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WFP: 'Use it or lose it' money rule hurts city - cycling and pedestrian infrastructure (May23'15)
by Beth McKechnie 25 May '15

25 May '15

‘Use it or lose it’ money rule hurts city By: Bartley Kives <http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/33841564.html> http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/Use-it-or-lose-it-money… To opponents of new downtown bike lanes, any expansion of Winnipeg’s cycling and pedestrian infrastructure will push cars off the road, force toddlers to work in salt mines and hasten the coming of the Apocalypse to the point where it’d be unwise to purchase T-bills that mature in more than 90 days. OK, so maybe no one’s actually talking about child slavery or the end of the world, but the hyperbolic chatter about the supposed evils of bike lanes is getting tough to tolerate. This is not just because most North American cities are becoming more like their European counterparts in trying to make movement easier for commuter cyclists. It’s also not just because of the positive economic results of improving pedestrian streetscapes in built-up urban areas. Rather, anti-bike baloney is tough to take because the creation of new bicycle lanes does little to hinder motorists, at least where parking-protected bike lanes are concerned. When the City of Winnipeg moved over a lane of parking on Sherbrook Street in West Broadway, there was initial skepticism. The resulting improvement to the streetscape, however, turned out to be dramatic, as pedestrians now wait for buses on the new transit islands and business has thrived on both side of the road. This demonstrates how people can be drawn to streets designed for human beings as well as cars. The motor-vehicle capacity of Sherbrook Street was barely affected. Now, the city has drawn up plans to create more parking-protected lanes on inner-city streets. These are cheaper and easier to create than building bike lanes that are completely separate from roads. So where, you may ask, is the opposition coming from? The answer lies with previous city mistakes when it comes to creating cycling infrastructure. Opponents of commuter cycling are justified in criticizing the way the city rolled out a $21-million infrastructure upgrade in 2010, when there wasn’t enough time or city staff to properly plan, tender and build an unprecedented package of new lanes for cyclists and pedestrians. The problem at the time, however, had nothing to do with the imagined evils of cycling infrastructure. Rather, it had everything to do with the flawed federal pot of infrastructure money known as the Building Canada Fund. In theory, money from this kitty flows when three levels of government — Ottawa, the province and the city — all agree on the importance of a project. In reality, Ottawa shows up with a pile of money and tells the city and the province they can use it or lose it. As a result, projects go ahead before they’re ready, as panicky municipal politicians hastily sign on the dotted line in fear of losing out on the latest morsel of federal money. The 2010 upgrade turned out to be a mess because the city didn’t have the capacity to implement it. There were no qualified staff on hand because of a previous decision to eliminate dozens of middle managers for the ironic sake of finding efficiencies. But hey, when Ottawa offers money, you take it, right? As a recent scathing audit demonstrated, a similar stupidity was at work with Waverley West arterial roads, which had an original price tag of $55 million. After the project ballooned to $70 million, council demanded to know why. Auditors said the original estimate was so rough, there was no way the city could have predicted the final cost and got lucky it only rose to $70 million. Why would the city proceed with a project without knowing what it would cost? The answer, again, is the Building Canada Fund. Ottawa came to the city looking for a "shovel-ready" project. The Waverley West plan, nowhere near shovel-ready, was identified in vote-rich southwest Winnipeg. So ahead it went, in a format where the city wound up paying for all of the additional costs because the deal locked in the federal and provincial contributions at the outset. Following the Waverley West cost overrun, few Winnipeggers are demanding an end to the expansion of the city’s regional road network. It’s telling that a small but vocal anti-bike contingent wants to put the brakes on new bike lanes and that’s about it. What all Winnipeggers should demand is more freedom for the city to build whatever it needs to build, free of provincial and federal interference. Roads aren’t evil and bike lanes aren’t evil. Politicians who try to use infrastructure money to buy votes are the villains here. bartley.kives(a)freepress.mb.ca

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What to do if you're hit by a car.
by Stacy Matwick 23 May '15

23 May '15

What to do if you're hit by a car while riding your bike | | | | | | | | | | | What to do if you're hit by a car while riding your bikeHere are five things you should do if you’re ever unlucky enough to be hit. And a shining example of what not to do. | | | | View on grist.org | Preview by Yahoo | | | | |

