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The "roll" of cargo bikes in urban freight webinar
by Terry Zdan 10 Mar '22

10 Mar '22

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5515404732930030859

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How Prepared Are Canadian Municipalities to Facilitate Mobility Innovation?
by Beth McKechnie 10 Mar '22

10 Mar '22

Check out the Winnipeg section starting on page 36 of the document: shorturl.at/emFZ4 <https://t.co/jVm2uXI9R3> -- Beth McKechnie (she/her) *| *Green Action Centre <http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3777 x102 | Find us here <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> *Green Action Centre is located on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Ininew, Anishininiwag, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the homeland of* *the Métis Nation. We acknowledge that our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and that our hydro is sourced from numerous First Nations here in Manitoba**. * Green Action Centre is your green living hub Support our work by becoming a member <http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/> <http://www.gomanitoba.ca>

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Picard in the Globe: "taking vehicle violence seriously as a public health issue"
by Charles Feaver 09 Mar '22

09 Mar '22

Health reporter Andre Picard wrote an excellent opinion piece in todays Globe and Mail; https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-how-the-pandemic-spurred-mor e-traffic-violence/ How the pandemic spurred more traffic violence The COVID-19 pandemic has, in addition to the obvious ravages caused by the novel coronavirus, affected public health in many unexpected ways. One of the most concerning consequences has been a sharp increase in traffic violence, from pedestrian deaths to motor vehicle crashes and road rage. When the first lockdowns began, most commuters stayed home. In cities across North America, large swaths of streets were closed to traffic to make way for an influx of pedestrians practising physical distancing. Bicycle sales soared as people embraced the quiet streets. There were bold predictions that traffic deaths, which were already far too high, would fall sharply. Some urbanists dreamed aloud that we would finally start rethinking the design of our car-centric towns and cities. But, after a brief respite, something strange happened. Beginning in the summer of 2020, traffic deaths soared. That trend continued through 2021 and shows no signs of slowing down as the return to normalcy continues. The United States recorded <https://www.nsc.org/newsroom/motor-vehicle-deaths-2020-estimated-to-be-high est> 42,060 road deaths in 2020, up sharply from <https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/introduction/> 39,107 in 2019, according to the U.S. National Safety Council. The number of pedestrian deaths <https://www.ghsa.org/resources/news-releases/GHSA/Ped-Spotlight-Addendum21# :~:text=GHSA%20projects%20there%20were%206%2C721,increase%20from%201.9%20in% 202019> climbed to 6,721 in 2020, up from 6,412 in 2019, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. While thats a modest increase, when you consider that the miles travelled were down sharply (by 13 per cent), that translates into a 21-per-cent increase based on vehicle miles travelled, a commonly used metric. In addition, the GHSA only catalogues deaths on major roadways. A significant number of pedestrians are also killed in parking lots, driveways and such about 1,500 annually. As with COVID-19, the burden of traffic violence falls disproportionately on low-income residents and elders. They are more likely to walk, and have a greater dependence on decent pedestrian infrastructure. The economic cost of traffic violence is around <https://www.nsc.org/speeches-testimony/testimony-to-the-us-house-of-represe ntatives-commi> US$463-billion annually, again according to the National Safety Council. That includes property damage, medical costs, and wage and productivity losses. Those are U.S. numbers. The trend is a bit different in Canada. In 2020, fatalities were down one per cent to 1,745; serious injuries down 12 per cent to 7,868 and; personal injuries down 28 per cent to 101,572. However, Canadians cut back on travel far more than Americans, so the numbers are all up based on kilometres travelled. And its not clear what happened in 2021 when restrictions loosened. But there is good anecdotal evidence that the trend toward more death and destruction on roads is occurring here, too. The consumer group Piétons Québec, for example, says that a decade of gains in pedestrian safety was wiped out during the pandemic. So, whats going on? The short answer is that quieter roads have not made for safer roads; the result of open roads has been more speeding and reckless driving. Three factors account for the majority of fatal motor vehicle crashes: speeding, impaired driving and a lack of seat belts. But underlying those human factors is the reality that cars (and trucks and SUVs) are designed to go fast and make cocooned drivers feel impervious to risks. Roads, too, are designed for speed, not safety. During the pandemic, there has been less enforcement of traffic rules (not that there was much before) as police were urged to minimize unnecessary contact. Who has not noticed a growing tendency of vehicles to blow through red lights and stop signs? Road racing seems to have become a popular pastime. Crossing streets has increasingly become a contact sport for pedestrians and cyclists. During COVID-19, alcohol consumption <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-drinking-skyrocketed-during -covid-19-whys-it-so-hard-to-learn-the/> skyrocketed, and so did <https://tirf.ca/downloading/?dlm-dp-dl=6571&utm_source=stalberttoday.ca&utm _campaign=stalberttoday.ca%3A%20outbound&utm_medium=referral> impaired driving. There is also a lot of pandemic anxiety and frustration, and in many instances weve seen that translate into COVID rage not just on the roads, but in restaurants, on airplanes and during many other public interactions. Its all part of a larger problem of fraying social norms and an embrace of selfish individualism. And what better symbol than a big, hoarking truck? The anonymity afforded by sitting in a large metal box (often with tinted windows) is similar to the anonymity afforded by social media platforms. Violence is up sharply in these pandemic times, from <https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00017-eng.htm> murders, to random attacks, to the gurgling anger in cyberspace. Traffic violence is part of that disturbing trend. We have vehicles increasingly used as tools for disruption, from truck convoys to overt violence. A <https://apps.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2021/10/vehicle-rammings-against-p rotesters/map/> Boston Globe analysis found at least 139 incidents of cars driving into demonstrators between May, 2020, and September, 2021. There is much to be done to counter these problems. But it begins with taking vehicle violence seriously as a public health issue. We need to stop blindly worshipping at the altar of the car, and get back to the instincts we had early in the pandemic to make streets more accessible, more pleasant and safer. Its well past time to return urban streets to people, to build a foundation for healthy, green, liveable cities. Charles Feaver 11 Harvard Ave Winnipeg R3M 0J6 204.293.6332

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WFP: Committee takes step towards citywide crosswalk upgrades (Mar9'22)
by Beth McKechnie 09 Mar '22

