- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

The Great Hike Kickoff 2012
by Beth McKechnie 30 Mar '12

30 Mar '12

------------------------------ *From:* Margaret Boyechko [mailto:margaret@mrta.mb.ca] *Sent:* Thursday, March 29, 2012 2:12 PM ***Subject:* The Great Hike Kickoff 2012**** ** ** Check out the attached and come join us on April 12, 2012 – it’s a fun thing!! No registration required – hope to see you there.**** ** ** Margaret Boyechko**** Administration Assistant/Bookkeeper**** ****Manitoba**** Recreational Trails Association**** 1007 Century Street**** ****Winnipeg**, **MB** **R3H 0W4******** 204-633-9879**** 204-945-1365 (fax)**** www.mrta.mb.ca**** *"In every walk with nature one receives ***** *far more than he seeks."* - John Muir****

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Kickstarter -Walk Your City: Guerrilla Wayfinding
by Shoni Litinsky 30 Mar '12

30 Mar '12

This video has been getting a lot of attention over the past few days. The Walk Your City project is trying to raise money to build an opensource Guerrilla Wayfinding website that will allow people to print off walkability wayfinding signs. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cityfabric/walk-your-city An interesting watch and inspiration as a creative idea to raise funding and the profile of active travel needs. S

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WFP: Rubber could fix sidewalks, put bounce in our steps (Mar.27'12)
by Beth McKechnie 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

Rubber could fix sidewalks, put bounce in our steps By: Benjamin Gillies http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/rubber-could-fix-sidewalk… Winnipeggers were eager to get out of the house to take advantage of the nicer weather in recent weeks, only to find the freezing and thawing -- and the presence of pushy tree roots -- caused many sidewalks to fracture and shift over the winter, making them not only a nuisance to replace, but also a potential danger. Almost exclusively, concrete and asphalt have traditionally been used for sidewalk construction in North America. Yet, neither is particularly well-suited to the task. Both materials are brittle, prone to cracking when trees grow beneath them and vulnerable to weather damage. Their lack of porosity deprives the soil of groundwater and increases runoff problems. In the early 2000s, entrepreneurs in the United States sought to better meet pedestrian needs by finding a type of pavement less likely to break. Searching for a malleable material, they ground up discarded tires and designed resilient rubber panels that are harder than a running track but softer than concrete or asphalt. This solution proved extremely effective. Not only did the rubber bend to accommodate tree growth, but when roots became too unruly, the individual panels could be removed, the path re-graded, roots trimmed and the same panels re-laid. In fact, city workers discovered roots actually grew more slowly beneath rubber as water could seep through the seams between the panels, reducing the need for roots to spread in search of sustenance. It was also realized that once installed, the ease with which the panel sidewalk could be disassembled and reassembled made it faster and less expensive for utility companies to complete any maintenance or other underground work than having to dig up or drill into concrete slabs. Best of all, the alternative material was good for its users, as walking or running on a rubber, shock-absorbing surface is easier on one's joints and more forgiving when someone falls. Cities using the rubber sidewalks often experienced a reduction in liability claims from pedestrians tripping, as broken and uneven concrete sidewalks were no longer a hazard. Recognizing these benefits, in the past decade rubber walkways have been put down in nearly 100 American municipalities. Canadian cities, however, have been slower to explore their potential. A handful, including Kelowna, Vancouver and Calgary have launched pilot projects. Yet, with Canada's extreme temperatures, a material less susceptible to weather damage may be even more advantageous here than it is down south. After all, the annual freezing and thawing process can force the replacement of concrete walks in as few as three years. Tests have shown rubber stands up well against excessive heat and cold, and the panels are estimated to last up to two decades without cracking. Additionally, where installed, the panels remain undamaged by snow-clearing equipment and have been designed so as not to be slippery in winter. This means that while they're about a third more expensive than concrete initially, over the long run they are very likely the most cost-effective and safest option. It is often said Winnipeg has only two seasons: winter and construction. To curb the disturbance and costs of this second season, the city should do what it can to find building materials that withstand our climate without frequent replacement. To that end, rubber-panel sidewalks seem a highly promising alternative for future development. With rubber proving itself so favourable elsewhere, the municipal government ought to consider launching its own pilot project to see if it could be a good fit here. The result could be fewer injuries and fewer scarce funds devoted to maintenance. Like the new sidewalks themselves, that is bound to put a little spring in anyone's step. *Benjamin Gillies is a political economy graduate from the University of Manitoba, where he focused on urban development and energy policy.*

