May 2025 - AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

WFP: Businesses lose parking to buses (May22'25)
by Beth McKechnie 22 May '25

22 May '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Businesses lose parking to buses ‘The daily turnover of these ... spots generate substantial revenue’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/05/22/businesses-lose-p… MERCHANTS of Grosvenor Square are irate the city is relocating a bus stop along Grosvenor Avenue and removing several parking spaces they say are vital for business. “People tell me all the time, ‘I’ll come in if I can find parking,’ and this is going to seriously affect me,” said Chris Atkinson, owner of Lilac Bakery at 930 Grosvenor Ave. As part of Winnipeg Transit’s massive overhaul, all four current stops at the intersection of Grosvenor Avenue and Stafford Street will be removed and replaced with three new stops, including one in front of the bakery and several other shops. Atkinson estimates the new bus stop is taking away five parking stalls. City crews installed “no stopping” signage on the strip last week. “There was no consultation, no one had any idea this was even happening,” Atkinson said. Other businesses in Grosvenor Square include restaurants, a furniture store, boutique, dry-cleaning, a yoga studio and hair salon. Atkinson says much of his customer base park momentarily to pick up orders or a quick treat and he already competes for parking with the other businesses. The bakery has a few parking stalls in the back lane behind his shop but they are usually reserved for staff, he said. “We pay taxes and employ people. I’m all for active transportation but, unfortunately, we’re still a car-centric city and these spots are valuable,” Atkinson said. The bakery has seen increased walk-in traffic in recent years owing to a concentration of businesses moving into the area, but many still drive across town for a taste of Lilac’s coveted red velvet cake and other confections. A city spokesperson said parking would be reinstated where possible. Megan Benedictson said while some spaces would be removed in front of Lilac Bakery, an existing bus stop (northbound Stafford, near-side Academy) would be removed and parking added there. The new parking spaces will be a 20-metre walk from the front door of the bakery. Across the street at Metro Cleaners, owner Gus Lefas said the relocation of the bus stop means drivers will use his parking lot instead. Lefas has been at 917 Grosvenor Ave., since 1961 and has always had ample parking, but with the host of businesses now in the area, times have changed. He fears the new stop location will completely dry up Lilac’s business. “They can’t just move the stop 50 feet behind the houses? Won’t bother nobody, I don’t know why they’re doing this,” Lefas said. The city considered availability of space, transfer walking distance, pedestrian infrastructure, existing stop infrastructure, safety, adjacent land use and parking impacts in choosing where bus stops will go, Benedictson said. Atkinson wrote a letter to the mayor and area councillors Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) signed by six nearby businesses. “Unlike suburban areas where parking is ample, the Grosvenor Square merchants do not have that luxury and have relied on and built businesses with this parking in mind; we need it to survive. Most of us have no parking at all, outside street parking. The daily turnover of these mentioned parking spots generate substantial revenue for the neighbourhood businesses,” a portion of the letter states. Orlikow said while the stop isn’t in his constituency, he’s looking into the issue with Transit and exploring possible alternatives. He recognizes the imposition on business in the area. “This transit overhaul has been a massive project and you can’t consult absolutely everybody … but we’re making sure that transit understands the impact it’s going to have on those businesses and seeing if there’s any other viable options,” Orlikow said. The city’s new transit network is expected to go online June 29. On May 1, Transit posted the upcoming schedules online so residents can become familiar with the new routes. nicole.buffie(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca>

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ParticipACTION report on creating a social norm for physical activity
by Michelle Porter 16 May '25

16 May '25

Here is a new report from ParticipACTION<https://www.participaction.com/> about creating a social norm for societal physical activity: MOVING TOWARDS A NEW NORMAL<https://www.participaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Social_Climate_Pa…>. Some of this information is relevant to active transportation of course. Michelle Michelle M. Porter, PhD, Professor | Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management | Director, Centre on Aging | 338 Isbister Building | University of Manitoba | Winnipeg, MB CANADA | R3T 2N2 | (204) 474-8795 michelle.porter(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:michelle.porter@umanitoba.ca> | Centre on Aging | University of Manitoba (umanitoba.ca)<https://umanitoba.ca/centre-on-aging/> | https://bsky.app/profile/um-coa-porter.bsky.social | linkedin.com/in/michelle-porter-639890150<https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-porter-639890150>

