- AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Bicycling Renaissance in North America?
by Beth McKechnie 20 Apr '11

20 Apr '11

[*Transportation Research A, Vol. 45, 2011*, in press] *Bicycling Renaissance in North America? An Update and Re-Appraisal of Cycling Trends and Policies *by John Pucher, Ralph Buehler and Mark Seinen http://www.8-80cities.org/Articles/Bicycling%20Renaissance%20in%20North%20A… *Abstract* This paper reviews trends in cycling levels, safety, and policies in Canada and the USA over the past two decades. we analyze aggregate data for the two countries as well as city-specific case study data for nine large cities (Chicago, Minneapolos, Montreal, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington). Cycling levels have increased in both the USA and Canada, while cyclist fatalities have fallen... The bike share of work commuters is more than twice as high in Canada as the USA, and is higher int he western parts of both countries. Cycling is concentrated in central cities, especially near universities and in gentrified neighborhoods near the city center. Almost all the growth in cycling in the USA has been among men between 25-64 years old, while cycling rates have remained steady among women and fallen sharply for children. Cycling rates have risen much faster in the nine case study cities than in their countries as a whole, at least doubling in all the cities since 1990. They have implemented a wide range of infrastructure and programs to promote cycling and increase cycling safety: expanded and improved bike lanes and paths, traffic calming, parking, bike-transit integration, bike sharing, training programs, and promotional events. Portland's comprehensive package of cycling policies has succeeded in raising cycling levels 6-fold and provides an example that other North American cities can follow. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Bike to Work Day - call for Volunteers
by Beth McKechnie 18 Apr '11

18 Apr '11

Hi everyone, *Bike to Work Day Winnipeg 2011* needs volunteers to help with tasks right away as well as on June 24th. It would be great if you could share the attached volunteer application form with your various professional networks, family and friends. many thanks! Beth

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Link to new literature review on policies to improve health through active transportation
by Beth McKechnie 16 Apr '11

16 Apr '11

*Environment International*<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01604120> Volume 37, Issue 4<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=PublicationURL&_tockey=%23TOC%2358…>, May 2011, Pages 766-777 * Improving Health through Policies that Promote Active Travel: A Review of Evidence to Support Integrated Health Impact Assessment* Abstract Background Substantial policy changes to control obesity, limit chronic disease, and reduce air pollution emissions, including greenhouse gasses, have been recommended. Transportation and planning policies that promote active travel by walking and cycling can contribute to these goals, potentially yielding further co-benefits. Little is known, however, about the interconnections among effects of policies considered, including potential unintended consequences. Objectives and methods We review available literature regarding health impacts from policies that encourage active travel in the context of developing health impact assessment (HIA) models to help decision-makers propose better solutions for healthy environments. We identify important components of HIA models of modal shifts in active travel in response to transport policies and interventions. Results and discussion Policies that increase active travel are likely to generate large individual health benefits through increases in physical activity for active travelers. Smaller, but population-wide benefits could accrue through reductions in air and noise pollution. Depending on conditions of policy implementations, risk tradeoffs are possible for some individuals who shift to active travel and consequently increase inhalation of air pollutants and exposure to traffic injuries. Well-designed policies may enhance health benefits through indirect outcomes such as improved social capital and diet, but these synergies are not sufficiently well understood to allow quantification at this time. Conclusion Evaluating impacts of active travel policies is highly complex; however, many associations can be quantified. Identifying health-maximizing policies and conditions requires integrated HIAs. Research highlights ► Active travel policies are growing in popularity worldwide. ► We review multiple benefits and potential risks associated with policies. ► Quantitative relationships for health impact assessments are discussed. ► Major health benefits are especially expected from physical activity outcomes. ► Well designed policies may enhance co-benefits and mitigate risks. LINK: http://bb4md8jw9n.search.serialssolutions.com//?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&ctx_ver…<http://bb4md8jw9n.search.serialssolutions.com/?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&ctx_ver=…>

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Interesting series from Grist
by Stacy Matwick 12 Apr '11

12 Apr '11

Bikeonomics by Elle Blue. http://www.grist.org/article/series/bikenomics "The economic case for on-street bike parking" This is the fourth column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-04-11-the-economic-case-for-on-street-bike… cheers Stacy Matwick Information Centre International Institute for Sustainable Development 161 Portage Ave. E., 6th floor Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4 Voice: (204)958-7755 Fax: (204)958-7710 Email: smatwick(a)iisd.ca<mailto:smatwick@iisd.ca> IISD Research Library web page: http://www.iisd.org/ic SD-Cite: IISD Research Library database: http://sd-cite.iisd.org<http://sd-cite.iisd.org/> GENERata web-magazine: http://www.iisd.org/generata/ "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx

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A donkey cart without the cart - where you do the work of the donkey
by Erik Dickson 07 Apr '11