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Copenhagen Economics: Cars are a Net Loss, Bikes a Benefit
by Shoni Litinsky 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

>From the Sustainable Cities Collective<http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/pmlydon/38206/copenhagen-economics-c…> : A study commissioned in 2010 by Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard, Mayor of Copenhagen found that *driving cars offers up a $0.20 net loss for each mile driven*. But the major form of transportation in this city of 1.2 million is not the car, but the bicycle. This leads us to what is perhaps the more amazing fact from this study…* bicycles offer a $0.35 net benefit to the economy per mile ridden*. *Math Note: 1 DKK = 18 cents (2010 currency rates) | 1.61km = 1mi* Other neat facts about Copenhagen from this study: - *Sixty-Eight Percent* - An astounding 68% of residents bicycle at least once a week - *Most Popular Commute Choice* - Citywide, 35% of residents bicycle to and from work/school, more than any other transportation method - *Sorry Cars, You’re Outnumbered* – When taking trips of under 6 miles, bicyclists outnumber cars 3 to 1 - *Rain, Sleet, or Snow* – Most commuters cycle year-round, even with an average low of 28-degrees Fahrenheit during snowy winter months and 2.5 inches of rain during summer months - *Kids Rule* – A full 98% of children in the city own a bicycle See full study here<http://www.kk.dk/sitecore/content/Subsites/CityOfCopenhagen/SubsiteFrontpag…> -- *Shoni Litinsky* | Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/> Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>

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Why bicyclists are better customers than drivers for local business
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '12

