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CTV: Winnipeggers share active transportation route snow clearing concerns (Feb25'23)
by Beth McKechnie 26 Feb '23

26 Feb '23

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/makes-cycling-really-difficult-winnipeggers-sha…

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WFP Editorial: Winnipeg finally embracing ‘winter city’ tag (Feb20'23)
by Beth McKechnie 20 Feb '23

20 Feb '23

Winnipeg finally embracing ‘winter city’ tag https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/02/19/winnipeg-finally-… WINTER has always defined Winnipeg. Mountains of snow, icy roads, biting windchill and temperatures that plunge to dangerous lows. It’s a season that prompts residents to question their life choices and causes whole flocks of people to opt out entirely and head south for warmer climes. In recent years, however, Winnipeg has started to define winter in new terms. This year, the city has seen an unprecedented number of events encouraging citizens to get outside and embrace the cold. It’s a positive trend with promising and wide-ranging societal implications. While there have always been pockets of people who look forward to winter for its seasonal activities — skiing, skating, tobogganing, snowmobiling, ice fishing — for many, the months between November and April were to be endured, not enjoyed. Attitudes seem to be shifting among the general population. The Forks can take some of the credit. The organization has offered winter programming for decades, but receiving a Guinness World Record designation for longest naturally frozen skating trail in 2008 sparked a newfound sense of seasonal pride. Today the Nestaweya River Trail attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every winter. The free and accessible skating, walking and skiing paths are used for pleasure and as active transportation routes. The temporary landmark has become a site for world-class dining and creative public art installations. Festival du Voyageur is another trailblazer. Since 1970, the francophone arts and culture festival has been offering Winnipeggers a reason to celebrate the season with snow sculptures, maple syrup taffy and music. This year’s event, which is currently underway, boasts new programming and more than 200 artists. Yet nothing has impacted attitudes more than the COVID-19 pandemic. With indoor spaces posing serious health risks, the population was forced to venture outside. Socializing en plein air became the norm year-round and ushered in a new era of cold-weather community-building. Residents in Wolseley banded together to create a community park on the Assiniboine River, ice rinks and snow castles cropped up in yards across the city and the municipal government promised better winter maintenance of pedestrian and cycling pathways. This year, even as public health orders have lifted, the urge to enjoy winter remains. An expanded licensing program has allowed restaurants and bars to keep their patios open year-round, if they so desire. Business improvement zones in Osborne Village and Downtown have hosted ice-sculpting competitions, public art showcases, outdoor concerts and frosty beer-athalons. The Manitoba Marathon saw hundreds of people take part in its inaugural Hot Chocolate Hustle on one of the coldest weekends of the year thus far. A Maze in Corn has added a fine-dining snow restaurant to its roster of winter activities. All these innovations are proof that if you build it — especially out of snow — they will come. Last week, Winnipeg played host to the Winter Cities Shake-up Conference, a gathering of experts designed to highlight how northern cities can make the most of winter and tap into economic opportunities through urban design, public policy and novel experiences — something local businesses and individuals are already capitalizing on. Edmonton has a dedicated strategy to make winter more enjoyable for residents through better snow management, city-wide outdoor events and accessible recreation. The City of Winnipeg would do well to pursue a similar vision to make this place livable and vibrant year-round. Winnipeg will always be a winter city. The way residents and officials approach this polarizing season could make that a selling point, rather than a disadvantage.

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WFP Editorial: Bizarre backlash greets 15-minute-city proposal (Feb16'23)
by Beth McKechnie 17 Feb '23

17 Feb '23

*Bizarre backlash greets 15-minute-city proposal* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2023/02/15/bizarre-bac… IT has often been said that good ideas are hard to find. What isn’t difficult these days, however, is locating darker corners of the internet in which conspiracy-minded dispensers of misinformation are working overtime to turn any idea they seize upon — good, bad or indifferent — into the central premise of yet another soon-to-be-widely-spread theory that casts any progressive plan or proposed development as part of a sinister plot by government or “the deep state” to control people’s lives by stripping away freedoms and rights. Such has been the experience of late for some Edmonton city councillors and planners who have touted a shift in urban-development philosophy that favours walkable neighbourhoods offering residents convenient access to everyday goods and services. Under the banner of Edmonton as a “15-minute city,” the plan proposes to make the Alberta capital a city in which employment, entertainment, recreation and retail amenities would all be available within a quarter-hour’s walk or bike ride from anyone’s front door. It’s a common-sense idea, particularly at a time when many urban dwellers are looking for ways to live in a more sustainable and time-efficient manner. But it’s hardly a groundbreaking notion; the idea of creating walkable neighbourhoods and incorporating a “town square” ethos in city planning has been bandied about for at least a couple of decades. In its most recent comprehensive city plan, released in 2020, Edmonton (pop. 1.1 million) seeks to prepare itself for a population of two million, with 50 per cent of new housing being infill development and 50 per cent of residents’ trips being made by public transit or active transportation. In that pursuit, the 15-minute-city concept and the notion of “a community of communities” are core elements of the plan. The plan does not, however, include any reference to restrictions on how and where residents move about the city, as several online conspiracy theorists have attempted to suggest. One went as far as to distribute a colour-coded city map with the attached claim that residents would not be allowed to drive their vehicles into other zones. “You’re going to have to apply for a … permit to leave your zone,” claimed another misinformed commentator. As is typical with such online nonsense, the claim was untrue and the map did not even depict the city whose wildly imagined restrictions it was attempting to outline (the map was, instead, of Canterbury, England, which had released its own 15-minute-city plan several years earlier). Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi sought to downplay the online backlash, stating the majority of Edmontonians “are a very smart and sophisticated people who will not believe this conspiracy theory being promoted online.” But here’s the thing: there clearly exists a not-insignificant minority of Edmontonians — and Winnipeggers, and Canadians in general, and residents of every other constituency in which internet access is readily available — who are drawn into such cyber-spread silliness and, having unwittingly plunged down a wormhole of misinformation, become convinced that what they have found in the course of “doing their own research” is true. Sometimes, the outcome of the dissemination and embrace of online misinformation is as benign as a loopy claim about a city-planning concept. Other times, it’s as sinister as an armed insurrection that seeks to block the peaceful transfer of power after a democratic election in a major world power. These are not issues that can, or should, be blithely waved away. It would be a very good idea to recognize they are symptoms of a much larger, and growing, ill that must be confronted if civil societies hope to remain intact.

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[Transp-tdm] Explore transportation research with Out of My Lane, a CUTR podcast
by Beth McKechnie 16 Feb '23