07 Apr '11

Hopefully the author's tongue is firmly planted in their cheek! Have a great day and happy cycling! Erik Dickson Scatliff+Miller+Murray Emailed to me today from the other side! By P.J. O'ROURKE Getty Images Cyclists ride over the Brooklyn Bridge. 'Although the technology necessary to build a bicycle has been around since ancient Egypt, bikes didn't appear until the 19th century. The reason it took mankind 5,000 years to get the idea for the bicycle is that it was a bad idea.' A fibrosis of bicycle lanes is spreading through the cities of the world. The well-being of innocent motorists is threatened as traffic passageways are choked by the spread of dull whirs, sharp whistles and sanctimonious pedal-pushing. Bike lanes have appeared in all the predictable placesAmsterdam, Copenhagen, Berkeley and Palo Alto. But the incidence of bike lanes is also on the rise in unlikely locales such as slush-covered Boston, rain-drenched Vancouver, frozen Montreal and Bogotá, Colombia (where, perhaps, bicycles have been given the traffic lanes previously reserved for drug mules). Even Dublin, Ireland, has had portions of its streets set aside for bicycles onlysurely unnecessary in a country where everyone's car has been repossessed. Then there is the notorious case of New York City. Not long ago the only people who braved New York on bicycles were maniacal bike messengers and children heeding an abusive parent's command to "go play in traffic." Now New York has 670 miles of bike lanesrather more than it has miles of decently paved streets. The proliferation of New York's bike lanes is the work of the city's indomitable transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-(Genghis)-Khan. Her department has a horde of 4,500 employees and a budget nearing a billion dollars. The transportation commissioner's job isjudging by rush-hour cab and subway rides and last December's blizzardto prevent the transportation of anybody or anything to anywhere in New York. Bicycles are the perfect way to go nowhere while carrying nothing. The bicycle is a parody of a wheeled vehiclea donkey cart without the cart, where you do the work of the donkey. Although the technology necessary to build a bicycle has been around since ancient Egypt, bikes didn't appear until the 19th century. The reason it took mankind 5,000 years to get the idea for the bicycle is that it was a bad idea. The bicycle is the only method of conveyance worse than feet. You can walk up three flights of stairs carrying one end of a sofa. Try that on a bicycle. View Full Image The Image Works A French racing cyclist, in 1912 Almost everything that travels on a city street, including some of the larger people in the crosswalks, can crush a bicycle. Everything that protrudes from or into a city streetpot holes, pavement cracks, manhole coverscan send a bicycle flying into the air. When the president of the United States goes somewhere in Washington, does he ride an armored bicycle? Given that riding a bike in a city is insane and that very few cities need more insane people on their streets, why the profusion of urban bike lanes? One excuse for bike lanes is that an increase in bicycle riding means a decrease in traffic congestion. A visit to New Yorkor Bogotágives the lie to this notion. You can't decrease traffic congestion by putting things in the way of traffic. Also, only a few bicycles are needed to take up as much space as my Chevrolet Suburbanjust one if its rider is wobbling all over the place while trying to Tweet. And my Suburban seats eight. The answer to traffic congestion is lower taxes so that legions of baby boomers my age can afford to retire and stay home. Bike lane advocates also claim that bicycles are environmentally friendly, producing less pollution and fewer carbon emissions than automobiles. But bicycle riders do a lot of huffing and puffing, exhaling large amounts of CO2. And whether a bicycle rider, after a long bicycle ride, is cleaner than the exhaust of a modern automobile is open to question. If drops in pollution and traffic congestion are wanted and if discomfort and inconvenience are the trade-offs, we should be packed into tiny circus clown cars. These fit neatly into bike lanes and provide more amusement to bystanders than bicycle wrecks. In fact, bike lanes don't necessarily lessen car travel. A study by the U.K. Department for Transport found that the installation of "cycle facilities" in eight towns and cities resulted in no change in the number of people driving cars. Bike lanes don't even necessarily increase bike riding. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the Dutch government spent $945 million on bicycle routes without any discernible effect on how many Dutch rode bicycles. The bicycle is a parody of a wheeled vehiclea donkey cart without the cart, where you do the work of the donkey. But maybe there's a darker side to bike-lane advocacy. Political activists of a certain ideological stripe want citizens to have a child-like dependence on government. And it's impossible to feel like a grown-up when you're on a bicycle if you aren't in the Tour de France. All but the most athletic among us get on and off a bicycle the way a toddler goes up and down stairs. Wearing bicycle shorts in public is more embarrassing than wearing Depends. Exchanging briefcases for backpacks takes us from the boardroom to the schoolyard. And it's hard to keep a straight face when talking to anyone in a Skittles-colored, Wiffle ball-slotted bike helmet that makes you look like Woody Woodpecker. Bike lanes must be intended to foster immaturity or New York would have chosen instead to create 670 miles of bridle paths. Being on horseback has adult gravitas. Search plazas, parks and city squares the world over and you won't fine a single statue of a national hero riding a bike. This promotion of childishness in the electorate means that bike lanes are just the beginning. Soon we'll be making room on our city streets for scooter and skateboard lanes, Soapbox Derby lanes, pogo-stick lanes, lanes for Radio Flyer wagons (actually more practical than bicycles since you can carry a case of beerif we're still allowed to drink beer), stilt lanes, three-legged-race lanes, lanes for skipping while playing the comb and wax paper, hopscotch lanes and Mother-May-I lanes with Mayor Bloomberg at the top of Lenox Hill shouting to the people on Park Avenue, "Take three baby steps!" A good, hard-played game of Mother-May-I will make us all more physically fit. Fitness being another reason given for cluttering our cities with bike lanes. But why is it so important that the public be fit? Fit for what? Are they planning to draft us into forced labor battalions? Bike lanes violate a fundamental principle of democracy. We, the majority who do not ride bicycles, are being forced to sacrifice our left turns, parking places and chances to squeeze by delivery trucks so that an affluent elite can feel good about itself for getting wet, cold, tired and run-over. Our tax dollars are being used to subsidize our annoyance. Bicycle riders must be made to bear the burden of this special-interest boondoggle. Bicycle registration fees should be raised until they produce enough revenue to build and maintain new expressways so that drivers can avoid city streets clogged by bike lanes. Special rubber fittings should be made available so that bicycle riders can wear E-ZPass transponders on their noses. And riders' license qualifications should be rigorous, requiring not only written exams and road tests but also bathroom scales. No one is to be allowed on a bicycle if the view he or she presents from behind causes the kind of hysterical laughter that stops traffic. Bike lanes can become an acceptable part of the urban landscape, if bicycle riders are willing to pay their way. And if they pay enough, maybe we'll even give them a lift during the next snow storm. Mr. O'Rourke's many books include "Don't VoteIt Just Encourages the Bastards."

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After School Program Survey
by Beth McKechnie 04 Apr '11

04 Apr '11

Recreation Connections Manitoba is pleased to partner with Green Action Centre to coordinate a new two year initiative - *After The School Bell Rings: A Manitoba After School Recreation Project.* The initiative, funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada Healthy Living Fund and the Province of Manitoba until March 2013, is focusing on promoting and supporting increased access and opportunities for children and youth aged 6-12 years to engage in physical activity and healthy living practices in the critical after school time period (3 – 6 p.m.). The project goals include: 1) Increasing capacity for children’s physical activity and healthy eating in the after school time period. 2) Improving access and reducing barriers to physical activity opportunities and facilities. 3) Promoting active and safe routes to and from school. One of our first steps is to collect some basic information about what is currently happening in Manitoba in regard to after school programming. If you provide programming for *children aged 6 to 12 years* during the *3 – 6 p.m.* time period, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to complete the on-line survey by clicking on the link below, no later than *April 14, 2011*. A draw for an activity/game equipment & resource kit with a value of approximately *$200* will be made from all completed surveys meeting the deadline date. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/After_School_Recreation_Project_SURVEY We are attempting to make this provincial survey as inclusive as possible and this request is being sent out to various organizations across the Province. However, we are aware that our mailing list does not include all after school providers. If you represent an organization/network with a number of service providing entities, we would ask that you either complete the survey on their behalf, if appropriate, or forward the request to the various members. If you are aware of additional after school programs that may have been missed, please forward the request to them as well. Please be aware that we have distributed the survey to the following groups with multiple programs/sites - Boys & Girls Clubs of Winnipeg, City of Winnipeg Community Services Department, General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres, YMCA-YWCA, Youth for Christ, Lighthouses, Coalition of Community Based Youth Serving Agencies, Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres. We apologize in advance to any service providers who receive multiple copies of this request. We are in the process of developing a web site related to the After The School Bell Rings project. It is anticipated that survey results will be posted on the web site. Thank you for your assistance in providing information on your programs and sharing the survey with other providers. Roy Mulligan Project Coordinator After The School Bell Rings: A Manitoba After School Recreation Project Recreation Connections Manitoba 317-145 Pacific Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3B 2Z6 Phone: 925-5751 Email: recconnections.pro(a)sportmanitoba.ca

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Spring tune-up time
by Stacy Matwick 30 Mar '11

30 Mar '11

Found at http://www.BoingBoing.net "It's spring! Time to watch some videos that will teach you how to tune-up and repair your own bike<http://bicycletutor.com/>. (Not that I would need a pre-spring tune-up, of course. I've totally been riding all winter. Yeah. Totally.) - Maggie<http://www.boingboing.net/author/maggie-koerth-baker/> " http://bicycletutor.com/ The purpose of this site is to help people learn how to fix their own bikes. With over 200 videos you're sure to find what you need. Cheers Stacy Matwick Information Centre International Institute for Sustainable Development 161 Portage Ave. E., 6th floor Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 0Y4 Voice: (204)958-7755 Fax: (204)958-7710 Email: smatwick(a)iisd.ca<mailto:smatwick@iisd.ca> IISD Research Library web page: http://www.iisd.org/ic SD-Cite: IISD Research Library database: http://sd-cite.iisd.org<http://sd-cite.iisd.org/> GENERata web-magazine: http://www.iisd.org/generata/ "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read" Groucho Marx

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Grist: Pedaling away from the health care crisis
by Beth McKechnie 29 Mar '11

