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Free Press Article
by Stacy Matwick 03 Dec '08

03 Dec '08

Pedestrians, cyclists win small victory By: Joe Paraskevas Winnipeg Free Press Dec. 3, 2008 B4 People who walk or cycle around Winnipeg won a small but significant victory in a city hall committee room Tuesday. They lined up to demand the city's $476-million 2009 capital budget be amended to provide more funding for bike paths, bike commuting lanes on roads, better sidewalks and even a new pedestrian bridge across the Red River between the University of Manitoba and south St. Vital. And they succeeded -- though more hurdles remain before city councillors vote on the budget Dec. 16. After hearing delegations for the better part of four hours, members of the Infrastructure Renewal and Public Works committee voted to re-allocate $4.7 million in the budget to cover projects associated with cycling, walking and in-line skating -- so-called active transportation. City hall should not squander the steps it has taken to improve its network of pathways and bikeways in the last two years, community activists said. "The city's got really good momentum. It's showing vision," said Janice Lukes, trails coordinator for the Winnipeg Trails Association. "When you come up with these numbers," Lukes added, referring to the budget released last week, "it's not showing vision." The budget targeted $1.75 million for bike paths and other active transportation works -- as opposed to $95 million for road and bridge construction. Committee members agreed to add $4.25 million for active transportation projects, leaving it to administrators to decide how such funds should be distributed. To cover the added spending, St. Boniface Coun. Dan Vandal said the city could tap its $300-million reserve funds or $3 million set aside in the budget for what Vandal said was unallocated spending. The committee also agreed to shift $250,000 from $1.9 million earmarked for land acquisition to pay for a study into building a pedestrian bridge across the Red River from the University of Manitoba into south St. Vital. That project had the backing of St. Norbert Coun. Justin Swandel, the city's Finance committee chairman and budget architect. Swandel appealed in person to the committee. A deal struck with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corp. had freed some of the money the city had meant to use to acquire land for the expansion of Waverley Street in south Winnipeg, Swandel said. The public works committee also agreed to spend an additional $200,000 on sidewalk repairs. The budget had allocated $250,000 in 2009 to new sidewalks on major streets. The Executive Policy Committee, which reviews the capital budget next week, could still overturn today's decision. joe.paraskevas(a)freepress.mb.ca

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Bike lanes work
by Beth McKechnie 27 Nov '08

27 Nov '08

Interesting article about research in Portland showing cyclists will go out of their way to use bike infrastructure (such as bike lanes): http://www.portlandtribune.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=1224022968389…

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Roundabouts
by Janice Lukes 27 Nov '08

27 Nov '08

As the city and province set about to spend even more money on Hwys - I find the attached TIME article very interesting. Janice Lukes Winnipeg Trails Coordinator Winnipeg Trails Association 202 - One Forks Market Road Winnipeg, MB R3C 4L9 Cell (204) 952-4222 Fax (204) 943-7915 <mailto:jlukes@shaw.ca> jlukes(a)shaw.ca <http://www.winnipegtrails.com/> www.WinnipegTrails.com

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WFP: Pedestrians rule! (Nov.20'08)
by Beth McKechnie 27 Nov '08