16 Feb '23

Hi everyone, thought some of you might also be interested in this podcast series. -cheers, Beth ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Philip Winters <winters(a)usf.edu> Date: Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 7:31 AM Subject: [Transp-tdm] Explore transportation research with Out of My Lane, a CUTR podcast To: <TRANSP-TDM(a)listserv.usf.edu> In collaboration with the National Institute for Congestion Reduction (NICR) <http://www.nicr.usf.edu/> and the University of South Florida’s Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications <https://www.usf.edu/arts-sciences/departments/zimmerman-school/>, CUTR’s first podcast, *Out of My Lane <https://anchor.fm/center-for-urban-transportation-research>*, began production in late 2021. Hosted by award-winning journalist and USF professor Wayne Garcia, *Out of My Lane* explores the world of transportation. From research innovations to community outreach, join *Out of My Lane* to learn more about improvements to your daily commute. *Our latest podcast features CUTR’s Jodi Godfrey discussing Women in Transportation: Trends and Outlook with our host, Wayne Garcia. * See below for the links to all 11 podcasts, including several that should be of particular interest to the TDM community. *Available on* <https://open.spotify.com/show/0PHy9vrSwdzRDngHp2qct9> <https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy85ZGNiYzE0OC9wb2…> <https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHegvWhuNbegnYDcay_NtBwra5k7C30BQ> Season One – transcripts and show notes *AirDate* *Episode* *Guests* Monday, August 1, 2022 1. What are CUTR and NICR? <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/07/s1e1-what-are-cutr-and-nicr/> Xiaopeng “Shaw” Li, Ph.D., current NICR Director, Susan A. Bracken Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor; Fred L. Mannering, Ph.D., CUTR Executive Director, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Monday, August 15, 2022 2. Putting the "Smart" into the Tampa Bay Smart Cities Alliance <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/08/s1e2-smartcities/> Brandon Campbell (City of Tampa) and Sean Barbeau, Ph.D. Thursday, September 1, 2022 3. Will this app get me in the carpool lane? <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/08/s1e3-carpoollane/> Sara Hendricks Thursday, September 15, 2022 4. Forward to the future: connected vehicles <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/09/s1e4-connectedvehicles/> Xiaopeng “Shaw” Li, Ph.D., Susan A. Bracken Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor; Sisinnio Concas, Ph.D. Saturday, October 1, 2022 5. Bus 54, where are you? The OneBusAway app <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/10/s1e5-onebusaway/> Sean Barbeau, Ph.D. and Kari Watkins, Ph.D. Saturday, October 15, 2022 6. What we know about motorcycle risks and safety <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/10/s1e6-motorcyclesafety/> Fred L. Mannering, Ph.D., CUTR Executive Director, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chanyoung Lee, Ph.D. Tuesday, November 1, 2022 7. I share, you share, we all share: micromobility on roads and sidewalks <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/11/s1e7-micromobility/> Jason Jackman, MPA Tuesday, November 15, 2022 8: What makes a Best Workplace for Commuters? <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/11/s1e8-bestworkplacesforcommuters/> Julie Bond, MPA, and Tom Harrington of Intuit Thursday, December 1, 2022 9. How the news talks about crashes makes a difference <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/12/s1e9-mediacrashes/> Julie Bond and Erin Scheffels, Ph.D. Thursday, December 15, 2022 10. Tools for determining transportation equity, diversity and inclusion <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2022/12/s1e10-equityandinclusion/> Tia Boyd Thursday, January 19, 2023 11. Women in transportation: trends and outlook <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/2023/01/s1e11-womenintransportation/> Jodi Godfrey *PHILIP L. WINTERS *Director, TDM Program Center for Urban Transportation Research <https://www.cutr.usf.edu/> University of South Florida Tampa Campus 813.974.9811 winters(a)usf.edu [image: logo of Best Workplaces for Commuters] www.bestworkplaces.org Follow us on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/CUTRUSF/> | Twitter <https://twitter.com/CUTRUSF> | LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/company/27012080/> | Newsletter <https://usf.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=c3b2561719f02cfb61009c74f&id=5…> *Due to Florida’s broad open records law, email to or from university employees is public record, available to the public and the media upon request.*

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Public discussion Feb 25th | Snow & Ice Removal on the AT Network
by Beth McKechnie 13 Feb '23

13 Feb '23

*Please share widely!* Apparently bike parking will be provided on the ground level under hall C. (Thanks to Kristine Hayward for the heads up.)

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City of Winnipeg's Reduced-Speed Neighbourhood Pilot
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

The City of Winnipeg’s Reduced-Speed Neighbourhood Pilot website is now live: https://engage.winnipeg.ca/reduced-speed-neighbourhood-pilot The website contains: - Information on the pilot - Information on what we already know about speeds on residential streets in Winnipeg - Case studies from select Canadian jurisdictions that have reduced speed limits - Highlights from previous research on the impacts of reduced speed limits - A travel time estimator tool - A mechanism to sign up for project updates or ask the project team a question

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WFP: Councillor pitches pilot project to scrape snowy sidewalks (Feb1'23)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

Councillor pitches pilot project to scrape snowy sidewalks https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/01/31/councillor-seeks-… ONCE winter conditions set in, Tom Jones rarely leaves home, unless he’s headed to work. If sidewalk snow and slush threaten to trap his wheelchair in place, the Winnipeg resident prefers to avoid the risk of travel. “I stay home all weekend. I just won’t venture out because you just can’t take that chance of getting stuck. If I wanted to walk over to the store, half the time I can’t get there because the sidewalks aren’t cleared properly,” said Jones. Friends and family regularly help him run errands during the winter; however, if the city could clear sidewalks right down to the pavement, getting around independently would be much easier, Jones said. “(Then) I could still travel without having to worry. If it was complete concrete, I would have no problems. I could go out in -20 C weather because I could just dress for it.” Ideally, he would love to see the city raise its snow-clearing standards to that level for all walkways, all winter. Jones believes any added cost would be worth the benefit for all Winnipeg pedestrians to travel safely. “Even a healthy person (without mobility challenges), with the way sidewalks are, you even see them slip and slide. Everybody has fallen or slipped on this ice,” he said. Lori Ross, who also uses a wheelchair, said snow- and ice-covered sidewalks create a major impediment to getting around with any kind of mobility device. “The reality is that this is one of the barriers to people with disabilities functioning in the community,” said Ross, noting even crossing the sidewalk outside her condo to reach a Transit Plus stop can prove challenging on some days. A Winnipeg councillor hopes a new pilot project could mark the first step toward making the city more accessible for anyone who uses sidewalks. If council approves, Coun. Matt Allard’s motion would have city crews clear one sidewalk per council ward to bare pavement next winter then report back on the benefits, challenges and costs of doing so. Allard also wants city staff to then provide options to expand the pilot project using city equipment and staff. “Currently, the standard for streets is (snow clearing to the) pavement. I would like to see a city where a person can safely walk on a sidewalk all year round, without fear of slipping and falling,” he said. The St. Boniface councillor said convincing more Winnipeggers to walk instead of drive could pay off through improved health and reduced vehicle emissions. Allard began to call for a higher standard of sidewalk clearing a few years ago after some of his own walks proved treacherous. “I don’t have a mobility issue and I was making the choice to walk on the street more often than not because the snow-clearing bylaw wasn’t being respected,” said Allard, who believes sidewalks are often cleared long after city policy dictates. “In terms of level of services, if we want people making choices other than driving, then we need to create the conditions in which it’s desirable to not drive.” The former public works committee chairman noted conditions can become even more treacherous following freeze-thaw cycles that lead compacted snow to melt into odd, uneven layers before refreezing. Allard said he believes his request for the small pilot project can be funded within the city’s existing budget. “This would be a special assignment per ward that I believe the public service could handle internally.” Last year, Allard proposed a pilot project that would have had city crews clear all sidewalks deemed to be in “good” condition to bare pavement. That motion was rejected. Winnipeg policy calls for sidewalks along major routes, non-regional bus routes and collector streets to be cleared to a compacted snow surface following about five centimetres of snow. Such sidewalks in the downtown are cleared to a paved surface whenever conditions allow. Snow-clearing officials declined to weigh in on the feasibility of Allard’s new motion Tuesday, deeming it premature to comment on the impact or cost of the potential pilot project. The proposal would require full council approval. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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WFP: Congestion, safety concerns outside school pickup zones prompt calls for change (Feb1'23)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '23

