[please help spread the word...]
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR BIKE TO WORK DAY!
Visit www.biketoworkdaywinnipeg.org for more information!
June 19th, 2009 will be the second annual Bike to Work Day in Winnipeg. This day cannot happen with out the energy of volunteers and we need you!
We still need approximately 60 volunteers for Bike to Work Day itself!
Those interested in volunteering should contact kristin(a)marrcc.com with their name and preferred volunteer placement (see below).
Volunteers will be entred to win a volunteer-only prize package, and will be invited to a Volunteer-only Appreciation Event in the evening with food, drink, music and merriment. Volunteers will also receive a distinct Bike to Work Day t-shirt and have the satisfaction of contributing to an exciting and worthwhile event.
Bike to Work Day 2009 will consist of the Manitoba Lotteries Pancake Breakfast at the Forks, and we will have four Bike Oases (with food, drink and swag) located at Polo Park, the U of M, North Gate Shopping Centre and Kildonan Crossing (visit www.biketoworkday.org for detailed information about location). Bike Waves (escorted group rides) will run from the Oases to the Forks in the morning.
We need volunteers in the following capacities:
Pancake Breakfast - 2-shifts (6:30 - 7:45; 7:45 - 9:00) - 51 volunteers!
traffic directors at the Forks site: 8 x2
registration 10 x2
registration table coordinator 1 - to fill both shifts
bike valet 4 x2
shirt hand-out person 1 x2
Door entrance counter 1 x2
Spare 1 x2
Bike Oases - one shift 6:00 - 9:00 am - 4 volunteers!
U of M 1 to staff Oasis;
Polo Park 1 to staff Oasis;
Northgate 1 to staff Oasis;
Kildonan Crossing 1 to staff Oasis;
Evening Appriciation Event - 3 shifts - 5-6 pm; 6-7 pm; 7-8 pm
Door Security 1 x3
--
o
_`\(,_
......... (_)/ (_)
Looking for images of pedestrians and cyclists? The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) image library is US-based but offers free high res images. See more info below, along with usage guidelines and a call for photo submissions. -cheers, Beth
------------------------
PBIC News Brief
June 1, 2009
http://www.walkinginfo.org/newsroom/2009-06-01.cfm
PBIC launches updated image library
Submit your images for chance to win a free retro-reflective pants strap!
CHAPEL HILL, NC The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center announces the launch of the updated and redesigned pedestrian and
bicycle image library at www.pedbikeimages.org
The PBIC Image Library is a searchable collection of free, high-quality images relating to walking and bicycling. Visitors to the site may use the images in any non-commercial projects including web pages, presentations and reports. There are no per-image costs, royalties, or extra payments for the images, but users must adhere to the Usage Guidelines posted on the site at www.pedbikeimages.org/usage.cfm
The updated site features hundreds of fresh images of people, transportation facilities, and livable places in the US and in more than 10 other countries. The images can be searched for using keywords, or users can browse by popular search terms. Users can also search for images from specific states or countries, photos taken by a particular photographer, or for a specific format or print quality.
The PBIC would like to encourage users to submit http://www.pedbikeimages.org/submit.cfm their own pedestrian and bicycle-related photos. For the next 6 weeks starting on June 1, users who submit their own related images will be automatically entered in a weekly random drawing. Users will be entered into the drawing for each image they submit, so your odds of winning increase as you submit more photos. The winning recipient for each week will receive one PBIC retro-reflective bike pants strap.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and
maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.
--
Laura Sandt
Research Associate, UNC Highway Safety Research Center
Associate Director, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center
730 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Suite 300 / Campus Box 3430
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3430
Tel 919.962.2358
Fax 919.962.8710
sandt(a)hsrc.unc.edu
www.walkinginfo.orgwww.bicyclinginfo.org.
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Haynes
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 9:02 AM
Subject: Active Transportation - Canada: June 1, 2009
Active Transportation - Canada features a regular posting of news articles, studies, reports, and other items that have relevance in this field, with previous postings available in an archive. In addition, pictures of existing Active Transportation infrastructure from communities across Canada will be profiled each week.
