- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Who Needs a Massive RV When You Can Build an Army of $1, 200 Bicycle Campers and Be Free - autoevolution
by Terry Zdan 22 Jun '22

22 Jun '22

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/who-needs-a-massive-rv-when-you-can-buil…

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Rethink roads to save lives
by Charles F 22 Jun '22

22 Jun '22

Today's Globe and Mail editorial Rethink roads to save liveshttps://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281689733487416Sent from my phone.

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CBC: Winnipeggers call for more reliable bus service as gas prices continue to surge
by Beth McKechnie 22 Jun '22

22 Jun '22

In case anyone missed this spot on article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-transit-efficient-1.6491239

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This Thursday, Winnipeg Cycling Archive Wrap Party!
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jun '22

21 Jun '22

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Kate Sjoberg <wrenchprogram(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 9:39 AM [image: 2021-WRENCH-ARCHIVES-SOCIAL-WRAPUP.jpg] Hi everyone! Over the past few seasons, project lead Jon Benson has been collecting archival material that shows the history of cycling activity and activism in Winnipeg. We've really enjoyed learning the stories that have come in and being reminded of different Winnipeg curiosities, challenges, and achievements. Part of what we hoped to do, aside from reconnecting at a time of continued relative isolation, was to demonstrate the long time and ongoing commitment Winnpeggers have made to create a cycling city. This came through, big time! We want to celebrate! Jon is organising a party at the Edge Gallery, which will include display of some of the submissions as well as story telling from a number of contributors. Join us/please share! Thursday June 23 from 7-9pm at the Edge Gallery. Storytellers will include: Peter Obendoerfer Beth McKechnie Merrill Grant Stephanie Chow Allis Kolynchuk Konrad Krahn (Winnipeg City Archives) Please bring your mask! And feel free to share this invitation to anyone who may be interested. Thanks very much to the City of Winnipeg Archives, the Winnipeg Foundation, and archivist Sarah Story for helping us make this happen! The WRENCH The Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub 1057 Logan Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3E 3N8 Treaty 1 Territory, Homeland of the Metis Nation www.thewrench.ca 204-296-3389

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Globe editorial on car v. bike battle over open streets
by Charles F 15 Jun '22

15 Jun '22

The problem with Toronto’s ActiveTO program is its popularity. And the problem with the most prominent part of ActiveTO – the reason Toronto City Council is under pressure to kill it – is that it’s been the most popular and successful part of the program....In the summer of 2020, Toronto on some weekends banished cars from short stretches of a few streets.The biggest and longest of these routes involved the eastbound lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard West. Six kilometres of pavement, running from the massed condo towers of Humber Bay Shores to the massed condo towers of Liberty Village, Fort York and Harbourfront, were turned over to bikes and walkers. The result? The city found that “more people use Lake Shore Boulevard West to bike, go for a walk or run when the ActiveTO closures are in place when compared to motor vehicle volumes when closures are not in place.”...Turning half the lanes on Lake Shore West over to bikes, rollerblades and walkers was a regular occurrence on weekends in the summer of 2020. But by the summer of 2021, the program was scaled back – fewer days, shorter hours, a shorter route. As of 2022, it’s an endangered species. Toronto City Council is facing demands to terminate with extreme prejudice, and you can see why. If it continues, more people will hear about it, more people will use it and then, well, imagine how bad things could get.And taking away three or four lanes, one or two days a week, undermines the idea that streets are for cars and everyone else is an interloper. Here’s what happens: A drive from Etobicoke to downtown on the Gardiner that took 14 minutes in 2019 took up to 29 minutes on some ActiveTO weekends in 2021.That’s 15 extra minutes for a few thousand drivers, a couple of dozen days a year; in return, hundreds of thousands of people in the crowded neighbourhoods Lake Shore West passes through got a temporary urban park. Fair trade, or dangerous precedent?...(note ironic tone ! )https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-activeto-has-been-a-brilliant-success-so-of-course-the-war-on-the-car/Sent from my phone.

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CBC: Waterloo to reduce speed limits to 30 km/h on city streets (Jun13'22)
by Beth McKechnie 15 Jun '22

15 Jun '22

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-speed-limits-low… Waterloo will reduce speed limits on city streets to 30 km/h. In a 5-3 vote, councillors approved the move Monday during a council meeting. Staff had recommended lowering speed limits from 50 km/h to 40 km/h on most streets with a drop to 30 km/h around schools, but Ward 2 Coun. Royce Bodaly introduced a motion to lower limits on collector and residential streets to 30 km/h. "In short, it works," Bodaly said of lowering speed limits to increase pedestrian and cyclist safety. "Somebody going 75 km/h in front of a neighbourhood park or a school or just on any residential street, in my opinion, they should be subject to a stunt driving charge, and they would be if we went to 30, but would not if we went to 40." He said he'd like to see Waterloo "drive the culture change" on city streets and accept a Feb., 2020 Stockholm Declaration on Road Safety recommendation <https://www.who.int/news/item/17-05-2021-streets-for-life-campaign-calls-fo…> to lower speed limits to 30 km/h globally. Jason Thistlethwaite, who is co-president of the Uptown West Neighbourhood Association, told councillors the association did consultations with residents and people were supportive of the idea of lowering speed limits. "Reduction to 30 km/h made sense as a deterrent against excessive speed. People felt that there was a difference between driving 60 in a 40 zone and 60 and a 30 zone," he told council. "The overwhelming response was the slower, the better." Hard decision for council: Mayor Ward 4 Coun. Angela Vieth said 30 km/h is "too inhibiting, too slow" and did not support Bodaly's motion. She said the city needs to be consistent with Kitchener, which has lowered speed limits to 40 km, and that there are other ways to slow vehicles down. "I think if we're animating the sidewalks, if we have interesting front yards and and we allow kids to play hockey or to walk on the street if they have to," Vieth said. "Add more activities rather than putting up signs all over the place. Mayor Dave Jaworsky also voted against the motion and explained after the vote that a split vote of council "is simply an indicator of how hard the decision actually was for council." He said his vote was to make sure for the next term of council "which will have a number of fresh faces," the decision would be more "palatable." "You never know what next council might do," he said. Waterloo is not alone to drop speed limits to 30 km/h. Banff, Alta., did it earlier this year <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/town-of-banff-drops-speed-limit-to-3…> and Ottawa lowered some streets <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-city-council-approves-30-km-h-…> in 2017. Staff will now work on a plan to phase in implementation over the next four years. It will cost an estimated $500,000 to changeover signs, a cost that will be brought before the new council when capital budget deliberations for 2023 get underway late this year.