01 Feb '23

Congestion, safety concerns outside school pickup zones prompt calls for change ‘An accident waiting to happen’ https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/02/01/an-accident-waiti… VEHICULAR traffic concerns outside a Winnipeg elementary school — in no way an outlier in a city with sprawling suburbs, inconsistent sidewalk infrastructure and frigid winters — is reigniting calls for more 30 km/h streets to promote safe and active transportation. Throughout the last three months, Pat Burgess has reported the issues she witnesses daily after the final bell rings at 3:30 p.m. at Westdale School to anyone willing to listen. The grandmother has contacted school leaders, trustees and City of Winnipeg officials — but she said no one is willing to intervene and rectify the situation she describes as “an accident waiting to happen.” “I hold my breath every day when I see students running out between parked cars onto the roadway,” said Burgess, who has been picking up students from the Betsworth Avenue middle school for the last five years. “I know this situation is not unique to Westdale, but there has to be a better solution for the safety of our students.” A portion of the parking lot was historically designated for caregivers to use during pickup and drop-off. Citing local traffic being a safety hazard to students, school administration closed the concrete pad to the public at the start of the 2022-23 school year. The shift has simply moved danger from the lot to surrounding streets with faster-moving cars and few sidewalks, Burgess said, noting the decision was made without consulting drivers and she has obtained recommendations from the city that promote on-site school pickup. The grandmother noted her safety concerns have heightened after hearing a J.H. Bruns Collegiate student was taken to the hospital after being struck during morning rush-hour two weeks ago. Westdale staff have urged families to drive part-way and have students walk the rest of the route to school, and try dropping off or picking students up outside of peak times, among their advice to reduce congestion. Following dismissal Tuesday, middle schoolers climbed over snow banks and dodged a combination of parked, double- parked and moving motorists to locate their rides. Many of them failed to check both ways before running across the roadway, whose visibility was obscured by the exhaust of idling cars. Several irritated drivers shook their heads as they squeezed between the lines of cars stopped on either side of Betsworth Avenue, despite the south-facing stretch being a no-park zone. One motorist honked at the backup of illegally-parked drivers. Ian Walker of Safe Speeds Winnipeg said the major impediment to more students commuting on foot and via bicycle is parent fears about car-pedestrian collisions, which ironically prompts them to drive children to class and increase the total fleet on the street. “We need to make driving harder. We’ve made driving so easy that everybody does it,” said the parent, teacher and chairman of the local advocacy organization. While noting many neighbourhoods do not have sidewalks, Walker said installing traffic-calming measures and reducing speed limits to 30 km/h on all routes near schools is critical so drivers, pedestrians and cyclists can share the road. “There’s no shared responsibility when cars are going 50 km/h. It just doesn’t work,” he said, adding school divisions and trustees should be advocating for changes to protect children and youth in their care. The Pembina Trails School Division indicated it has worked with city officials to reduce speed zones on Betsworth Avenue, instituted stop-and-go areas with signage and ensured an adult monitors the flow of traffic during busy times of the day. Superintendent Lisa Boles said “some close calls” in the school lot prompted Westdale administration to make a change to drop-off and pick-up routines. “The division takes all concerns about safety seriously and has engaged in an extensive review,” Boles said in a statement, which noted the division has used both internal and external resources to observe activity on surrounding streets and within the school parking lot. City communications officer Ken Allen said municipal officials are aware of traffic concerns and “actively working with the school.” maggie.macintosh(a)freepress.mb.ca

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2021 Census Mode Share Maps
by Mark Cohoe 05 Jan '23

05 Jan '23

Hi, I've been trying to learn QGIS, so I did some work with the 2021 journey to work census data over the last few days. Here <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PzXWIcBoVNkCpyoTfzU0FDeA0whuXnRf/view?usp=…>is a set of maps showing mode share by census tract, plus the difference in mode share between the 2016 and 2021 censuses. I did a breakdown of the bicycle mode share data for 2021 by dissemination area as well, which can be found here <https://drive.google.com/file/d/13tTpZ6gcgCNRSqFxpu7M7WWW6SEq2RP8/view?usp=…>. I'm thinking that I will put together some maps showing the work from home rates as well, as they seem to have a pretty drastic effect on everything. I'll forward those along when I've gotten them done. Cheers, Mark Cohoe Executive Director Bike Winnipeg t: 204-894-6540 e: mark(a)bikewinnipeg.ca

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WFP: Reduced-speed pilot expected to start in March (Jan5'23)
by Beth McKechnie 05 Jan '23

05 Jan '23

*Reduced-speed pilot expected to start in March* A pilot project that would reduce the speed limit on residential streets in four Winnipeg neighbourhoods is expected to begin in March. The standard 50 km/h maximum speed limit would drop to 40 km/h in the Worthington and Richmond West neighbourhoods, and 30 km/h in the Tyndall Park South and Bourkevale neighbourhoods. While a call to amend a bylaw to allow the one-year trial still requires council approval, the public works committee voted in favour of testing speed-limit reductions in these areas in April 2022. In an email, city spokeswoman Julie Horbal Dooley said the city expects to begin consulting residents about the trial by the end of this month. “We plan to launch targeted pre-pilot engagement with residents of affected streets at the end of January, and to implement the speed limit changes in early- to mid-March.” Individual Winnipeggers and advocacy groups have lobbied the city to reduce the speed on residential streets for years, arguing doing so would make walking and cycling safer. By contrast, others launched a petition against the speed reduction, arguing the current speed limit is appropriate.

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Slow bike lane development in Toronto
by Charles F 03 Jan '23

03 Jan '23

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-community-bikeways-coalition… from my phone.

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WFP: City urged to boost street safety (Jan2'23)
by Beth McKechnie 02 Jan '23

02 Jan '23

Take steps to protect pedestrians, all road users: advocates *City urged to boost street safety* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/01/02/city-urged-to-boo… THE high number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in Winnipeg last year highlights the need for a greater commitment to safe streets, including better sidewalk and bike lane snow clearing, advocates say. Twelve pedestrians had been killed on city streets in 2022, compared to six in 2021, according to data from Winnipeg Police Service and Manitoba Public Insurance. The number of people who had been injured was not available, an MPI spokesperson said. Ian Walker, chairman of Safe Speeds Winnipeg, said while deaths are the worst outcome, injuries caused to pedestrians struck by vehicles can have life-altering consequences. “We don’t hear about (injuries)… they happen so frequently that a lot of people accept it as a cost of modern transportation,” Walker said. He recalls helping his then-80-year-old neighbour after she was struck by a vehicle while crossing the intersection at Tache Avenue and Marion Street. “It forever changed her life,” Walker said. “She broke her hip and she went from being this vibrant 80-year-old to someone who was housebound… She just never regained her mobility, which was terrible. It took away from her quality of life.” Walker added there are many steps the City of Winnipeg could take to bolster safety for pedestrians and cyclists. On his 2023 wish list, he’d like to see the city commit to the Vision Zero safer streets strategy that’s popular in Europe. The goal is to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. It involves redesigning roads to ensure driver’s mistakes do not cost lives or injuries, ensuring speed limits are at safe levels, and collecting and analyzing data to understand how different populations are disproportionately affected. Walker emphasized smaller steps can be taken immediately to improve safety, such as putting a priority on sidewalk and bike lane clearing. When that doesn’t happen, pedestrians are pushed onto roads that are not designed for them, he said. Walker referenced a recent Free Press column that detailed the plight of a man in a wheelchair forced to use the street because the sidewalk was covered in snow. “Those kinds of images are just heartbreaking,” Walker said. Winnipeg public works spokeswoman Julie Dooley said in an email pedestrian safety “is absolutely a priority” for the municipal government. She pointed to the council-approved road safety action plan “designed to set the direction and pace of Winnipeg’s road safety investments over the next five years and identifies actions that will help the city meet its road safety goal of achieving a 20 per cent reduction in fatal and serious injury collisions by 2026.” Dooley said the plan is based on the Vision Zero concept, which recognizes road safety is a shared responsibility and improvement requires a team effort by road designers, vehicle manufacturers, policy makers, enforcement agencies, families, workplaces and schools. Christian Sweryda, a Winnipeg researcher who independently analyzes city traffic data, says there’s a lack of data about traffic incidents in general. He’s critical of knee-jerk responses from safer streets advocates following a crash. For example, the call to lower the speed limit. Sweryda said while such steps can minimize the severity of a collision, other factors could prevent crashes altogether. He listed better designed roadways, improved eye-level lighting at crosswalks, speed limits appropriate for the area, longer yellow lights, and enforcement that targets dangerous drivers. Decisions should be backed up by data and evidence, he said. He questions if the pedestrian-cyclist-driver divisions prevent the public from seeing practical solutions. “The bigger problem we see is that interests of road users are not united,” Sweryda said. “It’s become an ideological bottomless pit really. “It is convenient to blame the driver because then you can defer responsibility away from actually making changes to the engineering.” His hope is evidence and data drive changes that boost safety, and all those who hold the relevant data — police, the city, and MPI among them — freely share what they know about how to improve safety for all road users. katrina.clarke(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP: Dad’s plea caps deadly year on city streets (Dec30'22)
by Beth McKechnie 30 Dec '22