29 Mar '11

Pedaling away from the health care crisis by Elly Blue <http://www.grist.org/people/Elly+Blue> 28 Mar 2011 11:36 AM [ http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-28-pedaling-away-from-the-health-care-c… ] *This is the third column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Part 1 is "How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-28-how-bicycling-will-save-the-economy>." Part 2 is "Tearing down freeways to make room for a new bicycle economy<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-14-tearing-down-urban-freeways-to-make…> ."* * *In the United States, we have the most expensive health care system in the world. We collectively invest more than 15 percent of our GDP<http://www.visualeconomics.com/healthcare-costs-around-the-world_2010-03-01/>-- that's around $2 trillion, or $5,700 per person -- into health care every year. The tragedy of these enormous numbers is that they fail to stem the tide of our increasing ill health. "Most of the money we're spending on health care is going to treat preventable chronic diseases," Michael Pollan told Grist<http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-06-michael-pollan-on-agriculture-and-h…>in 2009. Our poor diet, he added, is responsible for most of those illnesses. But it's not just about what we eat. The other part of that equation is our national and increasingly desperate need for physical activity. We need to rethink our transportation system and built environment on the same scale as Pollan and others have reconsidered our agricultural system. It has become obvious that we can't afford to keep doing things the same old autocentric way. For a fraction of the cost of the world's most expensive health care system, we could all enjoy the world's best bicycling and walking infrastructure -- and with it much, much better health than we enjoy now. Even minor investments in quality bicycle and walking transportation infrastructure, particularly at bottlenecks like bridges, leads directly to increased physical activity<http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/may/12/bridge_pedestrian_lane_raise>for people who live nearby. A recent analysis of the health savings resulting from the bicycle infrastructure in Portland, Ore, came up with stunning results<http://bikeportland.org/2011/02/04/research-by-2040-portlands-bikeway-inves…>. If the city builds out only the infrastructure it currently plans, the researcher found, it will break even by 2015. By 2030, Portland will have saved $800 million -- partly in fuel costs but primarily in health care and the value of reduced mortality. For every $1 we spend, $5 is saved. And that doesn't take into account a multitude of other factors. It's been shown again and again that the benefits of bicycling outweigh the risks<http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.0901747>, that not bicycling is more dangerous<http://www.ecovelo.info/2008/06/06/the-dangers-of-not-cycling/>in the long run, and that being sedentary is worse for your health than nearly anything else<http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2009/05/05/sitting-death-rate.html>. When kids, particularly, don't get enough physical activity and good food, they are set up for a lifetime of ill health<http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/March/22/Obesity-Type-2-Diabet…> . Then there's the mental health factor. People who bicycle and walk to work love their commutes<http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2006004/pdf/9516-eng.pdf>[PDF], whereas everyone else is stressed <http://www.vtpi.org/traveltime.pdf> [PDF], even pathologically<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-01-20-new-report-quantifies-just-how-much…>so. * *Stress is often overlooked as an indicator and instigator<http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/archives/2011/03/stress-may-alte.html>of poor health. And bicycling isn't just good for your personal health. There's also a significant public health benefit to having fewer people driving. Air quality is a big one. Cars produce secondhand smoke that none of us can avoid. A parade of studies over the last few decades have steadily linked living near freeways to heart disease<http://www.justmeans.com/Freeway-proximity-can-put-you-on-road-heart-health…>, lung cancer <http://www.ehjournal.net/content/6/1/23>, asthma<http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/11614.html>, impaired lung development<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR200701260…>, and even autism<http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/16/health/la-he-autism-20101217> . Even being sealed in a car doesn't protect you<http://www.velorutia.ro/blog/util/1281-road-user-exposure-to-air-pollution.…>from the perils of concentrated car exhaust <http://www.icta.org/doc/In-car%20pollution%20report.pdf> [PDF]. Car crashes cost the country $230 billion<http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130350&page=1>in 2000 alone. Only $33 billion of that was spent on medical costs -- but to put that in perspective, that's the same amount as that year's federal highway budget. Worse, in 2009 car crashes caused nearly 34,000 deaths and 2.217 million injuries <http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot16510.html>, many of them serious enough to prevent victims from navigating our car-oriented landscape in anything *but* a car. What do we do about this? How do we address the health care crisis through reforming our transportation system? We'd be much healthier, we're always being told, if only we could get more physical activity. Bicycle transportation is uniquely suited to fill this requirement. Bicycling is uniquely suited for quickly and flexibly getting around a city designed for cars. And riding a bike for transportation is as good a workout as exercising at the gym<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10694139>. The cost, time, stress, and inconvenience of exercise evaporates with the bicycle. If only we all could take advantage of it. We are blessed in this country with a chorus of voices urging people to exercise more and try riding a bike -- but very little is being done to make that option safe and comfortable for everyone. I know, because I grew up in suburbia, that people don't eat unhealthy food and sit on the couch all day out of laziness. They end up falling into those behaviors because the options aren't there, or the cost -- in money, time, and stress -- of living differently is simply too high. Of course we want better options<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/qa-transportation-secretary-on-bi…>. As many as 60 percent of Americans would like to ride more<http://streetsblog.net/2010/12/20/wooing-the-hesitant-cyclist/>, and most of us already have bikes stashed in the basement or garage. But we don't feel safe, and often that's because there aren't safe or convenient routes for us to take. Fortunately, that doesn't stop everyone from getting on a bike. And the more people out there riding, the safer *everyone* becomes<http://bikeportland.org/2011/01/27/not-just-safer-for-bikes-fatal-car-crash…>, whether or not bicycling is an option for them individually. It would be absurd to suggest that bikes will solve our health care crisis or that they can eliminate the political and economic machinations that continue to deepen it. But bicycling, like food, is one of the few areas where people can directly and concretely address the health care crisis in the context of our community. By improving our own health and working towards healthier cities, we're also taking money from a health care system that doesn't improve our health. In this light, bicycling for transportation isn't so much a lifestyle choice as it's a form of civic action.

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Wed, Mar.30 webinar: How to increase the number of women cycling for transportation, 2-3:30 CST
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '11

28 Mar '11

Green Action Centre will be hosting a local group viewing of the following APBP (Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals) webinar on how to increase the number of women cycling for transportation. If you would like to join us, please let me know at *beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 p.s. Sorry for the late notice -- we just heard about it this morning. ------------------------------ Webinar: * How to increase the number of women cycling for transportation *Date: *Wednesday, Mar. 30th, 2:00-3:30 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) *Description* Learn how to increase the number of women cycling for transportation in your community. This webinar builds on last year's APBP session, "Writing Women Back into Bicycling". Five speakers offer compelling insights about cycling projects run by inspiring women, illuminate what women told APBP they want in a cycling environment, and suggest best practices to help you make a difference in your community. Don't miss the stories of some of the wonderful women leading the cycling movement, and results of APBP's 2010 survey on Women Cycling.

