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WFP: ‘Lifelines’ must take priority: councillor (Jan8'19)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Jan '19

08 Jan '19

*‘Lifelines’ must take priority: councillor * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/lifeline-sidewalks-higher-snow-clea… IT’S high time the city recalibrates its priorities when it comes to clearing sidewalks after major snowfalls, a city councillor suggested Monday. North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty said he believes the work of Winnipeg’s snow-clearing crews is second to none in North America, but there are areas where sidewalks are “absolute lifelines for the neighbourhood.” “I do believe that where sidewalks are lifelines to the area it’s an important thing that should be done first off,” Browaty said. “There are areas where people need to walk to the bus, where kids need to walk to school, where you have senior residences — and many seniors don’t drive — in my mind, those are far higher priorities than cycling.” When sufficient snow falls to trigger widespread clearing, the priority should be on roads and downtown sidewalks, with bike paths coming last on the list, he said. “The reality is that the numbers will prove there are a lot more people who need to walk to the bus or get down the sidewalk than there are cycling in the winter,” he said. “I just don’t believe Winnipeg is ever going to see massive cycling in the winter. It’s never going to be mainstream here.” Browaty tweeted two photos Monday afternoon comparing a well-used, mushy Henderson Highway sidewalk where the going was tough, to a scraped-to-the-asphalt bike lane in the Exchange District. The city has been contemplating enhanced snow clearing for priority sidewalks and bike paths for several years. In March 2016, Waverley West Coun. Janice Lukes called for a report to look into the feasibility of improving snow clearing on priority sidewalks and bike paths, but it got seven extensions before it was tabled last May. Public works communications officer Ken Allen said the budget for the initiative won’t be considered until March. “The idea would be to make it, so, from south Pembina Highway to downtown, you could travel that distance clear on active transportation pathways,” Allen said. “It would improve snow clearing of sidewalks and active transportation paths from all parts of the city to downtown. If approved, the strategy would be implemented not this winter but next winter.” The city’s current policy is to have major streets cleared whenever three centimetres of snow accumulates. Clearing isn’t triggered on bus routes, collector streets and back lanes until five centimetres have accumulated. Winnipeggers awoke Monday to find an overnight snowfall of more than 14 centimetres, leading to a large deployment of street-maintenance resources throughout the day. “Using the mild temperatures, leveraging that, we started our operation with some salting on the main streets. Once the snow compounded, we started our snow plow operation on the main streets as well,” said Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of street maintenance. “This morning, we started our operation on bike routes, bike lanes, sidewalks and back lanes. And we’re going to have a bigger operation tonight on our bus routes and collector streets.” More than 200 pieces of equipment were deployed Monday, including loaders, graders and truck plows. That number is expected to nearly double once the city begins working on residential plowing Wednesday. Environment Canada warned that a cold front bringing blowing snow and strong northwest winds was heading into the city overnight Monday into today. ryan.thorpe(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe

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The Rise and Fall of China’s Cycling Empires
by Beth McKechnie 07 Jan '19

