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WFP Around City Hall: Sustainable Procurement, Road Safety Plan and Sidewalk Snow Clearing (Jul22'22)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

CITY TO PURSUE SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT THE City of Winnipeg will aim to use its buying power to better the community. On Thursday, council cast a final vote to implement a sustainable procurement action blueprint. The city will implement changes over three years that can help Winnipeggers overcome employment barriers and get hired, and/or achieve other key social and environmental goals. SIGHTS SET ON STRATEGIC PLAN FOR ROAD SAFETY THE City of Winnipeg will spend $22 million over five years on a road safety strategic action plan, which aims to reduce serious injuries and deaths caused by traffic collisions. The new plan sets a target to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions by 20 per cent over five years. It suggests the city add more 30 km/h speed limits at neighbourhood greenways, review overall speed limits, add more traffic calming measures (such as speed bumps or roundabouts) and create public education on road safety, among several other steps. SIDEWALK SNOW CLEARING TO BE DONE QUICKER A plan to clear sidewalks of ice and snow quicker in future winters has been approved by council, minus an original recommendation to have private contractors do more of the work. On Thursday, council approved a call to spend $3 million on 15 more sidewalk-clearing machines but rejected a recommendation to also contract out an additional 500 kilometres of sidewalk plowing. More info here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/snow-ice-clearing-options-winnipeg-…

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Big Vehicles impact on safety of road users
by Charles Feaver 17 Jul '22

17 Jul '22

The Globe's lead editorial Saturday: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-reducing-the-dang erous-impact-of-cars-that-just-keep-getting-bigger/ Reducing the dangerous impact of cars that just keep getting bigger and meaner In many respects, vehicles today are safer than they have ever been. Mandatory seatbelt laws, airbags, headlights that turn on automatically and modern crumple zones make the inside of a vehicle an increasingly secure spot. In Canada, the fatality rate per 100,000 vehicles in 2020 was the <https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/statistics-data/canadian-motor- vehicle-traffic-collision-statistics-2020> lowest in at least two decades. However, safety overseers - at least in North America - have been much slower to address the risk vehicles pose to everyone around them. Hundreds of Canadian pedestrians and cyclists are fatally struck every year. While European regulators insist on design changes that can protect people outside the vehicle, North American auto safety standards have traditionally not taken them into account. This is particularly relevant today, because vehicles on this continent have gone on steroids. The supersizing of cars and trucks is everywhere. The new Volkswagen Beetle is 73 per cent heavier than the model that starred as Herbie the Love Bug. The changes are even more striking among larger vehicles. The Cadillac Escalade is an SUV so big that up to <https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investigates/13-investi gates-millions-vehicles-have-unexpected-dangerous-front-blind-zone/531-9521c 471-3bc1-4b55-b860-3363f0954b3b> 13 children can sit in a line in front of it without the driver being able to see them. Sedans have increasingly been discontinued and marketing muscle poured into bigger, and higher-profit, vehicles that make a sales pitch of their aggressive shape. The man behind the looks of the 2020 GMC Sierra HD aimed to evoke "a massive fist moving through the air." Karan Moorjani told Muscle Cars & Trucks he wanted the pickup <https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/2020-gmc-sierra-hd-design-the-origin-st ory/> to look imposing. "We spent a lot of time making sure that when you stand in front of this thing it looks like it's going to come get you. It's got that pissed-off feel." People who do find themselves in front of such a truck are at much higher risk than if hit by a smaller vehicle. A high and squared-off front end strikes a pedestrian directly in the chest, unlike a sedan that hits lower and can cause the victim to roll onto the hood. In Europe, regulators have recognized the problem, and rate vehicles' ability to protect not just the driver and passengers. Vehicles in Europe must meet standards for <https://www.euroncap.com/en/vehicle-safety/the-ratings-explained/vulnerable -road-user-vru-protection/> human impact on the bumper and hood, as well as for sightlines from the driver's seat. The practical result of these rules is that hoods tend to be shorter and slope down more. Windows are larger. This helps explain why the Ford Transit, which comes in cargo van or open-bed options, and features a large windshield and stubby raked hood, is the <https://www.statista.com/statistics/260025/market-share-of-best-selling-lig ht-commercial-vehicle-models-in-eu-27/#:~:text=The%20Ford%20Transit%20accoun ted%20for,best%2Dselling%20LCV%20by%20far> most popular light commercial vehicle in Europe. Last year in the United States it was outsold more than seven to one by the blunt-nosed F-150 pickup truck. The design of vehicles is just one of the reasons Europeans <https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/11/30/13784520/roads-deaths-increase- safety-traffic-us> enjoy safer roads. The EU took another big step this month toward controlling speeds. As of July, new vehicle models released in Europe must be fitted with intelligent speed assistance (ISA). This uses cameras or GPS to determine the speed limit, and then employs escalating audio and physical cues to discourage drivers from exceeding it. ISA will be <https://road-safety-charter.ec.europa.eu/resources-knowledge/media-and-pres s/intelligent-speed-assistance-isa-set-become-mandatory-across_en> mandatory by 2024 on all new vehicles sold in the EU. Not all such changes could realistically be brought in by Canada alone. The country exists as a bit player in an integrated continental auto market. But officials here can support and participate in nascent efforts south of the border to make vehicles safer for those outside them. Earlier this year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration <https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2022-03/NCAP-ADAS-RFC-03-03-202 2-web.pdf> floated the idea of including pedestrian protection in its vehicle safety ratings. And there are things Canada can do unilaterally. A commercial licence could be required for the biggest private vehicles, which have surpassed <https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2022-gmc-hummer-ev-range-battery-pack-and- weight-revealed.html#:~:text=The%20Hummer%20EV%20tips%20the%20scales%20at%20 9%2C063%20pounds%2C%20according,lightest%20car%2C%20the%20Chevrolet%20Spark> four tonnes in weight. A limit could be put on how high after-market modifications can raise a vehicle. The use of "bull bars" installed in front of the grill could be regulated, as could those <https://images.customwheeloffset.com/buy2-compressed/web/18095-2-metal-lugs -spiked-lug-nuts-chrome-8-lug.jpg> spiked lug-nut covers whose only apparent purpose is to intimidate people riding bicycles. When seatbelt laws were introduced, many people howled. Now the majority of Canadian motorists buckle up without a second thought - and are safer as a result. Some of that same safety ethos should be extended to protect the people these drivers might encounter. Charles Feaver 11 Harvard Ave Winnipeg R3M 0J6 204.293.6332