09 Mar '22

Committee takes step towards citywide crosswalk upgrades https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-takes-step-toward-widespread-i… EYE-level lights intended to improve safety at pedestrian crosswalks by better catching the eye of drivers could soon be installed across Winnipeg. A new motion calls for the city to ensure low-mounted, eye-level safety lights are installed at all lighted pedestrian crosswalks “as soon as possible.” It was approved Tuesday by the public works committee but requires a final council vote. “We know these work, we know they’re cost-effective, we know they’re installed after people die (at crosswalks),” said Coun. Matt Allard, public works chairman, who raised the motion. “There’s a blind spot where if you’re too close to a crosswalk, you may not see the lights, so therein lies the problem… I think it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when there’s going to be another collision — another person injured or another fatality.” The motion follows a recent Free Press series, which noted a traffic-safety activist has lobbied the city to add more of the eye-level lights for more than a decade. Christian Sweryda argues overhead lights are more difficult to see for drivers whose vehicles are close to an intersection, while eye-level ones are more visible. While the City of Winnipeg has tested the idea through a past pilot project, Allard’s motion notes just 25 low-mounted lights have been installed permanently at crosswalks to date. He said 158 locations are still awaiting funding to add the lights, while $145,000 was approved in the 2022 budget to convert 15 more. Allard is pushing for council to increase that amount to $1.6 million to complete all of the installations. The motion also calls for sites to get new crosswalks where city engineers have deemed they’re warranted. The public works projects could be funded from the street renewal budget, unspent construction funds and/or reserves. Jim Berezowsky, Winnipeg public works director, said a clear funding source is critical to ensure expediting the light installation doesn’t force the city to postpone other important projects. “If we’re talking about every single crossing in a specific year… What other projects then have to fall by the wayside that are just as (important) safety-wise for all of the citizens of this city?” said Berezowsky. Allard’s motion does not set a specific deadline to get the work done. It also calls for all new installations of lighted pedestrian crosswalks with overhead lights to include an additional low-mounted light. A past city report found the eye-level lights improve safety by increasing “yield compliance” among drivers. Allard said the city has added the low-mounted lights at crosswalks after fatal collisions involving children occurred in the past. He deems his current motion a major safety priority. “I think it’s incumbent on us to get these installed because we know that they’re a cost-effective way to improve safety,” said Allard. The Free Press series noted six crashes occurred at crosswalks with overhead lighting over a 19-month span from February 2018 to September 2019, which caused four deaths. That included crashes at crosswalks that killed two children. In 2019, four-year-old Galila Habtegerish was killed at the pedestrian corridor on Isabel Street at Ross Avenue. In 2018, eight-year-old Surafiel Musse Tesfamariam was killed at the pedestrian corridor on St. Anne’s Road at Varennes Avenue while on his way to school. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP Editorial: Deeply entrenched practices must be re-examined (Mar7'22)
by Beth McKechnie 07 Mar '22

07 Mar '22

Deeply entrenched practices must be re-examined https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/deeply-entrenched-prac… AMONG the most oft-repeated rationales for the manner in which public service-related standards and practices remain stubbornly entrenched are variations on the following bureaucratic bromide: “We do it this way because we’ve always done it this way.” It’s a standard-issue, accountability-dodging cop-out. It’s also infuriating. And, as a recent Free Press investigative series on Winnipeg’s traffic-regulation infrastructure has suggested, on occasion it might even prove deadly. The week-long series titled “Red Light, Green Light, No Oversight” flagged numerous failures of decision-making and policy formulation within the traffic division. Based on the voluminous data compiled by independent researcher Christian Sweryda, the series raised serious questions about the city’s failure to take seriously the concerns raised by Mr. Sweryda about processes and equipment whose sole purpose is — or, at least, should be — keeping Winnipeggers safe when they venture onto or near the city’s roadways. The series examined several shortcomings uncovered by Mr. Sweryda’s exceedingly thorough research — some have described it as obsessive — in traffic-division operations, ranging from repeated and seemingly unnecessary replacement and repositioning of traffic light poles and the failure to replace missing speed-limit and schoolzone signs, to the persistent use of inadequate amber-light times at intersections and the chronic reluctance, despite numerous pleas and warnings, to install pedestrian-corridor warning lights at eye level rather than high overhead. Some of the highlighted issues relate to unnecessary work and expenditures that cost taxpayers untold millions; others expose safety concerns that, according to Mr. Sweryda’s research, can be linked to fatalities that might have been prevented by a simple, practical, relatively low-cost solution. After reviewing the materials that were the basis for the series, lawyer Kevin Gillese, who specializes in anti-corruption, called the information “extremely disturbing” and added “they suggest a pattern of either incompetence or corruption, or perhaps both.” The Free Press offered to walk the city’s senior managers through the data if those officials were made available for an interview. The offer was declined. Such reluctance to confront Mr. Sweryda’s reams of data and related information suggests a general satisfaction with the manner in which the traffic division continues to operate. So, too, does a statement from the city in response to the traffic light-relocation aspect of the series, which states the city’s traffic engineers “recommend solutions and make decisions… with diligence, care, and consideration of both best practices and the context of the location where they are to be applied.” There are, however, too many unanswered questions that render the “best practices” defence unsatisfactory. More, and more complete, answers are due the citizens of Winnipeg. The series did prompt some elected officials — councillors Matt Allard (St. Boniface), Shawn Nason (Transcona) and Scott Gillingham (St. James), chair of the city’s finance committee — to call for a full external audit and/or a public hearing related to the public-works department and the revelations in Mr. Sweryda’s findings. That’s a good place to start. Winnipeggers have the right to expect their tax dollars are being spent wisely and, more importantly, that the roads on which they drive, cycle and walk are not deadly dangerous. The city must justify its spending and planning, as well as its failure, reluctance or refusal to amend its practices when confronted with clear evidence of significant problems. Rather than “because we’ve always done it this way,” the officials in charge might be inclined to adopt the observation of Carleton University transportation-engineering professor Yasser Hassan after viewing the significant shortcomings uncovered in the series: “If there is no documentation, there is no defence.”

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WFP: Rising fuel costs reinflate cycling interests (Mar5'22)
by Beth McKechnie 05 Mar '22

05 Mar '22

Rising fuel costs reinflate cycling interests https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/rising-fuel-costs-reinflate-cycling… AS gasoline prices rise with no signs of stopping, Winnipeg bike shops are gearing up to take on new customers. Jeff Nespiak sells used bikes and offers repair services at Southside Cycle Works in South St. Vital. The industry — already in high demand since the start of the pandemic— will likely see a renewed surge in interest should fuel get even more expensive, he said. “I think that it’s probably going to drive up the cost on what will be available, but I think that there will definitely be a larger shortage this year,” Nespiak told the Free Press Friday. “That’s what I’m predicting, especially with gas (prices) across the country… I think it’s just going to continuously drive up the market, and I think a lot more people are going to turn to (bikes) for transportation.” If it does, it won’t be the first time in recent years. Like most local industry retailers and service providers, Nespiak has had trouble keeping bikes and parts in stock since the start of the pandemic, as Winnipeggers looking for safe, socially distant outdoor activities took to bike trails in droves. “I found that people were actually digging out, say, if they had an old mountain bike sitting in their backyard for the last 20 years and it’s got weeds and grass growing through the wheels… They were actually taking it out and having it fixed just because they couldn’t find anything decent for sale,” he said. Such demand will likely present itself in the commuter bike market, Nespiak said, and lightweight bikes with more gears will become tougher to find. At Woodcock Cycle Works on St. Mary’s Road, those lightweight commuter bikes can cost anywhere from $500 to more than $1,000. It’s a price many are willing to pay for the right high-end-but-everyday bike, general manager Jon Carson said, adding the long-running business is hoping a silver lining for gas costs is it gets more people thinking of alternate transportation. “I certainly am emphasizing more riding, personally, because the prices of gasoline are pretty outrageous,” Carson said. “We’re hoping that it will be just another incentive in this sort of bike boom we’ve experienced and, hopefully, another reason to see it keep going.” Recent demand hasn’t reached the fervour of peakmonths in 2020-21, but Carson said it appears more people are buying bikes during this off-season than nearly any other year. Woodcock has been pre-selling bikes set to come in from distributors around Europe and Asia, and supply chain issues that began with the pandemic and have yet to return to normal are still affecting supply. “It’s pretty amazing how fast (bike) orders fill, and how quickly our stock allocates… There’s still delays. I don’t think it’ll be fixed anytime soon, it’s a big chain of things that have been affected,” Carson said. The situation is similar at Olympia Cycle & Ski, co-owner Robb Massey said. “We’ve got certain bikes that were ordered 20 months ago that still haven’t arrived, so that continues to be a problem,” he said. “I mean, right now, our supply is really good. But as soon as we have that first nice day in spring, we’re going to have lineups again and we’re going to have disappointed people.” Massey said he’s concerned that if there is a boom in interest in cycling in tandem with gas costs, new cyclists will spend hundreds of dollars on mass-produced big-box store bikes not designed to last and become discouraged from the practice. He hopes people deciding to hop on a bike for the first time pursue the programming and support services available at the local level. “The price of gas might be $5 a litre, and people still aren’t going to ride their bikes because they just don’t feel comfortable on the roads… To me, it’s bigger than the pain point of watching the price of gas go up,” Massey said. “Because we’re going to get used to it, and then we’re going to go back to unhealthy habits unless you’ve got help and support to (not) do that.” malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP: Navigating city sidewalks is unsafe, almost impossible, for people with disabilities (Mar5'22)
by Beth McKechnie 05 Mar '22