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Costs and Benefits of Cycling Investments in Portland, OR
by Beth McKechnie 28 Mar '11

28 Mar '11

*Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2011, 8(Suppl 1), S49-S58 Costs and Benefits of Bicycling Investments in Portland, Oregon Thomas Gotschi* http://journals.humankinetics.com/jpah-pdf-articles?DocumentScreen=Detail&c… *Background: *Promoting bicycling has great potential to increase overall physical activity; however, significant uncertainty exists with regard to the amount and effectiveness of investment needed for infrastructure. The objective of this study is to assess how costs of Portland’s past and planned investments in bicycling relate to health and other benefits. *Methods:* Costs of investment plans are compared with 2 types of monetized health benefits, health care cost savings and value of statistical life savings. Levels of bicycling are estimated using past trends, future mode share goals, and a traffic demand model.* Results:* By 2040, investments in the range of $138 to $605 million will result in health care cost savings of $388 to $594 million, fuel savings of $143 to $218 million, and savings in value of statistical lives of $7 to $12 billion. The benefit-cost ratios for health care and fuel savings are between 3.8 and 1.2 to 1, and an order of magnitude larger when value of statistical lives is used. * Conclusions: *This first of its kind cost-benefit analysis of investments in bicycling in a US city shows that such efforts are cost-effective, even when only a limited selection of benefits is considered. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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New Yorkers support bicycle lanes, poll finds
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

Nice to see this article given some recent backlash by a select few in NYC where they are setting new standards in bike infrastructure for other cities in N.A. -Beth [ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/new-yorkers-support-bicycle-la… ] * NY TIMES - City Room March 18, 2011, 4:55 pm* New Yorkers Support Bicycle Lanes, Poll Finds By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/author/michael-m-grynbaum/> Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News The Bloomberg administration’s new bicycle lanes, the subject of one of the more heated civic controversies in recent memory, are supported by a majority of New Yorkers, according to a poll released on Friday<http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1302.xml?ReleaseID=1569>by Quinnipiac University. More than half of registered voters — 54 percent — said they believed the expansion of bicycle lanes had been a positive development for the city. The only demographic groups opposed were Republican voters and, by a smaller margin, residents of Queens. Over all, 39 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with the lanes, and 6 percent said they had no opinion on the matter (or did not answer). The survey question was fairly stark: either that the bike lanes are “a good thing because it’s greener and healthier for people to ride,” or “a bad thing because it leaves less room for cars, which increases traffic.” The poll asked which statement was closer to the respondent’s point of view. “On balance, people like it,” said Maurice Carroll<http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x2011.xml>, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute<http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x271.xml>. “It’s not overwhelming, but it’s a plus.” Support for the lanes was strongest in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Voters in Queens disapproved of the lanes, but by 48 to 45 percent. Only 35 percent of Republicans supported the lane, while 59 percent of Democrats approved. Support for the bike lanes seemed to wane with age. Voters between ages 18 and 49 supported the lanes by wide margins, but support fell below 50 percent among voters older than 50. Still, supporters outnumbered opponents in each age group. The poll, which surveyed 1,115 registered voters earlier this month, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Hundreds of new bicycle lanes have been installed since 2007, part of the administration’s plan to encourage environmentally friendly modes of transportation that cut down on traffic congestion. Arguments for and against the bike lanes typically go into more detail than the survey’s questions. The city’s Department of Transportation, led by its commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/nyregion/06sadik-khan.html>, argues that carving out street space for bicycles has resulted in slower car traffic and, in turn, fewer accidents. Critics of the lanes complain about lost parking spots, additional difficulty in driving in the city, and the risk to pedestrians from bicyclists who disobey traffic laws. Some opponents have also faulted the Transportation Department for installing the lanes without sufficient community outreach, and not disclosing all the relevant data related to the lanes. Those are among the arguments in a lawsuit filed last week<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/nyregion/08bike.html>by a group of well-connected Brooklyn residents who have called on the city to remove a two-way bike lane along Prospect Park West. Biking advocates cited Friday’s poll as evidence that the city should continue expanding its bicycle network. “Whether they drive a car, ride a bike or get around by train, this poll shows that New Yorkers understand that bike lanes make our streets better for everyone,” Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, wrote in a statement. The survey also found that New Yorkers were unhappy with a plan to rename the Queensboro Bridge<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/nyregion/09bandt.html>for former Mayor Edward I. Koch. Nearly two-thirds of voters opposed the plan, proposed last year by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, with opposition particularly pointed in Queens.

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Leisure Guide: Commuter Cycling Course
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

Please circulate widely. Thanks! -Beth *****active adult workshops* *****city cycling: commuter cycling skills* *****new!* Start commuting by bicycle or just feel more comfortable riding your bike. CAN-BIKE certified instructors from Bike to the Future will clarify the rules and teach you how to ride on the road with confidence. You will learn the skills you need to ride just about anywhere your bike will take you. The course includes both in-class and on-road training. Each participant will receive a free copy of the***** new* 2011 version of the Winnipeg Bike map. *****Fee:* $36.00 1 day Sport for Life Centre:145 Pacific Ave. *394547 Sat May 14 Noon–4:00pm* *394548 Sun May 29 Noon–4:00pm* You can find it on page 81 of the guide or at: * http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/Leisure/pdfs/leisureguide.pdf*<http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/Leisure/pdfs/leisureguide.pdf> Pass it around!

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Grist: Cyclists shouldn't 'share the road', they should have their own
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