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HealthyPlan.City is Here!
by Beth McKechnie 13 Jul '22

13 Jul '22

*Start Using HealthyPlan.City* The first of the HealthyDesign.City <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> project tools, HealthyPlan.City, has been released! This version of HealthyPlan.City focuses on identifying urban heat islands in Canadian cities. The tool, developed by leading environmental health researchers and epidemiologists, uses environmental exposure data and Canadian Census data to identify areas of equity priority in over 150 Canadian cities. The tool draws attention to neighbourhoods with both a greater proportion of vulnerable populations and higher land surface temperatures and fewer trees and green spaces that help cool temperatures. “This free tool is really a watershed moment for environmental health, healthy city planning and open science in Canada,” Jeff Brook, a Co-Director of the HealthyDesign.city project and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, said. “Every city in Canada now has access to data showing where they need to focus their energies to support residents at risk for heat-related health risks.” The fact that cities are hotter than rural areas is well-known. The tool provides a block-by-block snapshot of disparities in temperature and population vulnerabilities of urban areas. Proactively identifying areas with hotter temperatures where more older adults or low-income residents live and implementing cooling interventions in the area could save lives during a heat wave. The power and potential of this data visualization tool was showcased in a recent CBC series. You can read the CBC articles here: 1. Sweltering cities <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> 2. Here's who lives in your city's worst heat islands <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> 3. Cooling canopy <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> You can read the Radio-Canada articles here 1. Étouffer en ville <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> 2. Voici qui vit dans les pires îlots de chaleur de votre ville <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> 3. Au frais sous les arbres <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> Please feel free to share the tool with your colleagues and networks! Explore the Tool in English <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> Explore the Tool in French <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id…> *Copyright © 2022 HealthyDesign.City, All rights reserved.* You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. *Our mailing address is:* HealthyDesign.City 155 College St Room 500 Toronto, ON M5T 3M7 Canada Add us to your address book <https://city.us1.list-manage.com/vcard?u=1a3fced43d8438d6c8b88536f&id=87bb0…> [image: Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp] <http://www.mailchimp.com/email-referral/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm…>

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Imprinting car culture on young kids
by Beth McKechnie 13 Jul '22