05 Mar '22

Navigating city sidewalks is unsafe, almost impossible, for people with disabilities ISOLATION, FRUSTRATION https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/isolation-frustration-576260082.html ISOLATION during winter is a fact of life for many Winnipeggers. This year, repeated heavy snowfalls have buried city sidewalks for weeks on end, forcing people to trudge on narrow paths trampled by trailblazers or climb over large windrows of snow and ice. It’s a nuisance for most people, but city folk with mobility problems find themselves in a huge bind. In Manitoba. 234,190 people 15 and older have a disability, data from a 2017 survey shows. About 40 per cent of that group has mobility issues and 22.1 per cent are visually impaired. Accessibility advocates raise the issue every winter, and little seems to change. They hope during this winter, which has been especially troublesome, fellow citizens and politicians try to understand how limited life can be when faced with such hurdles. Unsure footing Brian Thorkelson inched his foot forward through the mound of snow on the sidewalk. Had he not lived there in the summer, he might not have known there was a sidewalk. His guide dog hesitated. “The dog is totally not confident in guiding, because he perceives the snow mountains as obstacles and there’s no way to get around them,” said the 38-year-old who has total visual impairment. The dog is trained to take the path of least resistance, but in snow drifts, he gets confused, said the resident of Quail Ridge Road. “He’s completely confused and disoriented… I’ve even had times where I’ve had to pick my dog up, and he’s at least a good 75 pounds, to put him over the drift,” he said. Thorkelson said the dog’s ability to guide him could be affected. He hopes the dog’s training will hold up until spring. Taking a bus is a nightmare. Recently, a huge snowdrift blocked him from the bus stop on Sturgeon Road. He wasn’t sure he was at the right place. After about 20 minutes of trying to orient himself (his dog was unable to solve the problem), he called a friend on a video chat to ask them to see what he was dealing with. “They said: ‘You’re at the sidewalk to walk to the stop, but it’s just uncleared.’” Thorkelson had to carefully climb, with his dog, over the drift. This year, he said he’s fallen several times. “It’s definitely a worry of mine that one time I’m going to fall and not be able to get back up,” he said. “If it’s anything below -15 C, I won’t go out. I’ll just stay home, just because of that danger.” Spinning wheels Wheelchair users in Winnipeg know what it’s like to be stuck in a few centimetres of snow. Peter Tonge said the tires of his wheelchairs, both manual and motorized, spin as nothing happens. He’s had to depend on strangers to help free him. It’s no easy task pulling a person and their wheelchair from a snowy rut. “Someone may come along and very genuinely want to help, but they’re not physically capable of doing so,” said the Grant Avenue resident. “There’s always that stress level of just getting yourself free.” He feels that loss of freedom. “I no longer have spontaneous access to do anything,” he said. Every winter, and particularly this one, his freedom is limited by slush, snow or ice. “It’s not the big things in life, like I won’t be able to get to the hospital,” he said. “It’s the little things, like being able to spontaneously pop around and see a friend or run an errand…. If the sidewalks were clean and clear, you could go: ‘Gee, it would be nice to have some ice cream with our dessert,’ and you can buzz out and grab it.” Instead, Tonge is forced to rely on Winnipeg Transit Plus for most of his errands, which requires two days’ notice to book a ride. When waiting that long isn’t an option, Tonge can book a wheelchair-accessible taxi — but that’s expensive. Last month, Tonge, who is the executive director of the Manitoba Wheelchair Sport Association, booked private transit several times. “I spent over $300 in the month of February,” Tonge said. “For a lot of people that’s most of their income.” In a 2017 survey, about 60 per cent of Canadians with disabilities aged 25 to 64 were employed, compared to 80.1 per cent of people without disabilities. And as disabilities become more severe, the employment rate drops. That means extra expenses, such as private transit, aren’t affordable. Tonge has spent years advocating for more accessible sidewalks, among other things. Yet, nothing ever seems to change, he said. Tonge summed up his experience with a quote he’d once come across: “It doesn’t matter what direction I turned, it felt like the wind was blowing in my face.” New isolation Debby McLeod hasn’t always used a wheelchair. For about 20 years, she spent most days on her feet, rushing around Health Sciences Centre as a critical equipment specialist. But on Nov. 12, 2020, McLeod’s left leg was amputated below the knee due to a bone infection. In these first three winters as wheelchair user, the isolation imposed on her by snow and uncleared sidewalks has come as a shock. “Actually, I’m quite surprised. When you’re able-bodied, these are things you don’t think of,” she said. Before the operation, McLeod never would have imagined being trapped in her house, unable to get to work, for three weeks. But that’s what happened to the downtown Portage Avenue resident in February. “The sidewalks this year have been absolutely horrific. I understand that we’ve had an awful lot of snowfall and the city is having a hard time trying to keep up. But with so much snow on the sidewalks, it makes it impossible to get anywhere,” she said. For someone like McLeod, who describes herself as naturally independent, it’s hurt her mental health. “My inability to go into work very much affected me,” she said. Even just the contact with people on the way to work is “like a breath of fresh air,” McLeod said. People don’t understand how significant the loss of mobility, due to uncleared paths, is for people in wheelchairs and with other mobility issues, she said. “They really don’t. And I was one of them. You can’t comprehend until you are in the situation. You can understand, you can emphasize, but you can’t really relate.” Stuck in a loop Similar to Tonge, Rosalie Best advocates for more accessible sidewalks every winter. “I’m getting a little tired of doing the same interview over and over again,” said Best, a power wheelchair user who works remotely for an accessibility consulting firm in Ontario. “It feels like every year, I’m getting called, and I say the same things, and nothing changes.” She talks about the impossibility of moving around town as desired; about the increasing frustration; about looking out the window, seeing huge drifts of snow and feeling the weight of isolation as she considers the near-eternity (or so it feels) until they melt and allow her to live life with some semblance of liberty. “It’s very frustrating. And it makes winter extremely long,” she said. She also talks about getting stuck in the snow, needing the help of strangers to get free, and the anxiety of not being able to find someone — something Tonge and McLeod mentioned as well. The Spruce Street resident said when she does get out, which is rare, for a doctor’s appointment or some other necessity, snow piles often block loading zones or disabled parking spots, forcing her to park farther away or in precarious locations. Then, again, there’s the sidewalk to deal with. Best, Tonge and McLeod agree there is a lack of political will and public awareness about how poor snow clearing makes their lives so difficult. “Because people are so isolated, other people who are non-disabled, or don’t have mobility issues, aren’t seeing people with disabilities out and about,” she said. If people with disabilities and mobility issues were more visible in the community, perhaps the city and its able-bodied populace would better understand the problem, she said. “But because of the snow, or because of whatever kind of lack of accessibility, it becomes this weird, never-ending loop.” Going backwards Despite advocates’ calls for a more accessible winter city, there is a feeling conditions have worsened. Atlantic Avenue resident Tanis Woodland, who is blind, doesn’t believe the situation will improve. “It’s slowly getting worse over the years, in terms of actually plowing the sidewalks,” said Woodland. She has had to climb over huge windrows to catch the bus. It’s even tough to find the stop in mountains of snow on the sidewalk. “It seems like it’s increasingly worse, seems like they’re cutting a lot of our services,” said Suzanne Jakeman, who uses elbow crutches, co-owns wheelchair-accessible taxi company Sunshine Transit Services. Even though she has accessible transport at her disposal, just getting out to the street or from a parking spot to her destination is a struggle this year. “I’m not a billy goat,” She joked. fpcity(a)freepress.mb.ca