30 Dec '22

Father appeals for help to solve son’s hit-and-run death *Dad’s plea caps deadly year on city streets* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/12/29/plea-for-informat… EVERY time Kevin Joss learns about another fatal collision in Winnipeg, the immense pain of losing his son in a still-unsolved hit-andrun comes back to the surface. The number of fatalities on city streets has tripled, with 28 people dying in collisions this year, compared with nine in both 2021 and 2020. Police figures show collisions killed 16 people in 2019 and 13 in 2018. “This year, the amount of vehicle and pedestrian accidents or hit-and-runs has just gone through the roof,” Joss said Thursday. “Every time someone else loses their life or is critically injured or leaves the scene, it sends such a ripple effect through to this family and to others that are going through the same things that we have.” Winnipeg Police Service central traffic division Const. Aaron Staples, the lead investigator in the 2014 collision that killed 21-year-old Cody Joss, said there is no specific trend behind the spike in fatalities this year. Still, a number of incidents involved dangerous behaviour such as impaired or distracted driving or speeding. “(This year) was, unfortunately, a terrible year for road fatalities in Winnipeg, and we’re looking to improve those statistics,” Staples said during a news conference at police headquarters. There were 41 collisions involving death or serious injury in Winnipeg, as of Dec. 16, said police. Of those, 19 involved pedestrians, with 12 of them dying. There have been eight hit-and-runs. In five collisions, the driver was impaired or suspected of being impaired, said police. Standing next to a framed photo of his smiling son on Thursday, tears welled in Joss’s eyes while he renewed his family’s appeal for information to help solve Cody’s death. “If you are the bearer of any clues or any knowledge of this accident, I want you to take a look at your loved ones and realize it can happen to you,” said Joss. “Everybody says it wouldn’t happen to me. I stand before you and tell you it happened to us. “If you are holding that info, whether you thought that it was minor, it can all lead to a resolution for this case, some knowledge for our family and for us to begin to heal. Please, folks, I beg of you.” Cody was walking north on McGregor Street when he was hit by a vehicle travelling west on Inkster Boulevard around 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2014. The vehicle fled before police arrived. Cody was taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he later died. All investigative avenues have been exhausted, but his family and police hope someone has information about the vehicle and its occupant or occupants that could help investigators and bring closure to his loved ones. Joss and Staples appealed to people who have a link to the person or people who were in the vehicle, and may know something. “Maybe your status, your social status changed, whereas you weren’t able to talk about what transpired and now you can,” said Joss. “It’s not too late. Any little bit of information that you have can really help us out. We need to know what went on, and we need to start healing.” Joss and police are holding on to hope someone who was driving in the area around the time of the collision may still have dashcam video footage that shows the vehicle. Staples said police do not know the type of vehicle that was involved, after receiving varying descriptions. The investigation remains open, with police committed to bringing closure to Cody’s family after an “incredibly difficult” eight years, said Staples. “Unfortunately, to this point, no one has come forward with any video of the event, and no one who has directly been a witness to the actual event,” he said. “It is very rare that a collision like Cody’s goes unsolved, and that’s why we are making such a continued ongoing effort and commitment to the family to push forward on this one.” Anyone with information is asked to call police at 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477. Every year around Christmas, Joss attends an event such as a news conference or vigil to plead for information. He has become a road safety advocate. “I’ve spoken in the past about how everybody has to make the right choices when they leave and start their day, whether you’re a pedestrian and being distracted walking across streets, whether you’re a distracted driver or you’re just a little too fatigued,” he said. “Everything you do has a ripple effect on everybody else. “The thoughts of the next person that’s going to lose their life to an accident that could have been prevented by making the right choice, it’s enough to make us tear up.” Staples said the traffic division’s strategy for 2023 includes targeted enforcement of impaired and distracted driving, and speeding. “We want to remind the public that the choices to drive impaired, drive distracted speeding — they can all have lethal consequences, and those simple choices you can make can truly be the difference between life and death,” he said. chris.kitching(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @chriskitching

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WFP: Service honours 22-year-old cyclist killed by snowplow (Dec22'22)
by Beth McKechnie 22 Dec '22

22 Dec '22

Service honours 22-year-old cyclist killed by snowplow City’s Indian community mobilizes for funeral of foreign student https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2022/12/21/indian-muslim-community-… JAVED MUSHARRAF was warned to be careful when riding his bicycle in the winter, but the international student from India had two jobs and few options. The 22-year-old, who came to Winnipeg from the city of Hyderabad about two years ago, was struck and killed by a city-contracted front-end loader that was plowing snow in St. Boniface last Thursday. He was riding home to Balmoral Street and Cumberland Avenue on an electrically assisted bike. “He had to drive a bike to get to work,” said one of his three roommates, Mohsin Ahmed, 32. Ahmed said Musharraf told him riding the bus to work was difficult, and the devoutly Muslim young man did not have a Manitoba driver’s licence. Still, he got to his jobs at Canadian Tire and FedEx, where he worked shifts early in the day and late into the night. “He was a very good person… He was very hard-working, and very truthful,” said Ahmed. “We’re going through a tough time… he was like my younger brother… I personally feel very sad. It’s not acceptable (what happened.) He’s only 22.” Musharraf moved to Winnipeg to study automotive technology at Red River College Polytechnic, and had a bright future in his chosen field, having built the electric bike he was riding that night himself. Two off-duty Winnipeg police officers came upon the collision at about 10:20 p.m. on Dec. 15 near Mission and Plinguet streets. They gave Musharraf first aid while two Winnipeg Transit employees stopped to re-route traffic. Musharraf was pronounced dead shortly after emergency personnel arrived. The driver of the front-end loader stayed at the scene, police said. Musharraf’s roommates did not know, at first, why he hadn’t come home. “We didn’t hear (from him) for two days. He had passed a course, so we thought he might be celebrating with his friends,” said Shakir Shaikh, 22. “Normally he would go to work early and come back late at night, and we were so busy… On the second day, we called him.” Ahmed, who lived with Musharraf for about seven months, said he did not have many friends in Winnipeg, “because most of the time he worked hard and didn’t talk a lot.” But the young man had no issues with anyone, he said. The victim had no family in Winnipeg, and just an uncle and cousins in Calgary, while the rest of his loved ones are in India. The Community of Indian Muslims in Manitoba sprung into action after learning about the man’s death, said Irfanulla Rahamathulla, the organization’s vice-president. “We contacted the police and contacted the uncle (in Calgary), and we tried to arrange the funeral,” said Rahamathulla. “They were supposed to come, his family members, but flights got cancelled one after the other from Calgary, due to the snowstorm in Vancouver.” Rahamathulla said the community had arranged accommodations, food and transportation for the seven family members who planned to travel here to attend Musharraf’s funeral Wednesday, but because of the cancelled flights and unsafe winter driving conditions from Alberta, only Musharraf’s roommates and some members of the wider Winnipeg Muslim community were able to be at the service. Most of the mourners at the Winnipeg Grand Mosque on Waverley Street Wednesday afternoon did not know the young man whose funeral they were attending. “As a brother in Islam, we feel connected with everyone, to show compassion,” said Rahamathulla. Community members such as Atif Ijaz, 53, did not know the young student. “It’s very unfortunate, especially for the family, who are so far away and they cannot reach his funeral — it’s really heartbreaking,” said Ijaz, who is originally from Pakistan. “He was a student, and like so many other students, he was here to get educated, to get into the Canadian education system, and then enter professional life... It’s very unfortunate.” Bashshar Habibullah, 32, did not know Musharraf, either. “We have very few members of the Indian Muslim community — like 150 (people),” he said. “We are trying to help as much as we can… the worst part is none of his family can see him.” In the mosque, Imam Yacine Mamadou led about 100 people in prayer over Musharraf’s simple wooden casket, telling mourners to take life seriously and to do good deeds. As the mourners wheeled Musharraf’s casket from the mosque to a hearse that would take him to a Transcona cemetery, community members video-called his family so they could witness the procession. Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said Wednesday the investigation into the collision is ongoing. No criminal or Highway Traffic Act charges have been laid. “We have confirmed that an independent contractor for the (city) owns the front-end loader,” McKinnon said. Public works department spokeswoman Julie Dooley would not comment specifically on the incident, directing questions to police, but said in general, the city investigates all incidents on job sites, working closely with both police and provincial Workplace Safety and Health officials. “In terms of training, both city employees and hired equipment operators are required to undergo training that covers safety, policies and service standards and other topics,” she said. “City of Winnipeg operators receive extensive and ongoing safety training. Hired hourly operators are contractually obligated to provide workers who are trained and qualified for their respective equipment.” erik.pindera(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera

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CBC coverage of the Harte Trail - Grand Trunk Trail crossing
by Katheryn Loewen 20 Dec '22

20 Dec '22

There's only one thing keeping people from biking uninterrupted from the Assiniboine Forest to Beaudry Provincial Park - the perimeter highway. But two trail organizations are looking to change that by building a pedestrian crossing. Guest host Marjorie Dowhos spoke with Phil Jenkinson and Liz Loewen about the plan: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-111-up-to-speed/clip/15955894-winnip…

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WFP Analysis: A chance to reimagine road safety (Dec19'22)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Dec '22

19 Dec '22

*A chance to reimagine road safety * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2022/12/19/a-chance-to-r… DRIVERS have killed 11 pedestrians on Winnipeg streets in 2022. The language of that sentence might sound jarring, because we rarely humanize a driver’s role in vehicle collisions. We more commonly use object-based language that describes a vehicle doing something rather than a driver: a car jumped the curb and hit a pedestrian. This ambiguity is uniquely reserved for those operating motor vehicles, as we would never say a bike injured a pedestrian. We would say a cyclist did. This forgiving language reveals a deeply ingrained bias in how we perceive road users, and is a natural extension of the cultural dominance vehicles have in our urban mobility. City streets are viewed primarily as conduits for vehicles, with pedestrians and cyclists considered guests on streets made for cars. This public bias pushes planners, engineers and politicians to prioritize vehicle speed over pedestrian safety in street design. There’s a sense of inevitability to this year’s record number of pedestrian fatalities that mutes public reaction, almost as if it’s a price that must be paid. On average in Winnipeg, every second day a pedestrian or cyclist is injured in a vehicle collision seriously enough to file a police report. Every third day a pedestrian or cyclist is sent to hospital. Public response to these staggering statistics often seeks blame, asking if the pedestrian was on their phone, or if the cyclist rolled through a stop sign, believing that if we can identify personal fault, we will not be forced to re-evaluate our car-first priorities. To the family of a person killed in a vehicle collision, it doesn’t matter who is to blame. The question we should be asking is how do we ensure that when a mistake is made, no matter who makes it, someone doesn’t pay for it with their life? Pedestrian and cyclist fatalities are not inevitable, but the solution requires a cultural shift in the way planners, policy-makers and the public think about streets and how we use them. If we are going to blame anyone for collision deaths, our collective fingers should point directly at the streets we have designed to encourage them. This is where we must start looking for solutions. Cyclists and pedestrians are not protected by air bags and 1,000 kilograms of steel. The only way to provide protection to vulnerable road users is to build it into the streets themselves. To do this, many cities have adopted Vision Zero, a global urban-road safety initiative that promotes physical changes to street design, reduced speed limits, data tracking, enforcement and education. The Vision Zero strategy has allowed Helsinki, Finland, and Oslo, Norway, to bring pedestrian and cyclist fatalities down from more than 20 annually in the 1990s to zero in 2019. Edmonton became the first Canadian city to adopt Vision Zero in 2015 and has seen all vehicle fatalities decrease by 50 per cent, and pedestrian fatalities by nearly 30 per cent. Last summer, city council adopted the Winnipeg Road Safety Strategic Action Plan, an inspired document, based on Vision Zero principles, that outlines comprehensive strategies to change the culture of road safety in our city. The plan includes two striking maps that identify locations of pedestrian and cycling injury-collisions across the city, painting a clear picture of Winnipeg’s road safety. Not surprisingly, they reveal that collisions occur most where higher volumes of pedestrians are on streets designed to prioritize vehicle speeds. Downtown Winnipeg, with its wide, one-way streets and narrow sidewalks designed to funnel commuters out of the city centre as quickly as possible, is the most glaring example. High numbers of collisions are also found across the city on what were once commercial neighbourhood streets but have over time been transformed into pseudo commuter highways such McPhillips, Main and Marion streets. When Kelvin Street became Henderson Highway in 1963, it received the name “highway” to clearly indicate where its new priority lay. Osborne Street is another stark example of this condition. Perceived as a pedestrian shopping street, its primary design function is to funnel vehicles through Osborne Village to the suburbs. To increase traffic flow, trees were removed, sidewalks were narrowed and car lanes widened. All of this makes pedestrian safety a decided afterthought. We often refer to collisions as “accidents,” but it’s not an accident that so many pedestrians are hit on streets such as Osborne. The way we’ve designed them makes it inevitable. The Winnipeg Road Safety Strategic Action Plan identifies 67 actions to change this. These include installing traffic-calming elements such as speed humps, raised crosswalks and street narrowing; policy reviews of speed limits, oneway streets and right turns on red lights; and construction of protective elements including bike lanes, improved signals and curb extensions at intersections. The action plan is thorough and transformational, but to be successful it must be funded and supported by government. Edmonton successfully reduced traffic fatalities by directing more than $20 million per year of red-light camera revenue toward its strategic plan. It also recently committed $100 million to building protected bike lanes that will transform the city’s mobility. If Winnipeg wants to be just as serious about saving lives and building a culture of road safety, the evidence will not be found in another policy paper. It will be found in the budgets that support it. *Brent Bellamy is creative director at Number TEN Architectural Group.*

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WFP: Transit trouble frustrates bus riders (Dec19'22)
by Beth McKechnie 19 Dec '22