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WFP: Cycling advocates say city wasted time on safety (May7'25)
by Beth McKechnie 07 May '25

07 May '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Focus on unworkable bike path plan could have been better spent making roads safer, they say Cycling advocates say city wasted time on safety https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/05/06/no-speed-limits-f… Plus: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-cyclists-decry-delay-of-we… THE city will not set speed limits for bikes on active transportation paths, a decision cyclists say took valuable time away from real issues needed to make roads safer. More than a dozen cyclists gathered at city hall prior to a public works committee meeting Tuesday, displaying the white “ghost bike” that honours Rob Jenner, who was killed in a crash with a speeding vehicle on Wellington Crescent near Cockburn Street on June 6, 2024. During the meeting, members of the group urged the committee to urgently enact changes to make bike travel safer on Wellington. They argued key city staff should have been able to focus on that topic instead of researching options for an active transportation speed limit that officials ultimately deemed too difficult to enforce. “We would like to be here to talk about 30 km/h (speed limits) in residential areas … I do not want to be the next one killed on my way to work,” said Linda van de Laar. In December, city council ruled out calls to immediately reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h from 50 km/h on Wellington Crescent, from River Avenue to the western end of Academy Road. At the time, some councillors cautioned against elected officials imposing the change without having city traffic experts study it first. Council did direct staff to report on solutions to improve cyclist safety on the route that can be implemented this year. That report was originally due in April but was delayed until June. “It’s (now) one month before the anniversary of Rob Jenner’s death and there’s no sense (that) the urgency to fix a hole in our infrastructure as significant and deadly as Wellington Crescent is shared by our city leaders … We won’t see action until past the time of year when Rob needed it,” said Andrew Kohan. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said future changes must be thoroughly studied before the city proposes a plan to alter Wellington. “It is a very, very high volume regional road, so the public service wants to make sure it’s safe and they’re going to take their time … They’re taking their time to do a proper, comprehensive outreach and review,” said Lukes. The Waverley West councillor said she expects city staff may recommend converting a lane of Wellington Crescent into a bike path and lowering the speed limit. Lukes said the city has spent millions of dollars on safer active transportation routes in recent years. “Is it balanced right now from vehicular use to active transportation? I’d say absolutely not. But we’re evolving. We can’t do it overnight,” she said. The cycling advocates did support a city staff recommendation to rule out setting a speed limit along active transportation paths for electronic bikes, scooters and other similar devices. Public works cast a final vote to follow that advice on Tuesday afternoon. According to a city report, the municipal government lacks the authority to set separate speed limits on paths that form part of a road, highway or street under the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act, meaning speed limits could only be added on completely separated paths. The report suggests any such speed limits would be difficult to implement. “(That) would require significant new signage, be difficult to enforce, and likely have low compliance among higher speed users,” it notes. Councillors ordered the report after some residents complained a growing number of motorized bikes were rushing past pedestrians at unsafe speeds, creating a growing safety hazard, said Lukes. She agreed a bike speed limit isn’t a promising option to address that concern. “I think we can use our police service for better things that are more urgent,” said Lukes. The report notes most bikes aren’t even equipped with speedometers and don’t require registration, making tickets difficult to issue. Instead, city staff plan to create an educational program to teach all users how to safely share active transportation paths, with a focus on bicycles and electronic devices yielding to pedestrians. The city’s pedestrian and cycling strategy may also be updated to require new paths to have separate spaces for electronic devices/bicycles and pedestrians “when possible and feasible.” If the above measures don’t work, the report suggests the city could start making paths wider to better accommodate multiple modes of travel. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Community members to lead Jane’s Walks throughout the city (May2'25)
by Beth McKechnie 02 May '25