13 Jul '22

Another example of programs inculcating car culture on young kids from today's Free Press: HE’S only six and has just arrived in Winnipeg from Ukraine, but Sviatoslav Nakonechna proudly made his first Canadian vehicle using a cardboard packing box and construction paper wheels. “I’m making a car, a huge car,” he proclaimed in Ukrainian to a group of visitors touring the nursery room at St. Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church Monday, where 20 five- and six-year olds were building their own cardboard vehicles as part of an English language and life skills summer program. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/everyone-wins-at-summer-camp-for-uk…

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City of Winnipeg Leisure Guide: Cartown offers a licence for fun
by Beth McKechnie 12 Jul '22

12 Jul '22

Apparently we still have a long way to go to promote getting around by bike, on foot and taking the bus. Programs like "cartown" are not helping. https://www.winnipeg.ca/ourstories/2022/220708.stm -- 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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Amphibious e-bike you can live in.
by Terry Zdan 10 Jul '22

10 Jul '22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9IMUWLsgiM

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From 1953
by Dave Elmore 10 Jul '22

10 Jul '22

As much as things change, they stay the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjSq2-XmVNI&t=432s

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WFP: E-bikes, scooters take the pain out of high gas prices (Jul9'22)
by Beth McKechnie 10 Jul '22

10 Jul '22

MOTORIN’ PAST THE GAS STATION E-bikes, scooters take the pain out of high gas prices https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/motorin-past-the-gas-station-576… GAS stations are almost foreign territory for Ian Walker. Prices climb to record highs — $1.99 per litre one day, more than $2 the next — and Walker cruises by, unaffected. He’s one of a growing number of Manitobans who’ve shifted their feet from gas pedals to the footholds of electric bikes and scooters. “If we’re going long distances, the e-bike is amazing,” Walker, 41, said. “I’ve found the e-bike is replacing car trips.” He’s cycled his Urban Arrow to Birds Hill Provincial Park. One “wickedly windy” May day, he loaded his son in the bike’s front basket and trekked him to a birthday party a half hour’s ride away. “It would’ve been way too much work on a conventional bike,” Walker said. He’ll adjust the bike’s motor to work in tandem with him as he lugs equipment to his Grade 3 classroom, as he comes home from a grocery store and as he battles weather conditions. Walker isn’t new to the e-bike industry — he’s been a rider for two years — but the number of people joining him has skyrocketed in tandem with the rising cost of fuel. “It’s been explosive,” said Michael Pasquali, president of the Canadian Electric Bike Association. Governments don’t track the number of e-bike users, so growth rates are anecdotal, Pasquali said. Still, the association has noted a sharp uptick in the past months by talking with Canadian shop owners. “With gas prices, obviously, it’s put a big crunch on people,” Pasquali said. A typical e-bike charge costs about 10 to 25 cents, he said. Owners plug their bikes’ lithium batteries into electrical outlets; Walker’s bike takes four hours to recharge. It’s a roughly $3 to $5 increase to the monthly Hydro bill, depending on the rider, Pasquali said. A typical e-bike charge has a distance of 30 to 60 kilometres, he said. “There are not many things you can invest in today that’s going to pay for itself as quickly as an e-bike,” he said. The two-wheelers can range from around $1,000 to upwards of $15,000. Woodcock Cycle Works on St. Mary’s Road has more than doubled the number of e-bike sales this year compared to last, owner Tim Woodcock said. “In Canada, we’re just hitting the point where they’re becoming more recognized,” Woodcock said. He’ll take his down city streets, along gravel floodway paths and through grassy plains. He might bump the bike’s motor to a higher setting, meaning it does more work and he doesn’t break a sweat. En route home, Woodcock might choose eco-mode to “get more of a workout.” E-bikes in Manitoba have a maximum speed of 32 km/h. Kevin McLaren sold five electric bikes in 2017, his first year of bringing them to market through More Than Bikes. This summer, he might sell five in a week. “Once the gas started hitting $2, the demand for bikes picked up,” McLaren said. So has the desire for electric scooters. “The high-end ones we’ve sold more of — a lot more than we did last year,” McLaren said. Then, More Than Bikes sold more scooters in the $2,000 to $2,500 range, he said. This year, models costing $4,000 to $6,000 are more popular. “(Customers) went with bigger batteries so they could get a farther range,” he said. Gas-powered scooters, known as mopeds, have also entered the spotlight. Jennifer Abel swapped her Kia Niro for a canary yellow Vespa to get around Virden, her home community. “The thought of driving an entire summer on likely about $50 for gas is very appealing,” Abel said. The 49-year-old said she bought the Vespa to celebrate her 50th birthday, but the gas savings are a major perk. The tank fills up — with premium gas — for less than $15, Abel said. “I’ve driven 35 km on it so far and it hasn’t even come off ‘F,’ (for full)” she said. She didn’t need a new licence — the vehicle has a top speed of 50 km/h, and her Class 5 driver’s licence is sufficient. However, she needed to get a licence plate and basic insurance. Electric scooters, which have a maximum speed of 32 km/h, don’t require users to have a licence, but drivers to be at least 14 years old. “I believe the culture of scooters has grown so much, and every year, it grows more,” said Leehee Hasid, general manager of Scooter City. Neither electric nor gas-powered scooters stay in the Main Street retailer long before being sold, Hasid said. “Once you ride it, you really get addicted to it,” she said. Manitoba had 1,632 registered mopeds as of March 31, an increase of 28 from the previous year, said Kristy Rydz, Manitoba Public Insurance’s communications manager. Both figures are from before gas prices spiked. Abel is keeping her Kia. She can’t take her yellow Vespa on the highway, and she’s a regular highway user. Walker avoids driving his family’s electric car whenever possible, but it’s still an option. He’s also on the Peg City Car Co-op’s board and borrows vehicles when needed, like the pickup truck he took to this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival. “We’ve designed Winnipeg to be very car-dependent,” Walker said. “It’s a hard city to live in without a car. Now it’s leaving people at the mercy of the fossil fuel industry.” Walker will ride his e-bike in the middle of winter if roads and paths are cleared. “As long as it’s dry on the ground, you can still ride your e-bike,” said Pasquali from the Canadian Electric Bike Association. A major problem facing the industry is a lack of mechanics with expertise, he added. “They’re pulling parts off and trying to plug parts in until they figure out the problem,” said Pasquali, who heads a program for new technicians through Canadian bike association. “You want it to be standardized, just like a mechanic.” Without mechanics’ proper training, bikes that need fixing will remain in shops or must be sent back without repair, Pasquali said. There are a “few hundred” e-bike technicians across Canada, he said. He wouldn’t give an exact number but said there’s plenty of room for more. gabrielle.piche(a)winnipegfreepress.com