19 Dec '22

Transit trouble frustrates bus riders https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2022/12/19/transit-turmoil-frustrat… ERIN Riediger’s Winnipeg Transit tracking app told her the bus she was waiting for Dec. 9 was four minutes away. When the countdown reached zero, the estimated wait time jumped back up to four minutes. She kept checking, and waiting in the cold. About 20 minutes past the original arrival time, the bus scheduled for the Wellington Avenue stop vanished from the list entirely. “It didn’t say, ‘cancelled,’ it didn’t say, ‘unavailable,’ it just disappeared from the schedule,” Riediger said. “And then when I was walking to try to catch another bus, I ran into other people along the route, basically, that were waiting for the same bus, and I even said to a few of them: ‘Just so you know, it’s not coming.’” It’s a frustrating occurrence Winnipeggers know all too well. When Riediger shared her experience via social media, her replies were filled with people who, too, had waited for a scheduled bus that never showed up. Riediger uses the Winnipeg Bus Live app, which she said is usually accurate. She noted while she had the ability to walk to another bus stop, not everyone has that privilege. “For transit to be effective, you have to be able to trip plan, and you have to be able to have the reliability of transit so that you can show up to work on time,” she said. “So if you’re going to work in bad weather, you don’t have to wait. If you have mobility issues, you’re not trying to get yourself to another bus stop.” Schedules misaligned to actual vehicles on the road can be caused if a bus has a mechanical issue and is taken out of service — there can be a lag in between the bus being removed and it showing up on the Transit schedules — or as a result of staff shortages, a City of Winnipeg spokesperson said. Those staff shortages result in some buses never making it onto assigned routes, causing cancellations. As with a mechanical issue, sometimes there is a lag between the bus being cancelled and it showing up on riders’ schedules. “We, like many public transportation providers across North America, are experiencing staff shortages that, combined with an increase in operator absenteeism, have resulted in us designating a small number of buses as DNOs (did not operate),” the spokesperson said in an email. “While we never want to see DNOs, what we are experiencing currently is intermittent and is limited to the peak periods (rush hours).” Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 president Romeo Ignacio said the reduction in transit service over the COVID-19 pandemic (which resulted in temporary layoffs, less frequent service and fewer buses on the road) made an impact that remains today. “The schedules that the city has provided were actually based on the last two years. And you know what the last two years was, right? There was no traffic, there were no people taking the buses,” said the leader of the union representing Transit bus operators. “And they cut the service, they cut the schedules. Not only that, they actually cut the service by six per cent, they actually cut the times. And that has an impact on whether the bus will show up on time or even show up at all.” The issue snowballs, Ignacio said, when you consider buses often take routes known as “interlining” — when a bus does one route for its first trip, then a different route for its second trip. This means if a bus is running late after completing a route, it can often get its next route cancelled entirely to keep it on schedule. “There’s actually a joke out there that ‘not in service’ is the most common bus (route) that the city has… It cascades.” Before the current shortage, the city would have drivers on standby to fill in for emergencies. Now, Ignacio said around 50 driver positions out of 1,100 remain unfilled. To have a fully-operational bus service, he said Transit would need 100 more operators. It’s a cyclical struggle — while 200 drivers have been trained in the last three years, 330 have resigned or retired, Ignacio said. “It takes time for an operator to develop that experience, where they can come in on time all the time, but with the cuts in the service, with the cuts in the schedules, with more traffic out there than the schedules will permit, and the lack of support… Because of all that missing, we’re having a tough time retaining even the (drivers) that we have right now.” malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP: Cyclist dies after collision with front-end loader (Dec17'22)
by Beth McKechnie 17 Dec '22

17 Dec '22

Cyclist dies after collision with front-end loader https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/12/16/cyclist-dies-afte… A CYCLIST was killed after colliding with a front-end loader in an industrial area near St. Boniface Thursday night. The man was riding his bike near the intersection of Mission and Plinguet streets when the incident happened around 10:20 p.m. Off-duty officers who were in the area tried to save him by giving him emergency care. The man was pronounced dead when emergency services arrived. Police said the driver of the front-end loader remained on the scene. The identity of the cyclist hasn’t been confirmed, and no charges have been laid against the driver of the front-end loader, Const. Jay Murray said Friday. “Typically, these types of investigations are very extensive, and require a lot of work before we ultimately determine the circumstances that led up to the collision,” he said. Murray said it’s rare for a front-end loader to be involved in such an incident. “Anecdotally speaking, it doesn’t seem to be a common thing,” he said. “The reality is that there’s quite a bit of front-end loader work that occurs across the city in the winter months, we live in a city where there’s often quite a bit of snow. It doesn’t seem to be something that happens commonly.” Bike Winnipeg executive director Mark Cohoe said the tragedy underscores the need to address cycling infrastructure. “These deaths, and these serious injuries, I think we really have to recognize that these are preventable circumstances, they are preventable events,” he said. It’s time, Cohoe said, for the city to consider a “vision zero” policy — a strategy adopted in cities across the world that looks at city planning and road safety with the goal of reaching zero traffic-related deaths and severe injuries, rather than viewing collisions as inevitable. “When we have these serious collisions, especially fatalities, are we doing an audit to look at what were the circumstances that led to this and asking ourselves, are there sort of links in that chain of events and circumstances that we can alter so that this doesn’t happen again?” he said. There is no bike path or sidewalk on the section of road where Thursday’s tragedy occurred. City planning should ensure people who cycle outside high-traffic areas are safe in winter, Cohoe said. While he hopes this tragedy will inspire those conversations at the municipal level, Cohoe said he isn’t confident. “Obviously, the police will investigate. I would hope that that will be shared. MPI will look at this. But to what level does it come back to that system of looking at our roads, our programming, our public education, our maintenance and looking at how we’re training the staff that clean the streets?” he said. “Am I confident that it will be filtered back up through that change? No.” At the Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub, the organizers who create community bike programs are well-prepared for winter cycling. While the group could make safety recommendations, executive director Lucas Stewart said nothing can replace safer infrastructure. “We recommend a studded front tire to help with steering and having a bike that you don’t mind getting a little rusty, because salt is applied to the streets,” he said. “The limiting factor really is having a safe place to ride either with or without cars, and the quality of the snow clearing.” Along with infrastructure changes, Stewart said he’d like to see urban cycling implemented into elementary school education. “My daughter’s four. I have a dream that when she’s 13, she can get herself to soccer practice by bike,” he said. “That’s not the case at the moment.” malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP: Citizen shovellers want clear paths, better city response (Dec12'22)
by Beth McKechnie 12 Dec '22

12 Dec '22

Citizen shovellers want clear paths, better city response https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/12/12/citizen-shovelers… FOR some who recently watched the city threaten to fine Winnipeggers who took clearing snow from bike lanes into their own hands, it feels like history repeating itself. When the water rose and froze over the Omand’s Creek footbridge in 2019, Chris Beauvilain and others felt they were forced to clear the snow- and ice-covered bridge themselves. The city had blocked off the pedestrian link and said it wouldn’t be clearing it until spring, despite repeated requests for service from Wolseley community members. “The city had made a choice at that time… which we thought was unacceptable, given that’s our toboggan park, my kids used that trail to get to their grandparents’ house,” Beauvilain said Thursday. “And so we went and did it.” At the time, the public works department said the job was too dangerous to complete, due to thick ice blocking off machine access. After Beauvilain and Brad Hignell spent hours chipping the ice off the bridge with hand tools on a December Saturday, the city eventually plowed the entire trail leading up to the bridge on either side. It didn’t come with a thank you, however — rather, the city said through a spokesperson the pair’s efforts “did not mitigate the public safety risk” and the unsanctioned cleaning, luckily, hadn’t affected the bridge’s structure. The idea of fining the shovellers was brought up but eventually discarded; internal emails obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation through a freedom of information request and shared with the Free Press described their work as “reckless.” “It was a pretty frustrating experience to do that, and then be threatened with fines,” Beauvilain said, adding people were fed up with slow-moving response to snow-clearing. “And I just felt like the city was being kind of a bully and aggressive, and I didn’t really understand it.” Beauvilain said he feels “inspired” by residents who have been clearing icy paths across the city in recent weeks after complaints to the city’s 311 service reportedly went unanswered. Last month, a group took matters into their own hands and dug ice and snow from a bike lane on Westminster Avenue. They were given a warning of possible bylaw fines. Undeterred, they later cleared a lane in the Exchange District. A City of Winnipeg spokesperson clarified it had no plans to fine anyone. Beauvilain said he was a little surprised the city was quick once again to jump to threatening fines before backing down. “It seems so ridiculous, but it is not uncommon for me to see these kinds of situations happen and the response is typically quite defensive and aggressive,” he said. “I’ll give credit to the city this time, the spokesperson was very clear… but then also kind of surprised that we’re still dealing with the same issues as a winter city.” Hillary Rosentreter, who has been organizing groups to clear ice and snow from lanes, didn’t live in Winnipeg in 2019, and hadn’t heard about the Omand’s Creek incident until recently. “I’m not surprised… I’m certain that this has been a longer-standing problem than any of us could imagine,” she said. Like Beauvilain, she acknowledges the city has been making efforts to streamline its snow-clearing processes, but said until it moves faster, people will continue to be inclined to take the work upon themselves. “I’m not necessarily concerned about them learning from their mistakes. More so I’m more concerned about… the amount of time it takes before policies are changed, the amount of time it takes before 311 gets to a trouble spot, that kind of thing,” Rosentreter said. A motion from Coun. Matt Allard to update bylaws to remove the possibility of receiving a fine for clearing snow off of public sidewalks and bike paths was met with interest at city hall last week. malak.abas(a)freepress.mb.ca