02 May '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. A 21-gun salute for urban theorist Jane Jacobs Community members to lead Jane’s Walks throughout the city ● Friday-Sunday ● Various locations ● Free ● For more info see: wfp.to/janeswalk<http://wfp.to/janeswalk> AFTER her time meeting with the City of Winnipeg in the ’90s, the world’s most famous urban theorist Jane Jacobs was reportedly gifted a $10 watch with the city logo. “It’s so funny because it came in this fancy little box,” laughs Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, Jane’s granddaughter, an oboist living and working in Winnipeg. If this gift seems like a token of underappreciation, Winnipeg offers Jane something of a 21-gun salute this May. That’s the number of Jane’s Walks hosted in Winnipeg this year between Friday and Sunday during the annual festival of free, community led-walking tours inspired by Jacobs. Started by friends and colleagues of hers shortly after her death in 2006, the concept quickly spread to cities around the world — more than 500 of them to date, according to the fest’s Toronto- based steering committee. “It’s all very decentralized and self-organizing,” says Jim Jacobs, Jane’s son. He lives in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, where Caitlin grew up and Jane lived after emigrating to Canada from the United States in the late ’60s. “Its focus and value are not in promoting her thoughts or ideas… but to provide a soapbox,” he goes on. “People will say whatever they want to say and if the audience likes it, they’ll stay. And if they don’t, they’ll beat their feet!” This grassroots freedom is already in a certain Jacobian spirit. Jane Jacobs’ complex ideas evolved considerably after her 1961 classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities; the first book of many by a self-educated mother of three, which ultimately turned the urban-planning establishment on its head. (Although her son observes that establishment absorbed her ideas in ways that today sometimes amount to little more than window dressing — big shows of “community consultation,” for instance, that do little to shape planners’ schemes.) But certain throughlines tie this tapestry together. Jacobs championed vibrant, walkable neighbourhoods built on diversity, density and mixed-use development. She famously opposed top-down planning and urban renewal projects that she believed devastated communities. Instead, she emphasized local knowledge and organic interactions between everyday people in shaping successful urban life. If some of these ideas seem taken for granted today, it speaks to Jacobs’ towering influence — an influence resisted at first by an establishment more smitten with modernist visions that served “order and progress” at the expense of human-scale urbanism. Jane Jacobs became famous not just for her theories, but for her David-and-Goliath battles, waged with wit and grit, against powerful planners in New York and Toronto. It’s this plucky spirit from which local community organizer Michael Champagne and Jane’s Walk leader draws inspiration. “I know that too many people just drive down Selkirk Avenue or Main Street to get from one part of the city to the other,” says Champagne, who also organizes North End History, committed to social activist and heritage enterprises in the neighbourhood. He leads 100 Years of Main Street: Commerce and Community from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday and Selkirk Avenue: Yesterday & Tomorrow from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday. “These walks invite Winnipeggers to get out of their vehicles to see the vibrant local organizations, businesses and people that are here because, like Jane Jacobs, we believe our community problems can be answered when we’re together.” Other Jane’s Walks this year explore Old Saint Boniface, the Exchange District and the histories of its garment and grain industries, St Norbert’s forests and more. “These walks are a nice, hyper-localized opportunity for us to listen to and learn about the solutions that are working,” says Champagne. According to Broms-Jacobs, Jane left her tour of Winnipeg especially interested in the North End’s history and future — a locale that, for all the challenges it may face, has a strong neighbourhood identity encompassing a mosaic of social groups and uses. What would she make of present- day Winnipeg? “Jane observed from a political point of view that having a city’s government controlled by its suburbs is devastating to a city,” says Jim Jacobs. Notwithstanding, he has an optimistic vision of the city. “There are certain long-standing characteristics of Winnipeg that count in its favour, even if they’re under-exploited, like a lot of mixed use neighborhoods,” says Jim Jacobs. “And there are these older buildings, some of which provide lower rent and more flexibility, more flexibility for entrepreneurs, community groups and artists.” One of those artists is Broms-Jacobs, who performs with such organizations as the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Fierbois duo, often in the city’s older, more centrally located churches that now serve partially as music venues. “It’s an open-minded, artistic, sensitive town … new ideas can flourish because it’s not so crushingly expensive,” she says. “And in the (15 years) that I’ve been here, I’ve just noticed such an amazing increase in diversity in the way that Torontonians think of diversity — in the international sense.” To see the full list of Winnipeg’s 2025 Jane’s Walk and to register visit winnipegarts.ca/janes-walk. The events are all free. conrad.sweatman(a)winnipegfreepress.com<mailto:conrad.sweatman@winnipegfreepress.com>