07 Jan '19

*China’s bike-sharing firms were supposed to be the next big thing. What happened?* https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/31/a-billion-bicyclists-can-be-wrong-chin… Until the late 1990s, China was a nation of cyclists. Bicycles were such a vital part of everyday life that in the 1970s, owning one was a prerequisite for marriage the way an apartment and a car are for Chinese men today. A massive “bicycle army” rolled through the streets of Beijing every morning like a flowing Great Wall. Then, from 1995 to 2002, the government created bicycle-reduction policies <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15568318.2012.699999> in order to encourage the growth of the auto industry and usage of the mass transit infrastructure. But when the SARS epidemic hit, public transport became associated with disease and danger, sparking an even bigger rush toward cars in cities. Today, Chinese metropolises have some of the worst traffic gridlocks in the world. Bike-sharing apps seemed poised to be the solution—and millions of bikes were poured into China’s streets by the private sector in the last three years. But today, as the companies fail, unused units pile up in bicycle graveyards, and queues of angry users demand their deposits back, it’s obvious just how doomed the idea was from the start. The rise and fall of the China bike craze played out like a sped-up version of every tech bubble, an unprofitable idea sustained by fantasy, false predictions, and the power of bigger firms. Local authorities struggling with traffic have been trying to put residents back on two wheels. As early as 2007, docked bike-shares were introduced by municipal governments to alleviate mobility issues in cities such as Beijing, Hangzhou, and Wuhan, but users found accessing bikes via docking stations to be inconvenient, and the services failed to thrive. The bicycle rental company Ofo was created in 2014 as a Peking University school project, and Mobike was found in the following year, both capitalizing on the shortcoming of all docked bike-sharing services: that the stations limited access and spontaneity, two essential joys of cycling. The “little red bikes,” as Mobikes came to be known, soon appeared on the street corners of Shanghai, ready to be discovered via a GPS-enabled mobile app, and rideable with just a 299 yuan deposit, about $45, via mobile payment. The little yellow Ofo bikes soon followed suit by spreading beyond campuses, eventually joined by around 60 other start-ups. The image sold by the firms was fresh and upbeat, riding on the same bright-eyed enthusiasm for the potential of mobile technology that helped the mobile payment app Alipay, the e-commerce platform Taobao, and the social media app WeChat become staples of Chinese life. Users wanted both a cheap way to get across town and the freedom of cycling. For the government, the bike-share boom was both an opportunity to become a world leader in climate change and also harkened back to a happier, simpler, and more harmonious time when China was the kingdom of bicycles <https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/04/bikeshare-save-biking-in-chi…>. Mobike’s slogan, “Bring bicycles back to the city,” captured why the program was appealing to local authorities, who at first were willing to give firms a lot of freedom to experiment and grow. While Mobike and Ofo blazed the trail, dozens of other firms such as Bluegogo and Xiaoming Bike sprung up. But cars were not going to be banished from the streets, and it wasn’t long before cyclists took mostly to the sidewalks. It took even less time for haphazardly parked bikes in a multitude of colors to begin clogging the sidewalks, already made too narrow by makeshift parking lots and scooter traffic. By 2017, in Beijing and Shanghai, where the bikes were most concentrated, there were parts of the city where streets resembled urban obstacle courses made of bikes that citizens had to clamber over and maneuver around. Trucks were deployed daily to collect improperly parked bikes, and workers to stack bikes neatly. Despite efforts to manage the bikes, they were like a brightly colored rash that increasingly drew the ire of both citizens and local authorities. But at first users and investors alike assumed that this over-saturation was just a stage in the industry, just like what mobile payments and food delivery had gone through. Consumers were happy at the dirt-cheap prices as companies raced to the bottom to draw numbers. Many start-ups were flat-out giving out free rides in an all-in bid to win users, and consumers only too happily enjoyed all the perks while small companies quickly burned through their modest stockpile of investor money and disappeared. As various players began to bow out, there were instances of people not being able to recover their deposits from bike companies that went bankrupt <https://technode.com/2018/07/11/xiaoming-bankrupcy/>, ominous foreshadowing for things to come for Ofo in 2018. It was always unclear how the firms were ever supposed to be profitable. According to analysis published by Xinhua <http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2018-01/18/c_1122275190.htm>, each bike costs just over $200 to manufacture and $10 for each tuneup by a technician, and they made a profit of just 1 yuan, about 15 cents, per 2 hour ride, following a deposit of between $15 and $45. The mainstream view <https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardwindsoreurope/2018/07/05/mobike-vs-ofo-…>— pushed heavily by investors—was that the user data, rather than the service, was the actual product, and that the harvested user data would lead to more targeted advertising. But as so often occurs, these ambiguously defined long-term returns yielded nothing in the endless interim. There was no short-term return on investment for the companies to stay afloat, and the smaller players began to fall in droves. Between June and November 2017, Kuqi Bikes, Bluegogo, Dingding Bikes, 3Vbikes, and Wukong Bikes all shut down, unable to pay suppliers, maintain operations, or return deposits. Around the same time, local authorities began to roll back their initial tolerance by imposing new restrictions and fines. This wasn’t the first time that start-ups that had previously relied on government lenience had run afoul of new legislation: Didi, China’s Uber equivalent, lost most of its driver pool after cities began to demand that its workers hold a valid local residence permit. As governments tightened up, cyclists found themselves being hit with fines for riding on the sidewalk across cities of all sizes. In May, the 15th Beijing Municipal People’s Congress imposed fines on bike-share companies for improperly parked units, and more cities soon followed suit. At a neighborhood level, signs forbidding bike-share cycles went up on apartment complex gates, in commercial districts, and even in public parks. In these bloody battles for market share and user data sustained by bonfires of money, only those with the deepest pockets can hope to emerge victorious. In the early days of bike-share investment, money poured from a wide range of sources, such as venture capital firm Black Hole Capital and game developer Elex Technology, which both backed Bluegogo, and peer-to-peer investment company Pufa VC (whose CEO backed his son’s bike-share, Dingding Bikes). Throughout 2016 and 2017, barely a week went by without a new announcement on bike-share investments. Mobike began by raising capital from multiple venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, Sinovation Ventures, and Panda Capital, before Tencent joined the fray. Early Ofo investors include Xiaomi and Didi Chuxing, later joined by Hony Capital, Citic Private Equity, and Alibaba’s Ant Financial, before the Alibaba parent company followed suit. And yet, at the end of every cycle of life and death for the latest tech bubble, it always seems to come down to Alibaba vs. Tencent <http://fortune.com/longform/alibaba-tencent-china-internet/>, China’s two biggest tech giants. User and user data acquisition has much more strategic value for their ecosystems to come up with increasingly targeted services and platforms. Alibaba staked <https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/12/22/bilibili-cozies-up-to-alibaba-to-…> food delivery and video streaming platforms. Only Alibaba and Tencent have the heft to operate bike-shares at a loss just to acquire geolocation user data. In April, Mobike was saved from its financial struggles when it was acquired by Tencent-backed Meituan Dianping, an online-to-offline e-commerce and food delivery super-app, itself a product and survivor of the tumultuous tech landscape and the brief fad for coupon services. This abruptly launched the bike-share wars into the endgames. Mobike’s newfound financial stability allowed it to pull the rug out from under its remaining competitors by getting rid of the deposit entirely. Even then, Mobike is now a grizzled survivor that has lost its luster. Today it operates with a greatly reduced fleet, and much of its overseas expansions has petered out. Meanwhile, Ofo was suffering dire cash flow problems, struggling to pay suppliers and keeping operations afloat, and concentrating all its efforts on putting out fires rather than growing the business. Earlier this year, Ofo halted its costly and overly aggressive expansions abroad to focus on the domestic market—which placed on display the limitations of its own financial reach and its leaders’ utter lack of a plan. After a missed opportunity to merge with Mobike and a failed Didi acquisition, Ofo stands on the brink of financial ruin, its only lifeline an Alibaba buyout that may never come. Sensing the end of the bike wars, disgruntled people lined up outside Ofo’s office in Beijing clamoring for their deposits to be returned while the digital queue for withdrawing one’s deposit reached as long as 13 million users. Despite the ongoing Ofo crisis, Hellobike has just raised 4 billion yuan, more than half a billion dollars, from Primavera Capital and Alibaba’s Ant Financial. It seems that there are still some who hasn’t woken up from the bike-share fever dream. Meanwhile, Shanghai is adding more docking stations, perhaps a return to the boring, but infinitely more manageable, version of the bike-share. There’s always going to be a small audience for cycling—but it turned out to be a bad dream to build giant firms on. *Frankie Huang was born in Beijing and raised in New Jersey. Currently, she lives in Shanghai where she works as a strategist at an idea studio.* -- Beth McKechnie* | *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 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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Job Posting: Executive Director Trails Manitoba
by Erik Dickson 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