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WFP: Transit ridership up due to high gas prices (Jul9'22)
by Beth McKechnie 10 Jul '22

10 Jul '22

Transit ridership up due to high gas prices https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/transit-ridership-up-due-to-high-ga… THE jump in gas prices has resulted in a leap in people getting on the bus. The latest City of Winnipeg report on the financial implications of COVID-19, says Winnipeg Transit has had roughly a 29 per cent increase in passengers in the last four weeks. Coun. Jeff Browaty, chairman of the civic finance committee, said Friday that even though ridership is still down about 25 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, it’s a step in the right direction. “It’s because both the world is opening up again, with people going back to the workplace, and people are going back to old patterns, but the cost of running cars has also gone up,” Browaty said. “You hear (that) people who have never taken the bus before are now taking it because of gas prices and others are coming back.” Browaty said the city is facing the same fuel price crunch as motorists, but it helps when there are more passengers on buses. “It’s wonderful to see more people on the bus because the cost of running empty buses is the same as running a full bus,” he said. “Hopefully, people are coming back and will stay.” A civic report shows COVID-19 will put a $41.3-million dent in city coffers this year. The report says transit is looking at a budget shortfall of $7 million this year, in part because of an increase in overtime costs due to employees being off sick or isolating because of the virus. The Fire Paramedic Services is $3 million over-budget because of similar overtime costs, and parking revenue is down about $500,000. Other hits to the city’s budget include the snow clearing and ice control budget: $34.2 million over-budget this year and a possible $5 million to $13 million extra expenditure if fuel prices remain high. Currently, $7.9 million in property taxes is in arrears. The number of property owners who pay their entire tax bill at once, but have outstanding payments, is 7,430 accounts out of about 230,000 accounts. About $600,000 in business property taxes is outstanding. kevin.rollason(a)freepress.mb.ca

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These German-Made Cargo E-Bikes Are Unlike Anything We’ve Seen Before
by Terry Zdan 08 Jul '22

08 Jul '22

https://insideevs.com/news/596916/maniac-sane-electric-cargo-bikes/

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