in traffic, transport and mobility. Mobycon’s multi-disciplinary team consists of traffic planners and engineers, urban and rural planners, economists and human geographers. Copenhagenize is a Denmark-based consulting company specializing in urban cycling and liveable cities. They approach every job from the human perspective - using design, anthropology, sociology and common sense as their points of departure. For more information please contact: Anders Swanson Kickstand liaison in Winnipeg 204-797-1962 andersswanson(a)gmail.com

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AT Webinar: Road Diets and Ped Safety, Tues, Nov. 20, 1:00-2:30 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 15 Nov '12

15 Nov '12

Green Action Centre invites you to join us for a local viewing of the upcoming FWHA / PBIC webinar at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion of local applications.* *Detailed description provided below. *Road Diets and Pedestrian Safety** Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012 | 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. CST* RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! Please note that this is a free webinar, so you can also register individually if you prefer (https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/893317730<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?UNCHighwaySafetyRese/3084cb0a2d/01de1edd15/cd2d73d7…> ).* * cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) and PBIC (Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center) Announce Webinar on Pedestrian Safety and Road Diets CHAPEL HILL, NC — The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) announce a free webinar on “road diets,” which are one of the nine proven countermeasures<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?UNCHighwaySafetyRese/3084cb0a2d/01de1edd15/339b6599…>that FHWA is heavily promoting nationally. ** Road diets, or the reallocation of road space through reduction in the number of regular traffic lanes, are of interest to communities that may be seeking to reduce traffic speeds, reduce crashes, improve accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists, or achieve a number of other benefits. This webinar will present information about the safety benefits of road diets, particularly to pedestrians, and highlight examples of road diet implementation in the United States. Libby Thomas, a researcher at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, will provide a brief presentation on some of the research findings related to road diets. She will discuss many of the safety benefits of road diets, which have been shown to reduce crashes among all road users. Mike Sallaberry, Transportation Engineer at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, will discuss the road diet experience in San Francisco, California. San Francisco has implemented more road diet projects within its 47 square miles than any other city in North America. This portion of the presentation will give some brief background on the history of road diets in San Francisco, focusing on how and why they are used. Mike will discuss how road diets have been used to create space for bikeways, pedestrian facilities, and transit, as well as how they are used for traffic calming purposes and to add landscaping and storm water management features to a street. The presentation will touch on some of the benefits of road diets but will focus more on how to get them approved, especially when they are controversial. Gina Coffman, of Toole Design Group, will discuss the road diet experience in Seattle, Washington. The City of Seattle has successfully implemented over 30 road diets. Before and after evaluations have indicated up to 70 percent reduction in injury collisions and 90 percent reduction in aggressive speeders on corridors where such projects have been implemented. Gina’s presentation will explore the history, research, planning and design of road diets, offering tips to build stakeholder support through public process. Seattle case studies will include before and after data showing changes in traffic and bicycle volume, neighborhood diversions, speeding and collisions over the years. The presenters will also participate in a question and answer session to discuss how to address barriers to implementation and answer questions from the attendees. This webinar is one of the free webinars that FHWA offers quarterly as part of its Pedestrian Safety Focus States and Cities initiatives. FHWA's Safety Office is trying to aggressively reduce pedestrian deaths by focusing extra resources on the states and cities with the highest pedestrian fatalities and/or fatality rates. Webinar archives for this series, as well as listings of upcoming sessions, can be found at http://www.walkinginfo.org/training/pbic/pedfocus_webinars.cfm<http://cts.vresp.com/c/?UNCHighwaySafetyRese/3084cb0a2d/01de1edd15/a2c00bae…> .

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Cycling is good for business
by Dave Elmore 15 Nov '12

15 Nov '12

<http://bikeyface.com/> Bikeyface <http://bikeyface.com/2012/11/02/not-cyclists/> NOT-CYCLISTS There has been a move to build more infrastructure for cyclists here. However, with limited space on the road, this comes at a cost. which has local businesses concerned. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeyface/8146881645/> People But there is the issue. How can you tell how you tell a driving customer from a walking customer from a biking customer? Especially when a cyclist is not a "cyclist". <http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeyface/8146916476/> People .just like a driver is not a "driver." They are both customers. But drivers tend to pass through towns, and those on bike or on foot will spend time at local businesses. And the goal of business is to get more customers, and bike infrastructure will bring more of these not-cyclists down their particular street- with things to do, money to spend, time to stop. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeyface/8146881719/> People Ultimately it's not about biking, but creating a neighborhood where people will stop biking. and stay a while.