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CBC: Edmonton set to build $100M in bike lanes as city council votes to amend capital budget (Dec9'22)
by Beth McKechnie 11 Dec '22

11 Dec '22

After hours of debate Friday, council approved a plan to fund $100 million to implement the city-wide bike lane network, many of which are multi-mode paths. Full story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-city-council-1.6681387

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WFP: ‘Not one easy solution’ amid deadly year on Winnipeg roads (Dec7'22)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Dec '22

08 Dec '22

‘Not one easy solution’ amid deadly year on Winnipeg roads https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/12/07/not-one-easy-solu… The heightened death toll on Winnipeg roads this year is “bleak” and “awful,” an active transportation advocate says. Katheryn Loewen, senior sustainable transportation co-ordinator at the Green Action Centre and a Bike Winnipeg board member, said most pedestrian deaths are preventable, despite often being written off as accidents. “Where the blame lies, it depends on the situation, but where the responsibility lays, it’s usually pretty clear it’s either in road design of the city and the manufacturers of cars,” Loewen said Wednesday. “One person involved is wielding a heavy machine that is capable of instantly killing someone if they’re not careful, and the other person, the pedestrian, is not… The responsibility is imbalanced.” Manufacturers are building autos larger than in previous generations, worsening injuries when collisions happen, Loewen said. Cities could increase the number of crosswalks and improve pedestrian infrastructure — with sidewalks farther and protected from roads — to reduce risks, she added. “It’s a big issue and there’s not one easy solution, but road design is definitely a big factor,” Loewen said. “People should be able to get around on foot and on bike and on scooter and wheelchairs and not be worried about (collisions) like this happening to them constantly.” Eleven pedestrians had been killed in Winnipeg so far this year, compared to six in all of 2021, police data show. An additional six pedestrians have been seriously injured after bring struck by vehicles. Most recently, a pedestrian was killed Dec. 3 on the southbound Century Street entrance to the St. James Bridge in a two-vehicle collision. In total, at least 21 people, including vehicle occupants, have been killed in road collisions this year, compared to nine in 2021. Three pedestrians were killed in hit-and-runs in less than a week in October, while another hit-and-run claimed the life of an 81-year-old vehicle occupant in the same time frame. In 2021, two people were charged for failing to remain at the scene of a collision in which a pedestrian was killed. Three face such charges so far this year, according to the latest police data available. The Winnipeg Police Service would not provide any updates Wednesday on the four fatal October hit-and-run investigations. A request first made Tuesday to speak with the head of the police traffic division in general terms about collision investigations was denied Wednesday, with a spokeswoman saying the inspector was not available “at this time.” A former city police officer — who retired in 1991 and now runs a firm focused on helping drivers fight traffic tickets — said collision investigations can be difficult. “Hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident — that’s always a tricky investigation,” said Len Eastoe of Traffic Ticket Experts. Eyewitness accounts, licence plate numbers and dash, business and home surveillance video footage are among the crucial evidence that needs to be collected, he said. Police have made public pleas for such footage to be brought forward to investigators in the spate of October hit-and-runs. Pieces of vehicles left at the scene too are key, Eastoe said, because the wreckage can be sometimes tracked to a specific type of vehicle. “Sometimes, they then have the colour or make and model even of the vehicle they’re looking for.” Police have past said traffic investigators use, among other tools, a scanner to create 3D images of collision scenes in reconstructions. Eastoe said recovering vehicles involved in collisions is “huge” for police. “It gives you all sorts of other possibilities. Who’s the registered owner? It gives you a person to talk to in that regard. Sometimes, the vehicles are stolen and just haven’t been reported that way yet, and that may be legitimate. It may also be bogus that it’s been reported stolen,” said the former cop who worked in uniformed patrol and plainclothes. “If they can’t say it was stolen or you can prove it wasn’t, then the owner can be held responsible.” erik.pindera(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera

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WFP: Councillor seeks to dump threat of shovelling fines (Dec8'22)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Dec '22

08 Dec '22

Eliminate risk of penalties for citizens clearing snow: Allard Councillor seeks to dump threat of shovelling fines https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2022/12/07/councillor-seeks-to-dump… CALLS to eliminate potential fines for citizens who opt to shovel snow off Winnipeg public sidewalks and bike paths are gaining traction at city hall. Coun. Matt Allard wants council to update bylaws to permanently eliminate the risk of a financial penalty for such volunteers. “I’m saying residents should not have to fear a fine (for) being good citizens by doing the snow-clearing work that the city should be doing, according to our snow-clearing bylaw, which the public service has acknowledged they don’t have the resources to do,” Allard said Wednesday. The city didn’t meet its own standards last winter, according to a recent civic staff report. That policy requires sidewalks adjacent to major routes and collector streets to be cleared within 36 hours after an “average” storm ends, with residential street sidewalks cleared within five working days after plowing starts. While last winter’s especially harsh, stormy conditions certainly hampered snow and ice control, many residents have complained winter sidewalks have been impassable far too often for several years. Allard said he believes residents can manage any risk in clearing such routes for themselves. “For people trying to get around on their bicycles (who are) being caught in the snow, I think that’s more of a safety issue than people taking out some shovels and clearing that active transportation path.” While city officials have assured the public they don’t intend to levy such fines, Allard said a bylaw update is needed to completely rule out the risk of that happening in the future. Hillary Rosentreter, who has organized multiple do-it-yourself snow-clearing efforts on bike lanes and sidewalks over the past few weeks, said the risk of a fine should be clearly eliminated. “Those who go out and put the effort in to clear sidewalks near their homes or in their communities should not be threatened with a fine or have to face any kind of repercussions for doing so — especially from the city, when the city is obviously not keeping up with that responsibility,” said Rosentreter. The city must do more, however, than simply ruling out punishment for folks who volunteer to clear paths for bikes and pedestrians, she added. “The reason why we’ve been out there and why we continue to be out there (clearing snow) is because the clearing is inadequate… Ultimately, we want the policy of snow-clearing to change. We want more money to go into clearing of sidewalks and bike lanes because (snow-clearing) disproportionately focuses on vehicles.” Allard’s motion appears to be gaining some traction with his city council colleagues. Mayor Scott Gillingham said he believes there’s a “common sense” need to ensure no one is fined for shovelling a sidewalk. However, he said council needs further debate to determine how to proceed on bike paths. “Some areas for bike lanes are a shared lane on a road (with vehicles). There (are) different safety concerns… related to bike lanes, as opposed to a sidewalk,” said Gillingham. Council’s public works chairwoman said she was surprised to confirm fines were possible for clearing a sidewalk. “Common sense needs to prevail, because I think it’s ridiculous… I’m going to be working with the department on this one,” said Coun. Janice Lukes. However, Lukes said she fears making it easier for residents to clear bike lanes on their own could pose a significant safety risk. “It isn’t safe to really have people (shovelling) on the road in the winter with moving vehicles.” Overall, the councillor said the key focus must be to improve the city efforts to clear ice and snow from sidewalks and bike paths. “The bottom line is I think we need to be looking at doing much better,” said Lukes. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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Researchers net $3M to create sustainable transportation interventions in Canadian cities
by Beth McKechnie 06 Dec '22

06 Dec '22

A national research team is taking aim at creating more sustainable transportation options in cities across the country. Simon Fraser University (SFU) health sciences professor Meghan Winters leads the interdisciplinary group with $3 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The team will focus on improving bicycling networks for all ages and strategies to reduce speed. Full article: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/973429

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WFP: Urban outcasts: Leaving our most vulnerable to struggle for themselves in the cold shames this city (Dec1'22)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Dec '22