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Examining the Use and Safety of E-Scooters in Tucson and Salt Lake City
by Beth McKechnie 03 Mar '22

03 Mar '22

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: TREC <asktrec(a)pdx.edu> Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 3:01 PM In recent years, shared electric scooters (e-scooters) have taken cities around the world by storm. But how are people using this new mode of transportation? Seeking to understand the potential impacts of e-scooters on land use, infrastructure and sustainability goals, researchers have some new interesting data to share on e-scooter users, exploring the interplay between demographics, behaviors and trip purposes. Funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) and led by Kristina Currans <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Currans/4519> and Nicole Iroz-Elardo <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Iroz-Elardo/11996> of the University of Arizona and Reid Ewing <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Ewing/4149> of the University of Utah, the study combines a user survey with on-the-ground observations to characterize the use and safety of e-scooters. The research team also included students Dong-ah Choi, <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/news/university-utah-researchers-develop-index-me…> Brandon Siracuse <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/news/student-spotlight-brandon-siracuse-universit…>, and Torrey Lyons <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Lyons/9134> of the University of Utah and Quinton Fitzpatrick <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/education/2019-2020-nitc-scholars> and Julian Griffee <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/news/student-spotlight-julian-griffee-university-…> of the University of Arizona. The final report offers insights into what drives the behaviors of people using e-scooters, as well as those walking, biking and driving when e-scooters are present. Join the research team on June 7, 2022 <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/events/professional-development/webinar-06072022> to hear first-hand the results of their research at an upcoming free online webinar hosted by NITC. GATHERING DATA ON E-SCOOTER USERS Along with a literature review and a review of existing agency regulations, the researchers analyzed results from an online survey, administered through the City of Tucson in the winter of 2019-2020 (prior to COVID-19 lockdowns later that spring). The online survey gathered information on stated preferences (e.g. whether people reported riding on the sidewalk, or at night) and whether e-scooters were substituted for other modes of transportation. Additionally, they looked for information on how crash experiences corresponded with demographics and riding behaviors. Next came on-the-ground data collection. Researchers and students observed people riding e-scooters in Tucson in January of 2020; this data collection effort was soon curtailed by COVID-19 related lockdowns. In Salt Lake City, the team conducted observations in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, once e-scooter trips began rebounding. They examined how transportation infrastructure— specifically bike lanes, the presence of light rail, and the size of the facility—relates to observations of non-optimal behaviors for different mode users (e-scooters, bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers), and those behaviors for e-scooter users included: - riding on sidewalks, - riding in vehicle travel lanes, - violating traffic signals, - distracted riding, - riding without a helmet, - having two or more passengers on one scooter, or - leaving a scooter parked improperly (for example blocking the sidewalk). Researchers also recorded the behavior of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers. For more details on the observation protocols and the study sites, see chapter four of the final report <https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/NITC-RR-1281_Scooting_to_a_Ne…> . HOW DOES INFRASTRUCTURE INFLUENCE TRAVEL BEHAVIOR? For both e-scooters and bicycles, the type of infrastructure can affect how people ride. Based on observations, a few patterns emerged: - *When bike lanes were available*, e-scooter riders generally used the sidewalks less. - *When light rail tracks were present*, sidewalk riding happened at similar rates with and without bike lanes. - *On wider roads*, e-scooter and bicycle users both significantly gravitated towards sidewalks. Researchers chose their study sites in order to understand how infrastructure related to behavior for different mode users. They collected data at 5 different types of intersections in Salt Lake City: Table 20 Select Site Characteristics .png <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/file/table-20-select-site-characteristics-png> [image: Site 1: 4 way intersection with no bike lanes, no rail transit, and medium-size road. Site 2: 4 way intersection with 4 way bike lanes, no rail transit and a medium-size road. Site 3: 4 way intersection with no bike lanes, with rail transit, and a medium] The researchers presented a poster on this at TRB 2022: Effects of Intersection Design on Non-Optimal Behaviors of E-Scooter and Other Users <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PYqGDcHIrTSBUsLzljuNTo0-y5iHzfgs/view?usp=…>. While the presence of multimodal infrastructure does matter, inadequate separation from larger automobile facilities may outweigh the use of "appropriate" facilities in the decision making process. This suggests that more optimal behaviors are likely to occur *not where permitted, but where infrastructure provided is perceived to be safe.* Demographics also play a role: In terms of crash experiences, older respondents (40-60 years old) were much less likely to have experienced a crash compared with younger riders (<30 years of age). OTHER E-SCOOTING BEHAVIORS With the advent of a new form of transportation, there are many different behaviors to consider with regards to safety, how users might combine with other modes, and how to end their trips on these micromobility devices. HELMETS Helmets are legally required for e-scooter riders. Not surprisingly perhaps, the reported use of helmets in the survey (21% at least some of the time and 13% while riding) far outweighs the researchers' observations in Salt Lake City (2%) or Tucson (2%). TRIP TYPES A substantial portion of e-scooter riding in Tucson appears to be supporting more recreational travel. In fact, e-scooter trips appeared to generate new restaurant activities. This finding is commensurate with other research which indicates that active transportation travelers tend to spend more money at convenience stores, drinking establishments and restaurants. See two related NITC-funded studies: *Examining Consumer Behavior and Travel Choices* <https://trec.pdx.edu/news/active-travelers-are-competitive-customers-resear…> and *Understanding Economic and Business Impacts of Street Improvements for Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility* <https://trec.pdx.edu/news/study-finds-bike-lanes-can-provide-positive-econo…> *.* E-scooter trips that were substituting for transit travel were more frequent for people with lower incomes or who were older than 30 years of age, but especially for those older than 60 years of age. PARKING Of the 292 total parked e-scooters observed in Tucson, 76% of all e-scooters were well parked. 17% were improperly parked, and approximately 7% were questionably parked (meaning either there was ambiguity about the rules or a lack of context in the photo). Each vendor has their own mechanisms to educate chargers and riders about properly parking scooters; it is likely that parking might vary by vendor. Parking may also vary greatly in neighborhoods without designated parking zones. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE The findings from this study can be used to inform policy and practice in a myriad of ways. The safety and infrastructure-related findings can help decision-makers to prioritize and revise regulations and requirements for new micro-mobility options in mid-sized cities. The information on usage behavior can help practitioners advance the integration of new technologies into transportation systems to improve overall safety and performance. Finally, the insights with regard to modal substitution may provide evidence to support considering micro-mobility options as a feasible strategy for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of short-trip travel. ABOUT THE PROJECT *Scooting to a New Era in Active Transportation: Examining the Use and Safety of E-Scooters* <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1281> Kristina Currans <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Currans/4519> and Nicole Iroz-Elardo <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Iroz-Elardo/11996>, University of Arizona; Reid Ewing <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/researcher/Ewing/4149>, University of Utah - Download the Final Report (PDF) <https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/NITC-RR-1281_Scooting_to_a_Ne…> - Download the Project Brief (PDF) <https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/1281_Project_Brief_-Scooting_…> - Register for the June 7 Webinar <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/events/professional-development/webinar-06072022> which will cover findings from this project, along with two other NITC projects on e-scooters coming out soon: - Scooting to a New Era in Active Transportation: Examining the Use and Safety of E-Scooters <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1281> - Evaluation of Portland Shared E-Scooter Pilot Program Goals and Outcomes <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1284> - E-Scooters and Public Health: Understanding the Implications of E-Scooters on Chronic Disease <https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1358/E-Scooters_and_Public_Healt…> *This research was funded by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, with additional support from the Arizona Board of Regents, the City of Tucson, Salt Lake City Corporation, the University of Arizona and the University of Utah.* *The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of seven U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers. NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University. This PSU-led research partnership also includes the Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Oregon, University of Texas at Arlington and University of Utah. We pursue our theme — improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities — through research, education and technology transfer.* ------------------------------