28 Mar '12

Why Bicyclists Are Better Customers Than Drivers for Local Business by Tanya Snyder <http://dc.streetsblog.org/author/tanya-snyder/> Friday, March 23, 2012 http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/03/23/why-bicyclists-are-better-customers-th… <http://dc.streetsblog.org/author/tanya-snyder/> Do local and state officials tune out when you try to talk to them about bicycling? Are they unconvinced by arguments about public health, transportation options, or clean air? Do business leaders send you packing when you suggest building new bike lanes and bike parking, fearing that the loss of car parking will keep customers away? Then show them the money. Bikes can mean big business, and businesses are beginning to realize it. At a Bike Summit panel Wednesday on the economic boost cycling can provide cities, speakers highlighted another strong message cyclists can bring to politicians when making their case for investment in bike/ped facilities. Far and away, the biggest reason business owners resist the addition of bike infrastructure is that they’re afraid it will limit parking. Once they realize they can get 12 bike parking spaces for each car spot, sometimes they begin to change their tune. Even better, they begin to discover that cyclists can be their best customers. “We tend to shop closer to home and shop more often,” said April Economides, a consultant who helped the city of Long Beach, California build bicycle-friendly business districts<http://www.bikelongbeach.org/Planning/Read.aspx?ArticleId=20>. Rather than jumping in the minivan and heading to the suburbs to go to the big shopping malls, cyclists patronize the businesses in our neighborhoods. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster understands the value of bikes: “I see parts of the city on my bike that I would never even notice if I was just driving,” he said. “It’s a way for me personally to get closer to the city.” That closeness has a dollars-and-cents value. Cyclists travel at what Portland Bike Coordinator Roger Geller calls a “human-scale speed” that allows them to “stop and buy something.” Besides, Economides said, if you’re car-free you’ve got an extra $6,000 jangling around in your pocket that you otherwise would have spent on gas and car maintenance (actually, $8,776 if you believe AAA<http://newsroom.aaa.com/2011/04/cost-of-owning-and-operating-vehicle-in-u-s…>). According to researchers with Intelligent Communities, a program of the National Building Museum, only 16 percent of household car expenses stay within the local economy<http://www.govtech.com/e-government/IBM-City-Forward-Launched.html> . The four bicycle-friendly business districts Economides helped develop in Long Beach provide a model of how to encourage cycling without adding infrastructure. Local businesses see bike access as a boon for local shopping and dining. They have an informal merchant bike-share program, so the business owners themselves can enjoy the benefits of biking around town. The program created the nation’s largest citywide bike discount program <http://www.bikelongbeach.org/Events/Read.aspx?ArticleId=48>, where customers get better prices if they arrive by bike. The program also brought the districts community bike rides, free bike repairs, bike valets at local events, and even free bike portraits, where you can get your picture taken with your bike (see left). The programs have brought a flood of new customers into participating stores. Two of the four districts didn’t even have a lot of good bike infrastructure to begin with – but there’s more demand for it now, even from businesses that used to be bike-averse. Long Beach got a stimulus grant to create the districts, and the term of the grant expired just last week. But Economides said participating merchants are now so jazzed about cycling that they’ll carry on the work. And it’s a diverse group of businesses: Organizers reached out to Spanish- and Khmer-speaking merchants in the area and got their full participation. They also left paper flyers and postcards on people’s doorsteps, since not everyone is wired. “Open Streets,” or ciclovias – events where streets are closed to motorized traffic and become the domain of bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders, rollerbladers, jugglers, dog-walkers – are another way to bring money to local businesses. Washington University in St. Louis was able to quantify the economic benefit <http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/23216.aspx> of Open Streets programs: 73 percent of Open Streets participants spent money at a restaurant or store on the route, and 68 percent became aware of a restaurant or store that was new to them. Business Improvement Districts are another good place to seek support for pro-bike policies, said Andy Hanshaw of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. Local shopping and dining is what they’re all about, and they might be happy to sponsor community bike rides and new bike parking. After all, in downtowns turning car lanes over to people can be a great moneymaker. Its most stunning success, perhaps, has been Times Square, “the ultimate end vision of how to pedestrianize the most pedestrian-heavy place in America,” according to Mike Lydon of the Street Plans Collaborative. According to a recent study commissioned by the local BID, Times Square helps generate more than one-tenth of the city’s economic activity<http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/times-square-lights-up-citys-e…>– on less than one percent of its land. >From park(ing) day<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/09/16/parking-day-once-again-sweeps-the-glo…>, where people create ephemeral parks in parallel parking spaces, to parklets that make those tiny parks more permanent, to pop-up cafés<http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/08/12/dot-unveils-new-pop-up-cafe-in-financ…>, adding outdoor public space draws people and adds life to the street. Those spaces also often become de facto additional seating for nearby establishments, giving them more capacity for free. “Bicycling, just like walking, helps make a Main Street more vibrant,” said Economides. “It adds more eyes and ears to the street, so it makes it safer. So think about a mom pushing a stroller. She’s going to want to walk down a block that has more people walking and bicycling; she’ll feel safer. And you do want to attract women and moms. We’re a pretty important shopping base.” Rory Robinson of the National Park Service found many other examples<http://www.miamivalleytrails.org/benefits.htm>of bicycling spurring economic revitalization, like the opening of the Mineral Belt Trail in Leadville, Colorado, which led to a 19 percent increase in sales tax revenues, helping the city recover from a mine closure in 1999. The 45-mile long Washington & Old Dominion Trail in the D.C. suburbs brings an estimated $7 million into the northern Virginia economy, nearly a quarter of that from out-of-towners. And downtown Dunedin, Florida was suffering a 35 percent storefront vacancy rate until an abandoned CSX railroad track became the Pinellas Trail. Storefront occupancy is now 100 percent, Robinson found. “Business is booming.” And the economic benefit of bicycling for communities doesn’t end with cyclists’ expensive cappuccinos and impulse buys. Properties near bike paths increase in value 11 percent, said Economides. Realtors and homebuilders consistently find that access and proximity to walking and biking facilities, especially greenways, makes homes easier to sell. A reporter for the Indianapolis Star said it best<http://saveourtrails.ca/money/property_values.htm>in 2003: “It may not have sand and crashing waves, but the Monon Trail is the equivalent of beachfront property in the Indianapolis area.” Add to that the fact that bike lane construction creates about twice as many jobs<http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/01/07/combat-joblessness-stripe-a-bike-lane/>as road-building for the same amount of money, and you’ve got yourself a great economic argument to take to local leaders and politicians when you ask them to support walking and biking – even (or especially) in tough economic times. Tanya Snyder <http://dc.streetsblog.org/author/tanya-snyder/> became Streetsblog's Capitol Hill editor in September 2010 after covering Congress for Pacifica and public radio. She lives car-free in a transit-oriented and bike-friendly neighborhood of Washington, DC.