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WFP: Online tool lets transit riders take incoming spine-and-feeder network for a spin (May1'25)
by Beth McKechnie 01 May '25

01 May '25

Caution! This message was sent from outside the University of Manitoba. Online tool lets transit riders take incoming spine-and-feeder network for a spin https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2025/05/01/online-tool-lets-… Winnipeggers can start planning for a massive transformation that’s set to alter virtually every bus route. Winnipeg Transit will launch a new primary transit network on June 29. On Thursday, transit posted the upcoming schedules online, so users can try out virtual trips and sort out their best options in advance. Mayor Scott Gillingham said the information will help prepare riders for the biggest single-day change in Winnipeg Transit’s history. “With this new network, you’ll be able to get anywhere in Winnipeg more easily on routes that are more frequent, more reliable and more direct. It means faster commutes, shorter wait times and better customer service… This is big. This is bold change,” said Gillingham. [On Thursday, Winnipeg Transit posted the upcoming schedules online, so users can try out virtual trips and sort out their best options in advance.]<https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/322346…> On Thursday, Winnipeg Transit posted the upcoming schedules online, so users can try out virtual trips and sort out their best options in advance. Riders can visit Winnipeg Transit<https://www.winnipeg.ca/services-programs/transportation-roads-parking/tran…> to preview stops, routes, and trip plans. The new primary network will use a spine-and-feeder concept, where direct spines along major corridors are supported by a network of feeder routes throughout the city. “It’s a big change for passengers and we know how people like change,” joked Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works. “So, I think all the information we’re launching today, all the training that we’re offering, will help demystify this transformation.” Lukes (Waverley West) said some of the most frequent routes will have buses arrive so often that Winnipeggers can just show up at times without checking the schedule first. “It will make transit better, so much better that probably our next big issue will be overcrowding on the buses because that’s what we’re seeing with the Blue Line (now),” she said. Lukes said Winnipeg Transit’s Blue Line, which stretches from southwest Winnipeg to downtown, has operated in similar fashion to the new network since 2020, proving the concept works. To support the broader change, the councillor said “travel trainers” will help educate the public, including students and seniors groups, about the new system. Bus drivers will receive extra help when they sign up for specific routes in the next week or so, said Bjorn Radstrom, Winnipeg Transit’s manager of service development. “We want them to not just know the route they’re driving, but understand the entire network,” said Radstrom. Winnipeg Transit has had a shortage of drivers in recent years but heavy recruitment has recently paid off, with sufficient drivers now in place to carry out a full summer schedule, he said. “It’s looking better than it has in a very long time,” said Radstrom. Transit said bus routes are operating at six per cent below normal, but full service should be restored in the summer. Once the new network is implemented, a bus is expected to arrive every five to 15 minutes along each of the most frequent routes during peak periods, while connector route buses would come every 15 to 30 minutes, the city’s website says. Radstrom said the city hopes to release its fall schedule by July to allow more planning time for updated school routes. A transit advocate expects the new network will greatly improve service. “Frequent service helps so many people to be able to rely on the system because it reduces uncertainty and provides access to more buses more often, with shorter waits, faster transfers and increased reliability. There are sweeping benefits,” said Kyle Owens, president of Functional Transit Winnipeg. Owens said routes are all interconnected, so it makes sense to overhaul the system at once, while the early route notice will help users prepare for it. The new system will require more transfers on many routes, though these should be more reliable, while riders may have to adjust to community routes ending earlier in the evening, he said. “Fewer stops getting them across the city quickly is fantastic but (passengers) are going to need to anticipate when the feeder routes may end,” said Owens. The head of the union that represents transit drivers welcomed Thursday’s commitment to help prepare drivers for the new routes. In the meantime, he urged the public to be patient. “We are concerned about people being impatient with this change, taking out their frustrations on the others… riding the bus or our operators,” said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505. Transit will provide drivers with business cards that contain QR codes that they can give to passengers to look up information en route, he said. “That’s something small and convenient that an operator can grab at the garage to hand out to anybody that they can’t give the answer to,” he said. Scott said driver staffing levels have greatly improved due to the ongoing “hiring blitz,” though about 80 more operators would be needed to meet the full service level in the fall. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca<mailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca> X: @joyanne_pursaga

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