The following items have recently been posted to the Active Transportation - Canada Blog. To view in more detail, go to: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com
****************************************************************************************************
AT Infrastructure Example: Moncton NB - Mayor unveils new "Share the Road" signs
1.. Website - Germany: Revolution on Two Wheels
2.. Article - Toronto: Campaign woos newcomers
3.. Article - Montreal: Fighting for the right of way
4.. Article - Get walking or cycling, says local committee
5.. Article - New bike lanes planned for Ajax cyclists
6.. Article - Active transportation combines bikes, transit
7.. Article - Toronto council passes plan to narrow Jarvis in favour of bike lanes
8.. Conference - The 5th Montreal Citizen Summit
9.. Event - Vancouver: Velo-City: Vancouver & the Bicycle Revolution
10.. Event - Toronto: World-renowned Danish architect and urban design visionary Jan Gehl to speak in Toronto
11.. Article - Arizona: Skateboarding joins PE curriculum
12.. Video - How Bicing changed the way Barcelona moves
13.. Book Review - “Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities”
14.. Newsletter - UK: Cycle Digest
15.. Report - UK: New Dept for Transport Consultation Paper on 20 mph for residential streets
****************************************************************************************************
A reminder e-mail of new postings will be sent no more often than once per week. To continue to receive these updates, you need take no action. Should you not wish to receive updates, please return this e-mail with "Unsubscribe" in the Subject area.
Interested in an AT workshop in your community? For more information, please contact:
Michael Haynes
Director
Employment Opportunity - Orioles Bike Cage
Community Engagement Officer (Contractor)
Orioles Bike Cage (444 Burnell Street) is a community-owned bicycle resource centre. We strive to create a bicycle-friendly community where everyone has a reliable bike and the skills to maintain it and to share our knowledge of bicycle repair in a welcoming environment.
The Bike Cage is seeking a part-time, 4-month, contract Community Engagement Officer. This position will be of interest to an outgoing, self-motivated person with strong communication skills and a passion for community and for bikes. The Community Engagement Officer will co-design and deliver community outreach/involvement, volunteer coordination and a children’s bike event.
Contract requirements are estimated at 20 hours per week; contract value is $4,000.
Applications are due June 12, 2009. Send to OriolesBikeCage(a)gmail.com or to:
Attn: Orioles Bike Cage, c/o Daniel McIntyre/St. Matthews Community Association, 444 Burnell Street, Winnipeg MB, R3G 2B4
Complete job description: http://oriolesbikecage.googlegroups.com/web/OBC+Community+Engagement+Contra…
Orioles Bike Cage web site: http://www.bikecage.ca/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/the-new-key-to-the-city-bikes/ar…
The new key to the city: Bikes
Montreal's Bixi program lets visitors rent a bike for an hour or a day.
Cities and hotels are inviting guests to cruise around like locals, and Montreal's new bike-sharing program is leading the way
On the streets of Montreal, where visitors once flocked to watch Formula One cars race through the streets, you can now cruise the city on two wheels. That is, on one of the 3,000 sleek bicycles in the city's new bike-sharing program.
Launched this month, Bixi is North America's largest and most innovative bike-sharing program, billed as a green, cheap method of getting around. With the city's 450 kilometres of bike paths, you can cruise around like a local. "Tourists are most welcome to use the system and experience the city the way local residents do," Tourisme Montreal's Patrick Guidote says.
As urban cycling gains in popularity, following the European example, cities and hotels are offering bike-sharing and bike paths - along with bikes as amenities for guests - as a way to attract visitors and open up a new tourism experience.
With the $15-million Bixi - the name blends the words "bicycle" and "taxi" - Montreal is building on its potential for visitors. In an online video, Tourism Montreal blogger "Tamy" recommends pedalling to places slightly off the beaten path: Jean-Drapeau Park, for instance, where you can bike on the F1 Gilles Villeneuve track and then stop for a dip at the Jean-Drapeau beach.
The formula for such programs is simple. In Montreal, riders use a member's key or credit card to unlock a bike, pedal it around town and return it to one of 300 solar-powered docking stations. The sturdy aluminum bikes have three speeds, raised handlebars, lights, and tires built for urban cycling.
They're also theft-resistant - and come with a modest rental price. The first 30 minutes of every ride is free. After that, it costs from $1.50 for an hour to $5 for a full day of cycling.
Bixi is modelled after programs in Europe, including Berlin, Barcelona and particularly Paris. After two years of operation in Paris, a city of 2.2 million, the Vélib' program has clocked 42 million riders - thanks in part to tour guides who lead visitors around the Latin Quarter by bike.
If success is based on longevity and popularity, then Bycyklen in Copenhagen is perhaps the biggest success story. Copenhagen brands itself as the City of Cyclists, and 36 per cent of locals travel by bicycle; the city is aiming for 50 per cent by 2015. Founded in 1995, Bycyklen was the first large-scale urban bike-share program featuring specially designed bikes.
And it's free: Riders leave a $4.25 deposit, which is refunded when they return the bikes. Its tourism board weaves promotional campaigns with tips on how to experience the city like a local and boasts about its extensive network of bike paths, which expands every year.
According to bike-sharing consultant Paul DeMaio, Montreal and other cities are likely to see bike-sharing programs become a favourite mode of transport for visitors. "Tourism improves when visitors can rely on the local transit network, including bike-sharing, rather than needing a car rental," he says.