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Green Action Centre hiring 2 sustainable transportation coordinators
by Beth McKechnie 14 Jun '22

14 Jun '22

*** Please share widely. Thanks! *** Green Action Centre is hiring two Sustainable Transportation Program Coordinators, one at full time (35 hours/week) with Active and Safe Routes to School and one part time (24 hours/week) with Workplace Commuter Options. Find details for both postings here <https://greenactioncentre.ca/featured/join-the-green-action-centre-team/>. *Apply by June 30, 2022, *to be part of a great team! cheers, Beth -- 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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Put sound devices on bicycles too AKA bells.
by Terry Zdan 13 Jun '22

13 Jun '22

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/electric-vehicles-sound-blind-pedestr…

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Link between AT paths and public health
by Charles Feaver 10 Jun '22

10 Jun '22

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WFP: Planner seeks deep dive into pedestrian fatality data (Jun10'22)
by Beth McKechnie 10 Jun '22

10 Jun '22

*Planner seeks deep dive into pedestrian fatality data * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/deep-dive-into-pedestrian-fatality-… IN the wake of dozens of pedestrians and cyclists killed in Winnipeg crashes between 2012 and 2019, a new push to pinpoint the exact circumstances behind those deaths has emerged. The call to explore the grim details follows an analysis of the fatalities, shared during a presentation at the city’s public works committee Thursday. Jairo Viafara, a professional transportation planner, noted his analysis of city and Manitoba Public Insurance data found an average of four pedestrians were killed per year between 2012 and 2016 in Winnipeg, which rose to 5.6 per year for 2015 to 2019. During the same period, average collision deaths for cyclists fell to one from 2.2, while an average of 12.7 people within motor vehicles died due to crashes in each of those years. Viafara told the Free Press he believes active transportation safety efforts have focused heavily on cyclists in recent years. Protecting bike riders is a major priority but the City of Winnipeg must ensure that effort doesn’t distract from work needed to keep pedestrians safe, he added. “Our streets are not as safe (for pedestrians) as we are led to believe,” said Viafara. “We are being lulled into a (false) sense of safety.” His report notes the increase in pedestrian fatalities seems to be occurring as roads generally become safer for others. “In Manitoba, historically, traffic fatalities have been in steady decline over past decades. The significant increase in pedestrian fatalities seen within Winnipeg runs counter to the overall trend, and as such warrants significant attention,” it states. The planner was educated in Winnipeg and worked in his chosen field in the United States before returning to the Manitoba capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading about local pedestrian safety concerns, Viafara said he was inspired to analyze the numbers. Multiple Free Press articles this year delved into several key safety concerns, as highlighted by traffic safety activist Christian Sweryda. For example, Sweryda noted he’s lobbied the city for more than a decade to add more eye-level lights at pedestrian crosswalks, claiming these are more visible to drivers. On Thursday, Viafara urged the city to take several steps to make travel safer for pedestrians,such as: evaluating alternative crossings at some intersections; identifying “unsafe pedestrian behaviours” to target with education; and considering adding pedestrian leading intervals to crosswalk signals (which would give pedestrians a head start of a few seconds to walk before a green light signals for vehicle traffic to begin travelling in the same direction). “We need to afford people the opportunity to actually walk safely in the city from the point of origin to their destination, (including) school children, senior citizens or people going to work,” said Viafara. Coun. Matt. Allard, chairman of the public works committee, said he agrees the increase in pedestrian fatalities poses a major concern. On Thursday, he shared a motion at public works committee that calls city staff to request monthly collision, death and injury data from MPI and the Winnipeg Police Service to share with councillors. It would also direct city staff to prepare two reports per year, along with monthly verbal reports, on detailed collision data. For each collision, that would aim to include the location, roadway surface, weather, fatality number, traffic volume and signal types, among other details. “We see pedestrian deaths on the rise… in this third-party report, so that’s concerning. And if you start adding up deaths and injuries, it becomes a much bigger issue. I think what’s being asked for here is more information, more quickly and more granularity on what happened, when,” said Allard. The motion notes city data shows at least 51 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in 2012-19 crashes, which Allard said may not include all incidents, such as some matters recorded by MPI. Allard said his goal is to get much more information on the circumstances surrounding collisions to support better informed decisions on how best to prevent them. The committee delayed the vote on the motion until next month. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca

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