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WFP: Osborne Bridge construction resumes Friday (Mar.28'12)
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '12

28 Mar '12

Osborne Bridge construction resumes Friday THE end of winter means it's time for Winnipeg's other season -- road construction, which begins in earnest Friday with the resumption of the Osborne Bridge rehabilitation. The $17.2-million project, which involves the resurfacing and widening of Osborne Street from Broadway to River Avenue, began last year with work on the east side of the bridge over the Assiniboine River. Work on the west side of the bridge will begin on Friday, reducing traffic to three lanes, the public works department announced in a statement. One lane will be for northbound traffic, a second for southbound and a third will alternate, depending on the time. The city employed this system last year. The pedestrian underpass on the north side of the Assiniboine River will remain open as long as river levels are low enough. As of Tuesday, the level was 7.3 feet at the James Avenue pumping station, or 1.2 feet below the Assiniboine Riverwalk. If river levels rise, the city urges pedestrians and dismounted cyclists to exercise caution when they cross the street. The city hopes to complete construction by September and reopen two lanes of traffic in each direction while crews erect a barrier in the middle of the bridge to separate traffic. The entire project is expected to be finished in October, with three southbound lanes, two northbound lanes and both a bike lane and sidewalk in each direction.

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WFP: Get children moving, new guideline urge (Mar.28'12)
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '12

28 Mar '12

Get children moving, new guidelines urge No screen time at all for kids under two By: Helen Branswell TORONTO -- Little children should be moving more and sitting less, according to new recommendations that are being billed as the first Canadian guidelines for physical activity and sedentary behaviour for children four and younger. Kids younger than two shouldn't spend any time in front of a screen -- be it a TV, a computer or a tablet -- the guidelines say. And for children aged two to four, screen time should be limited to less than an hour a day. "There's no redeeming feature of screen time under the age of two," says Mark Tremblay, who chaired the committee that drew up the guidelines and is lead author of two scientific papers that analyzed about 40 published studies to come up with the two sets of guidelines. "Don't use screens as hypnotic elements to entertain them, to just pass time. It's not advantageous for the healthy growth and development of a child to do that." Tremblay is also director of the Healthy Active Living Obesity research group at the Children's Hospital for Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa. The guidelines were crafted by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and ParticipAction, with help from Tremblay's group. The guidelines suggest children under one should be allowed to partake in active play several times daily -- including things like tummy time, reaching and grasping and crawling. For kids aged one to four, parents should aim for three hours of activity a day. The activity can be any kind, Tremblay says, and doesn't have to be rigorous. Walking, crawling, playing -- anything but sitting. By age five, children should be spending at least an hour a day in energetic play -- activities like hopping, skipping and bike riding. These bars may seem low. Many people have the notion little kids are always on the go. But in fact, that isn't the case, says Kelly Murumets, president and CEO of ParticipAction. When allowed to play outside, children do become very active, Murumets says. But when they are indoors, particularly if there is a TV or computer screen around, that's another matter. "I don't know what it is, I'm sure there's some physiological explanation for this, but they become transfixed by the screen. And they will sit and be sedentary for much longer than you would expect toddlers' DNA would allow," she says. The professional organization representing Canadian pediatricians is adding its support for the guidelines. The Canadian Pediatric Society is issuing its own guidance, which mirrors the recommendations on the amount of activity children should get daily. The society's guidelines also call on doctors to counsel families on the importance of encouraging children to be active and advise them on how to achieve that end. Over the last quarter-century, the obesity rate has nearly tripled among children and youth, the pediatrics society notes in its statement. As many as 26 per cent of kids between two and 17 years are now overweight or obese, and that number jumps to 41 per cent among First Nations children. "We're starting to see kids with health and obesity problems before they even start school," says Dr. Claire LeBlanc, chair of the society's committee on healthy active living and sports medicine. "Parents and caregivers need to incorporate age-appropriate physical activity into their children's day as young as possible." Tremblay says studies that monitor and evaluate what young children do find they are actually far more sedentary than most people would think. He says frequent activity contributes to bone, motor skill and cognitive development and protects against the harms associated with excessive sedentary behaviour. -- The Canadian Press

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Free workshop - Traffic and Health: Implementing Interventions to Mitigate Impacts
by Olivier.Bellefleur＠inspq.qc.ca 27 Mar '12

