- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Edmonton fights back against the hidden costs of parking with the boldest plan in Canada
by Charles Feaver 02 Jul '20

02 Jul '20

Globe and mail editorial today: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-edmonton-fights-b ack-against-the-hidden-costs-of-parking-with-the/ .. Some cities have started to move away from parking requirements for new buildings, but they are doing it slowly, and usually only in specific circumstances. Edmonton, however, decided to go further. Last week, city council <https://myemail.constantcontact.com/News-Release---Edmonton-first-major-Can adian-municipality-to-eliminate-parking-minimums.html?soid=1127191170163&aid =hSRVUDLmF1Q> eliminated parking minimums from its zoning rules for all developments across the city, the first big city in Canada to do so. All Canadian cities should take inspiration. Edmonton is thinking about what kind of city it wants to be in 2050. To quote a guiding maxim of a famous former Edmontonian: "Skate to where the puck's going and not where it's been." .. Sadly, their front page points to another trend: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-here-in-my-car-i-feel-safest-of -all-and-in-a-covid-19-pandemic-it/ "Here in my car, I feel safest of all - and in a COVID-19 pandemic, it's the only way to live". Charles Feaver 11 Harvard Ave Winnipeg R3M 0J6 204.293.6332

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WFP: City scraps plan for one-way traffic on West Broadway streets (Jun25'20)
by Beth McKechnie 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

*City scraps plan for one-way traffic on West Broadway streets* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-scraps-plans-for-one-way-traff… THE city has scratched an idea to make two major West Broadway streets into one-way roads as it prepares to begin construction of a bike path in the area next year. In an email sent Tuesday to area residents, the city says it decided to keep vehicular traffic in both directions on Westminster Avenue, Balmoral Street, and Granite Way, from Langside Street to Osborne Street. Residents, parents of children at Balmoral Hall School, and members of the Granite Curling Club opposed one-way traffic. “You told us the project design balances the safety and needs of all road users in some ways, but that you were very concerned with some aspects — particularly one-way streets and their potential to increase traffic and decrease safety along some residential streets,” the email says. The city says it has decided to build a two-way protected bike lane on the east side of Balmoral Street and Young Street, instead of a bike path on either side of the street. However, to fit it in with vehicular traffic, it will reduce the width of the bike lane to 1.5 metres from 1.8 metres, and require the removal of six loading stalls on Westminster in front of Balmoral Hall. The design includes the addition of stop signs on Balmoral Street at Granite Way and the loss of 15 parking spaces on Granite Way. The city said it expects to have a detailed design contract by the end of the summer, with construction expected to begin next year. But, because of low traffic volume connected with the shutdown of nonessential businesses for weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19, the city has decided to hold off on the final design of the rest of the planned bike path along Westminster, from Langside Street to Chestnut Street in Wolseley, until September.

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WFP: Councillors urge city to boost safety by improving markings (Jun25'20)
by Beth McKechnie 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