[While reading this article, note that Winnipeg got its first cycletrack, i.e. physically separated bike lane, late last fall on Assiniboine Ave! - cheers, Beth] Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own by Elly Blue <http://www.grist.org/member/386213> 14 Feb 2011 1:14 PM It's long been the most controversial issue in bicycling: Should people on bikes ride in traffic with cars, using the same infrastructure and following the same procedures (a style of riding known as "Vehicular Cycling")? Should we ride on the sidewalks and off-road paths, with pedestrians? Or should we have our own place to ride that's designed specifically for bicycling? <http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwkrueger/5134415882/in/set-72157625160007617/> [image: Cycletrack-Vancouver(Paul Krueger copyright).jpg] A physically separated bike lane in Vancouver, BC. Looks nice, right? Photo: Paul Krueger<http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwkrueger/5134415882/in/set-72157625160007617/> -- Like Goldilocks, we've tried all these options. Riding with faster, heavier cars is hard on us. Riding with slower, roaming pedestrians is hard on them. Only when we have our own place in traffic are things anywhere near just right. Or so says a study released last week in Montreal<http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Separated+Montreal+bike+paths+lower+ris…>, which shows that not only does dedicated bicycle infrastructure work in North America, it borders on negligence for cities *not** *to build such infrastructure. (You can download the entire study here<http://gobiking.ca/risk-of-injury-study.pdf>[PDF].) We're not talking about the old, familiar bike lane, marked by a line of white paint -- which so often functions more as a symbol and reminder of our right to be in the road than as actual bicycle infrastructure. Car doors, intersections, potholes, and misinterpretations by law enforcement are among the many pitfalls of the old-school bike lane. But on any road where car traffic is traveling significantly faster than a person can pedal, a bike lane, flawed compromise that it is, is better than nothing at all. Cities across North America have in the last two years been discovering a better way to build a bike lane -- separating it entirely from motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic alike. It's called the cycle track. Though we recently discovered it, we didn't invent it: It's been the backbone of the world's most attractive, comfortable, safe bicycling environments for decades in European cities like Utrecht<http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2010/05/cycle-rush-hour-in-spring-in-utrecht.ht…>and Groningen <http://www.camcycle.org.uk/events/visits/groningen/> (see the system in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M&feature=player_embedded). Cycle tracks, also called segregated bike lanes or separated bike paths, are basically bike lanes that use the same right of way as a major street but are set off from car traffic by a barrier more substantial than a single painted white line. They may be separated by bollards, a concrete barrier, or a curb. On many streets, parked cars provide the barrier. Some cycle tracks are one-way and others carry two directions of bike traffic. Unlike their more dangerous cousins, the off-road bike paths<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-11-07-we-need-real-bike-paths-for-real-bi…>, cycle tracks are for bikes only and are not intended to be shared with people walking or running and more than with cars. Montreal, the focus of the recent study, has an unusually large number of cycle tracks for a North American city. Still, unlike their European cousins, these are mainly two-directional and have what the study calls a "less than ideal design," particularly at intersections. Even so, the researchers found, these lanes enjoy 2.5 times more bicycle traffic than alternate bicycle routes without cycle tracks. On Montreal's cycle tracks, the risk of injury is 28 percent lower -- or to be exact, 10.5 crashes, but only 8.5 injuries -- per million kilometers bicycled. Despite strong evidence from now two continents, the Montreal researchers point out, United States federal guidelines actively discourage cities from building cycle tracks. Everywhere cycle tracks are proposed and built there is some amount of local pushback<http://www.citycaucus.com/2010/10/why-are-separated-bike-lanes-so-controver…>. We're seeing an extreme degree of this in New York City, where a powerful group that includes the city's former transportation commissioner (who just happens to be married to Sen. Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.]) have filed a lawsuit to remove a successful two-way cycle track recently built along Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The media has embraced the campaign<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/02/14/have-you-seen-the-latest-marcia-krame…>, with a local politician contributing the most venomous and spirited rhetoric<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/01/24/markowitz-on-ppw-data-its-a-vast-biki…> . There is also a vociferous cadre of bicyclists who organize against bicycle infrastructure of all kinds<http://bicyclealliance.blogspot.com/2011/02/gravity-bike-lanes-and-limits-o…>, with the slogan: "bicyclists fare best when they act, and are treated in return, as drivers of vehicles." One such Vehicular Cycling organization in Ottawa, Ontario is rallying against<http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/Even+some+cyclists+oppose+cycling+lane/…>a high-profile cycle track planned in Canada's capital city. But as the research keeps rolling in, I suspect we'll continue to find that real bicycle infrastructure is going to be an amazing boon to bicycle transportation. For instance, we already knew that the air quality is better<http://bikeportland.org/2010/10/28/study-cycle-tracks-mean-better-air-quali…>, whether you're riding on a cycle track or walking on the sidewalk next to one. We know that, despite shopkeepers' fears, increased bicycling is good<http://therecord.blogs.com/take_the_lane/2010/06/cyclists-are-good-for-busi…>for business<http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/transit/2011/02/10/businesses-see-bi…> . We know that people will ride in greater numbers<http://communities.canada.com/montrealgazette/blogs/greenlife/archive/2010/…>on dedicated, separated bicycle infrastructure, and that with numbers comes safety<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-11-theres-safety-in-numbers-for-cyclis…> . As long as we continue to allow our streets to be dominated by cars, we need to go the extra mile -- or thousand miles -- to ensure that everyone who isn't in a motor vehicle at any given time is still able to move freely around the city. Separated infrastructure, like sidewalks and cycle tracks, are necessary if a car-oriented city is to be navigable by unarmored humans. Some day, I hope we don't need them. Until then, I hope we build them as well as possible. Elly Blue is a writer and bicycle activist living in Portland, Oregon.

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Active Transportation Canada - March 18, 2001
by Beth McKechnie 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Haynes <activetransportation(a)rogers.com> Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 1:02 PM Subject: Active Transportation Canada - March 18, 2001 Twenty (20) new items have been posted on the Active Transportation-Canada Website today. A complete list of titles may be found in the "Blog Archive" box, located on the right margin of the Website. Some sample items: 1. Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own 2. Video - Cycling Options for various disabilities: UK 3. Estimating the Employment Impacts of Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Road Infrastructure Active Transportation Canada URL: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com A "Search" function is available on the site. You will find this at the bottom of the page. With more than 1,000 items posted on Active Transportation - Canada, there are links available to dozens of studies and hundreds of news items from communities across Canada and the world. If anyone has a problem reading this message, please let me know. I welcome suggestions for posts, so if you have news items featuring your community, please share them with the other subscribers from Canada, the US, and Australia on Active Transportation-Canada. Thank you. Michael Haynes Director TransActive Solutions

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Post on NYC bike lane backlash
by Hall, Ian 17 Mar '11

17 Mar '11

Great blog post... Street Fight: What's Behind New York City's Bike Lane Backlash? http://citiwire.net/post/2562/

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LA Times: At 103, he's a three-wheeled wonder
by Beth McKechnie 16 Mar '11

16 Mar '11

[My new role model...] <http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/trb.latimes/news/local;;ptype=s;slug=la-me-l…> At 103, he's a three-wheeled wonder If it were up to Octavio Orduño, he'd still be cruising Long Beach on a two-wheeled bicycle. But his wife insisted he get a tricycle. The city wants to make him an ambassador for cycling: 'He's our poster boy for healthy, active living around here.' By Esmeralda Bermudez, Los Angeles Times March 14, 2011 [image: Long Beach 103 yr old tricyclist.jpg] It's time to ride, but Octavio Orduño, stubborn as ever, won't put on his glasses. His wife, Alicia, insists: "But you can't see without them." "No," he tells her. "I don't want to." Then he starts to head off, on his way. If it were up to Orduño, he would still be cruising the streets of Long Beach on a two-wheeler. But a few years back, Alicia insisted he add another wheel and get a tricycle. After all, he was 100 and beginning to lose his balance. He turns 103 on Monday, so he's probably the oldest cyclist in Long Beach. The city, which wants to make him an ambassador for biking, likes to call him "the oldest in the world." Orduño lives half a block from the beach. Nearly every day, he toddles from his third-floor condo to the garage where he keeps his red Torker tricycle. On it, he pedals around the neighborhood — to the park, the beach and the farmers market — in a ritual honed over nearly 40 years. Not long ago, the city's bike coordinator, a gregarious, gray-haired Texan named Charles Gandy, took notice. He befriended Orduño and shared his story online, posting two videos<http://acgallery.smugmug.com/Bike-Long-Beach/Octavio-Orduno/14894674_Lmmck%…>of him coasting down the bike lanes, propped up by his self-installed blue velvet backrest. And that's only the start of Gandy's plan, if the old man is game. He'd like to have him cut the ribbon at bike-friendly ceremonies and appear in television and radio ads. "He's our poster boy for healthy, active living around here," Gandy said, just what people need "to shake themselves out of a rut." Orduño loves the attention. But his riding around town isn't any sort of campaign. "It keeps me going," he said. "And it's better than sitting in the den all day watching cars go by." Alicia is right. With his glasses off, it's clear he can't see too much at all. No matter. He knows the six-block route to Bixby Park by feel. Aside from a few potholes that rock his hunched frame and make him yell "Ayyyy!," the voyage is smooth. "I can ride this bike all day long," he says as the world whizzes by in a blur: the grind of lawn mowers, the sour smell of garbage, two growling pit bulls — one black, one beige — and a pretty girl in a flowery skirt. The retired aerospace mechanic can't recall how old he was when he first started riding. He just remembers it took him a long time to persuade his father to buy him a bike. The two used to argue all the time over school, which Orduño found boring and pointless. So at 16 he ran away, hopping freight trains from Oregon to Wisconsin to Chicago. For years, he says, he labored on farms and laid railroad track, stashing his cash in an old tobacco tin. When the Great Depression struck in 1929, the trains he rode filled up with desperate men — former doctors and lawyers who had lost it all. His first marriage lasted 20 years and gave him four children — three boys, one girl. With Alicia, he had two more girls. Next year, the couple will celebrate their 60th anniversary. His kids, grandkids and great-grandkids are spread across California and as far afield as New Mexico, Indiana and Missouri. A few times a year, his son Eddie, 79, visits from his home north of Fresno. At the sight of him, Orduño lights up. "I don't know how many days he has left, how many months, how many years," Eddie said of his father. "But he's had a full life." Alicia wants him to keep having one. There are days she has to scold him. When he turned 100 and the state took away his driver's license, she thought he'd be safer. But he returns from his tricycle rides scraped up from falls. Not long ago, on his way out of the garage, his foot slipped going uphill and he flipped over. His face hit the concrete. The bike landed on his leg. He lay on the ground for half an hour before a neighbor came to his rescue. Once, he and the tricycle* *came home in a police car. "That time, I thought I was clear, so I let it roll," he says. "I think I was going about 30 miles an hour when I went over the curb and some guys came to help me." A day or two later, he was back on the street, "like nothing ever happened," Alicia said. A few minutes into his ride to Bixby Park, the grassy knolls come into view and Orduño proudly calls out: "We're here!<http://www.latimes.com/topic/economy-business-finance/media-industry/televi…> " He waits in a driveway for the light to turn green so he can cross busy Ocean Boulevard. Just then, a giant Suburban comes up behind him, waiting for him to move. But Orduño, caught uphill without momentum, can't get his ride to budge. The driver takes in the scene and laughs. "Puchenlo! Puchenlo!" he teases out the window. *Somebody push him!* At the park, Orduño speeds past the grass and the picnic benches, where seniors lounge in the sun. He goes straight to the back, to his favorite place: the skateboarding zone. There, on an open stretch of concrete, young guys with shaggy hair and saggy pants zoom around, grinding the ground with ollies and flips. Orduño hits his brakes and takes it all in. His mouth drops open in a smile. They return the favor, singing his praises. "Hey, sweet ride, man!" "Yo, check him out! He's down." Nick Tarrant, a 21-year-old with a stubbly goatee and a low-slung action bike, asks him his name, practically yelling so Orduño can hear him. "Hey, it's OK. I'm deaf too," Tarrant tells him, pointing to his own earpieces. The two talk bikes and hearing aids, and then Orduño says goodbye. He is ready to ride home, to Alicia and his usual dinner of beans, brown rice and vegetables. "Sometimes," Orduño says, as he reaches his block, "I feel stronger than the year before." With his birthday approaching, there's been talk of getting him an electric wheelchair. Alicia thinks it will make it easier for her husband to get around. But Orduño has grown attached to his three-wheeler and has no plans to give it up. "Why would I?" he said. As for the wheelchair, "I think she can use it and follow me when I ride." *esmeralda.bermudez(a)latimes.com*

