April 2013 - AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Fwd: [livable-communities] The Big Move: Pay-per-kilometre system could be the way of the future
by Mike Tutthill 04 Apr '13

04 Apr '13

*The Big Move: Pay-per-kilometre system could be the way of the future* A GPS-based driving fee of about $0.03 per kilometre could yield $1.9 billion for less-crowded roads. But would the public buy it? http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2013/04/03/the_big_move_payp… [photo missing] Bern Grush, an expert on road-use metering, takes in the view of an uncharacteristically uncrowded Don Valley Parkway from the Gerrard St. bridge. *By:* Tim Alamenciak < http://www.thestar.com/authors.alamenciak_tim.html> News reporter, Published on Wed Apr 03 2013 *Explore This Story * 1 Photo 154 Comments Officials in Oregon saw the problem coming years ago: Fuel-efficient cars and electric vehicles would spell disaster for a state reliant on gas taxes to pay for road repairs. So they asked some drivers to pony up at the pump in a different way. In 2007, they launched a pilot project involving 300 motorists, who had GPS devices installed in their vehicles to record miles driven. Whenever they filled up, the drivers would pay an additional fee of about one cent per mile travelled, based on the device’s information. A system like this appeared on the short-list of ideas released Tuesday to help fund Metrolinx’s plan for beefed-up transit and reduced congestion. The transportation agency is considering a charge of 3 cents per kilometre, which could generate up to $1.9 billion in revenue per year, according to a report prepared for the agency by AECOM and KPMG < http://www.bigmove.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/RPT-2013-03-12-Revenue-Too…> . Some experts say charging by kilometre travelled is a good idea because it asks people who use the roads most to pay the most — and encourages transit use, too. But its combination of increased monitoring with a new fee is politically unpalatable. “In the long term — we’re talking about (decades) from now — this would absolutely be the right tool for charging users for what they’re getting,” said Benjamin Dachis, an analyst with the C.D. Howe Institute, a policy think-tank. The challenge, “first and foremost, is public acceptance of it.” How exactly the system would work is unclear, as the agency is still in the early process of figuring it out, said John Howe, vice-president of investment strategy and project evaluation at Metrolinx. “We assume a variable rate system based on factors such as time of day, level of real-time congestion, route selected and type of vehicle. This would require a GPS-based vehicle tracking and charging system,” he said. It’s an idea Bern Grush has long advocated < http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2010/09/04/payasyoudrive_meter_poised…> . Grush is the mind behind Skymeter, a company once devoted to metering road usage, but now in receivership. You might chalk that up to the politics of the concept. “I’ve been at this for 10 years and there have been so many reports,” said Grush. “There’s been a huge inability of almost any government anywhere to actually make progress in this area.” The technology worked, but proposing to put it into practice was a political hornets’ nest. Now he focuses on using the technology to help administer parking costs <http://paybysky.com/> — something he says is less politically volatile. Grush, who said he holds patents for these GPS devices, noted there is a potential for them to violate privacy, but that can be prevented by design. “The device itself doesn’t report anything to anyone unless it’s been set up to do that,” he said. It’s possible to design a GPS device that would calculate distance and location, then submit only a dollar figure to the billing authority. In the Oregon pilot, more people accepted the system if they were given options for metering, said James Whitty, a state manager involved in both pilots. The original program made drivers install a government-issued GPS device. The second pilot featured a tiered system with three payment options: Drivers pay a single per-kilometre rate and have their odometer checked periodically. Drivers install a GPS device and pay a variable rate depending on where they were driving. Drivers pay a single flat-rate fee, designed to lighten the load for heavy users. The pilot showed the tiered system was preferred, but Whitty is still cautious when asked about the potential for implementing the idea more broadly. It’s still being piloted in Oregon and hasn’t been put into legislation. “The momentum is increasing, is what I see,” he said. “Once people understand that the public has to be comfortable with this and they have to provide mechanisms that the public accepts, then you’ve got a better chance of passing legislation.” Some countries charge fees to heavy vehicles per kilometre travelled, but nowhere has a blanket provision been applied to passenger vehicles, Whitty said. A per-kilometre fee is just one in Metrolinx’s short-list of 11 “revenue tools” that could help generate $2 billion a year in funding for the Big Move transportation plan. It got little attention from civic leaders, most of whom reacted positively to the short-list in general but focused on the unsuitability of another proposal: higher property taxes. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford responded to Tuesday’s announcement with a retching noise and suggested casinos are the answer to the need for transit funding. Metrolinx’s final investment strategy is slated to be released June 1. == *More from TheStar.com: * A peek at Metrolinx’s short list of ‘revenue tools’ for expanded transit < http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/04/02/the_big_move_a_sneak_peek_at_met…> Supporters must speak up for Metrolinx plan: James < http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/04/02/supporters_must_speak_up_f…> --- Smart Growth BC is the administrator of the livable communities listserv. However, any opinions expressed on this listserv remain the responsibility of the poster and do not necessarily reflect Smart Growth BC’s position or policies. You are currently subscribed to livable-communities as: mtutthill(a)healthincommon.ca. To unsubscribe click here: http://lists.smartgrowth.bc.ca/u?id=554958.26bbcf3642f503bd9b1cf7ba5b0f3f89… or send a blank email to leave-1491312-554958.26bbcf3642f503bd9b1cf7ba5b0f3f89(a)lists.smartgrowth.bc.ca To view any messages that have been sent on this list, please visit the livable-communities listserv archive online at: http://lists.smartgrowth.bc.ca/read/ -- Mike Tutthill Planning & Evaluation Facilitator HEALTH in COMMON 200 - 141 Bannatyne Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3B 0R3 tel: 204.946.1888 1.800.731.1792 fax: 204.284.2404 email: mtutthill(a)healthincommon.ca web: www.healthincommon.ca +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *Health in Common on Facebook*< http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-in-Common/120069149875> ü Please consider the environment before printing this email.