Councillors urge city to boost safety by improving markings Faded paint lines not street smart https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/paint-by-numbers-councillors-push-f… WINNIPEG drivers have likely all faced the challenge: you want to stay in your lane but you’re not sure where it is. Snow-clearing, road sand and other Manitoba weather realities strip away paint that marks lanes, leaving just a few flecks of colour or blank pavement. It can take many weeks for city crews to repaint those lines each year. Two councillors are pushing for changes to that process, which they hope will make streets safer. Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) is calling on the city administration to provide options to “improve the permanency of lane markings,” in a motion set to be debated at the July 7 meeting of the public works committee. Nason said the current faded markings are barely, or not at all, visible, which could make motorists and cyclists more likely to compete for the same space. “This creates an unsafe situation, and we need to do a better job to ensure (that) there are properly marked trails on our roadways. Then the motoring public can (stay in) their proper lane,” he said. He believes the longevity of the paint is key to addressing the issue. “We need some permanency on our line-painting, that’s not just put down and washed away a few weeks or months later — something that can stay on the road over the winters,” said Nason. The City of Winnipeg website describes road markings as “an important, but often overlooked, safety feature... Painted lines keep traffic in lanes and serve as guide posts for passing, safety, crosswalks and stopping areas.” In 2013, a KPMG public works review offered recommendations for Winnipeg to improve its road markings, which the consultant found were often missing. “Reliance on a single, in-house crew that takes up to 34 weeks to remark the city’s streets implies that many roads are left unmarked for much of this time,” the report notes. KPMG suggested Winnipeg consider the use of longer-lasting paint, try out new technology, and possibly contract out work to address the problem. Meanwhile, Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) said she’d like to see the city prioritize lane painting so intersections that have the most collisions get painted first. Lukes said she lobbies for new paint at the intersection of Kenaston and Mc-Gillivray boulevards each year, then waits weeks or months to see the work completed. “It’s still not painted and it’s (late) June. Last year, it was the middle of August,” said Lukes. “Personally, I just think high-collision intersections should be (the top) priority at all times.” A total of 1,352 crashes took place at Kenaston-McGillivray between 2015 and 2019, the most at any intersection, Manitoba Public Insurance figures show. Leila Avenue and McPhillips Street had the second-highest number of crashes (1,191). Lukes said high-crash locations tend to have crosswalks and may also offer bicycle lanes, so making their lane markers more visible would make all road users safer. She plans to soon raise her own motion for the city to paint its Top 10 highest-collision intersections before any other roads each year. The city’s website notes it still uses one lane-liner machine that paints about 1,000 kilometres of roadway lines and edges, including 1,061 intersections. In a written statement, city spokeswoman Julie Horbal Dooley said the complete process takes about 35 weeks, which isn’t finished some years due to weather and resource issues. The work itself is growing, Horbal Dooley said. “The number of lane markings in the city is increasing at a rapid pace as we add active transportation routes to the network and… some regional streets are remarked up to three times a year.” The statement noted paint options that are more durable have a “cost-prohibitive nature.” Horbal Dooley also noted the public works department does prioritize some repainting for sites that need it most and intersections that have the most traffic. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Segway personal transporter hitting brakes on production
by Beth McKechnie 24 Jun '20

24 Jun '20

Segway personal transporter hitting brakes on production SEGWAY, which boldly claimed its two-wheeled personal transporter would revolutionize the way people get around, is ending production of its namesake vehicle. The Segway PT, popular with tourists and police officers but perhaps better known for its high-profile crashes, will be retired on July 15, the company said in a statement. “Within its first decade, the Segway PT became a staple in security and law enforcement, viewed as an effective and efficient personal vehicle,” said Judy Cai, Segway president, in a statement, noting that in the past decade it gained popularity with vacationers in major cities in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. But the Segway, which carries a standing passenger on a wide platform, accounted for less than 1.5 per cent of the company’s revenue last year. The company said 21 employees will be laid off, another 12 employees will stay on for two months to a year and five will remain at the Bedford, New Hampshire facility. “This decision was not made lightly, and while the current global pandemic did impact sales and production, it was not a deciding factor in our decision,” Cai said. The transportation revolution that inventor Dean Kamen envisioned when he founded the company in 1999 never took off. The Segway’s original price tag of around US$5,000 was a hurdle for many customers. It also was challenging to ride because the rider had to be balanced at a specific angle for the vehicle to move forward. If the rider’s weight shifted too much in any direction, it could easily spin out of control and throw the rider off. They were banned in some cities because users could easily lose control if they were not balanced properly. “What did they think the market was when they built this, when they designed it?” asked Maryann Keller, principal at Maryann Keller & Associates. “My impression was they were talking about this as personal mobility. How could you think that something this large and expensive would be personal mobility?” Segway’s popularity may have peaked in early 2009 with the release of the Kevin James comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, where the titular Blart patrols a fictional mall on a Segway. Ten months after buying the company in 2009, British self-made millionaire Jim Heselden died after the Segway he was riding careened off a 30-foot cliff not far from his country estate north of London. He was 62 years old. In 2003, then president George W. Bush avoided injury after tumbling off a Segway at his parents’ summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. A cameraman riding a Segway ran over Usain Bolt in 2015 as the Jamaican sprinter did a victory lap after winning a 200-metre race in Beijing. Bolt wasn’t injured and later joked about the incident. In 2017, Segway got into the scooter business, just as the light, inexpensive and easy-to-ride two-wheelers took over urban streets. Riders took 38.5 million trips on shared electric scooters in 2018, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Segway’s foray into lightweight scooters may have been a sign that its original PT’s days were numbered. “It was probably over-hyped before it was launched, and when it was launched, it was like, this is not going to work on city sidewalks,” Keller said. — The Associated Press