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Tearing down urban freeways to make room for a new bicycle economy
by Beth McKechnie 15 Mar '11

15 Mar '11

Tearing down urban freeways to make room for a new bicycle economy by Elly Blue <http://www.grist.org/member/386213> Grist Magazine 14 Mar 2011 9:31 AM [ http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-14-tearing-down-urban-freeways-to-make… ] *This is the second column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Part 1 was "How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)<http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-28-how-bicycling-will-save-the-economy>." * [image: bikenomics]Here's one way to fund bicycle infrastructure: Stop building freeways in cities. Better yet, tear down the ones we already have. Cities are starting to catch on that becoming bicycle friendly is one of the best investments they can make**<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-27-why-an-additional-road-tax-for-bicy…> . Cities are also starting to realize that removing freeways makes more economic sense than maintaining or expanding them. In the last year, with the help of federal and state funding, cities like Baltimore and New Haven have been demolishing<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0302/Downtown-need-a-makeover-More-cities…>the "highways to nowhere" that have divided their neighborhoods, drained their populations<http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2009/09/the-cost-of-urban-freeways/>, and damaged their economies<http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/valley_freeways/Loop_202/South_Mountain/artic…>and their children's health<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR200701260…>since the 1970s. ** Finding room for safe bicycle infrastructure in already strained and contested budgets can be difficult. That's especially true in places where bicycling has no historical place in the transportation budget, and is still seen as either a whim of the elite or last resort of the poor. But the economic benefits of freeway removal make anything seem possible. Our freeway system is crumbling. Freeways in cities are vastly expensive, disastrous for public health and safety, and destructive of community. The damages disproportionately affect the poor<http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2010/09/24/highway-to-nowhere-coming-down-not-…> . Urban freeways are also ineffective as transportation solutions. Caught in the vicious feedback loop of induced demand<http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/03/puncturing-myth-more-r…>, they cannot be expanded fast enough to keep up with increasing traffic -- yet each expansion lures yet more drivers who create yet more congestion and demand more lanes, ad infinitum. The maintenance and expansion of these roadways gobble up transportation funds that could create and maintain less costly and destructive alternatives. The numbers at play are almost too large to comprehend, but comparison is enlightening. Bike lanes cost anywhere from $5,000 to $60,000 per mile<http://issuu.com/bikeleague/docs/economic_benefits_bicycle_infrastructure_r…>to add to an existing road. That includes everything from engineering and design to paint and concrete to traffic signals. Does that seem like a lot? Well, let's compare. Freeway construction in Michigan's countryside clocks in at $8 million per mile <http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-14011-28076--F,00.html>. In the state's cities, with their need for overpasses, underpasses, exits and entrances, and mitigation of construction impacts on health and commerce, the cost jumps to an average of $39 million per mile. And that's a bargain-basement rate compared to many parts of the country. On the other end of the spectrum, Boston has the most expensive urban freeway systems in the country, costing over $1 billion per mile<http://www-pam.usc.edu/volume2/v2i1a3s2.html> . In Portland, Ore., a single mile of urban freeway costs on average $65 million per mile to build; that's about the same dollar figure as the entire amount as the city spent in 20 years on the bicycle infrastructure that made it one of the most famous bicycle cities in the world<http://www.planetizen.com/node/42773>, with a bicycle economy worth far more than that amount every year<http://bikeportland.org/2008/09/11/report-bike-related-economy-worth-90-mil…> .* *For further perspective, it was just announced that $100 million has already been spent on planning for a contentious $4 to $10 billion freeway expansion project here that may never be built<http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/02/a_misfire_in_design_nee…> . Those sums don't include maintenance, which can cost nearly as much as building new miles of freeway, and which, thanks to our interstate system being largely built in a short period of time, is all starting to crumble at once<http://rightdemocrat.blogspot.com/2010/05/us-pirg-report-calls-for-fixing.h…>in the last decade -- just as federal transportation funding is running out fast<http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2011/Mar11/031111/031111-03.sh…> .* *(Remember that bridge in Minnesota<http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-02-minneapolis-bridge_N.htm> ?)* *As early as 2000, the amount of spending needed for basic, safe maintenance of our national freeways and bridges was 20 percent higher<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2002cpr/ch24.htm>than the $30 billion that was spent that year. By contrast, according to a 2009 report by the League of American Bicyclists, for the $75 million spent repaving three miles of urban interstate, California could have installed<http://issuu.com/bikeleague/docs/economic_benefits_bicycle_infrastructure_r…>1,250 miles of some of the country's most expensive bike lanes. Cities that have chosen (or been forced by citizen groups<http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-portland/>) to stop building or to remove freeways have been rewarded tremendously, and not just economically<http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/07/06/huh-4-cases-of-how-tearing-down-…> . [image: Woman on bike in SF.]<http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindavidsson/154575832/>The scene today on San Francisco's Embarcadero, where a freeway once loomed.Photo: Martin Davidsson <http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindavidsson/154575832/>Talk of removing San Francisco's Embarcadero Freeway began almost as soon as it was built. When it was taken out of commission by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, it quickly became clear that the predicted traffic snarls weren't happening; it was demolished and replaced with an arterial street and a now beloved linear park<http://www.streetfilms.org/lessons-from-san-francisco/>along the water. When the city of Milwaukee, Wisc. removed a contested, never-finished freeway spur in 2002, the estimated cost for needed safety repairs was $100 million. Removal cost $25 million, and the 26 acres of land freed up for redevelopment attracted over $300 million in investments<http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/FreewaysParkEast.html>. Mayor John Norquist, overseeing the project, famously said, "Highways don't belong in cities. Period." President Eisenhower, the father of the U.S. interstate system, agreed. He reportedly only discovered that freeways were being built in cities, rather than between them, in 1959. He wanted them to be eliminated<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm#question23a>, but the march of progress had already left him behind. He was right: We don't need freeways in cities. And we can't afford them. Not every city has gotten that message. Right now in Seattle, the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct seems destined to be replaced by a costly freeway tunnel<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-12-15-seattle-car-centric-mega-tunnel-car…>along the city's waterfront -- despite the wishes of voters. In San Diego County, the $2.6 billion proposed for spending<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/25/bicycles-big-part-future-tra…>on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure over the next 40 years has attracted more scrutiny than the $82 billion slated for roads<http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/dec/17/sandag-approves-40-year-transportation…>in the same plan, including at least one highly contested freeway expansion project. In Portland, planning is underway for a new, widened freeway bridge that will bring more congestion into the center of the city. The ultimate cost of that project is estimated to be between $4 and $10 billion. There's a lot of criticism of the cost of bicycle infrastructure. But look at it this way: the simple act of choosing not to build one mile of urban freeway can buy you a world-class bicycle city with a thriving local economy. We can tear down these freeways and make sure that green spaces, equitable new development, and quality walking and bicycling infrastructure take their place. Soon, we may have no other choice. *Two weeks from today, we'll take on the health care crisis. With bikes, of course. * Elly Blue is a writer and bicycle activist living in Portland, Oregon.