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WFP: Complaints rise as city sidewalks remain snowed over (Mar2'22)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Mar '22

02 Mar '22

Complaints rise as city sidewalks remain snowed over Drifts of despair https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/drifts-of-despair-complaints-rise-a… SNOW-SWALLOWED sidewalks have forced parents to walk their children to school along icy, rutted roads and to clamber over snowy banks. Others trudge through deep snow; and many with mobility issues are simply stuck indoors. Winnipeg sidewalks this winter are the worst Daniel Guenther has seen. As the head of a residents association in the Garden City neighbourhood, he said complaints have flooded in. “I would say it’s progressively gotten worse,” Guenther said Tuesday. “There’s the general feeling that looking around, there’s been major cutbacks in the snow clearing operation.” Guenther pointed to a host of issues also noted by residents around the city, primarily in the northwest. Among them, the footpaths near R.F. Morrison School are blown over. “There’s been a lot of these major pathways of sidewalks that have not been cleared once this winter, and now we’re into March,” he said. “Even when they do come and clear it, there’s been times were I’ve seen the sidewalk clearing equipment just stop because they’ve let it pile up — five, six snowstorms worth.” That’s meant towering snow piles left at those locations. Guenther said he’s called the City of Winnipeg several times, but it seems the city is overwhelmed and unable to respond. City data support that hypothesis, at least in the northern region, where zero per cent of P3 sidewalks and pathways have been cleared. P3 sidewalks are the lowest priority, but comprise much of the residential areas. However, 74 per cent of P3 sidewalks in the city’s eastern half have been cleared. “It’s just disappointing,” Guenther said. “It’s showing the city’s lack of commitment and a lack of support for pedestrians, and it shows a prioritization of other areas.” Of efforts to clear the snow, city spokesman Ken Allen said in an email: “In response to multiple and back-to-back snow events with high accumulations of snow and ice, our crews, which are comprised of a combination of city staff and hired contractors, are working around-the-clock continuing to plow sidewalks and active transportation paths by priority.” In late February, Winnipeg manager of street maintenance Michael Cantor said city policy states priority 1 and 2 sidewalks should be cleared with 36 hours of a snowfall and priority 3 within five days, but heavy snow and cold weather has caused plows to break down and delayed clearing. Garden City residents are far from the only ones with complaints. Patricia Evans, who lives on Valour Road, said she doesn’t think sidewalk plows can even get through to her because street plows have deposited huge chunks of ice and packed snow onto the footpaths. Rachel Rempel said she’s had to help her child battle stacked snow all winter on Granville Street in North Point Douglas, just to get him to the school bus. For people with mobility issues, uncleared sidewalks can mean the difference between getting out of the house and complete isolation, said David Kron, spokesman for Barrier- Free Manitoba, a non-profit that advocates for disability and accessibility issues. “They’re locked out of life,” he said. “There’s no safe way for them to get around.” Kron said seen and heard about an increase number of people resorting to driving their scooters or wheelchairs along slippery roads. However, particularly for accessibility advocates, this is an old issue, he said. “We have this conversation every October after the first snow. But this year’s been a record breaker. It’s gotten worse and worse.” Kron said the city needs to develop a system to better system to inform people of when their sidewalks will be cleared. While city policy states sidewalks are to follow street clearings, this year has proven the delay between the two can be unexpectedly long. Kron wants improved communication, so people who depend on cleared paths to participate in the community can plan their lives. Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) said malfunctioning sidewalk plows have been an issue during his entire time as city councillor. There’s always been winters with heavy snow, and the city needs to pony up and buy new equipment if these problems are going to persist, he added. Coun. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) said calls about uncleared sidewalks have poured in to all councillors, and in response, the public works committee will be issuing a report on snow and ice control policy later this year. fpcity(a)freepress.mb.ca

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Winter Placemaking Guide
by Beth McKechnie 28 Feb '22

28 Feb '22

*(from 8 80 Cities newsletter)* Embracing Winter As An Asset Winter placemaking is a means to reinvent and re-envision the ways that public spaces are created and used in order to meet the evolving needs of communities amid the challenges of the winter season. Winter Placemaking can be a means to build community trust and invest in the co-creation of public spaces that represent community needs all year round. Check out our Winter Placemaking Guide <https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> with examples from communities across North America that have embraced a warmer and more inclusive winter for all. For more on winter visit our Winter Cities Toolkit <https://880cities.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=49b51d71f0a96500f24124…> .

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Commsignia connects bicycles to V2X ecosystem with Spoke - Green Car Congress
by Terry Zdan 27 Feb '22

27 Feb '22

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/02/20220225-spoke.html

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WFP: Amber-light times and speed-limit signs set up for profit rather than protection, critics charge (Feb26'22)
by Beth McKechnie 26 Feb '22