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Federation of Cdn Municipalities: COVID-19 Street Rebalancing Guide
by Beth McKechnie 23 Jun '20

23 Jun '20

[*Shared by Brian Patterson of Urban Systems on the TDM listserv]* Earlier today, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) released a new *COVID-19 Street Rebalancing Guide *to help cities effectively modify urban streets to support safe commuting, commerce and exercise. The *COVID-19 Street Rebalancing Guide* is a product of FCM's The Urban Project <https://theurbanproject.ca/>, which convenes a wide spectrum of voices to tackle urban challenges across Canada. The guide itself flows from weeks of engagement with city officials and thought leaders from across Canada. The guide is designed for decision makers and practitioners alike. With case studies from around the world, it offers strategies and practical guidance on rebalancing streets through three phases of COVID-19 response-from immediate to longer term. It explores installations ranging from bike lanes and curbside queuing areas to temporary patios and parklets. The guide was developed for FCM by Urban Systems. *FCM Press Release:* covid.fcm.ca/news/... <https://covid.fcm.ca/news/new-guide-helps-cities-rebalance-streets-amid-pan…> *Download the Guide: *theurbanproject.ca/events/covid-19-and-mobility ------------------------------ Brian Patterson Active Transportation Practice Leader Urban Systems Ltd. Vancouver BC (604) 235-1701 bpatterson(a)urbansystems.ca

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Free webinar: NTSB Bicycle Safety Report (June 24th)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Jun '20

23 Jun '20

Upcoming Free APBP Webinar: A Discussion of the NTSB Bicycle Safety Report June 24 at 3:00pm EDT Register Here <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ngQtQNNXaYJOFwiJb6fT4Gc9OBGxAi833CZ1DBHW1P8_…> The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its full report on bicyclist safety in December 2019: Bicyclist Safety on US Roadways: Crash Risks and Countermeasures, *the agency’s first report on bicyclist safety in 47 years*. Most of the report focuses on what federal agencies can do to improve the safety of people who bike. Join APBP and NTSB for this free webinar where NTSB's Member Homendy will discuss the full report. Moderated by APBP Board member and Policy Committee Chair, Conor Semler.

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WFP: Cyclist struck by SUV on bike route calls for increased safety measures (Jun23'20)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Jun '20