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Active Transportation - Canada: March 14, 2011
by Beth McKechnie 14 Mar '11

14 Mar '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Haynes <activetransportation(a)rogers.com> Date: Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 10:21 AM Subject: Active Transportation - Canada: March 14, 2011 Dear Listserv Members: Ten (10) new items have been posted on the Active Transportation-Canada Website, and for something different, all are from our neighbours to the south, the US and Mexico. There are some fascinating an surprisingly developments taking place in these countries, and as advocates of Active Transportation it might be helpful to be aware of a few of them. A complete list of titles may be found in the "Blog Archive" box, located on the right margin of the Website. some highlights in this collection include: - San Diego - Billions proposed for bike lanes, pedestrian-friendly streets - Los Angeles plans 1600 mile cycle lane network - New York - Battle of the Bike Lanes Active Transportation Canada URL: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com A "Search" function is available on the site. You will find this at the bottom of the page. With more than 1,000 items posted on Active Transportation - Canada, there are links available to dozens of studies and hundreds of news items from communities across Canada and the world. If anyone has a problem reading this message, please let me know. I welcome suggestions for posts, so if you have news items featuring your community, please share them with the many subscribers to Active Transportation-Canada. Thank you. Michael Haynes Director TransActive Solutions

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Bike to Work Day Winnipeg - Event Coordinator Posting
by Beth McKechnie 11 Mar '11

11 Mar '11

Hello! Please find attached an event coordinator posting for Bike to Work Day Winnipeg, which takes place this year on Friday, June 24th. It would be greatly appreciated if you could circulate it within your networks or forward to individuals who you think might be a good fit. thanks, Beth

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Bike to Work Day Winnipeg, Event Coordinator
by Mike Tutthill 11 Mar '11

11 Mar '11

Bike to Work Day Winnipeg Event Coordinator Want to coordinate an exciting city wide event that celebrates cycling culture? The Bike to Work Day Winnipeg planning team is looking for an event coordinator to assist with Bike to Work Day Winnipeg 2011 (June 24, 2011). New ideas and approaches will be welcomed. In general, the individual will be responsible for: * Attending meetings of and reporting to the planning committee * Updating a sponsorship package and soliciting donations from previous and new sponsors * Assisting with the development and coordination of promotional materials, and liaising with the planning team, graphic designer and web developer * Assisting with overall coordination of pancake breakfast and coordinating rides from established Oases in the city, including the coordination of volunteers * Communicating with media and developing partnerships with other related community organizations * Preparing a report of the event and recommendations for events in future years * Performing other coordination duties as needed Required skills and experience * Creativity in event planning and promotion * Exceptional organizational and communication skills * Able to deliver commitments under pressure * Comfortable working with a volunteer-run planning team * Development of sponsorship packages and soliciting sponsors * Event coordination and promotion * Community engagement * Media relations * Volunteer coordination * Report writing This is approximately a 3-month contract, beginning April 4th until submission of a final report, for $7500 - $10 000 depending on experience and details of the final contract. The independent contractor will be responsible to provide their own office, office supplies and equipment. The successful applicant will be accountable to the volunteer planning committee. Interested candidates should forward a résumé, covering letter and references to relevant experience to mike.tutthill(a)biketoworkdaywinnipeg.org by March 28, 2011. Mike Tutthill Information & Access Coordinator HEALTH in COMMON 100-6 Donald Street Winnipeg, MB R3L 0K6 tel: 204.949.2002 1.800.731.1792 fax: 204.284.2404 email: <mailto:mtutthill@healthincommon.ca> mtutthill(a)healthincommon.ca web: <http://www.healthincommon.ca> www.healthincommon.ca +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ April E-Newsletter deadline is March 18. <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-in-Common/120069149875> Health in Common on Facebook * Please consider the environment before printing this email. Coming to Health in Common? By bicycle: Bicycle parking is located behind the building. By Winnipeg transit: Routes 62, 65, 66, 68, 70 By car: Two visitor parking spaces are available at the back of the building. Street parking (restrictions): Bell Avenue (1hr 9h00 17h30), Clarke Street (none); Lewis (none); Cauchon (none); River (none west of Clarke).

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Thank you for cycling!
by Beth McKechnie 07 Mar '11

07 Mar '11

Great story from: http://www.torontocranks.com/?p=2363<http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/anonymous-gifts-say-thank-you-for-c…>(can we hold out hope for a Winnipeg benefactor?) -cheers, Beth Thank you for cycling! March 2nd, 2011 I was riding along the College Street bike lane heading east and was coming up to the red light at University Ave. and an older woman stepped out to the edge of the sidewalk and handed me an envelope saying “Thank You for cycling today”! I thought it might be a flyer or something so I stuck it into my pocket and started through the now green light. On the other side of the intersection another cyclist passed me and turned to say ” how much do you think is inside” as he waved his envelope, I said I don’t know maybe its a coffee coupon. A bit further ahead I thought I’d make a U-turn and go back and see who she worked for, but she was gone. When I got home I looked at the envelope. It’s hand lettered “Thank You ($ gift inside).” I opened it and inside was a letter and a new $5.00 bill. Wow! So I took the $5.00 and bought 2 lottery tickets for tonights 6/49 draw! You don’t think she works for Rob Ford’s office?? Tom Polarbear

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Fwd: UWSA Ice Riders Bike Lab
by Beth McKechnie 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