27 Nov '08

Winnipeg Free Press a.. Winnipeg Free Press View from the West Pedestrians rule! (Or they would if the law were enforced) Val Werier Updated: November 20, 2008 at 06:40 AM CST Now that winter is upon us, we must examine the perilous state of the pedestrian. Is there anything more unequal than the conflict between the pedestrian and the car? The car is the bully, big and powerful, equipped to stop in comfort, but it refuses to give the pedestrian the right of way. In Winnipeg, considered as one of the coldest capitals in the world, this is an atrocious display of bad manners. Pedestrians may freeze waiting to cross, but this is the way it is in Winnipeg. The civility of a city can be judged by the importance and respect given to pedestrians. On that basis, the standard of civility is poor indeed. Pedestrians are treated in a shabby manner. The law places them in an exalted position. A motorist must stop once a pedestrian starts crossing the street. That rarely happens. The pedestrian is regarded by drivers as a ne'er-do-well. That does not seem to bother all the agencies concerned with the rules of the road, safety and welfare of citizens. Rarely, if ever, is a word heard about the rights of pedestrians from the provincial Transportation department, Manitoba Public Insurance, automobile associations or city council and police. They are silent on the flagrant denial of the status of pedestrians. The safety and priority of the pedestrian is raised so seldom it creates a climate that may be a factor in this bizarre case. On a bright morning in April 2007, Shep Shell, a blind man of 62, led by his seeing-eye dog Page, crossed Cordova Street at Grant Avenue, a special pedestrian corridor. They were proceeding south and stopped at the median. There Shell pressed the button to reactivate the beeping sound and flashing yellow lights. The car in the first lane had stopped, as he had heard it do. Shell held out his arm to present a larger profile and proceeded into the second lane when he heard a car approaching quickly. He didn't dare to move back in case the car in that lane was moving. "I felt helpless," he told me. "I knew I was going to be hit." He swung Page behind him to save her from injury. He was struck and thrown to the street, suffering cuts, bruises and a severely swollen right hand. This is an extreme case -- a blind man with a seeing-eye dog struck in a pedestrian corridor with flashing lights in a school zone. Still, it does speak of the blatant disregard of the pedestrian. The record shows few drivers are charged for not yielding to pedestrians. The pedestrian must use common sense and not barge across an intersection. Most make certain it is safe to do so. In the period from 2004 to 2007, only an average of 16 tickets per year were issued for not yielding the right of way to a pedestrian or passing another vehicle stopped for a pedestrian. An average of 48 drivers per year were charged for failure to yield in a pedestrian corridor or passing in a corridor. The existence of special pedestrian corridors conveys the impression that here only pedestrians have the right of way. The law makes it clear the motorist must give way to the pedestrian at any intersection whether marked or not by lights. But that is not the way it turns out in Winnipeg. I am dumbfounded as I listen to a discussion on CBC radio about the hazards facing pedestrians. Callers say it is impossible to cross south Osborne. There is no let up in traffic to allow crossing. They want the city to establish another pedestrian corridor because the closest one is a few blocks away. I heard no one raise the point that pedestrians have priority and the law should be enforced. Other cities give pedestrians the break they deserve. Rosemarie Cloutis came to Winnipeg 12 years ago from Edmonton with her husband, Ed, and family. "I was shocked that drivers gave no regard to pedestrians," she recalls. "In Edmonton, pedestrians crossing the street at corners expect and are given the right of way." In Europe, the place of the pedestrian is so respected that an act of parliament was framed to focus on their rights. This is the Charter of Pedestrians' Rights, adopted by the European Parliament in 1988. One clause states: "The pedestrian has the right to live in urban or village centres tailored to the needs of human beings and not the needs of the motor car and to have the amenities within walking or cycling distance." Today, there are no champions for the pedestrian as such figures of the past as Coun. Joe Zuken, who denounced the closure of Portage and Main to pedestrians. There is no greater affront to pedestrians in Canada than the decision to make the symbol of Winnipeg the exclusive precinct of cars. It is a blot on Winnipeg that next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the scandal of Portage and Main. It reinforces the subordinate status of the pedestrian. Portage and Main must be opened to the people. The disrespect for pedestrians, I submit, is out of character. As a whole, Winnipeggers are a decent, caring lot as shown by the high number of volunteers in a multitude of services. We rate near the top in Canada. This is the spirit of civility that must be restored to our public streets. Val Werier is a Winnipeg writer. a.. b.. © 2008 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved. Powered by McClatchy Interactive

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Free webinar - Bicycle Transportation Planning
by Jessie Klassen 19 Nov '08

19 Nov '08

Hi AT folks, Join us in the Eco-Centre on November 19th for a free webinar on bicycle transportation planning. Details are included below. Please let me know if you plan to attend. Feel free to share this invitation. Cycle Zone Analysis (CZA): A New Bicycle Transportation Planning Tool Wednesday, November 19, 2008 · 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eco-Centre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave., 3rd Floor. This workshop, first presented at Pro Walk/Pro Bike in September, focuses on the new bicycle planning tool used for the update of Portlands (Ore.) Bicycle Master Plan. Listen and learn from a professional working in one of only three U.S. cities to have achieved LABs Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Community designation. Cycle Zone Analysis helps planners understand the nuances of cycling conditions in their communities, in order to tailor treatments to specific micro areas. Participants will learn how to define cycle zones, develop a bikeway rating index, and use the resulting analysis to improve cycling conditions. To preview Cycle Zone Analysis, visit http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=215045. The presenter is Roger Geller, Portlands Bicycle Coordinator. He was a member of the panel that presented the Cycle Zone Analysis workshop at Pro Walk/Pro Bike in September. Jessie Klassen Workplace Transportation Demand Management Coordinator Resource Conservation Manitoba jessie(a)resourceconservation.mb.ca (204) 925-3772 Resource Conservation Manitoba: Living Green, Living Well Practical solutions for yourself, your community and the environment Green Commuting, Environmental Education, Reducing Waste, Composting Resource Conservation Manitoba is a registered charity. Please consider making a donation.