23 Jun '20

Cyclist struck by SUV on bike route calls for increased safety measures https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/cyclist-struck-by-suv-on-bike-route… JESSE HAJER was on his way home from his son’s physically distanced birthday party late Saturday afternoon, biking down the Wolseley Avenue active transportation route with four young children, when he was struck by an impatient driver in a sport-utility vehicle. He was keeping an eye out for the group of six- and seven-year-old kids, he said, crossing through the intersection at Clifton Street, when an SUV approached from behind, honking at the group to hurry along. Hajer signalled to the driver to wait but the car accelerated, appearing to try to squeeze between Hajer and the curb, and hit Hajer from behind. “It wasn’t going super fast or anything but it was enough,” Hajer said in an interview Monday, noting that he wasn’t seriously injured but was hit hard enough to damage the car. The incident comes amid ongoing debate about the nine temporary active transportation routes the City of Winnipeg set up at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage physical activity and alternative transportation options during isolation, introducing the question of road safety for those pedestrians and cyclists taking to the road. Hajer said he and his family are supporters of the active transportation road in their neighbourhood, and want to see the city take measures to make the routes appear more permanent, encouraging motorists to slow down and follow the rules. “I’m a huge fan of these routes; they’ve been just a breath of fresh air literally and figuratively in this challenging time,” Hajer said. “It’s stressful, families are super stressed out and they need options like this to get outside.” So far, motorists have been limited to one block of travel between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the routes, seven days a week. Hajer said he would like to see the city commit to traffic calming measures to make the routes more secure, including more frequent barriers to emphasize the rules, or larger and more attractive barriers such as planters. He’d also like to see the one block driving rules extended to 24 hours a day, speed limits reduced to 30 km/h on the residential roads and more educational signage outlining consequences for breaking the rules. Many of those initiatives have been echoed in recent months by cyclists and active transportation advocates such as Anders Swanson, executive director of Winnipeg Trails, who has petitioned the city to extend and expand the open street project. Assuring safety on those routes, he said, is about making cars feel as though they are guests on the road, rather than the road’s intended user. “From Day 1 we should have been working on a plan to make these feel more like pedestrian and cycling spaces, and that can include everything from picnic tables to flower planters to warm and welcoming signage,” Swanson said Monday. “A barricade with a chloroplast board feels like a temporary waiting room set up in the lobby. It doesn’t feel like we’re going to take this opportunity to make the city better and make it so people can make themselves better and heal themselves.” Reducing speed limits, beautifying streets and increasing education about the routes are easy first steps the city can take to more pedestrian and cycling-friendly streets, Swanson said. From there, he’d like to see the city invest in making those streets permanent and expanding the network into as many neighbourhoods as possible. “Our concern is that we’ve only got a toe in the water here, we keep extending them for a measly few weeks, there’s been no firm commitment to turn this into a network that reaches everybody in the city, and when you do that then you’re not mobilizing your department to do the things it needs to do because it’s a half measure,” he added. For its part, the city has no clear plans to enforce safety measures on the routes. A spokeswoman for the Public Works department said in an email Monday that “all modes of road users are reminded to be mindful of others and share the road, and to be aware of their surroundings at all times,” adding that the city is “counting on Winnipeggers to do their part and obey posted signage, and — for the most part — (has) seen them comply.” The city said permanent routes would be enforced “as per the governing bylaws,” but would not indicate whether it has used any disciplinary measures to enforce the rules thus far. julia-simone.rutgers(a)freepress.mb.ca

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This isn't the first time bicycles have been the hottest machines on the market
by Beth McKechnie 22 Jun '20

22 Jun '20

How bicycles transformed our world: Coronavirus has sparked a two-wheeled transport boom in many parts of the globe. But this isn't the first time bicycles have been the hottest machines on the market https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/06/how-bicycles-transformed…

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Toronto Star: COVID-19 and transit - What we think we know may be wrong (Jun18''20)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Jun '20