Please see the attached poster for information regarding a job posting for the Executive Director of Trails Manitoba. Information is also available on the website at: www.trailsmanitoba.ca/Employment<http://www.trailsmanitoba.ca/Employment> Regards, Erik Dickson, MCIP, RPP Planner [solid_smm_logo] 204.927.3444 | edickson(a)scatliff.ca<mailto:edickson@scatliff.ca> | www.scatliff.ca<http://www.scatliff.ca/> 1120-201 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 3K6

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Wpg Sun: Why plow unused bike lanes, asks Winnipeg councillor (Dec13'18)
by Beth McKechnie 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

https://winnipegsun.com/news/news-news/why-plow-unused-bike-lanes-asks-winn…

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Fwd: Cool Wrench this Saturday Dec 15th, 12:30-4:30 / upcoming closures
by Dave Elmore 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

FYI ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Wrench Volunteer Coordinator <wrenchvolunteer(a)gmail.com> Date: Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 11:40 AM Subject: Cool Wrench this Saturday Dec 15th, 12:30-4:30 To: Hello wonderful volunteers! **** Just want to make sure you all know about *COOL WRENCH,* our annual special holiday event that is a *bike sale *and* art workshop* all rolled into one! The art workshop component this year will be *sewing custom top-tube covers* to decorate and protect the top tube of your bicycle frame! A fun gift idea for your fav cyclist friend (or yourself!). Cool Wrench is happening at *THIS SATURDAY from 12:30-4:30pm*, and we hope to see you there. *Many more details on the facebook event <https://www.facebook.com/events/2296415140622654/> and/or website <http://thewrench.ca/wordpress/cool-wrench-holiday-bike-sale-art-workshop-sa…>* Please share / tell your friends! ****

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Cyclists using the Jubilee underpass
by Beth McKechnie 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

From: Prowse, Dan <dcprowse(a)hydro.mb.ca> Please be advised that cyclists using the Jubilee underpass may be affected as follows: a) The underpass will be closed on the weekend for cyclists (and others) using the road from 20:00hrs 2018/12/14 to 04:00hrs 2018/12/17. b) During the week the project has been running a shuttle for pedestrians and cyclist who use the walkway during the demolishing of the old bridge abutment on the east side. Cyclists are permitted to use the road as normal but if a cyclist wishes to be treated as a pedestrian through the underpass, they would need to use the shuttle. By Monday (2018/12/17) it is expected there will be a safe walkway available for pedestrians/cyclists to use, removing the need for the shuttle. Regards, Dan

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CBC: 2-wheelin' with a tree: Cyclists put spin on Christmas tradition
by Beth McKechnie 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cycling-christmas-tree-1.49… *S**E**A**S**O**N**’S **G**R**E**E**T**I**N**G**S* Terry Zdan BA MEDes Transportation Policy and Service Development Manitoba Infrastructure

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"The Surprising Power of Parking Management"
by Jeremy Hull 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

"*The Surprising Power of Parking Management*" (https://bit.ly/2SzKRVT ). This Reinventing Parking podcast includes a discussion by Paul Barter and Todd Litman concerning how parking management can help solve diverse urban problems. Put simply, conventional development practices require housing for cars not people, resulting in 2-6 off-street parking spaces per vehicle and a shortage of affordable housing. More efficient management can reduce the number of parking spaces needed to serve a destination, providing huge savings and benefits. Everybody wins! One of his comments, for example, is that the cost of a parking space in an urban area is more than the cost of the car that parks there. The general theme is that we usually pay for parking indirectly through taxes, cost of housing or the cost of a commercial development. Litman argues that instead of making parking "free" to users and providing more parking than the estimated need under these conditions, we should provide a more moderate supply of parking and deal with any excess parking demand through various management approaches, like sharing parking among users. He points out that cheap parking distorts people's transportation decisions, and that where the cost of parking is paid by users they decide to use or buy cars less often.

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WFP: Councillor pushes bike registration (Dec13'18)
by Beth McKechnie 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