"Tourists get to experience a city more up close when they're biking. They can smell the aromas of the bakeries and enjoy urban life, rather than be frustrated about being stuck in traffic and worried about where to find parking."
Given the growth of bike-sharing globally, that sort of experience should be a common part of city tourism within a few years. London plans to unveil its 6,000-bicycle-strong share program by 2010. Boston, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Phoenix have announced programs for the near future.
In New York, the quintessential urban jungle, the city has conducted a comprehensive study to assess the potential for a bike-sharing program.
And this summer, the neighbourhood group Alliance for Downtown New York is running its second annual Bike Around Downtown program, which provides the public with bicycle rentals (free for members, and anyone can register online to be a member), including helmets and baby seats.
Some of the hippest hotels in North America are also getting in on the action. In New York, the Hotel Gansevoort invites guests to hop on their fleet of ultramodern Puma bicycles, complete with helmets. Chicago's James Hotel stocks trendy Paul Frank-designed bikes for adults and kids that are perfect for a ride down Lake Shore Drive. And in Miami Beach, where visitors are used to seeing fancy cars vying for attention along Ocean Drive, The Raleigh hotel encourages guests to cruise along the boardwalk with their own set of wheels.
Bike-sharing programs are designed for short trips, which means there has to be a critical mass of activities that are accessible by bike in order for tourists to embrace the trend, says Jennifer Keesmaat, a founding partner of Office for Urbanism, a Toronto-based planning and design firm.
"Cyclists don't stay on their bikes," she says, "They use cabs, buses and their feet to get around, so a network of paths has to tie all of the pieces together." Local governments have to invest in constructing bike lanes, trails and good signage, she argues, before they implement bike-sharing programs.
Detroit seems to be getting the idea. This month, it officially unveiled the Dequindre Cut, a walking and cycling trail on an abandoned rail line just outside downtown. It has three access points: the Detroit riverfront, the established residential community of Lafayette Park, and the southern end of Eastern Market, a historic district that is home to a farmers market and restaurants.
In a general sense, Keesmaat argues, a strong environment for urban cycling improves a city for its residents and acts as a major draw for visitors. "People measure cities by how easily they can get around. If you're sitting in traffic for hours, you generally don't want to be on the road," Keesmaat says.
"But if you're cycling on safe, well-signed bike lanes, feeling the breeze and seeing the sights en route, then you'll be a lot happier where you are."
* * *
Pack your bags
BICYCLE-SHARING PROGRAMS
Bixi, Montreal www.bixi.com
Vélib, Paris www.velib.paris.fr
Bycyklen, Copenhagen www.bycyklen.dk
Bike Around Downtown, New York www.downtownny.com/bikearound
HOTELS WITH BICYCLE AMENITIES
Proximity Hotel Greensboro, N.C.; 336-379-8200; www.proximityhotel.com. Offers complimentary use of its bicycles to explore the nearby eight-kilometre Greenway trail.
Raleigh Hotel Miami Beach; 305-534-6300; www.raleighhotel.com.
Hotel Gansevoort New York; 212-206-6700; www.hotelgansevoort.com.
James Hotel Chicago; (312) 337-1000; www.jameshotels.com.
Lorien Hotel & Spa Alexandria, Va.; 877-956-7436; www.lorienhotelandspa.com.
Special to The Globe and Mail
[Forwarded on behalf of Erik Dickson, Marr Consulting Services]
Please see below an invitation to a Working Session on developing cycling route improvements in Winnipeg for June 2, 2009. Please note the registration deadline of May 31, 2009.
Andre Picard's Second Opinion
A battle of wheels
The leisurely Tour de l'Île has been criticized for not aligning itself with a charity.
Is the promotion of physical activity - in this case cycling - a worthy cause in itself? Of course it is
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/a-battle-of-wheels/article114516…
Andre Picard Monday, May. 18, 2009 04:24PM EDT
On June 7, more than 30,000 cyclists will take to the streets for the annual Tour de l'Île, a leisurely 50-kilometre jaunt around the Island of Montreal.
The event, organized by the non-profit group Vélo Québec, is designed to promote cycling as a healthy family activity and an alternate form of transportation. But, above all, it's supposed to be fun and liberating, the one day of the year when bikes can roll through the city streets unencumbered by cars.
Not surprisingly, the Tour de l'Île has had to deal with a backlash from motorists. While the event closes only a fraction of Montreal's streets, and it does so on a quiet Sunday in June, it does lead to some delays for drivers.
As a result, some municipalities (the Island of Montreal is home to an incomprehensible mix of boroughs, towns, cities and political fiefdoms) and surrounding suburban communities have banned the Tour de l'Île.