22 Jun '20

*COVID-19 and transit: What we think we know may be wrong * https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/06/18/covid-19-and-transit-what-we-th… According to everything we know about COVID-19 <https://www.thestar.com/coronavirus.html>, public transit seems like a perfect breeding ground for the disease. During normal times, a functioning transit system requires thousands of people to crowd together in an enclosed space, spend several minutes breathing the same air, and then spread back out into their workplaces and communities carrying whatever they picked up on board with them. Combined with economic shutdowns prompted by the pandemic, the fear of contracting the virus on subways and buses has helped decimate ridership on systems, creating revenue crises that pose an existential threat to transit operators around the world. The effects could be long-lasting. In Toronto, where ridership has dropped to as low as 14 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and the TTC is losing about $21 million a week, one in 10 riders say they won’t take transit again even as provincial authorities deem it safe to reopen the economy, according to a recent survey <https://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Commiss…> commissioned by the agency. But is transit as dangerous a vector as it appears? Recent international data show a lack of confirmed cases connected to transit use that is striking even when taking ridership declines into account. Some experts say this can be explained by gaps in contact tracing methodologies, but others argue the risk of transmission on public transportation may not be as severe as initially feared. “There’s so much that we don’t know about the coronavirus and how it spreads. But we’ve seen enough new evidence to suggest that public transportation hasn’t been the super-spreader that many have assumed,” Janette Sadik-Khan, the influential former New York City transportation commissioner and current principal at the Bloomberg Associates, said in an email. She cited a study in France that determined none of 150 COVID-19 infection clusters identified in Paris from early May to early June originated on the city’s transit network. She also pointed to Japan, a country that has experienced only about 17,000 COVID-19 cases, despite having one of the world’s busiest rail networks. Canada has now recorded more than 100,000 cases. Figures like those present a sharp contrast to the conclusions of a study by an MIT economics professor <http://web.mit.edu/jeffrey/harris/HarrisJE_WP2_COVID19_NYC_24-Apr-2020.pdf> that was widely circulated in the early days of in the crisis. It warned the subway network “was a major disseminator — if not the principal transmission vehicle — of coronavirus infection” in New York City. The study’s methodology and conclusions have been widely criticized, not least because in New York infection rates have been lower in subway-rich Manhattan than in transit-poor boroughs like Staten Island. But Sadik-Khan said its findings and similar proclamations early in the pandemic “scared people and may hold them back from returning to transit.” For transit agencies now plunged into financial crisis, “this fear of transit may ultimately be more damaging than the potential threat of riding it,” she said. Conclusive evidence linking COVID-19 transmission to transit use appears to be rare in Canada. As of June 12, 65 TTC employees out of a staff of more than 15,000 had tested positive for the virus <http://www.ttc.ca/Riding_the_TTC/Safety_and_Security/Case_update.jsp>. But it’s not known whether they contracted the infection on the job. Toronto Public Health hasn’t traced any of the city’s more than 13,500 COVID-19 cases to public transit. However, TPH spokesperson Dr. Vinita Dubey cautioned that doesn’t necessarily indicate that infections aren’t occurring in settings like the TTC. Because the virus has a 14-day incubation period and can be spread by people who aren’t exhibiting symptoms, “it is difficult to determine exactly where someone acquired their infection,” she said. The picture is similar in other Canadian jurisdictions. Public health authorities overseeing Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, and Ottawa all told the Star this week that no cases in those cities had been linked to transit. A spokeperson for Vancouver Coastal Health said “we don’t comment on specific cases,” but the agency “hasn’t had need for any public notification to transit users.” Tom McMillan, a spokesperson for Alberta Health, said the agency “has not identified any cases to date where transit is considered the source of exposure.” But the agency is drafting guidelines for operators like Calgary Transit and Edmonton Transit Services to keep riders and workers safe. Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto and Toronto General Hospital, said he wasn’t surprised by the lack of cases linked to transit. Even in jurisdictions where transit operators haven’t made safety measures like mask use mandatory for riders, Bogoch said passengers appear to be taking it upon themselves to take precautions like wearing face coverings, washing their hands, and keeping their distance from one another, which has likely helped to reduce the spread. Wearing a mask will become mandatory on the TTC as of July 2, with exceptions for young children and people with medical conditions. Some commentators have speculated transmission on transit hasn’t occurred at high rates because unlike in settings like bars where patrons risk spreading the infection in airborne droplets by talking close to one another, transit riders largely don’t speak to other passengers. And while transit vehicles are enclosed spaces, their doors open regularly, circulating the air. Bogoch said it’s possible such factors have mitigated the spread of the virus, but their effects are difficult to quantify. He argued what’s more important is the infection rate of the societies in which transit systems operate, which he said bodes well for Toronto. Even though the city lags behind the rest of Ontario in reducing caseloads, it still has a rate of about 400 per 100,000 people, according to Ontario Public Health data <https://files.ontario.ca/moh-covid-19-report-en-2020-06-18.pdf>. By comparison, New York state’s rate is about 2,000 per 100,000 people, according to data compiled by the New York Times. The “general low burden of infection” in Toronto, coupled with measures such as mask use, make transit in the city a “low risk” environment, Bogoch said. He cautioned that doesn’t mean the probability of transmission on transit is nonexistent, especially as the province continues to open up and more people return to the system. “We’re going to have outbreaks in the GTA, and certainly someone’s going to be infected by this virus on a bus or on a subway,” he said. Dr. Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, warned the lack of evidence connecting infections to public transit can’t be taken as proof the virus isn’t being spread there, and instead could be attributed to blind spots in contact tracing. He said chains of infection are more easily recreated in homes, workplaces, and other settings where people know each other and can be identified after they come in contact with someone who has the virus. Accurately determining the rate of transmission on transit would be “enormously difficult” because “people don’t live on public transit, people don’t know each other on public transit,” Furness said. Until there is conclusive proof the virus isn’t spreading on transportation networks, Furness warned any assertions that systems are safe would be overly optimistic. “It’s going to be pretty hard for me to come to the conclusion that buses and subways and streetcars aren’t risky,” he said. “A responsible person is going to say, look, if we’re not sure, we should not downplay the risk … So yes, it’s too early to jump for joy.” TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said it was up to Toronto Public Health to determine how safe the transit system is, but the TTC agrees with the health authority’s position that “the TTC remains a safe system.” Green said the TTC is “certainly aware of examples from around the world that suggest there are no links between mass transit ridership and viral spread,” but “we are not taking that for granted.” He said “as the city reopens and ridership returns, we will take all steps possible to continue to protect the health and safety of everyone in our system.” In addition to mandating mask use, the TTC is also cleaning its vehicles several times a day, deploying additional vehicles to busy bus routes to decrease crowding, and is readying crowd management plans for subway stations. While there remains uncertainty about exactly how risky it is to ride, passengers will continue to have real fear about taking transit while the virus remains a threat, and the TTC will need to address those anxieties to coax customers back. “We absolutely understand that perception matters for our customers and employees,” Green said. “We want them not only to feel safe, but to actually be safe.”