*Database would allow police to determine if a theft has taken place* * Councillor pushes bike registration * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/councillor-seeks-mandatory-registra… COUN. Ross Eadie thinks mandatory registration could deter the theft of bikes and put a dint in the illegal street sale of methamphetamines. Eadie (Mynarski) is bringing a motion to today’s council meeting, which would direct the administration to draft amendments to the business bylaw and would compel retailers to input ownership and registration data onto the City of Winnipeg’s online bike registry when a bike is sold. Eadie said bike thefts are fuelling the illegal sale of meth and anything that can be done to hit drug dealers is worth the effort. “A hit of meth is selling for $10 and as low as $3,” said Point Douglas activist Sel Burrows, who joined Eadie for a news conference at city hall Wednesday afternoon. “Meth addicts will steal a bike and flip it to a dealer who will give them a hit of meth for it. The dealer then will sell the stolen bike for $80 or $90, depending on the bike.” In April, Eadie said city hall launched a voluntary online bike registry, where bike owners can input their bicycle’s serial number. Police can access that database if, during an investigation, they suspect a bike has been stolen. “The problem with this new system is hardly anyone knows the online registry exists,” Eadie said, adding only about 2,000 bikes have been added to the registry. “If police suspect a bike is stolen now, checking with the online registry isn’t going to help them because chances are it’s not registered,” Eadie said. There is a cost of $6.60 to input data on the city’s online bike registry. Several bikes can be registered per household and three photos of each bike may be posted. If recovered by police, the stolen bikes will be returned without additional charge. Registration can be done at: winnipeg.ca/bikeregistry The city says upwards of 3,000 bikes are stolen every year. While police recover about 1,000 bikes, less than one tenth are traced back to their owners and returned. Burrows said bikes are stolen in areas from around the downtown and then taken to meth dealers in his neighbourhood. “You see people riding a bike and pulling a second, very nice one along with them,” Burrows said. “You know the second bike is stolen, but if they’re stopped and questioned, they’ll just say it belongs to their brother. The bike’s not registered on the online registry, so the police can’t do anything.” Burrows said making bike registration compulsory will build up the number of bikes on the registry to the point where meth addicts and dealers won’t want to run the risk of getting caught holding a stolen bike. Eadie said he believes the registry cost could be lowered if more people used it. “When you reach a certain level of bikes being registered, the bad guys are going to stop stealing bikes because they know there’ll be a reasonable chance when the police stop them that the bike will be registered and they’ll be charged with possession of stolen goods,” Burrows said. “The fact police can charge them right on the spot with possession of stolen goods will mean they’ll stop stealing bikes.” aldo.santin(a)freepress.mb.ca

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Fwd: VTPI News - Fall 2018
by Jeremy Hull 12 Dec '18

