January 2024 - AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

WFP: Councillor demands better sidewalk clearing (Jan26'24)
by Beth McKechnie 26 Jan '24

26 Jan '24

Counillor demands better sidewalk clearing https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2024/01/25/councillor-demand… A CITY of Winnipeg councillor is pushing to make the clearing of sidewalks right down to pavement the same priority as removing snow on the busiest streets. “People are getting hurt,” said Coun. Matt Allard, who introduced a motion at council’s meeting Thursday. It calls for snow and ice to be cleared from sidewalks at the same level as Priority 1 streets, regardless of whether the sidewalk or active transportation path is on a Priority 1, 2 or 3 (residential) street. The motion also calls for plow operators and contractors to be subject to fines if they push snow onto sidewalks and don’t remove it, and for the city to establish a reserve fund for snow-clearing operations. He has advocated for improved snow clearing for several years, but recently while taking the bus, the councillor for St. Boniface said he noticed the road was bare but the sidewalk hadn’t been plowed and pedestrians were having to trudge through snow. The difference in clearing was obvious along Archibald Street. When he posted about the issue on social media, he heard similar complaints from Winnipeggers who have struggled to walk on sidewalks during this relatively mild winter. “People slip and fall, get injured and, in some cases, some injuries can lead to fatalities, so people are suffering,” Allard said. “I don’t think, as a human rights city, that our snow-clearing policy conforms to human rights,” he said. The councillor maintained the current snow-clearing policy fails to uphold the rights of mobility and equal access to government services. He said people with mobility issues and people who don’t drive cars should be able to get around just as easily as motorists do in winter. “To me, this is a blatant violation of people’s human rights because of freedom of mobility and equality of access to services from government.” His motion was referred to the public works committee. Winnipeg’s council-approved snow clearing policy was recently updated, and this is the first winter the city has had 15 additional sidewalk snow-clearing machines to put to use. They’ve been out since late last year. “Anecdotally, our crews and inspectors say it has definitely made a positive difference in the service we are able to provide,” stated Julie Dooley, communications co-ordinator for public works. The cost of snow clearing so far this winter season is not yet available, a spokesperson for the public works department said Thursday. Every winter for about a decade, the city has gone over-budget on snow removal. That’s part of the reason Allard’s motion asks for a reserve fund, which he said would make the spending more transparent. A reserve fund existed in the past, but was removed due to cost pressures, he said. “There has been progress, but I think there’s a lot more work to do,” he said. The city’s priority levels for snow clearing are set based on traffic volumes and result in the busiest streets being cleared first. Priority 1 roads are supposed to be cleared to bare pavement within 36 hours of an average snowstorm, and are then salted. Sidewalks along Priority 1 and 2 streets are plowed after a five centimetre snowfall and maintained to “a compacted snow surface,” the policy states, except for downtown sidewalks, which are to be cleared to bare pavement. Typically, sidewalks in residential areas have been the lowest priority. Sidewalks along Priority 3 roads are plowed to a compacted snow surface only after all the other sidewalks are plowed. The policy was changed last year to prioritize sidewalk plowing near elementary schools, and a deadline was added, stating sidewalk plowing should normally be finished within five days (not including weekends or holidays). katie.may(a)winnipegfreepress.com

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WFP: City seeks input on new potential cycling routes downtown
by Beth McKechnie 25 Jan '24

25 Jan '24

WINNIPEGGERS can weigh in on new potential bike routes as part of a vision to revitalize downtown. The city has launched a survey to gather feedback on the alignments for cycling routes along St. Mary Avenue and York Avenue, as well as Notre Dame Avenue and Cumberland Avenue. The potential alignments are posted online. Residents can also register to attend a virtual Zoom event at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7. More information about the survey and virtual event is available at https://engage.winnipeg.ca/centreplan2050.

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INVITATION: Winterpeg is For Everyone: Exercise and Adventure for Persons with Disabilities
by Anders Swanson 24 Jan '24