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Globe & Mail: Scrapped Cdn study found early promise for safer truck design
by Beth McKechnie 02 Apr '13

02 Apr '13

TRUCKING REGULATIONS Scrapped Canadian study found early promise for safer truck design RENATA D’ALIESIO The Globe and Mail Published Monday, Apr. 01 2013, 6:00 AM EDT http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/scrapped-canadian-study-found-… Infographic: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/incoming/how-side-skirts-on-a-truck-can-save… It was a study with life-saving potential. For the first time, federal government engineers were examining whether side skirts, attached to trucks to reduce fuel costs, could also prevent cyclists from getting crushed under the big rigs. With funding secured and researchers in place, the innovative study<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/transport-canada-to-look-at-bi…>was about to shift into its second phase when Transport Canada suddenly scrapped further testing last fall. The transportation regulator contended there was no point in moving forward because it had found no research to show truck skirts could make streets safer. But that’s not what the engineers found. A copy of the study’s first phase, obtained by The Globe and Mail through access-to-information legislation, reveals the National Research Council (NRC) reported promising findings from its initial analysis of side skirts. All three models tested prevented bicycles from sliding underneath a transport truck in a collision – a dangerous scenario that has wounded or killed scores of cyclists in Canada over the past decade. Transport Canada is standing by its decision to halt additional testing, but the study’s sudden cancellation has irked some safety advocates. Without more testing, it’s impossible to determine whether lightweight skirts can serve the same safety purpose as sturdier side guards. Both cover the side gap between a truck’s front and back wheels, but skirts are designed to make trucks more aerodynamic while guards, generally a drain on fuel, bolster the safety of cyclists and pedestrians by preventing them from tumbling beneath a truck during a crash. “It’s disappointing that Transport Canada hasn’t moved forward with this [study],” said Ontario’s interim chief coroner Dan Cass. The NRC, a government research agency, declined to make its lead engineer on side skirts available for an interview. In an e-mailed statement, NRC engineer Jeff Patten said he believes these were the first tests of their kind in the world. “Although these tests were a critical step in understanding the behaviour of side skirts when impacted by a bicycle, they are but one step in what must be a rigorous multistep process,” Mr. Patten noted. Transport Canada spokeswoman Karine Martel said the decision to cancel the study was made at the scientific and technological level and not by Transport Minister Denis Lebel. “The intention of the proposed investigation was to study whether side skirts might provide ancillary safety benefits for pedestrians and cyclists,” Ms. Martel said in an e-mail. “A decision was made not to proceed with the study because the department was unable to find any research indicating that a similar technology, specifically side guards, was effective at improving pedestrian and cyclist safety.” Side guards have long been mandatory on most trucks in Europe and Japan. According to an earlier NRC study, completed for Transport Canada in 2010, cyclist deaths and serious injuries involving the side of trucks dropped substantially in Britain – deaths by 61 per cent and serious injuries by 13 per cent – after side guards were introduced. Transport Canada said there could have been other factors that contributed to the decrease in injuries and fatalities. Dr. Cass has a different view. “I don’t know what more evidence is needed before one just moves forward to do something which is known to save lives.” The Ontario chief coroner’s office called for national side-guard regulation last year after reviewing 224 cyclist and pedestrian fatalities. Twenty-nine of the deaths involved heavy trucks, with nearly half of the victims dragged, pinned or run over after striking a truck’s side. The NDP and Liberals have both tried to push the side-guard issue onto the legislative agenda with separate private member’s bills, but their bids to have truck guards regulated have not been successful. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has opposed mandatory side guards, suggesting bike lanes and road-sharing campaigns are more effective at improving safety. The industry group, however, has encouraged its members to install side skirts because they reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, noted Stephen Laskowski, the organization’s senior vice-president. Skirts are more common on tractor-trailers in North America, but they can also aid large straight trucks. Which is why Transport Canada’s study of the safety potential of side skirts was so intriguing: Could truck skirts save fuel and save lives? The first round of testing, which cost about $100,000, involved mounting a block of steel to a bicycle’s saddle to mimic the weight and centre of gravity of an adult rider. The mountain bike was then rammed into the side of a stationary semi-trailer at a speed of about 22 kilometres an hour. “Under these conditions, the testing demonstrated that all three side skirts prevented the loaded bicycles from entering under the trailer. Furthermore, the bicycles did not become wedged underneath the skirts,” states the NRC side-skirt report, completed in April, 2012 for Transport Canada. The report stresses a lot more research and testing are needed to determine whether skirts can indeed protect cyclists in real life. A second phase of study was scheduled to begin last fall. NRC engineers were going to look at how the skirts performed in cold weather. Would they still prevent bikes from sliding under the big trucks or would the skirts, which are usually made of plastic or aluminum, break apart? Transport Canada had set aside $200,000 for this round of testing, tapping the regulator’s Ecotechnology for Vehicles Program, a five-year, $38-million initiative to test technologies that have the potential to improve safety and the environment. According to NRC research, side skirts increase driver stability and reduce a semi-trailer’s annual fuel consumption by 4 per cent to 7.5 per cent. The skirts cost between $750 and $3,600, an investment recoverable in four months to two years. While the safety benefits of truck skirts remain unclear, proponents of side guards point to the European experience as evidence truck guards work. “Side guards are proving to save lives,” said Jeannette Holman-Price in a phone interview from England. Her 21-year-old daughter, Jessica, died when a dump truck ran over her in the winter of 2005. The truck had clipped Jessica’s brother as the siblings stood on a snow bank in Montreal. Jessica managed to push him to safety, but in doing so, she slid beneath the truck, through the side gap, and was crushed. Their mother has been advocating for a side-guard regulation ever since. “When you look at the event that destroyed my life and my family’s life it was all because of the lack of a single piece of machinery that exists on every [truck] over here.”

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Two innovative local cycling projects up for Cycling Visionary Awards
by Shoni Litinsky 01 Apr '13

01 Apr '13

With one click you can support two local groups towards winning the Velo City Cycling Visionary Awards <http://velo-city2013.com/>. As many of you know, Anders is leading a project creating an App with the Active and Safe Routes to School program called TapTraffic. *The premise is simple: embrace the power of the smartphone and harness the power of regular people to count bikes and pedestrians everywhere. From the smallest residential street and backlane to the most important artery, we all want cycling infrastructure changes everywhere. This is a simple way of taking the first step wherever you are, tracking things as they progress and proving it works. This project is in for the science, research, and development category of the awards. * *Please vote for us here:* http://velo-city2013.com/?page_id=2337&preview=true&project_id=27<http://velo-city2013.com/?page_id=2337&preview=true&project_id=271> 1 <http://velo-city2013.com/?page_id=2337&preview=true&project_id=271> Also local group the UWSA Ice-riders also have a project in the running for the advocacy and social projects category of this award. *The University of Winnipeg Students' Association's Ice Riders and their Bike Lab are gaining momentum in the creation of an active cycling culture year-round. The UWSA Bike Lab and Ice Riders are aptly positioned in location and in their capacity for education and advocacy in Winnipeg's core. They provide resources, events and education to help cyclists find their traction Winnipeg winters.* * * *Please vote for them here: http://velo-city2013.com/?page_id=2337&project_id=81 * -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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