26 Feb '22

Amber-light times and speed-limit signs that failed to meet Canadian standards deliver clear evidence Winnipeg’s photo-enforcement system was set up for profit rather than protection, critics charge Better sorry than safe? RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT NO OVERSIGHT A Free Press investigation into the city's transportation division https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/better-sorry-than-safe-576244922.ht… IF a car is going faster than a car going slower, does the car going faster need more time to stop than the car going slower? For years, that was the question independent researcher Christian Sweryda would ask the class when he was invited to guest lecture at universities in Winnipeg on traffic issues. Then he would tell everyone who thought the faster car needed more time to stop to raise their hand. “The whole class would put their hands up, thinking: ‘What’s the catch?’” Sweryda says. “And I’d say: ‘You guys are now more qualified to do traffic engineering than the City of Winnipeg’s own engineers, because this is what we’re fighting over.’” The city’s long standing policy was to have uniform yellow light times — four seconds long— at every intersection, regardless of speed limit. Sweryda waged a battle against the city for more than a decade in an effort to get it changed. His research into traffic-related issues, which has uncovered evidence of financial mismanagement in the public works department and triggered an audit, is the subject of the Free Press investigative series Red Light, Green Light, No Oversight. ●●● On Oct. 16, 2015, when James Aisaican-Chase was on his way to a chemotherapy appointment, he approached the intersection of Bishop Grandin Boulevard and River Road and the green light turned to yellow. Instead of slamming on his brakes in a panic stop, Aisaican-Chase maintained a steady speed and sailed through the intersection, clearing it in 4.3 seconds— roughly one-third of a second longer than the four seconds allotted. The speed limit on Bishop Grandin is 80 kilometres per hour. When Aisaican-Chase received a red-light camera ticket in the mail, he decided to fight it, believing his decision to clear the intersection was the safest thing to do in the moment. The decision to fight the ticket led to a complicated and protracted court battle, which was bankrolled by Todd Dube, founder of Wise Up Winnipeg. Over the years, Dube spent more than $100,000 of his own money fighting the city’s yellow-light policy. When the case went to court, Grant Lindgren, a Winnipeg Police Service crash reconstructionist, was called to testify as an expert witness for the Crown. On the stand, Lindgren conceded the city wasn’t following Institute of Traffic Engineering standards and said he wasn’t aware of any other jurisdiction that runs its yellow lights the way Winnipeg does. “Maybe they could reconsider their timing,” Lindgren said. Dube hired Darryl Schnarr, a forensic engineer and accident reconstruction expert from Ontario, to write a report on the case. “In order to evaluate the reasonableness of Mr. Aisaican-Chase’s decision to proceed through the intersection, the appropriateness of the current yellow traffic signal duration must be evaluated,” Schnarr wrote. His report was scathing. Schnarr noted that Winnipeg’s harsh winters negatively impact road conditions and make stopping more difficult, which means the city should be erring on the side of caution when it comes to yellow-light duration. The yellow-light timing at Bishop Grandin Boulevard-River Road intersection was shorter than the ITE standard by 1.2 seconds. Using photo-radar enforcement data, Schnarr calculated that if the city did follow the ITE standard, 93 per cent of the tickets at the intersection in 2015 would not have been issued. In 2016, 88 per cent would not have been issued. “It is clear that a 4.0 second yellow traffic signal duration is appropriate for some roadways and not appropriate for others,” Schnarr wrote. He said that four-second yellows were fine for streets with 50 km/h speed limits, but for anything beyond, the yellow-light timing should be extended. But the city’s policy wasn’t just increasing violations at intersections, it was also impacting safety. Schnarr noted that short yellows on high-speed roads increase the risk of broadside— also referred to as T-bones, the most dangerous kind of crash— and rear end collisions. “(It is) clear that the 4.0 second yellow traffic signal duration does not comply with competent traffic engineering practices,” Schnarr wrote. “Continuing to employ a 4.0 second traffic signal duration will contribute to traffic fatalities in the future, and may have contributed to traffic fatalities in the past.” His report proved prophetic a year later. On Sept. 4, 2018, a 61-year-old man was killed while riding his bike at the T-shaped intersection at Bishop Grandin and Lagimodiere boulevards. He was hit by a truck that failed to stop at a red light. Eventually, Sweryda was able to convince Coun. Matt Allard, the chair of the public works committee, that the city’s yellow-light times were wrong. Allard (St. Boniface) moved a motion on Sept. 16, 2020 to fix it. “It’s another one that was talked about for years.… Basically, Chris convinced me the yellow light timing was off for high-speed roads,” Allard says. The city increased the yellow-light timing to 4.3 seconds on roads with a 70 km/h speed limit, and 4.7 seconds where it’s 80 km/h. All told, 110 intersections were affected by the change— although the yellow-light durations are still below ITE standards. During the next two months, photo-radar violations at Bishop Grandin and River dropped from 357 to 50 when compared to the same time period in 2019. At Lagimodiere and Grassie boulevards, the number fell to 44 from 280 the previous year. “Winnipeg’s amber light times used to be a uniform 4.0 seconds, but we have been able to more precisely calibrate individual intersections’ timing based on national and international best practices, engineering knowledge and awareness of local context,” a city spokesman said in a statement. “This is reflected in the Traffic Signal Timing Guidelines we use to determine duration of lights on all city streets. For further context, the Traffic Signals Branch has evolved considerably since previous full review of the timing guidelines (in 2014).” ●●● The short yellow-light duration wasn’t the only city traffic policy Sweryda believed was negatively impacting safety but benefiting photo-radar revenue. On April 8, 2014, he filed a complaint to the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba, targeting three city traffic engineers. Sweryda argued the city did not post speed-reduction signs on both sides of divided roads and one-way streets, a practice “not consistent with Canadian engineering standards.” That amounted to a “serious engineering deficiency” and “malpractice,” because motorists may “fail to see the speed reduction signs, particularly when there is a large semi-trailer truck between the motorist and speed reduction signs.” A three-person committee was tasked with reviewing the complaint. They eventually determined that only one of the three engineers— Luis Escobar— was responsible for the policy. During the investigation, Escobar admitted he had conducted no engineering analysis to depart from the speed-reduction signage standards detailed in theManual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada. Ultimately, the panel cleared him of malpractice. “The purpose of this investigation is not to determine whether or not the policy is correct,” their decision read. But there was one dissenting opinion from engineer Ian McKay. “Evidence on speeding ticket reductions when dual signs are posted… clearly demonstrates that there are circumstances in Winnipeg where drivers are failing to see the primary sign,” McKay wrote. “In my view, Mr. Escobar’s actions of not completing any analysis or documenting any justification to vary from an advisory issued by Canadian Traffic Engineers constitutes professional misconduct.” That was also the position of Ted Clarke, a retired former City of Winnipeg director of streets and transportation, who wrote to the investigating panel in support of Sweryda’s complaint. “For what it’s worth, I think Chris Sweryda is quite correct in his complaints about speed signing,” Clarke wrote. “When every other major Canadian city and the Province of Manitoba are all following a particular practice, and Winnipeg is not, and the result is tickets issued to law-abiding, well-intentioned drivers, something is wrong.” Clarke, who retired in 1995, called the city’s policy “predatory” and a “blatant revenue grab” aimed at “tripping up responsible drivers on minor technicalities.” But Michael Jack, the city’s current chief administrative officer, defended Escobar in the matter in a series of letters sent to APEGM obtained by the Free Press. In response to Sweryda’s claim the city did not follow national engineering standards and established practices on dual signage, Jack wrote there was nothing in the law requiring it. Last week, however, the city told the Free Press in a written statement its engineers “adhere to national and local practice guides.” On March 10, 2017, the Law Society of Manitoba issued two “reminders” to Jack of his professional obligations due to his role in the case. Jack had changed his practising status to “inactive” on June 30, 2015, which meant he shouldn’t have been working as a lawyer. The law society — which regulates the profession in Manitoba— charged that by defending city employees while a member of the administration, he was in a conflict of interest. “You continued to represent to APEGM that you were acting on behalf of the three engineers and you continued to be involved in their legal matter on their behalf,” reads the letter. “It is the belief of the Law Society that you ought not to have been representing the three engineers at all. You certainly ought not to have continued to act for them after changing your status to ‘inactive.’” In a written statement, the city noted the Manitoba Law Society handled this matter on an “expressly confidential basis.” “Michael Jack provided an explanation to the Manitoba Law Society and they determined that the complaint was resolved with no further action required by them,” a city spokesman wrote. Around that time, Sweryda also launched a petition asking the city to change its policy on dual speed-limit signage. It got more than 2,000 signatures. By August 2015, the petition made its way to Mayor Brian Bowman’s desk. In a written statement, a city spokesman said the department is now supportive of dual signage. “The historical interpretation of the (Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada) by the City had been that the dual provision of signage was optional rather than mandatory, however the department is now supportive, prepared to, and committed to making the change to add the dual signage,” the statement said. “We are still investigating the total number of locations where the additional signage would need to be installed (we believe there are 52 locations where this is required), and have committed money… to fund the installation. We anticipate it will be completed within the calendar year.” Jeremy Patzer, an assistant professor in the department of criminology and sociology at the University of Manitoba, says he believes Sweryda’s research proves the city has been deliberately sacrificing road safety to increase photo-radar revenue. “There are actions and policies undertaken by the authorities that would seem to want to lead us to break the Highway Traffic Act.… Safety is the rationale that is always sold to us, but when it comes down to it, you can see policies that actually sacrifice safety,” Patzer says. “We actually see what seems to be the sacrifice of safety for revenue streams.” A city spokesman shot back in a written statement: “The assertion that the City of Winnipeg would deliberately sacrifice safety for revenue is outrageous, unfounded, and categorically untrue.” *On April 6, 2021, Allard moved a motion at the Riel community committee seeking to change the way Winnipeg’s photo-radar system is operated*. *He wanted the revenue generated from violations in school zones to be earmarked for road-safety improvements instead of going to police operations.* “The (photo-radar) program needs to be reformed. The program legislation is to better safety. It doesn’t specifically say the dollars should go to police. It says safety. I think for the program to continue to be viable, it needs to look at the roads themselves,” Allard said at the time. *The motion was shot down by councillors Brian Mayes (St. Vital) and Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River).* Chambers, chair of the Winnipeg Police Board, called it “premature.” Mayes went further. “I think I have concerns as well. Perhaps slightly different concerns than Coun. Chambers. We both sit on the police board. *This would be a pretty big reallocation of budget from the police,” Mayes said*. Sweryda believes the city’s behaviour is breathtakingly cynical. “When I started this, people were saying, ‘Photo radar is about safety.’ Most people now accept that photo radar is a cash grab. But there’s still this attitude of, ‘Well, if you don’t like the ticket, don’t break the law. Don’t give them the chance to get you,’” he says. “The next step that people need to understand is that it’s not just a cash grab. It’s a cash grab and a trap, sure, but it’s not safety-neutral. It’s actually a detriment to safety.” ryan.thorpe(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe

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WFP: State of Winnipeg’s sidewalks challenged (Feb25'22)
by Beth McKechnie 25 Feb '22

25 Feb '22

Visually impaired man consider human rights complaint against city State of Winnipeg’s sidewalks challenged https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/state-of-sidewalks-challenged-57624… A VISUALLY impaired St. Vital man is considering filing a human rights complaint against the city over the state of its snow- and ice-packed sidewalks. Raymond Slipetz, who lives alone, is legally blind and uses a cane to walk in the winter, said the city’s refusal to clear sidewalks in a timely manner has affected his quality of life. Getting his groceries delivered and accessing a taxi are difficult because the plowed snow blocks his driveway. “If you’re in a wheelchair or you’re in a situation where you need to use a cane or a walker, you’re not going anywhere on the sidewalks,” the 69-year-old told the Free Press Thursday. Slipetz said he’s considering making a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission on behalf of Winnipeggers with disabilities. He said they’ve been denied basic needs because the city doesn’t make sidewalk clearing a priority. “But the fact of the matter is that if you’re in a wheelchair, use a walker or a cane, or are a legally blind person, you don’t have any rights at all,” he said. “You rely on what other people are willing to hand you down.” The city has three priority levels for snow clearing. Typically, the priority level of a street and a nearby sidewalk are the same (for example, some sidewalks near schools get a higher priority than nearby streets). Priority is determined by several factors, including the amount and type of traffic. First and second priority streets and sidewalks are plowed after five centimetres of snow fall, while third priority streets and sidewalks are plowed after eight centimetres. While corresponding streets and sidewalks are supposed to be cleared at the same time, that isn’t happening. On Thursday afternoon, Priority 2 streets in the south end of Winnipeg were considered 100 per cent cleared, while their sidewalks and pathways were listed as nine per cent complete. “We start at the same time, but sidewalks take much longer than streets,” said Michael Cantor, Winnipeg’s manager of street maintenance. “Usually, you’ll see streets at 100 per cent after 24, 36 hours, while the sidewalk stays much longer. Although the policy states 36 hours, this year, it was very hard to meet those timelines.” City policy states that Priority 1 and 2 sidewalks should be fully cleared within 36 hours of a snowfall, while Priority 3 sidewalks should be plowed within five days. Cantor acknowledged that hasn’t happened this winter. “What limits us, usually, is the amount of equipment to finish our inventory within 36 hours,” he said. “And with this long winter and cold temperatures, we have a lot of equipment that is down.” He added the city is behind on clearing Priority 3 sidewalks because of excessive snowfall this winter. Cantor said his department is closely monitoring its sidewalk clearing this winter, with a report on snow clearing to be presented to the city in July to determine gaps in service. However, Cantor defended the city’s response. “In other cities, they don’t plow sidewalks of residential streets at all,” he said. “Winnipeg has, I think, one of the best policies. We just sometimes struggle to facilitate it if we don’t have the adequate resources to do that. And we’re working on it. But otherwise, the policy itself is a very good policy.” But Slipetz, who said he’s reached out to the city with little to no response, said the priority system isn’t working. “To me, it’s ridiculous that they would be following this old policy and not giving any consideration to those who are disabled,” he said. Elmwood resident Adam Johnston agrees. Johnston, who was hit by a car in October, said he finds it difficult to navigate the city’s snowy sidewalks with his injuries. He said the need for accessible pathways is vital in lower income neighbourhoods where more people walk and take public transit. “We’re in an area that’s not of high income… and it feels like we have been ignored this winter. It just seems like roads and higher income areas seem to get priority,” he said. Johnston said he gets anxious about scaling the piles of snow that line city sidewalks. “Often I’m jumping over snowbanks to walk on the street where it’s been cleared, where the cars go, and obviously that’s not the greatest, but it’s often the only alternative,” he said. malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP: Winnipegger’s effort to replace hundreds of missing signs in school zones thwarted by public works department (Feb25'22)
by Beth McKechnie 25 Feb '22