27 Mar '12

Please share this message. Our apologies for cross-posting. Dear colleagues, The National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) invites you to a free one-day preconference workshop featuring renowned speakers Dan Burden, co-founder of the NGO Walkable Communities, and Catherine Berthod, engineer and urban planner for the Ministry of Transportation of Quebec. The workshop Motorized traffic and health: interventions to mitigate its impacts will take place at the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) annual conference, June 11, 2012, in Edmonton. It will focus on three interventions aiming at creating healthier built environments: · Traffic calming on urban, residential streets; · Road diets on suburban roads to allocate space for active transport infrastractures; · Redesign of main commercial streets of small communities also being used as regional transit roads. Click here to learn more: http://www.ncchpp.ca/176/presentations.ccnpps?id_article=740 Visit the CPHA 2012 Conference site at: http://www.cpha.ca/en/conferences/conf2012/registration.aspx. For questions or feedback, please contact Olivier Bellefleur at: olivier.bellefleur(a)inspq.qc.ca. _______________________________________ S.V.P. faites circuler dans vos réseaux. Nos excuses pour les envois multiples. Bonjour, Le Centre de collaboration nationale sur les politiques publiques et la santé (CCNPPS) vous invite à un atelier gratuit d’une journée en compagnie des conférenciers de renoms que sont Dan Burden, cofondateur de l’ONG Walkable Communities, et Catherine Berthod, ingénieure et urbaniste au Ministère des Transports du Québec. L’atelier Circulation motorisée et santé : des interventions pour mitiger ses impacts aura lieu lors de la prochaine Conférence annuelle de l’Association canadienne de santé publique (ACSP), le 11 juin 2012 à Edmonton. Il portera sur trois interventions visant à créer des environnements bâtis plus favorables à la santé : · Apaisement de la circulation sur les rues résidentielles en milieu urbain; · Régimes routiers permettant de redistribuer l’espace des voies suburbaines au profit d’infrastructures dédiées aux transports actifs; · Réaménagement des rues commerciales principales des petites agglomérations qui servent aussi de voies de transit régionales. Pour plus d’information : http://www.ccnpps.ca/188/Presentations.ccnpps?id_article=741 Pour visiter le site de la Conférence annuelle de l’ACSP : http://www.cpha.ca/fr/conferences/conf2012.aspx. Pour toute question, veuillez contacter Olivier Bellefleur à : olivier.bellefleur(a)inspq.qc.ca Olivier Bellefleur Agent de recherche / Research officer Centre de collaboration nationale sur les politiques publiques et la santé (CCNPPS) / National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) 190, boulevard Crémazie Est Montréal (Québec) H2P 1E2 Téléphone: 514-864-1600, poste 3635 Télécopieur: 514-864-5180 Web: www.ccnpps.ca / www.ncchpp.ca

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Wed, March 28th Webinars - Maintenance Programs & Empowering Women to Bicycle
by Beth McKechnie 27 Mar '12

27 Mar '12

[Friendly reminder about tomorrow afternoon's webinars...] Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us on Wednesday, March 28th for a local viewing of two APBP webinars:* **"Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation"* and *"*Best Practices in Maintenance Programs*"*. Both take place at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) and will be followed by group discussion. Come for one or both of the webinars. As always, RSVPs appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then. cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) presents: Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation Wednesday, March 28th • 2:00 to 3:30 pm CST Take in APBP's annual Women Cycling webinar and learn what it will take to empower women to bicycle for transportation at the same level that men do. Visit APBP's Women Cycling Project <http://www.womencyclingproject.info/>website where you can read the final reports on the Women Cycling Survey, view the 2010 and 2011 webinars on the Women Cycling phenomenon, and enjoy the winning photos from the Women Cycling photo contest. Best Practices for Maintenance Programs Wednesday, March 28th • 3:30-4:30 pm CST Efficient and cost-effective maintenance of pedestrian facilities is an important safety measure. Attend this webinar to learn why maintenance programs are important, and how to make the case for maintenance at budget time; how to overcome the barriers to implementing a good maintenance program; and how to develop the elements of a program that includes both routine maintenance and responding to hazards. Best practices for inspection, replacement and snow removal will be discussed, as well as findings from recent research into pedestrian facility maintenance. The session will include a preview of the new FHWA publication, "A Guide for Maintaining Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced Safety," due to be published by the end of 2012. The webinar will also include information related to maintenance of bicycle facilities. Presenters: Tom Huber, Senior Planner, Toole Design Group; Arthur Ross, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, City of Madison, Wisconsin. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> 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/memberships/>

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Rapid transit slowly arrives
by Beth McKechnie 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