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Bike to the Future's Annual General Meeting and Achievements Celebration
by Kevin Miller 14 Nov '12

14 Nov '12

All of Bike to the Future's members and supporters are invited to attend our 2012 Annual General Meeting & Achievements Celebration on Tuesday November 20 from 5:30 to 6:30 at the <http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=145+pacific+ winnipeg&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=30.739621,100.986328&ie=UTF8hq=&hn ear=145+Pacific+Ave,+Winnipeg,+Division+No.+11,+Manitoba&z=16> Sport for Life Centre. Our <http://biketothefuture.org/events/archives/2012/09/19/november-monthly- meeting> November Monthly meeting will commence immediately after the AGM. For AGM details (including the meal menu, the agenda, and the nominated slate of directors), see biketothefuture.org/events/archives/2012/09/19/2012-annual-general-meeti ng-and-achievements-celebration. Kevin Miller Bike to the Future, Secretary <http://biketothefuture.org> biketothefuture.org

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Call for Abstracts: Bicycle Urbanism
by Beth McKechnie 13 Nov '12

13 Nov '12

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS *The International Bicycle Urbanism Symposium will take place at the College of Built Environments, University of Washington, Seattle from June 19-22, 2013.* You are invited to submit abstracts for papers dealings with: Ways that cities can best encourage and accommodate bicycle use 20-30 years in the future Leading research that addresses bicycle use and effects of innovation in infrastructure and programs Best practices and how these can inform long-term planning for bicycle use. Intended participants include planning and design professionals, researchers, bicycle advocates, and public officials. Selected papers will be edited for one or more referred books. A fuller description of the Symposium and its program can be found at www.be.washington.edu/bicycleurbanism. Questions can be addressed at bikeurb(a)uw.edu.

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Transport Canada to look at bike safety benefits of truck side skirts
by Dave Elmore 13 Nov '12