12 Dec '18

This may be of interest to people. One of the comments, for example, is that the cost of a parking space in an urban area is more than the cost of the car that parks there. The general theme is that we usually pay for parking indirectly through taxes, cost of housing or the cost of a commercial development, for example. Litman argues that instead of making parking "free" to users and providing more parking than the estimated need under these conditions, we should provide a more moderate supply and deal with any excess parking demand through various management approaches, like sharing parking among users. He points out that cheap parking distorts people's transportation decisions, and that where the cost of parking is paid by users they decide to use or buy cars less often. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Todd Litman <litman(a)vtpi.org> Date: Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 5:00 PM Subject: VTPI News - Fall 2018 To: Todd Alexander Litman <litman(a)vtpi.org> ----------- * VTPI NEWS* ----------- * Victoria Transport Policy Institute* "Efficiency - Equity - Clarity" ------------------------------------- Fall 2018 Vol. 18, No. 4 ----------------------------------- The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transportation problems. The VTPI website (www.vtpi.org ) has many resources addressing a wide range of transport planning and policy issues. VTPI also provides consulting services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE* ===================== "*The Surprising Power of Parking Management*" (https://bit.ly/2SzKRVT ). This Reinventing Parking podcast includes a discussion by Paul Barter and Todd Litman concerning how parking management can help solve diverse urban problems. Put simply, conventional development practices require housing for cars not people, resulting in 2-6 off-street parking spaces per vehicle and a shortage of affordable housing. More efficient management can reduce the number of parking spaces needed to serve a destination, providing huge savings and benefits. Everybody wins! "*The Best Tool for Reducing Traffic Deaths? More Transit!*" ( https://bit.ly/2QgB6yZ ). This StreetBlog column uses research from the report, "*A Hidden Traffic Safety Solution*" (https://bit.ly/2DS23z6 <https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2DS23z6%3AJdYDBd86I24iMyVZrw…> ). "*A New Traffic Safety Paradigm*" (www.vtpi.org/ntsp.pdf <http://disq.us/url?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vtpi.org%2Fntsp.pdf%3AQ61Olh-IQNmq4…> ), provides additional information on the traffic safety benefits of more multimodal transport planning. "*CityLab University: Induced Demand*" (https://bit.ly/2Sy8rCd ). When traffic-clogged highways are expanded, additional trips generally fill much of the increased capacity. This article is based on our report, "*Generated Traffic: Implications for Transport Planning*" ( http://www.vtpi.org/gentraf.pdf ). "*Educated Millennial Population Growth in Cities and Its Impact on Transportation*" (https://bit.ly/2Pjgj8R ), by Sam Schwartz and Julia Fiore. This ITE Journal article describes the growing number of younger urban residents who want more affordable housing and transport options, based on VTPI’s affordability research (http://www.vtpi.org/aff_acc_hou.pdf ). "*Why the Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings Matters*" ( https://bit.ly/2E9B455 ), by Alex Wilson and Paula Melton. This Building Green study points out that the energy used traveling to and from buildings (“transportation energy intensity”) often exceeds the energy used to run them, so accessible location is essential for truly efficient buildings. "*Rural Multimodal Planning: Why and How to Improve Travel Options in Small Towns and Rural Communities*" (https://bit.ly/2G5OtO9 ). This report that explores why and how to implement more multimodal planning in rural areas and small towns. Current trends are increasing demand for non-auto travel options in rural communities, including aging populations, rising poverty, growing health and safety concerns, and growing tourist industries. "*True Affordability: Critiquing the International Housing Affordability Survey*" (http://www.trb.org/main/blurbs/178166.aspx ). This report critically evaluates the *International Housing Affordability Survey*, which rates regional housing prices relative to incomes. "*Quantifying Social Costs and Benefits to Guide Individual Action*" ( https://bit.ly/2yODulZ <https://bit.ly/2yODulZ?fbclid=IwAR3c7ja1emEakkOEomIOy_hJuvIAGEhZzRA9XVXQvCQ…> ), by CityFi. This column uses VTPI analysis to compare the external costs of various transport modes, as a way to communicate the value of choosing more resource-efficient transport options. "*Cities Can Save $17 Trillion by Preventing Urban Sprawl*" ( https://bit.ly/2Dyx6Cr ) by the World Resources Institute. This column describes research in the New Climate Economy report, "Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century," which identifies practical ways to reduce climate emissions and achieving economic development and social equity goals. It uses data from the 2015 report, "Analysis of Public Policies That Unintentionally Encourage and Subsidize Urban Sprawl" ( https://bit.ly/1lWmroP ), which estimated that sprawl is conservatively estimated to cost the US at least 7% of national GDP. This report provides an encouraging message: environmental protection can be achieved in ways that increase economic efficiency, productivity and opportunity. "*The Effects of Long Commutes and What To Do About Them: An Annotated Bibliography*" (https://bit.ly/2Ptvo94 ), for CloseCommute Systems ( www.closecommute.com ). Closer Commutes identifies ways to reduce commute travel in multi-worksite employers, which collectively employ about 40% of the urban workforce. Recent *Planetizen Blogs* (www.planetizen.com/blog/2394 ): "*Planning for Crime Reduction*" (https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/101826 ). Few issues are more emotional, and therefore vulnerable to bad