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from: David Wieser
by David Wieser 22 May '15

22 May '15

Good evening at http://zbiorniki.net/lose.php?fill=tdryq76aur7c0bud davidwieser(a)gmail.com Sent from my iPhone

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Southwest Transitway Project - Public Information Session
by Beth McKechnie 22 May '15

22 May '15

[image: Inline image 1] -- *Brendan Salakoh, MCIP, MScPl* *Dillon Consulting Limited* 1558 Willson Place Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 0Y4 T - 204.453.2301 ext. 4060 F - 204.452.4412 BSalakoh(a)dillon.ca www.dillon.ca P *Please consider the environment before printing this email.*

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Article on bike share equity
by Patman, David 21 May '15

21 May '15

Some ideas to consider should we ever have a bikeshare program in Winnipeg. http://www.vox.com/2015/5/15/8608567/bike-share-wealth-race

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FWHA releases Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide
by Mark Cohoe 19 May '15

19 May '15

Some big news south of the border. The US Federal Highways Administration has just released the 148 page Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide. From the Green Lanes project blog <http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/the-feds-jump-on-board-protected-b…>. The FHWA guidance released Tuesday <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/separat…> is the result of two years of research <http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/at-last-feds-move-toward-a-green-l…> into numerous modern protected bike lanes around the country, in consultation with a team of national experts. "Separated bike lanes have great potential to fill needs in creating low-stress bicycle networks," the FHWA document says, citing last year's study <http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/the-first-major-academic-study-of-…> by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities. "Many potential cyclists (including children and the elderly) may avoid on-street cycling if no physical separation from vehicular traffic is provided." Among the many useful images and ideas in the 148-page document <http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/separat…> is this spectrum of comfortable bike lanes, starting with bike infrastructure that will be useful to the smallest number of people and continuing into the more broadly appealing categories: Mark

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AT Webinar Reminder: Law enforcement strategies to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety, Wed, May 20, 2-3pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 19 May '15

19 May '15

*** Friendly reminder re tomorrow afternoon's APBP webinar *** Green Action Centre and Bike Winnipeg invite you to join us for a local viewing of the APBP webinar: *Law Enforcement Strategies to Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety**. * The webinar viewing takes place in the EcoCentre boardroom (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) and will be followed by group discussion of local applications. RSVPs appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth ** * * * ** Law Enforcement Strategies to Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety *Wednesday, May 20th, 2-3pm, EcoCentre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Boardroom* Effective law enforcement is a key factor in ensuring that pedestrians and cyclists have safe, equitable access to the public right-of-way. Attend this webinar to learn about law enforcement programs that raise awareness of traffic safety, shape behavior, and improve safety for vulnerable users. This session focuses on three approaches to law enforcement: 1. Seattle’s data-driven SeaStat program, a collaboration between Seattle’s DOT and Police Department that identifies hot spots and dangerous behavior through collision record analysis and speed and traffic volume data. 2. Seattle’s School Zone Safety Photo Enforcement Program, which measures success by the reduction in speeds and violations. Revenue from the speed cameras goes into safety improvements around schools. 3. Behavior change brought about by programs focused on education and positive interactions between law enforcement officers, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. *Presenters*: - Jim Curtin, City of Seattle Department of Transportation - Brian Dougherty, City of Seattle Department of Transportation - Major Jim Russell, Deputy Chief of Police, Florida State University Police Department -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre <http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member <http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/> <http://canadahelps.org/>

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WFP Editorial: A cycling city is good for business (May16'15)
by Beth McKechnie 16 May '15