03 Dec '22

Urban outcasts: Leaving our most vulnerable to struggle for themselves in the cold shames this city https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/2022/12/01/urban-outca… An open letter to the man I saw on Selkirk Avenue on a recent Thursday afternoon just before 2 p.m. It’s good that you were wearing a red sweater. It stood out against the snow, a blotch of crimson on a dirty white tableau, which made you very easy to see. I spotted you from a block away, at least, inching slowly down the street. The wheels of your wheelchair sank into the soft snow, so you were mostly dragging the chair forward by your slippered feet. There was nowhere else you could be at that moment. I don’t know where you were going, but you had to go somewhere and the sidewalk was rutted and clogged by snow. Behind you, prowling cars slowed and veered into the oncoming lane, my lane, making a cautious arc to avoid where you laboured, one inch at a time, down the road. I was embarrassed. Not by you. As we drove past, my passenger, a newcomer from Ukraine, pursed her lips and watched you with curious eyes. We did not speak enough of each other’s languages for complex conversation, so it’s hard to say what went through her mind, but she made a sympathetic murmur. Matching the sentiment, so did I. So yes, I was embarrassed that a newcomer should see this Winnipeg, the one that pushes citizens with the greatest need of safe passage out into the street. It can’t be hidden though. It’s the truth. But I’m speaking to myself, here; the failures of our city’s responsibility to people with disabilities will be very well-known to you. And you aren’t the only one who has to get around like this, which I’m also sure you know already. It’s an epidemic. A few days after I saw you, I was stuck in rush hour traffic where Broadway branches off from Portage Avenue, when the knot of SUVs ahead parted to show a woman in a power wheelchair, slowly rolling forward, while drivers gave her a berth. She looked so small amidst the wall of vehicles around her. So vulnerable. A street built for cars is no place for people. But with winter sidewalks so often impassable to wheelchairs, where else could she go? Having no answer to that, how about a more uncomfortable question: what would we say to her family, or to yours, should an accident occur? We’ve raised this as an issue in the *Free Press* before. Sometimes, it’s poignant. Last December a reader wrote to us, hoping to thank a stranger. She’d taken a friend to get his flu shot, she wrote, but when she took him home, his wheelchair got stuck in the sidewalk snow. All her strength could not move it forward, until a person driving by stopped to help. In October, the snow-clearing budget was briefly an issue <https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/10/17/winter-of-our-dis…> in the mayoral election, and my colleague Joyanne Pursaga spoke to Peter Tonge, a wheelchair-user, about how the winter steals a good chunk of his independence. Sometimes, he explained, his power chair will get stuck on the sidewalk for long minutes until a pedestrian comes by to push him out. And this winter, after bike lanes got covered with snow, residents in one neighbourhood took matters into their own hands <https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/11/23/tired-of-waiting-…> to dig them out. A city spokesman said residents shouldn’t do that, due to road safety issues. I had to laugh a little, reading that, thinking of the road safety issues that come when non-vehicular thoroughfares remain impassable. In all three of these stories, I see the duality of Winnipeg. The one I love and the one that breaks my heart. The one where Winnipeggers band together to help each other through the winter — I write this with appreciation for every stranger who has ever pushed my car out of a snowdrift — and the one where the city falls short of what those people deserve. The most important work of a city, any city, is to facilitate the movement of its people. Winnipeg has never been a star on this end: not in our groaning, threadbare public transit. Not in our slow and piecemeal approach to improving options for active transportation. And certainly not in accessibility, for seniors and others who need it most. Some things can’t be changed, of course. The climate comes with the city’s location. The winter will always be a burden on Winnipeg’s human and financial resources, and we all understand that living here requires a certain level of perseverance. But Winnipeg is not uniquely disadvantaged. Other cities in the world get more snow, but still manage to be more accessible. In Sapporo, Japan — the third-snowiest city in the world, with an average annual snowfall of 485 centimetres, compared to Winnipeg’s 118 — geothermal conduits heat the sidewalks to keep them bare year-round. Other cities, including Oslo and Helsinki, have made similar investments. Experts there have found the cost of keeping snow melted on key pedestrian routes is cheaper than the cost of mechanically clearing them. Of course, the value to safety, dignity and accessibility, especially for seniors, people who use wheelchairs and others, should be considered as priceless. I don’t know what the solution is, for Winnipeg. What I do know is that if, every winter, a city becomes partially impassable and outright dangerous for so many of its residents, then that city is not doing the work it most needs to do. And I also know that no challenge of this nature is insurmountable, that there is always a creative solution yet to be tried. And to you, the man I saw on Selkirk Avenue on that Thursday afternoon, forced onto the road, trying only to get where you needed to go, I’m sorry you had to be there. I’m sorry you had to drag yourself through a city that isn’t designed for you. I’m sorry that you had no choice but to inch down the street while cars growled behind you. melissa.martin(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP Editorial: Clearing a path for active transportation (Dec3'22)
by Beth McKechnie 03 Dec '22

03 Dec '22

EDITORIAL: Clearing a path for active transportation https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2022/12/02/clearing-a-… THE white stuff has barely settled in, and Winnipeggers are already displaying dissatisfaction with the city’s snow-clearing efforts. Over the last week, a brigade of local cyclists has taken it upon themselves to dig out and chip away at the icy ruts left along bike lanes across the city following a recent freeze-thaw cycle. By taking up shovels, these concerned citizens have effectively captured the attention of politicians and public works officials. After their complaints to 311 went unresolved, the group of 10 or so cyclists cleared a path in West Broadway, and then later turned their attention to a protected lane in the Exchange District. The latter action resulted in threats of fines for contravening the city’s streets bylaw, which prohibits residents from occupying or working on public roadways. Though the city is well within its rights to dole out penalties — people mingling in roadways and conducting unpermitted work on public property can create a safety hazard and a potential liability nightmare — officials walked back the position on Wednesday, saying there are no plans to issue fines to those involved. This isn’t the first time Winnipeggers have taken snow-clearing matters into their own hands. In 2019, a pair of neighbours chipped and shovelled ice from the Omand’s Creek pedestrian bridge — a well-trod connection between Wolseley and River Heights — after the city closed the route for the season, citing safety concerns. Without citizen intervention, the corridor would have remained cordoned off for months. Had this happened on a main road, more than a few drivers would have been up in arms. The fact taxpayers are, yet again, taking to the streets is a sign snow-clearing services in some areas need improvement. For the sake of user safety, enjoyment and accessibility, let’s hope the city takes heed. By virtue of urban sprawl and a spotty public transportation system, Winnipeg has grown into a staunchly car-centric city. Year-round, there are numerous barriers — such as unconnected bike routes — for those who get around by cycling, walking, rolling and scooting. In the winter, active transportation ceases to be an option for many people unwilling to deal with dodgy road conditions in addition to dodging vehicles. Seventy-six per cent of respondents to a Bike Winnipeg survey reported riding less last winter because of inadequately plowed routes. The latest group of self-appointed snow clearers expressed frustration with city policy, which sees cycling and walking paths left with a compacted layer of snow instead of being cleared to bare pavement. Roads are also given priority after a snowfall, leaving sidewalks and bike lanes to languish, often for days. Last week, the city’s manager of street maintenance said it’s not feasible to plow these routes to the pavement, owing to equipment capabilities and infrastructure concerns. Perhaps, then, we should look to other jurisdictions for workable solutions. A white paper out of Chicago on best practices for winter bike-lane maintenance recommends prioritizing busy cycling routes after a snowfall and being proactive about de-icing. An example from North Dakota suggests applying salt or sugar-beet juice — options the city is already employing — before a snow event can actually reduce costs because less de-icing material is needed in the long run. Winnipeg is a winter city, and treating cycling and walking as if they’re three-season activities is a disservice to those who can’t afford or don’t want to use a personal motor vehicle. If shovel disobedience is ruffling feathers at city hall, perhaps it’s a sign officials need to roll up their sleeves and scrape their way toward a solution.

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