25 Feb '22

Winnipegger’s effort to replace hundreds of missing signs in school zones thwarted by public works department CAUTION: apathy zone RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT NO OVERSIGHT A Free Press investigation into the city's transportation division https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/caution-apathy-zone-576241702.html IT was sometime in 2011 when Christian Sweryda, an independent researcher and traffic-safety activist, started to notice locations where school-zone signs were missing in Winnipeg. He began to count the places where they should have been installed. When his list hit 30, he contacted the transportation division of the public works department to flag the issue. Sweryda said based on how many signs were missing just in his area, there were likely hundreds more around the city. He suggested someone do an inventory. Someone in the department told Sweryda it would not do a count, but would replace missing signs on a case-by-case basis. They told him to stop calling and instead contact 311. Sweryda had a deep fascination with traffic-related issues inWinnipeg and began looking into a range of safety concerns. His research— which has uncovered evidence of financial mismanagement in the public works department and triggered an audit — is the subject of the Free Press investigative series Red Light, Green Light, No Oversight. After the department rebuffed his efforts, Sweryda decided to take the matter into his own hands. He compiled a list of all city schools, both public and private, and used Google Street View to check every location for missing signs. He spent the next six months driving to the locations to verify his findings. He compiled a 73-page list of every sign location in the city and flagged each spot where one was missing. He noted undersized signs, misplaced signs and school-zone signs on streets with no schools. All told, there were 206missing school-zone signs. Sweryda took the list to the department and asked for the problem to be addressed. He was told it wouldn’t be. “I was floored,” he said. “I hadn’t grown cynical yet.” In November 2012, Sweryda got the National Post to do an article on the topic. It profiled one location, near John Pritchard School onHenderson Highway, where school-zone signs were missing. Sweryda thought the media coverage would force the department to act. Instead, the missing signs at John Pritchard were replaced, but the city ignored hundreds of locations elsewhere. A freedom-of-information request revealed the signs were replaced only after the River East Transcona School Division complained to the city after reading the National Post story. In late November 2012, former city councillor Harvey Smith set up a meeting with Sweryda and department staff. He again produced the list and, this time, he was told they would “assess each location” on it. At the time there were discussions about lowering the speed limit in school zones to 30 kilometres per hour. Sweryda was told it made no sense for department workers to replace all the missing signs if they were going to have to repeat the work after a speed-limit reduction. The argument, at least to him, was nonsensical: while refusing to replace missing school-zone signs — a safety issue — they were saying they wanted to reduce speed limits to improve safety. In 2014, the speed limit in school zones was reduced, but only on residential streets adjacent to elementary schools— where only a small minority of the missing signs were located. Many more were on major roads, or roads approaching schools or at high schools. The only signs the department replaced were those affected by the lower speed limit. In 2015, Sweryda repeated his inventory and found there were 173 signs missing; only 33 of the 206 he’d initially identified had been replaced. Many were on major roads with high traffic volumes and increased safety risks. At that point, Sweryda gave up. He’d done what he could to get the department to act. But his concerns remained, and by 2018 he was back on it, and this time he teamed up with Coun. Matt Allard, who chairs the public works committee. That year, Allard (St. Boniface) moved a motion asking for a civic report on missing school-zone signs. In November 2018, the department was granted 180 days to report back on the matter. In May 2019, the timeline was pushed to October. Then in November, an extension was again granted, followed by yet another in February 2020. The department requested additional funding to create a database and GPS monitoring system for the signs. But the proposal for the additional funding was not approved. Once again, Sweryda couldn’t make sense of the department staff’s logic. They didn’t want to replace the missing signs he’d catalogued until they’d developed an internal GPS system that could keep track of missing-sign locations in the future. In the fall of 2021, Allard took the matter up with the department again. This time, public works department director Jim Berezowsky said he would get someone on it. And once again, Sweryda’s list of missing school-zone signs was provided. “I have been working for years asking the public service to address missing school-zone and playground signage as researched by Chris Sweryda, through council motions and communications. Unfortunately, many issues remain outstanding,” Allard said. On Thursday, the city said in a statement it is in the process of reviewing Sweryda’s submitted information “in order to determine exact locations where signs may need to be repaired or replaced. We would attend to any locations where signage is in fact missing as quickly as possible.” Sweryda shares an anecdote that sums up his frustrating battle. The signs near John Pritchard School on Henderson Highway— which were replaced after the 2012 National Post story— were ones Sweryda drove by every day on his way to class at the University of Manitoba. Month after month, he watched as the school-zone sign on northbound HendersonHighway began to lean, seemingly a little more each time he passed it. On Oct. 31, 2016, it fell to the ground. It was left on the sidewalk until the following summer, and then it vanished. It had not been replaced by December 2018, so Sweryda wrote an email to David Patman, manager of transportation for the public works department. If he couldn’t get public works to replace all of the missing signs, surely he would be successful at one spot he passed all the time. Or so he thought. “I have a staff member who can review and act on missing signs; I will forward this to her. Note that we are in the process of developing a plan to inventory and update all signage in Winnipeg,” Patman wrote in response Dec. 23, 2018. By April 3, 2021, nothing had been done. Sweryda emailed Patman again. “Considering that it has been over 27 months since that correspondence, I wanted to inquire as to whether there has been any progress in putting this sign back up?” he wrote. Patman responded three days later. “This appears to have fallen through the cracks, but as of this morning, I have been advised that traffic services is going to inspect the site promptly and will reinstall the sign if it is missing,” he wrote. That was 10 months ago. The sign is still missing, as are hundreds of others. ryan.thorpe(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe

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

24 Feb '22

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

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

22 Feb '22

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

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

18 Feb '22

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

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

16 Feb '22

SAVE THE DATE! On Wednesday, April 13th Green Action Centre will welcome Strong Towns’ Charles Marohn to Winnipeg. Registration will begin soon for The Confessions Tour: Transportation for a Strong Town. Tickets will be available from greenactioncentre.ca. Like many cities in Canada, Winnipeg has gone through a period of record growth, and yet our financial position has never been worse. Winnipeg also has the highest rate of injury and death of vulnerable road users in Canada. What did we get wrong, and what can we do now, and into the future, to ensure we have a successful transportation system that contributes to the quality of life of all residents? The lessons Charles shares will apply to those in Winnipeg as well as municipalities across the province. Whether you are a planner, developer, transportation engineer, municipal leader or community advocate, you will want to attend this important event. Following Charles’ keynote, attendees will be divided into groups to participate in a series of breakout sessions to bring the high-level concepts to the local reality around us. Be part of the transportation transformation in your town! ABOUT CHARLES MAROHN Charles Marohn, known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues, is the founder and president of Strong Towns. He is a professional engineer and a land use planner with decades of experience. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota. Marohn is the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019), And of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town (Wiley, 2021). He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast <https://www.strongtowns.org/podcast> and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content <https://www.strongtowns.org/>. He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America. Planetizen named him one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time. Thank you to our sponsors for making The Confessions Tour: Transportation for a Strong Town possible! [image: ad400345-7b39-4199-b4a4-72cbe6b11940.jpg] *Mel Marginet* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre <http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3777 x112 | Find us here <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> **Note: I work two days a week at Green Action Centre and it may take a few * *days to respond to you. * *We are located on Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation. The water we drink comes from Shoal Lake First Nation. * Green Action Centre is your green living hub Support our work by becoming a member <http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/> <http://www.gomanitoba.ca>

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

16 Feb '22

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

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

09 Feb '22

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

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

09 Feb '22

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

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

09 Feb '22

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

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

08 Feb '22

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

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

03 Feb '22

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

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France Forces Auto Advertisers to Encourage Less Driving
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '22

01 Feb '22

On Dec. 28, the French government ordered <https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000044590170> automakers to prominently feature one of three approved messages aimed at decreasing vehicle miles traveled in the nation: “For short journeys, prioritize walking or cycling,” “Think about carpooling,” or “Use public transport every day.” Advertisers will also have to use the hashtag #SeDéplacerMoinsPolluer, which roughly translates to “Pollute less when you move.” https://usa.streetsblog.org/2022/01/05/france-to-car-buyers-driving-is-bad-…

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