16 May '15

Editorials <http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials>A cycling city is good for business http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/a-cycling-city-is-good-… Winnipeg's city councillors should get mobile, get on a bike and tool around a bit. Maybe cycle to work on any given day. They might have an epiphany of sorts -- and then get on with the job of turning Winnipeg into a city that welcomes cyclists -- instead of falling prey to urban myths about bike lanes endangering downtown businesses. What else besides simple ignorance could explain Mayor Brian Bowman's decision this week to delay the vote on adopting Winnipeg's pedestrian and cycling strategy? The strategy is a long-identified pillar in the city's active transportation plan. There were numerous community consultations, one last year at the Manitoba Hydro headquarters on Portage Avenue, where the public and interested parties -- downtown businesses -- were asked to feed into the city's vision. Now Coun. Russ Wyatt says downtown businesses were blindsided, caught entirely without consultation. His target is the matrix of protected bicycle lanes proposed for downtown. It will steal precious parking spots, he believes. First of all, cycling lanes and on-street parking are not mutually exclusive. Sherbrook Street's protected bike lane is just one example how the two can coexist. Second, downtown Winnipeg doesn't have a parking problem -- a truism often cited as a symptom of downtown's real challenge, which is to attract people to its streets and shops outside of standard work hours. This city has an embarrassingly excess amount of surface parking, with rates so cheap they are the envy of motorists in other major Canadian cities. The proposed protected bike lanes are the priority of the pedestrian and cycling strategy made public this week. The planning document is written to launch more formal consultation and then design of a future pedestrian/cycling network. Rough estimates are it would cost $330 million to build the active transportation projects over the next two decades. But for a couple of million dollars to be spent this year, none of that cash has been found or approved. This plan, though, does give hope that Winnipeg may finally evolve from its car culture to one with streets, bridges and major corridors designed for people. Winnipeg's pedestrian and cycling strategy document shows what can be done. It also shows there's a lot of work ahead. Some of the proposed routes mysteriously end mid-street, starting up again a couple of kilometres on. Most of the strategy favours bike lanes that share the road, a drawback especially in winter. There's talk in the report of some 16 new river or rail crossings for cyclists and pedestrians. Major routes, such as Main, Portage and Pembina, will continue to be big obstacles for cyclists, with a possibility of future study on them. Right now, Winnipeg says it has more than 300 kilometres of cycling and bike/pedestrian routes. Most of this is in trails and paths and in narrow, painted curb lanes for cyclists, where they still must compete for space on busy streets. By comparison, Minneapolis, regarded as the best city in North America for cyclists, has about 200 kilometres of on-street protected bike lanes alone, and 150 kilometres of trails. Another 80 kilometres are to be added by 2020. People move to Minneapolis specifically because it makes cycling an infrastructure priority. The cycling routes are regarded as a boon to businesses and merchants. Downtown business should embrace this strategy. The payback of ceding ground to bicycles goes beyond the dividends to cyclists and health budgets. Cycling routes encourage people to get out, explore and enjoy their cities. That's something Winnipeg needs, and the downtown could desperately use. *Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 16, 2015 A14*

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Don't put the brakes on bikes in downtown
by Dave Elmore 16 May '15