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CTV: Proposed active transportation route extension passed by executive policy committee (Jun19'20)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/proposed-active-transportation-route-extension-… WINNIPEG -- A motion to keep Winnipeg active transportation routes open until September was passed by the mayor’s inner circle on Thursday, and is now in the hands of city council. The executive policy committee voted unanimously on Thursday to support a measure to extend the end of the active transportation routes until September 7, 2020. The active transportation routes are located in these locations: - Lyndale Drive from Cromwell to Gauvin Street; - Scotia Street from Anderson (at Cross Street) to Armstrong Avenues; - Wellington Crescent from Academy Road (at Wellington) to Guelph Street; - Wolseley Avenue from Raglan Road to Maryland Street; - Assiniboine Avenue from Bedson Street to Westwood Drive; - Churchill Drive from Hay Street to Jubilee Avenue; - Egerton Road from Bank to Morier Avenues; - Kildonan Drive from Helmsdale Avenue to Rossmere Crescent; - Larchdale Crescent to Irving Place; and - Kilkenny Drive from Burgess to Patricia Avenues and Kings Drive. On these active transportation routes, traffic is confined to one block through the area from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The city expanded the use of the routes to help with physical distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the motion filed during the meeting, the routes have been popular with city residents and cyclists. If no extension was sought, the routes would end on July 6. The extension will be discussed at the next city council meeting on June 26.

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