analysis, than urban crime risk. Solid research indicates that more compact and mixed development tends to increase neighborhood security. Jane Jacobs was right! This column includes some original analysis which compares murder, homicide and suicide rates by community type, which indicates that large cities have lower total risk than smaller cities, towns and rural areas. This indicates that Smart Growth is safer as well as healthier. "*Dynamic Planning for Affordability*" ( https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/100402 ) Conventional planning is static, designed to lock in existing land use patterns. We need more dynamic planning to respond to changing household needs and community goals. "*Win-Win Solutions for Climate Protection and Health*" ( https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/100874 ). The *Call to Action on Climate and Health* is an ambitious plan to achieve both global climate and health goals. Planners can help identify win-win solutions that provide multiple benefits and so can build broad implementation coalitions. "*How Filtering Increases Housing Affordability*" ( https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/100293 ). Good research indicates that building middle-priced housing increases affordability through "filtering," as some lower-priced housing occupants move into more expensive units, and over time as the new houses depreciate and become cheaper. Let’s be friends. Todd Litman regularly posts on his Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/todd.litman ). Befriend him now! * * * * * *BEEN THERE – DONE THAT* *======================* "*Urban Planning for Future Regional Sky Transit*" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6B0QnjxWfw ). Video of May 12 presentation at the *2018 Sustainable Aviation Symposium* concerning the potential benefits of urban air taxis. "*City Talks Panel: Alternative Urbanisms in Victoria*" ( https://bit.ly/2QhQgUZ ). The University of Victoria’s Fall *City Talks* series kicked off September 20 with a panel discussion on alternative urbanisms including youth-driven indigenous land restoration, Support Network for Indigenous Women and Women of Colour, urban place-making, affordable Infill, and anarchist festivals. "*Driving Change: Technology and the Future of the Automated Vehicle*" ( https://bit.ly/2GwHvO2 ). Report includes evidence presented by Todd Litman to the *Canadian Senate Committee on Transport and Communications* concerning autonomous vehicle implementation. "*Healthy Solutions to Climate Risks*" presented September 12 at the *Global Climate and Health Forum* (www.globalclimateandhealthforum.org ), part of the *Global Climate Action Summit* (www.globalclimateactionsummit.org ) in San Francisco. This presentation highlighted win-win strategies that can reduce climate change emissions and achieve other health objectives including reduced local pollution, increased physical activity and fitness, reduced traffic accidents, and increased affordability and inclusivity. "*Preparing for A Changing Mobility Future: Emerging Planning Issues*" ( https://cura.osu.edu/nov9 ). November 9 presentation at Ohio State University Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA). Includes video. *UPCOMING EVENTS* ======================= *98th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting*, January 13-17, 2019, in Washington, DC. We will participate in several related events: "*Transportation Camp, DC*" (http://transportationcamp.org/events/dc2019 ) Saturday, January 12, 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM, Catholic University of America. A participatory "non-conference" that explores innovative transportation solutions. '*Multiple Perspective Gender Sensitive Quantitative and qualitative Data Analysis*' in "Bridge the Gap: Eliminating Gender Bias in Transportation Research" Workshop (https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/Workshop/Details/10999 ). Date: Sunday, January 13, 2019 Time: 9:00 AM-12:00PM. '*Win-win Transportation Emission Reduction Strategies*' in "New Paradigm for Managing Emissions from Transportation Sources" ( https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/Workshop/Details/10979 ). Date: Sunday, January 13, 2019 Time: 9:00 AM-12:00PM "*ITDP Sustainable Transport Award Ceremony*" (https://www.itdp.org ) Date: Tuesday, January 15, Time: 6:30-8:30pm, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Ballroom C. A fun and inspiring event! "*Transforming Transportation 2019*" ( http://www.transformingtransportation.org ). January 17th - January 18th, 09:00 am - 17:00 pm, World Bank, Washington DC. This is an opportunity to learn and share with transportation practitioners from around the world. * * * * * *USEFUL RESOURCES* ================= "*Healthy Housing for All: How Affordable Housing is Leading the Way*" ( https://bit.ly/2QhhpaA ). This Urban Land Institute *Building Healthy Places Initiative* report explores how affordable and mixed-income developments can improve health outcomes. "*Kingston’s Double-digit Ridership Growth Over the past Few Years is Unusual *" https://bit.ly/2zKPGou ). Express buses, new route planning, and working with major employers can increase small city transit ridership. "*Modernizing Mitigation: A Demand-Centered Approach*" ( https://bit.ly/2TCxtBD ). This new guidebook by the State Smart Transportation Initiative and the Mayors Innovation Project, describes how to implement Transportation Demand Management (TDM) solutions to mitigate traffic impacts in particular situations. This is timely. Many jurisdictions, including California (https://bit.ly/2TCcAq6 <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2TCcAq6%3Ffbclid%3DIw…> ), Seattle (https://bit.ly/2KsE1i9 <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2KsE1i9%3Ffbclid%3DIw…> ), and Portland (https://bit.ly/2OWzTri <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2OWzTri%3Ffbclid%3DIw…> ), have vehicle travel reduction targets, and consumer surveys ( https://bit.ly/2IaBgDp ) indicate that many people want to live