Rapid transit slowly arrives Osborne Street Station a beacon in a system that could transform this city By: Brent Bellamy We waited 15 years for an NHL hockey team. Now we have one. We waited 36 years for an IKEA. Next Christmas we will have one. We waited 53 years for a modern rapid transit system. In two weeks we will have one. Well, sort of. After more than a dozen studies, countless advisory committees and an endless number of task forces, Winnipeg's first, three-kilometre-long rapid transit line will soon be running. This modest first step comes more than five decades after the now infamous 'Wilson Plan' first recommended the creation of a rapid transit system for Winnipeg. Since that time, we have overwhelmingly built our city with a focus on car-oriented development. Decades of low-density subdivisions leapfrogging each other towards the periphery have resulted in Winnipeg's urban area growing disproportionately to its population. Between 1974 and 2006, the city's population grew by only 15 per cent, while its area increased by more than 50 per cent. Winnipeggers engage in few topics of discussion with greater passion than they do the cost of gasoline, the pace of traffic and the physical condition of our streets, yet we continue to support the urban sprawl that compounds these issues. As our city expands outward, we drive farther, buy more gas, build more roads, navigate more traffic and emit more pollution. With a lower-density tax base, government budgets struggle to maintain basic services and infrastructure for an increasingly unsustainable city. A convenient and affordable public-transportation alternative can reduce the number of cars on the road, helping to alleviate many of the challenges that follow sprawling urban expansion. In Ottawa, a city with an extensive rapid transit system, almost 20 per cent of the population takes public transit to work, compared to only 12 per cent in Winnipeg. With more than 430,000 people in the city's workforce, that eight-percentage-point difference can have a significant impact on traffic volumes, parking requirements and their corresponding effects on the city and the environment. Rapid transit can also be used as an important catalyst to direct and influence the patterns of development in a city. As ridership increases, retail, commercial and residential growth is attracted to the pedestrian density generated at major nodes along the system. Urban planners can use this transit oriented development (TOD) as a tool to control sprawl by targeting areas for infill growth and neighbourhood densification with the strategic location of transit lines and stations. Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver have used this strategy with great success, realizing billions of dollars' worth of construction along their transit corridors. Winnipeg's humble first line has already attracted a vital TOD, with the Fort Rouge rail yards soon transforming from a brownfield site into a dense residential infill neighbourhood. Like many cities, we have spent considerable time and effort debating the relative merits of bus rapid transit (BRT) and light rail transit (LRT). The controversial decision to implement BRT was based largely on a significantly lower capital cost for construction, greater integration with on-street bus lines and lower per-capita operating costs. Proponents of LRT assert its quieter, more comfortable ride, higher passenger capacities and "sexy" urban image would attract greater levels of TOD, alleviate the public stigma of bus transit and be a 'big-city' amenity consistent with that of other Canadian municipalities. It has been shown in cities like Ottawa and Pittsburgh that a well-designed BRT system, with a dedicated corridor, distinctive transit stations, attractive branding and real-time schedule information can convey the image of quality and sense of permanence that attracts ridership and TOD, at a similar level to an LRT installation. The stunning Osborne Street Station, a crown jewel of the Winnipeg line, will be instrumental in alleviating much of the criticism of the BRT system. The station designers, GPP Architecture and Friesen Tokar Architects, overcame the significant technical challenges of creating a building perched on a bridge above a busy street, while maintaining an architectural elegance that promotes transit use and encourages the community to take ownership of the building as a cherished neighbourhood amenity. Transit-station design is often driven by the engineering requirements of passenger capacity and crowd dynamics, but Osborne Street Station also manages to successfully address qualitative issues of comfort, beauty and views. Its expressive roof structure references the machine esthetic of the great train stations of Europe, and its forest of arching round trusses evokes imagery of Winnipeg's great elm tree canopy, so familiar to the residents of Osborne Village. Sloping glass walls create an impression of volume and openness and address issues of safety by providing clear sightlines into and out of the station. Sunlight floods the space through a translucent polycarbonate roof, transforming at night into a beacon that glows brightly against the prairie sky. On April 8, Winnipeg will finally be introduced to rapid transit. The danger of such a modest first installation is Winnipeggers will judge its merits based on the performance of an incomplete system. A less than enthusiastic public response may stall momentum for further development. The Osborne Street Station, however, will be a compelling reminder of the sophistication and quality a completed system can offer Winnipeg if a commitment is made by our community and our government to continue its implementation until the full benefits of rapid transit are realized in our city. Brent Bellamy is senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural Group. Email him at: bbellamy(a)numberten.com http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/rapid-transit-slowly-arrives-1441…

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