24 Jan '24

Hello winter warriors! You are invited to Winterpeg is For Everyone outdoor adventures tailored to persons with disabilities. Hosted by Winnipeg Trails and Paralympian and Coach Olex Korniiko *Who* You! Persons with disabilities who would like to share their experience with a community and/or learn new skills. *What:* (Optional) Olexercise Tailored exercise session for persons with any disability with Paralympian and Coach Olex Korniiko. Join in person or ask for an online link to join at home. (Main event) Equipment and support for winter adventures. Somewhere new each week! Get fresh tracks. Join mobile ski library afterward. Invite friends and family and do both! *HOW TO JOIN: * Click the event link for full info and to RSVP: https://winterpeg.org/events/olexercise-and-other-cool-programming-for-peop… Or email olex(a)winnipegtrails.ca or call Olex at 431-334-5527 *When: * SATURDAYS in winter 11:00am - Olexercise! 12:00 noon - Winterpeg is For Everyone Winter Adventures *Where:*UPCOMING LOCATIONS AND DATES Saturday January 27th - Fort Garry CC Saturday February 3rd - St.Norbert CC Saturday February 10th -Seine River Adventure @ Kilter Brewery Saturday February 17th - Lindenwoods CC Friday February 23rd - Brewski at Assiniboine Park (+18) (6:30pm start) NOTE: Saturday February 24th - No program. Saturday March 2nd - St.Norbert Community Centre More Winter events in March as weather allows. Get in touch for spring and summer events too! *Why: *Have fun. Build community. Try new things. *Note: Persons with disabilities welcome at all Winterpeg events of course. Visit Winterpeg.org for the full calendar of events and some info on accessibility of the event site and equipment that may be available. * *Image caption note for persons with disabilities: attached poster shows the same information as the PDF and includes with an image of a person using a sit ski, and the Winterpeg logo, showing a stylized face "eating" a snowflake. *

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Reduced-Speed Neighbourhood Pilot | Phase 2 drop-in events
by Beth McKechnie 16 Jan '24

16 Jan '24

https://engage.winnipeg.ca/reduced-speed-neighbourhood-pilot We want to share what we’ve learned so far. Join us at a drop-in (come-and-go) community event as part of Phase 2 engagement! We are holding one event in each pilot neighbourhood. Preview the presentation boards <https://engage.winnipeg.ca/29627/widgets/120073/documents/121866>. The events provide the opportunity for you to talk to the project team, learn more about the project and share your experiences, expectations, and opinions. Bourkevale Date: Monday, January 29, 2024 Time: 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Location: Bourkevale Community Centre, 100 Ferry Rd(External link) <https://maps.app.goo.gl/sHc6TNUdKHxaWkYBA> Format: Drop-in (come-and-go) Tyndall Park (South) Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2024 Time: 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Location: Sir William Stephenson Library, 765 Keewatin St(External link) <https://maps.app.goo.gl/YUwD77RnH7Njx9eU8> Format: Drop-in (come-and-go) Richmond West Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 Time: 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Location: South Winnipeg Community Centre – Richmond, 666 Silverstone Ave(External link) <https://maps.app.goo.gl/AXNz3mSCAAhzJCcm9> Format: Drop-in (come-and-go) Worthington Date: Thursday, February 1, 2024 Time: 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Location: Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre, 26 Molgat Ave(External link) <https://maps.app.goo.gl/ceiTAD1r846vxu7v9> Format: Drop-in (come-and-go)

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WFP: Blue Line is Transit’s busiest route and packed with lessons for system expansion (Jan2'24)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Jan '24