16 May '15

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/dont-brake-on-bikes-in-dow ntown-303983971.html Don't brake on bikes in downtown But having a clear pathway is necessary By: Stefano Grande The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ supports the city's active-transportation blueprint. Now it's time to proceed to the next step: consulting with the downtown community. Many of us have travelled to other cities to see first-hand how downtowns are benefiting from increased bike lanes, which encourage cyclists to visit their downtowns and to frequent businesses. An increase in cycling is a trend that is taking over North America and the marketplace. More residents are discovering their neighbourhoods by bicycle, hanging out at their local pubs and cafés. Office workers are commuting downtown from the inner city or even as far as the suburbs. Tourists are renting bicycles to explore unique destinations. The need for more cycling amenities and infrastructure is being driven by these people as part of an emerging trend. Many cities have done it wrong and have made every imaginable mistake. Inadequate education for the public and stakeholders, or a rush to roll out cycling infrastructure without paying attention to the details and the needs of property owners and business owners -- these foreseeable challenges could be mitigated if we put community first. Some downtowns have eliminated on-street parking hastily to facilitate the creation of bike lanes, with little regard to understanding that on-street parking is the lifeblood of our storefront retailers, restaurants and shop owners. Realities such as the need for loading zones, deliveries, accessibility for people in wheelchairs and other mobility challenges, and dozens more issues are often not properly taken into consideration. In these cities, you will find staunch opposition, and rightfully so. The rush to roll out cycling lanes without proper process, thought, foresight and consultation, can lead to tensions among the community, extra costs to address the issues after the fact, and in some cases, negative economic impact. But some cities are doing it right. A city we can all relate to is Minneapolis. Their residents have a love for cycling and biking lanes. One evening when I was there, I saw thousands of cyclists strolling downtown, milling about, and gobbling up every inch of space found on hundreds of bike racks installed by the city and businesses. They were there for restaurants, cafés, live art and theatre performance and to just hang out. There is no doubt in my mind the City of Minneapolis has foresight. As their downtown has developed and evolved, they have wanted to accommodate the cycling community and by working hand in hand with their stakeholders -- their efforts are working. Through proper planning, education, listening to the needs and concerns of the community, Minneapolis is seen as the best practice approach in the world when adopting more cycling amenities and infrastructure. Winnipeg is perhaps where Minneapolis was 10 years ago -- with increased development activity, from more classrooms, to more condos and apartments, and the growing office workers and more visitors coming to the MTS Centre and the sports, hospitality, and entertainment district (SHED). Do we want to have safer bike lanes for those working, living and coming to the downtown in a balanced and well-thought-out manner? The Downtown BIZ believes so. Rolling out the cycling strategy in an incremental, engaging and planned process with the downtown community is imperative. Businesses can create reasons for people to jump on their bikes to hang out downtown, so it's not just about adding bike lanes. It's about taking into consideration how bike parking is going to be accommodated at key locations. It's about allowing businesses on bike-lane streets to allow for advertising signage and banners, more outdoor seating, or reduced on-site parking requirements to help businesses attract more customers. Some other downtowns have also integrated the rollout of cycling lanes with marketing and branding efforts so different streets become well-recognized destination corridors. In some cities, changing traffic flows to better accommodate the flow of cars and bikes collectively are acted on. In other cities, limiting cycling lanes to the times of busiest activity works well, too. As our city has now provided its vision and recommendations for development of the pedestrian and cycling strategies, it has clearly stated that the plan will evolve based on the next step to further involve community and drill down on the feasibility and designs. This is the next step, and we need to get this right. Much trust will need to be placed in the hands of the city, even if the process takes longer than anticipated. It's easy to focus on the failures of other cities or to debate about the next steps, and hold them up as examples and excuses of not to do anything. We have done that with rapid transit for decades. We are now catching up. These are the cities young people are not gravitating toward to stay, learn, work and live. It's much harder to move forward collectively with the community, and learning from best practice, learning by listening to each other, minimizing the issues and maximizing the opportunities, making decisive decisions and creating a city for everyone. Stefano Grande is the executive director of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 16, 2015 A15

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Bike Winnipeg Response to Russ Wyatt's Recent Claims
by Mark Cohoe 14 May '15

14 May '15

Hi, You may have seen some of Russ Wyatt's accusations about limited public consultation and early access/undue influence on the part of Bike Winnipeg (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/Russ-Wyatt-proves-to-be…). You can view our response at our webiste (http://bikewinnipeg.ca/2015/05/14/russ-wyatts-antics-nothing-more-than-fear…) or on our Facebook site (facebook.com/BikeWinnipeg). Please feel free to share widely. Here is the letter to the editor we submitted to the FP I told you the day would work out ok! Cheers, Mark Wyatt’s Antics Nothing More Than Fear Mongering Russ Wyatt claims the Pedestrian & Cycling Strategies are flawed because of a lack of consultations, alleging that advocacy groups like Bike Winnipeg have undue influence at city hall (we wish!). Like the rest of the public, we first saw the completed strategies (and proposed cycling network) on May 1^st . That’s not to say we and the rest of the city didn’t have plenty of time to review and comment on the strategies. 18 months of public consultations on the strategies culminated in three open houses in April 2014. The consultation process engaged over 3,000 people. Bike Winnipeg and hundreds of other Winnipeggers took advantage of that time to comment on the draft network and recommendations. We were pleased to see those contributions reflected in the documents released May 1^st . Wyatt’s so-called evidence that Bike Winnipeg had prior access to the strategies is an email we sent him on January 23, 2015 asking for a meeting to discuss opportunities to improve cycling options in Transcona and throughout the City of Winnipeg. You can read the full text of that email at bikewinnipeg.ca. Councillor Wyatt failed to respond to our invitation. Mark Cohoe Executive Director Bike Winnipeg

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