It is not coincidental that the most vocal opponents of the activity are commuter havens, where cars rule the roost. But organizers and supporters of the Tour de l'Île have seen through these self-serving complaints and soldiered on, adjusting the course route in deference to the anti-cycling lobby.
But now the Tour de l'Île is dealing with a new line of attack: Complaints that the event is not associated with charitable fundraising.
Murray Levine, founder of the Philanthropic Athletes Foundation, has led a dogged campaign against the Tour de l'Île, arguing, among other things, that the event should not get tax dollars and taxpayer-supported services (namely police and street cleaners).
He argues that this investment - about $600,000 a year - is unfathomable. Mr. Levine wants the Tour banned, unless it aligns itself officially with a charity and promotes fundraising.
This line of attack conveniently ignores the fact that taxpayers - even the cyclists - pay billions of dollars each year to maintain the road network and that the only thing car drivers donate daily is air pollution. Just as curious is that Mr. Levine has targeted the Tour de l'Île and not made a big stink about other state-supported, traffic-disrupting events like the Montreal Marathon, the Jazz Festival, the Santa Claus parade, the St-Jean Baptiste parade and so on that do not actively raise money for charity either.
Regardless of his ulterior motive - Mr. Levine is, after all, a professional fundraiser - the gadfly raises an intriguing philosophical question.
Is the promotion of physical activity - in this case cycling - a worthy cause in itself?
Of course it is.
Further, should the promotion of physical activity and alternative forms of transport get state support?
Again, in a society where obesity and lifestyle-related chronic illnesses are epidemic and where our reliance on fossil fuels is destructive, it is indeed a good investment.
Charities play an important role in Canadian society and they have found many creative ways of raising funds. The marriage of healthy activities like biking and raising money for cancer research (the Ride to Conquer Cancer) or running marathons and raising awareness of childhood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma (Team in Training) is often inspirational.
Charity - the giving of one's money or time - is, by definition, voluntary. It should not be mandatory.
Many people participating in the Tour de l'Île will use the event as an occasion to raise money for charity and that's wonderful, and they are in no way prevented from doing so. But people should be able to lace up their shoes and saddle up on bikes without setting out to cure cancer or save the world.
To suggest that the Tour should not have access to Montreal streets and to city services if they do not actively promote charitable giving is preposterous.
What Mr. Levine is suggesting, while no doubt well-intentioned, reflects a much larger problem: The commodification of daily life.
Not every activity of daily living needs to have a commercial purpose. Every breath we take need not be associated with the generation of economic activity, either commercial or non-profit.
We don't need ads plastered on every sidewalk and subway platform. We can have city parks that are not festooned with the ads of their corporate sponsors. We can have buildings in our public institutions that do not sell off their naming rights in the name of charity. We can run marathons for the sheer masochistic pleasure without having to pester our friends for sponsorship. We can walk our dogs without it being a protest march against dog fighter Michael Vick. And we can bike around the Island of Montreal for a day without it having to be a guilt trip.
In our high-octane society, there is, in fact, a refreshing purity to the Tour de l'Île.
Cars run riot in the city 3641/2 days a year. Charitable fundraising takes place every single day of the year, and at a furious pace.
But on June 7, on the streets of Montreal, there will be a welcome respite: Cycling for the sake of cycling; breathing for the sake of breathing. Families hanging out together without, as a prerequisite, the systemic badgering of friends and relatives for sponsorship.
The Tour de l'Île is the type of investment we should make in ourselves and our cities far more often and far more purposefully.
Just a little something something that made me smile - thought you'd all enjoy.
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/21/howto-plant-a-handle.html
Posted by Cory Doctorow, May 21, 2009 9:42 PM
"Instructables user FriendOfHumanity has a little HOWTO for installing a windowbox planter on the handlebars of your bike. I dunno, I'd be worried about doing a faceplant (worse yet, if you planted chickpeas, you might falafel your bike) (I did that once and I falafel about it)."
http://www.instructables.com/id/Bicycle-Window-Box--For-the-transient-garde…
Cheers
Stacy Matwick
Information Centre
International Institute for Sustainable Development
161 Portage Ave. E., 6th floor
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4
Voice: (204)958-7755 Fax: (204)958-7710
Email: smatwick(a)iisd.ca Library website: http://sd-cite.iisd.org<http://www.iisd.org/>
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx
"Life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance your must keep on moving" Albert Einstein
WOW, check out the bike parking facility they have had in Chicago since
2005.
Could this be something similar to what is going to be built at the
University of Winnipeg?
Could this be what could be designed into the new Bombers stadium at the
University of Manitoba for a bike valet?
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/bike-parking-respect-in-chicago-mcdonal…
David Wieser