13 Nov '12

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/transport-canada-to-look-at-bik e-safety-benefits-of-truck-side-skirts/article5040530/ Transport Canada to look at bike safety benefits of truck side skirts Renata D'Aliesio The Globe and Mail Published Wednesday, Nov. 07 2012, 1:14 PM EST Canada's transport regulator is assessing whether aerodynamic side skirts attached to trucks to boost fuel efficiency could also save lives in road crashes by preventing pedestrians and cyclists from falling beneath the bone-crushing big rigs. The question is a key one and adds a new twist to the long-standing debate about whether the country should follow the example of Europe and Japan and require truckers to install side guards, which are heavier than skirts and often a drain on fuel but are specifically designed to protect people. Ontario Chief Coroner Andrew McCallum made the case for these guards this summer and again in September after analyzing the circumstances of 224 cyclist and pedestrian deaths. The coroner pointed to a National Research Council (NRC) report, completed for Transport Canada, that noted cyclist deaths and serious injuries involving the side of trucks dropped substantially in the United Kingdom - deaths by 61 per cent and serious injuries by 13 per cent - after side guards were introduced. Transport Canada, for its part, has continually rejected calls for a side-guard regulation, saying there isn't adequate evidence to suggest the guards would significantly improve safety in Canada. Not long ago, though, the regulator had planned to study side guards as rigorously as it is now examining side skirts, show government documents obtained through access-to-information legislation. Those plans and several draft recommendations were shelved. According to Transport Canada spokeswoman Kelly James, the NRC study "did not provide sufficient justification to warrant further testing." Ontario deputy chief coroner Dan Cass finds the regulator's position on side guards disappointing. Still, Dr. Cass, who led the probe of cycling fatalities, is encouraged that Transport Canada is looking at the possible safety benefits of side skirts. Working with the NRC, Transport Canada plans to start a cold-weather analysis of skirts this fall, a test that is expected to span two winters. "This is an issue that obviously has grabbed a lot of people's attention," Dr. Cass said, adding he would support skirts if they prove as effective as guards. "Anything that's done to try and improve public safety and lessen the likelihood of more cyclists being caught under the rear wheels of trucks . is a positive step in my mind." The contentious side-guard debate flared up last Nov. 7 with the death of Toronto cyclist Jenna Morrison. Ms. Morrison, who was five months pregnant, was on her way to pick up her five-year-old son from school when her bike collided with a truck turning right. Falling beneath the gap between the truck's front and rear wheels, Ms. Morrison was crushed to death. Her family and friends believe a side guard could have made the difference between life and death. They're not alone. Between 2006 and 2010, 18 of the province's 129 cyclist fatalities involved heavy trucks, with half of the victims dragged, pinned or run over by rear wheels after striking a truck's side, the Ontario coroner review revealed in June. Side guards might have prevented these deaths, the coroner concluded. For now, however, Transport Canada has no plans to resurrect its shelved side-guard study. After completing a look at countries that regulate guards, the NRC, a government agency, was planning to do a second phase of study that involved testing the effectiveness of different types of guards, but Transport Canada nixed that review. The NRC had also proposed a series of "next steps" in its phase-one draft. Those recommendations, however, were dropped from the final March, 2010 report after a review by Transport Canada. According to the draft, also obtained through access-to-information legislation, NRC's recommendations included performing crash tests with dummies to determine whether side guards can prevent serious injuries to pedestrians and cyclists and evaluating how the guards perform in heavy snow and ice. Another recommendation proposed the creation of a green trailer program to offset the added weight of the guards. NRC declined to speak about its side-guard research, directing questions to Transport Canada. Ms. James of Transport Canada said the draft recommendations were not included in the final NRC report because "the draft report made it clear to Transport Canada that side guards were not demonstrated to be substantially effective or beneficial." There are other factors at play, too. The regulator is conducting a cost-benefit analysis of requiring side barriers on trucks. It has also raised the side-guard issue with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. With thousands of trucks streaming across the border daily, the two countries have pledged to harmonize their truck regulations. The United States does not require side guards and is not pursuing research or proposing a regulation on this front, Ms. James noted. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, which is opposed to making side guards mandatory, won't comment on Transport Canada's study of side skirts until it is complete. The organization believes other safety measures, such as adding bike lanes and enhancing share-the-road education campaigns, would be more effective than regulating side guards. But for Ron Freeman, a cyclist whose pelvis was crushed by the rear wheels of a furniture-delivery truck, installing side guards is part of the solution. A dozen years after his accident in Toronto, he still wonders whether a guard would have reduced the severity of his injury. He has undergone 10 surgeries and expects he'll need another hip replacement soon. "Had there been a side guard in place on the trailer, I would not have been crushed," Mr. Freeman said. "My life would be different." Bicyclist and pedestrian casualties involving a heavy truck in Canada, 2004-2008 Cyclist fatalities Total: 53 Known side: 6 Possible side: 4 Cyclist injuries Total: 689 Known side: 114 Possible side: 166 Pedestrian fatalities Total: 145 Known side: 7 Possible side: 6 Pedestrian injuries Total: 1,080 Known side: 81 Possible side: 121 Source: Transport Canada

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Manitoba Capital Region Transportation Master Plan Open Houses
by Mark Cohoe 12 Nov '12

12 Nov '12

Hi, Just passing on information on the three scheduled open houses for the Manitoba Capital Region <http://www.manitobacapitalregion.ca/default.asp> Transportation Master Plan. You can view the newsletter for the Transportation Master Plan here <http://www.manitobacapitalregion.ca/downloads/Newsletter-November2012.pdf>. It does seem odd that no open houses have been scheduled in Winnipeg. To me, that indicates that the planners are focusing far more on how to move people living outside of Winnipeg into and out of the city, neglecting the impact that any additional traffic will have on residents of Winnipeg or the potential desire of anyone in Winnipeg without access to a care to visit a destination outside of the city. Location: Selkirk, Manitoba Date: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 Venue: Selkirk Recreational Complex Banquet Hall, 180 Easton Drive Time: 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Location: Lorette, Manitoba Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 Venue: Club Les Bles D'or 1254 Dawson Rd. Time: 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Location: Headingley, Manitoba Date: Thursday, November 22, 2012 Venue: Headingley Community Centre Auditorium, 5353 Portage Ave. Time: 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Note . All three events include the same content Mark