02 Jan '24

Despite initial bumps in the road, the express Blue Line is Transit’s busiest route and packed with lessons for system expansion The future is Blue https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2024/01/01/the-future-is-blue IT’S 7:31 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13 outside Balmoral Station when the metaphorical whistle blows — a text exchange between a bus rider and motorist ending with, “Race on.” The former is a reporter. The latter is a photographer, who is competing against Winnipeg Transit’s Blue Line in a marked Free Press vehicle during rush hour. The rules are straightforward: Start driving when the rapid transit bus leaves its first downtown stop of the route, follow the speed limit and stop the timer upon parking at the University of Manitoba. Just over 22 minutes later, the vehicle driver is first to arrive. An accordion bus pulls up to the Fort Garry campus’ main stretch at 8:11 a.m, capping off a public transit commute nearly twice the length of a drive. Winnipeg Transit’s Bjorn Radstrom would argue that an asterisk must be attached to the vehicle driver’s win, especially given both the skies and roads were clear. Radstrom said “rapid transit” is a misnomer because while he said speed is valued, the most important thing for the local Transit service, per rider feedback, is reliability. (Frequency is also high up on the service’s list of priorities, he said.) “If somebody is driving to the U of M or from the south end of the city to downtown and traffic is going really well, sure, odds are they’re going to be faster in their car than on a bus. But when things get really congested for cars, the bus should always take roughly the same amount of time,” said the manager of Transit service development at the City of Winnipeg. “You can rely on that and not be concerned your whole day is going to be messed up because of a snowstorm or bad traffic.” To his point, the city’s Navigo trip-planner estimated the morning Transit trip from downtown to Fort Garry would take 38 minutes via the express route, and it ended up taking just shy of 40 minutes. ••• The Blue Line spans 11.2 kilometres in length — much of it parallel to Pembina Highway, on a roadway that was built to keep buses separate from other traffic and allow them to travel at speeds up to 80 km/h. The $467-million project, also known as the Southwest Transitway, sought to divert traffic from a busy commuter corridor between downtown and the U of M. And it’s been successful in doing so. Despite initial bumps in the road, the express line is now the busiest in Winnipeg Transit’s network. The first phase of the transitway was unveiled in 2012. The completed project’s highly anticipated launch happened eight years later, during a historic low in public transit use and as city officials were pleading with residents to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19. Daily boardings across the city have returned to 94 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. On the Blue Line, the number of weekday boardings is more than four times what it was shortly after its rollout in April 2020. On average, there were 3,906 daily user transactions on the Blue Line during the fall of the launch year. That figure climbed to 7,112 in 2021, 13,715 in 2022, and is currently sitting at 16,937. “I don’t think I’ve ever been on a bus (en route home) that hasn’t been packed,” said Elise D’Aoust, a U of M student who takes the Blue Line to and from classes. D’Aoust, who lives in Charleswood, parks her car at Chancellor Station and rides the bus if she does not need her vehicle to get to work later in the day. She said she can typically count on the Transit ride taking fewer than 15 minutes in either direction. Costly parking and the U-Pass — a discounted bus pass that provides post-secondary students with unlimited rides during their studies, in exchange for the entire student body paying a mandatory fee — are both motivators to use a sustainable mode of transportation, D’Aoust said. Another bonus is she has free hands to scroll social media or read a textbook on the bus. “If I want to force myself to study, I’ll make sure that I bus,” she added. ••• Forty-one per cent of all students, staff and faculty members travel via public transit to U of M’s main campus, one of the most popular transit hubs in the city — second only to the downtown core. Driving alone is the second most popular mode of transportation, followed by carpooling, walking and biking — accounting for 25 per cent, 11 per cent, four per cent and one per cent of all commuters, respectively. Sixteen per cent of individuals work or study from home, and the remainder did not disclose their exact commute logistics in the university’s 2023 campus commute survey. Nearly 6,000 community members, representing a 15 per cent response rate, completed the online poll between Jan. 16-31, 2023. “There’ve been a few shifts — for staff, especially, in the 2023 survey because there has been a little more flexibility in terms of some work-from-home days so that has changed the commute lens a little bit,” said Jessie Klassen, U of M’s sustainability projects co-ordinator, during a recent episode of Not Necessarily the Automobile — a campus radio show that explores public and active transportation issues. Citing respondents’ frustrations about late buses, overcrowding and pass-bys due to full loads, a report on the latest commuter findings includes a call for administration to address service-level concerns with Winnipeg Transit. “Our students pay for a lot of Transit and get the absolute minimum,” one participant said in their 2023 submission. Another wrote they often cannot catch a transfer until five or six packed buses come and go during rush hour. Several community members indicated they purchased vehicles because of their poor service experiences. Transit service development boss Radstrom said he welcomes formal complaints — the more specific, the better — so that staffers know where the problems are and can work to fix them. “Ridership has really come back very strongly (post-pandemic) and if anything, it’s higher than we expected it to be, so what we’re struggling with now is really high passenger loads on the Blue Line,” he said. The aftermath of COVID-19’s system-wide halt, government funding approval delays and supply chain problems are currently causing Winnipeg Transit challenges, he said. Radstrom noted that Transit needs more of the articulated or “bendy buses,” each of which can fit about 50 more passengers than traditional 40-foot-long vehicles, because the existing fleet is aging. That aging, in turn, adds to service issues because there are not enough usable buses to meet ridership demands. ••• Blue Line buses are scheduled to make stops along the main line — which splits in two around Waverley Heights so drivers can service U of M and St. Norbert loops — every four to five minutes during weekday rush hours. Buses become more infrequent during quieter times, although passengers are never supposed to wait more than 35 minutes for a ride at a major stop, per Winnipeg Transit’s schedule. The successes of the transitway, including its spine and feeder model, are now informing plans to overhaul the city’s wider network. Radstrom said change is required to simplify and straighten out routes by minimizing left turns, among other updates that will speed up run times and increase the efficiency of the existing system, which he calls “convoluted.” The host of UMFM’s Not Necessarily the Automobile has no shortage of ideas on how to improve service and in turn reduce CO2 emissions in the city — more than half of which are currently linked to transportation. Adam Johnston said the city needs to implement universal low-cost fares, bolster advertising efforts to attract riders, and do a better job of linking bus routes to active transportation paths. “If Winnipeg wants to get to a million people, we can’t just keep expanding freeways like Kenaston and Chief Peguis,” Johnston said. “We have to have serious discussions about land use and getting out of the car and building sustainable communities, and that does include a more equitable Transit system here in the city.” maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca

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