in walkable neighborhood where they can drive less and rely more on non-auto modes. TDM strategies respond to those growing demands. Advice to young planners: if you want job security become an expert in TDM planning and evaluation ( www.vtpi.org/tdm ). The future belongs to the efficient! "*2018 Voluntary National Reviews: Showcasing the Critical Role of the Transport Sector to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals*" ( http://www.slocat.net/vnr2018 ). This report analyzes how transport policies affect the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. "*Accessibility in Practice: A Guide for Transportation and Land Use Decision Making*" (https://bit.ly/2SsVZ6O ) by the State Smart Transportation Initiative. This report describes methods for evaluating access to destinations for local and reginal planning purposes. "*The Difference Between Mobility and Accessibility*" ( https://bit.ly/2qdr2rr ), by Daniel Herriges. Mobility refers to the distance you can travel in a given time period, accessibility refers to the number of destinations and activities you can reach in that time. The most productive places tend to be mobility-poor but access-rich. "*Equity and Mobility*" (https://bit.ly/2MtaBEB ), by engineer and illustrator Ryan Martinson, published in '*Transportation Talk*,' the journal of the Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers. This 12-page comic can help practitioners understand and apply social equity concepts in transport planning. "*25 Great Ideas of New Urbanism*" (https://bit.ly/2G18IfG ). This free 204-page book by the Congress for New Urbanim (CNU) provides detailed information on innovative concepts that positively influenced planning and development. *"Moving Beyond the Car: Families and Transportation in Vancouver" *( https://bit.ly/2zilrEe ) by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This report, based on interviews with parents, describes why many families want alternatives to driving, and how this can be achieved. *"Women’s Safety and Security: A Public Transport Priority"* International Transport Forum (https://bit.ly/2RF1IXl ). This report examines women's vulnerability when travelling, particularly by public transport, and ways to increase their safety, security and comfort. "*A Step-by-Step Guide for Fixing Badly Planned American Cities*" ( https://bit.ly/2Uwb0qu ). Jeff Speck’s new book, "Walkable City Rules" ( https://islandpress.org/book/walkable-city-rules ) describes why and how to improve urban walkability. For inspiration see, "Walking the City. <https://www.theguardian.com/cities/series/walking-the-city>'For Me, This is Paradise.' Life in the Spanish City that Banned Cars" ( https://bit.ly/2B1aB6s). "*Walking + Cycling in Vancouver 2016 Report Card*" (https://bit.ly/2ES0Dtf ). This comprehensive report evaluates Vancouver’s outstanding active transport program. It includes survey results indicating that walking, bicycling and public transit are 'social modes,' users have more friendly interactions than automobile occupants (although you probably knew that already!). Two excellent books by Professor David Levinson, are now available free: "*The End of Traffic and the Future of Access: A Roadmap to the New Transport Landscape*" (http://hdl.handle.net/2123/18972 ). This book discusses the concept of 'access' and its implications for more efficient and equitable cities. "*Spontaneous Access: Reflexions on Designing Cities and Transport*" ( http://hdl.handle.net/2123/18973 ). This book describes how to create a ‘spontaneous city’ that allows people to do what they want, when they want? "*Core Elements for Vision Zero Communities*" (https://bit.ly/2rowiZw ). This Vision Zero Network report can help practitioners and communities identify and implement practical ways to improve traffic safety. "*Investing in Walking, Biking, and Safe Routes to School: A Win for the Bottom Line*" (https://bit.ly/2SFfdqb ). "*Complete Streets Policies + Bicycle + Pedestrian Plans: Key Tools for Supporting Healthy, Active Communities*" (https://bit.ly/2BWNNqf ). These two reports for the *Safe Routes to School National Partnership* describe why and how to create communities where students can safely walk and bicycle to schools, including strategies for building local political support. "*Why Cities Must Tackle Single-Family Zoning*" (https://bit.ly/2QDU6Hm ), by Benjamin Schneider. As cities wake up to their housing crises, the problems with single-family-home residential zoning will become too egregious to ignore. "*Central City in Motion Plan Adopted by Portland City Council*" ( https://bit.ly/2QHDv5j ). This article describes how Portland’s Central City in Motion Plan (https://bit.ly/2G0PiHM ) will give more give priority to space-efficient modes in order to increase efficiency and equity. "*Report: Transit Attracts, Retains Jobs in Cities*" (https://bit.ly/2QIDkqo ). This report by the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Commission indicates that high quality transit helps attract and retain jobs by reducing consumer costs, traffic congestion, pollution and traffic accidents. "*Quantifying Co-benefits in Asia: Method and Applications*" ( https://bit.ly/2Swljsz ). This report gives policymakers and practitioners tools for predicting how climate change emission reduction strategies can help achieve other strategic development goals. Also see the *Asian Co-benefits Partnership* (http://www.cobenefit.org ), which supports information-sharing and coordination concerning co-benefits of various emission reduction strategies. * * * * * *Please let us know if you have comments or questions about any information in this newsletter, or if you would like to be removed from our email list. And please pass this newsletter on to others who may find it useful.* Sincerely, Todd Litman (litman(a)vtpi.org) Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org) Office: 250-360-1560 | Mobile: 250-508-5150 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA Efficiency - Equity - Clarity

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