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Roundabout and Traffic Calming Circle Video
by Erik Dickson 09 Nov '12

09 Nov '12

Scatliff+Miller+Murray is very pleased to present a new educational video produced for the City of Winnipeg. The 3D animation video provides tips for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists for walking, cycling, and driving at intersections with roundabouts or traffic calming circles. The video is posted on the City's website here: http://winnipeg.ca/publicworks/InformationAndResources/TrafficControl/Rounda bout.asp Please share this video widely with your networks. Feel free to send me any questions, comments or ideas; I'd love to discuss what we can do in future videos for you or your organizations. Have a nice weekend! Kind regards, Erik Dickson Suite 1120 - 201 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 3K6 ph: (204) 927-3444 ext. 242 fax: (204) 927-3443 web: www.scatliff.ca blog: http://scatliff.tumblr.com Please consider our environment before printing this message.

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Australian Planning Checklist for Cycling
by Mark Cohoe 09 Nov '12

09 Nov '12

Hi, I just came across this and thought it might be of interest. One of the things about it that I find most interesting is that "the checklist is based on the requirements of the Victorian Planning Provisions and associated engineering design guidelines." I'll have to look that up :) Planning Checklist for Cycling <http://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/general/bike-futures/94793/> Mark

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Fall 2012 Pedestrian Forum Newsletter
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

The most recent edition of the Pedestrian Forum Newsletter<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/> is now posted. In this edition you will find information on: Update on Efforts in Pedestrian Safety Focus Cities and States Spotlight on Proven Countermeasures: Road Diet<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s1> Road Diet Case Study: Valencia Street, San Francisco<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s2> MAP-21 Provisions for Pedestrians<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s3> Walk Friendly Communities<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s4> Bicycle Road Safety Audits<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s5> Recent NHTSA Publications<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s6> New Tools and Resources from USDOT<http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/2012/fall/#s7> Tamara Redmon Pedestrian Safety Program Manager Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Room E71-303 Washington, DC 20590 Phone: 202-366-4077 fax: 202-366-3222 http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ To receive updates on our latest program information, please use our e-subscription service. Click on the above weblink, then click on "e-subscribe" in the upper right hand corner. From there, subscribe to the areas you are interested in.

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AT webinar: Maps that Guide, Encourage and Inform - Wed, Nov 14, 2-3 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us for a local viewing of the upcoming APBP and PBIC webinars at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) followed by group discussion.* *Detailed description provided below.* * *Maps That Guide, Encourage and Inform* Wednesday, November 14th | 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CST RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * * * The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) presents: Maps that Guide, Educate and Inform How are maps evolving to meet community needs? This webinar presents two case studies of maps developed for urban trip planning for cyclists. Arlington County, Virginia, recently published an updated paper map; learn how planners resolved decisions about the map's purpose and audience, edited map data to create a network and focus on connectivity, and coordinated with an adjacent jurisdiction. The second case study, from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), is an online map that consolidates data from 101 cities and towns in the Greater Boston area to provide both route planning and an internal resource for planners to prioritize improvements and create a regional network. The presenter will discuss how MAPC collected and merged data from a variety of sources, issues of data storage and format, and the tools available to publish maps online. *View the Arlington County map here*: http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/maps-rides/ *View MAPC's map here*: http://trailmap.mapc.org/ *Presenters*: David Goodman, Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs Manager, Arlington County, Virginia, manages the WALKArlington and BIKEArlington programs. In this role he oversees the built environment that directly affects walkers and cyclists. David designs and implements pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects such as sidewalks, accessible curb ramps, crosswalks, trails and bike lanes. His work also involves establishing design standards and specifications as well as reviewing new development proposals and transportation projects. He is a Certified Planner as well as a Licensed Architect. Christian Spanring is a GIS Developer with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). His focus is introducing innovative Open Source mapping and public engagement solutions to support MAPC's mission and projects. MAPC projects range from mapping tools (the MAPC Trailmap for pedestrian and bicycle facilities), engagement tools (the MBTA Budget Calculator) to a recreational park discovery application and data exploration tools like the MetroBoston DataCommon. Prior to MAPC, Christian worked as GIS Specialist for the Austrian Institute for Spatial Studies and Regional Planning and the Austrian Road Safety Board.