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With temps expecting to dip...
by Stacy Matwick 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

A timely short piece of advice. http://grist.org/advice/ask/2008/11/17/index.html I Cycle: On winter biking By Umbra Fisk - Astute Advice on All Things Environmental Grist 17 Nov 2008 Enjoy Stacy Matwick Information Centre International Institute for Sustainable Development 161 Portage Ave. E., 6th floor Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4 Voice: (204)958-7755 Fax: (204)958-7710 Email: smatwick(a)iisd.ca Website: http://www.iisd.org "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx "Life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance your must keep on moving" Albert Einstein

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Active Transportation - Canada: November 17, 2008
by Beth McKechnie 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

Active Transportation - Canada features a regular posting of news articles, studies, reports, and other items that have relevance in this field, with previous postings available in an archive. In addition, pictures of existing Active Transportation infrastructure from communities across Canada will be profiled each week. The following items have recently been posted to the Active Transportation - Canada Blog. To view in more detail, go to: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com **************************************************************************************************** 1.. Haliburton County Cycling Master Plan 2.. Toronto Bike Summit 2008: Proceedings 3.. Article - Kelowna BC: Summit looks to beat transit issues 4.. Article - Cambridge/ Coldbrook trail: officially open for use, closed to ATVs 5.. Article - The latest skirmish in the bike wars 6.. Article - Skateboarding in Class? Here, It’s Called Gym 7.. Video - New York: Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan 8.. Article - Councillor fears '500-kilometre discussion' over 700 metres of bicycle lanes 9.. Article - B.C. knee brace, Montreal bike system among Time's top inventions 10.. Article - A Canadian in Amsterdam discovers the downside of a cyclist's paradise **************************************************************************************************** A reminder e-mail of new postings will be sent no more often than once per week. To continue to receive these updates, you need take no action. Should you not wish to receive updates, please return this e-mail with "Unsubscribe" in the Subject area. For more information, please contact: Michael Haynes Director TransActive Solutions activetransportation(a)rogers.com 613.424.2803

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Time magazine says Montreal's public bike system rocks
by Beth McKechnie 14 Nov '08

14 Nov '08

Time magazine says Montreal's public bike system rocks Time magazine has pronounced that Montreal's public bike system is among the 50 best inventions of 2008. It was number 19 on the list. When lots of people use a communal resource - like, say, a cheap public bicycle-rental program - they tend to abuse it. So when the city of Montreal built its Public Bike System, nicknamed Bixi, the designers packed in all the technology they could find, in a Canadian Magazines / Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:48:00 GMT

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Transit Oriented Development Guest Speaker from Portland - Nov 20
by Beth McKechnie 04 Nov '08

04 Nov '08

The Winnipeg Rapid Transit Coalition, in partnership with the Downtown Biz, the Institute of Urban Studies, Winnipeg Realtors and other groups, is pleased to invite you to a lecture: "Talking about Transit Oriented Development" on Thu Nov 20 from noon to 2 pm. (Please register with Tina 958-4640 or tina(a)downtownwinnipegbiz.com) TELL YOUR FRIENDS! Winnipeg's approved rapid transit plan has three main components: 1) dedicated rapid transitways from downtown to the University of Manitoba, with permanent stations 2) commuter cycling paths beside the transitways 3) transit oriented development around the rapid transit stations Transit oriented development is an important feature of the plan as it increased density around the stations, increases ridership and enhances existing neighbourhoods in Winnipeg. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Use Windows Live Messenger to send messages to your buddies on their mobile phones Find out more on our PC to Mobile website

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Commuter cycling is soaring
by Beth McKechnie 03 Nov '08

03 Nov '08

It appears that New York City's investment in infrastructure has yielded a huge percentage increase in commuter cycling... http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com:80/2008/10/30/commuter-cycling-is-soaring…

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