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Nov 14 webinar: Maps that Guide, Encourage and Inform
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

All APBP members are receiving this message. Sign in to www.apbp.org with your username (shelyon) and private, case-sensitive, password. If you don't know your password, click here<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=Sheila.A.LYONS@odot.state.or.us&job=752295&y…> to generate a reminder. Register now for APBP's November webinar: Maps that Guide, Encourage and Inform Wednesday, November 14 | 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time $50 per site for APBP members; $75 per site for non-members Register here: http://www.apbp.org/event/Nov-14_webinar<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=Sheila.A.LYONS@odot.state.or.us&job=752295&y…> [http://www.apbp.org/resource/resmgr/images/nov-12_boston_map_sample.jpg]How are maps evolving to meet community needs? This webinar presents two case studies of maps developed for urban trip planning for cyclists. Arlington County, Viriginia, recently published an updated paper map; learn how planners resolved decisions about the map's purpose and audience, edited map data to create a network and focus on connectivity, and coordinated with an adjacent jurisdiction. The second case study, from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), is an online map that consolidates data from 101 cities and towns in the Greater Boston area to provide both route planning and an internal resource for planners to prioritize improvements and create a regional network. The presenter will discuss how MAPC collected and merged data from a variety of sources, issues of data storage and format, and the tools available to publish maps online. View the Arlington County map here: http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/maps-rides/<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=Sheila.A.LYONS@odot.state.or.us&job=752295&y…> View MAPC's map here: http://trailmap.mapc.org/<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=Sheila.A.LYONS@odot.state.or.us&job=752295&y…> Presenters: David Goodman, Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs Manager, Arlington County, Virginia, manages the WALKArlington and BIKEArlington programs. In this role he oversees the built environment that directly affects walkers and cyclists. David designs and implements pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects such as sidewalks, accessible curb ramps, crosswalks, trails and bike lanes. His work also involves establishing design standards and specifications as well as reviewing new development proposals and transportation projects. He is a Certified Planner as well as a Licensed Architect. Christian Spanring is a GIS Developer with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). His focus is introducing innovative Open Source mapping and public engagement solutions to support MAPC's mission and projects. MAPC projects range from mapping tools (the MAPC Trailmap for pedestrian and bicycle facilities), engagement tools (the MBTA Budget Calculator) to a recreational park discovery application and data exploration tools like the MetroBoston DataCommon. Prior to MAPC, Christian worked as GIS Specialist for the Austrian Institute for Spatial Studies and Regional Planning and the Austrian Road Safety Board. This webinar will be recorded; a link to the recording will be e-mailed to participants within 48 hours after the live session. APBP has applied to the AICP for one Certification Maintenance credit for this session. APBP will provide an attendance certificate to APBP members who document their professional development hours. Each site license includes one phone connection (toll charges apply, or use VoIP), one Internet connection, one set of handouts for unlimited attendees in the same location, and access to the recording. (You may be required to download free software from Citrix GoToMeeting in order to participate in the webinar.) For more information, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or info(a)apbp.org). Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals PO Box 93 * Cedarburg, WI * 53012 262.228.7025 * info(a)apbp.org<mailto:info@apbp.org> www.apbp.org<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=Sheila.A.LYONS@odot.state.or.us&job=752295&y…>

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Cardboard bike: YouTube
by Zdan, Terry (MIT) 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txSboSNQINs he wears a helmet...could be cardboard too From: at-network-bounces(a)lists.umanitoba.ca [mailto:at-network-bounces@lists.umanitoba.ca] On Behalf Of Dave Elmore Sent: November-08-12 9:44 AM To: at-network(a)lists.umanitoba.ca Subject: [At-network] Cardboard bike http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/11/cardboard-bicycles Cardboard bicycles Re-cycling Nov 7th 2012, 17:47 by The Economist online [cid:image001.jpg@01CDBD95.8A07B4B0] THE first bicycles were made of wood. After that, manufacturers used steel tubes. These days, for high-end bikes where weight is at a premium, they turn to aluminium alloys or even to carbon fibre. But Izhar Gafni, an amateur cyclist who owns a number of such high-end bikes, wonders whether the original inventors had a point. He proposes to go back to using wood-or, rather, a derivative of wood, namely cardboard. Mr Gafni, who is based in Ahituv, Israel, spent years trying to work out how to make a cardboard bicycle able to support the weight of a human being. The trick is twofold. First, he folds the cardboard-commercial-grade material, made from recycled paper-to increase its strength. (He worked out the exact pattern of folding for each of the machine's components using the principles of origami.) Then, once it is folded, he treats the result with a proprietary resin that holds it in shape and stiffens it, before cutting it into the form of the component required. A second application of resin renders the component waterproof, and a lick of lacquer makes it look good. The result, Mr Gafni claims, is stronger than carbon fibre. The bike's frame, wheels, handlebars and saddle are all made of cardboard in this way, and then fitted together. The tyres-again harking back to the early days of cycling-are composed of solid rubber, recycled from old car tyres. That makes the ride a little harder than if they were pneumatic, but means they cannot be punctured. The chain, whose design is based on the timing belt of a car, is also made from car-tyre rubber. The pedals are plastic recycled from bottles. And the brakes are also recycled materials, though Mr Gafni is not yet ready to disclose exactly what. The finished product weighs 9kg and can carry a rider weighing 220kg. Mr Gafni's target market is the poorer countries of the world. Since manufacturing the cardboard bike will, he reckons, cost $9-12 a unit, his velocipedes should find demand which metal bikes cannot. But people in rich countries may be interested too. In Tel Aviv, the commercial capital of Mr Gafni's native land, 2,000 stolen bikes were recently put on display by police, for their owners to claim. If bicycles cost less than the locks that chained them to lampposts, it might cease to be worthwhile stealing them.

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Cardboard bike
by Dave Elmore 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/11/cardboard-bicycles Cardboard bicycles Re-cycling Nov 7th 2012, 17:47 by The Economist online http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/ 2012/11/blogs/babbage/20121110_stp504.jpg THE first bicycles were made of wood. After that, manufacturers used steel tubes. These days, for high-end bikes where weight is at a premium, they turn to aluminium alloys or even to carbon fibre. But Izhar Gafni, an amateur cyclist who owns a number of such high-end bikes, wonders whether the original inventors had a point. He proposes to go back to using wood-or, rather, a derivative of wood, namely cardboard. Mr Gafni, who is based in Ahituv, Israel, spent years trying to work out how to make a cardboard bicycle able to support the weight of a human being. The trick is twofold. First, he folds the cardboard-commercial-grade material, made from recycled paper-to increase its strength. (He worked out the exact pattern of folding for each of the machine's components using the principles of origami.) Then, once it is folded, he treats the result with a proprietary resin that holds it in shape and stiffens it, before cutting it into the form of the component required. A second application of resin renders the component waterproof, and a lick of lacquer makes it look good. The result, Mr Gafni claims, is stronger than carbon fibre. The bike's frame, wheels, handlebars and saddle are all made of cardboard in this way, and then fitted together. The tyres-again harking back to the early days of cycling-are composed of solid rubber, recycled from old car tyres. That makes the ride a little harder than if they were pneumatic, but means they cannot be punctured. The chain, whose design is based on the timing belt of a car, is also made from car-tyre rubber. The pedals are plastic recycled from bottles. And the brakes are also recycled materials, though Mr Gafni is not yet ready to disclose exactly what. The finished product weighs 9kg and can carry a rider weighing 220kg. Mr Gafni's target market is the poorer countries of the world. Since manufacturing the cardboard bike will, he reckons, cost $9-12 a unit, his velocipedes should find demand which metal bikes cannot. But people in rich countries may be interested too. In Tel Aviv, the commercial capital of Mr Gafni's native land, 2,000 stolen bikes were recently put on display by police, for their owners to claim. If bicycles cost less than the locks that chained them to lampposts, it might cease to be worthwhile stealing them.

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