Hi everyone, I’m part of a student group at the University of Winnipeg called the Ice Riders, and we are a non-profit organization there to help people have better access to the resources they need to bike all year round. We’re in the process of building a bike lab on the Downtown campus, which should be completed this spring, and it will be a base for anyone with a bike to come by for repairs, advice, or even to build a bike. Myself and close to fifty other students and non students are committed to volunteering our time to make this a success, but a real issue is funding. The link below takes you to a video which was created by a few members and friends and submitted to the TD Go Green Challenge, where the successful candidates will receive $100,000.00 to go towards implementing their project. TD is doing a people’s choice award of $2,500.00, which is where your vote counts for this. Take a look if you’d like, and if you are so inclined please vote for them. Any vote helps, and so far we’re ahead of the pack! Regards, Michael Chiasson PS please feel free to pass it on to anyone you like! http://www.tdgogreenchallenge.com/video/id/86/playid/86#

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Why do people in cars hate people on bikes so much? (Grist & Outside articles)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

Share the road rage Why do people in cars hate people on bikes so much? by Sarah Goodyear <http://www.grist.org/member/376533> 24 Feb 2011 4:10 PM [ http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-24-why-do-people-in-cars-hate-people-o… ] If you've ever been behind the wheel of a car, you've felt it: The dead certainty that everyone around you is a complete idiot who should get the hell out of your way. If you've spent much time riding a bicycle, you have been the target of that wrath. And without the protective metal-and-glass bubble that shields drivers (mostly) from each other's anger, it's easy to feel the hate. A horn honked in your ear by someone zooming past, an insult shouted out a window, the grit kicked up in your face by someone passing too close -- just to make a point. It's scary. The expression "road rage" apparently originated in America in the 1980s<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage>, and the concept was absorbed into our national DNA a long time ago. It's part of how we see ourselves, a danger so familiar it's become mundane, a cultural cliché. Driving a car does something strange to you. Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book *Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us<http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780307277190?&PID=25450> *), has explained it<http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/tom-vanderbilt/>this way: What happens to most of us, in most driving conditions, is that we're losing some of the key attributes that facilitate human cooperation and, in a larger sense, society. Eye contact, for example, has been shown in any number of experiments to increase the chance of gaining cooperation - that's why when drivers give you what was called on *Seinfeld* the "stare-ahead," your chances that they'll let you merge in ahead of them are greatly reduced. Then there's the anonymity in traffic - there's no one to spread rumors or gossip about you about how bad your behavior was -- not to mention the lack of consequences for acting like an idiot. It's all strikingly similar to the way we act on the internet, in what's called the "online disinhibition effect." Now Vanderbilt has written a terrific article in *Outside<http://outsideonline.com/adventure/travel-ga-201103-new-york-bike-commuting…> * about the way that people driving cars and people riding bicycles interact with each other -- and the psychology behind the "bikelash" that's taken hold as bicycles have become increasingly popular as a mode of transportation as well as recreation. People on bikes, of course, are not equal players in the battle for road space. They don't have a metal shell to protect them. Maybe that's why they are easy targets for road rage: Because they look a lot more human than people in cars do, and because they rely on eye contact and hand signals to express their intentions, rather than on blinking lights and sheer metallic muscle. Because they are more vulnerable. Vanderbilt writes about how the idea that "cyclists" are a group unto themselves, an "other," creates some of the problem: This dynamic appears on the road in all kinds of ways. "We know that merely perceiving someone as an outsider is enough to provoke a whole range of things," says Ian Walker, a researcher at the University of Bath who specializes in traffic psychology. "All the time, you hear drivers saying things like 'Cyclists, they're all running red lights, they're all riding on sidewalks,' while completely overlooking the fact that the group they identify with regularly engages in a whole host of negative behaviors as well." This social categorization is subtle but dominant, he points out. When people are given a piece of paper and asked to describe themselves, "men never write, 'I'm a man.' Whereas women will write 'woman' because being male is the 'default' status in society." And so it is with cyclists. In a country like the Netherlands, which has more bikes than people and where virtually the entire population cycles at one time or another, the word cyclist isn't meaningful. But in the U.S., the term often implies something more, in both a good and a bad sense. There's also a not-so-subtle class element in play: Yes, cultural politics are getting weird, which may also explain some of the tension, as Brian Ladd, author of the 2008 book *Autophobia*, argues. "Most Americans," he wrote in a December post on the urban-planning Web site Planetizen.com <http://www.planetizen.com/>, "know one thing about the bicyclists they see on the roads: they are losers, and you thank God you're not one of them." But wait, he says, noting the fashionability of cycling: Who's doing the sneering here? "It's harder to dismiss cyclists as beneath contempt," he says, "when you suspect that they might just be contemptuous of you." You should read Vanderbilt's article in full [note: pasted below], because it's packed with great stuff (he rides along with one guy who commutes 50 miles each way by bike twice a week, and talks with another who documents his interactions with angry drivers on video). Unlike a lot of the writing on this topic, it is well-reasoned and well-researched. In the end, Vanderbilt comes to a pretty simple conclusion: In thinking about how to improve driver-cyclist relations in America, the easiest thing is to simply get more people on bikes. Because that way, it won't be us vs. them. It'll just be us. -- [Warning: The next article is lengthy but well worth reading.] Outside Magazine, March 2011<http://outsideonline.com/travel/travel-ta-201103/table-of-contents/travel-t…> http://outsideonline.com/adventure/travel-ga-201103-new-york-bike-commuting… Rage Against Your Machine What is it about cyclists that can turn sane, law-abiding drivers into shrieking maniacs? The author ponders the eternal conflict with help from bike supercommuter Joe Simonetti, who each week survives the hostile, traffic-clogged rat race between the New York exurbs and Midtown Manhattan. By *Tom Vanderbilt * THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU DEFINES AN "EXTREME COMMUTER" AS SOMEONE WHO SPENDS MORE THAN THREE HOURS GETTING TO AND FROM WORK. This is usually understood to be by car. It's not clear, then, how the Census would categorize Joe Simonetti, a 57-year-old psychotherapist who lives with his wife in Pound Ridge, New York. His commute takes him from the northern reaches of exurban Westchester County to his office just south of Central Park. It's about three and a half hours each way. By bike. When I heard about Simonetti's commute—some 50-odd road miles as Google Maps flies—I was vaguely stupefied. It may or may not be the longest bike commute in America, but it's certainly the most improbable. In my mind's eye, there was the dense clamor of New York City, then a netherland of train yards and traffic-clogged overpasses, then an outer belt of big-box retail, and then you were suddenly in the land of golf courses and five-acre zoning—where middle managers crowd the bar car on Metro-North and hedge-fund analysts cruise in 7 Series BMWs down I-95. The idea that this landscape could be traversed on a bike struck me as fantastic. This is America, where 65 percent of trips under one mile are made by car. But at 7 A.M. on a mid-November Thursday—among the last of the year on which Simonetti was going to ride—I packed my bike into the back of a hired minivan and headed for Pound Ridge, noting with subtle alarm the ticking off of miles as we pushed north. Simonetti obviously isn't the typical bike commuter. For one thing, he does it only twice a week, weather permitting. For another, he doesn't ride home the same day; he has a crash pad in the city where he can shower and sleep. But in following this supercommuter, I wanted to open a window into what it means to be a cyclist in a country where the bicycle struggles for the barest acceptance as a means of transportation. Over the years and the miles, Simonetti has experienced just about everything a cyclist can on the roads today: honked horns, cramped bike lanes, close calls with cars, and even a few crashes—the last one landing him in the hospital. I was curious to ride with him for the sheer novelty of it, and also to get a handle on what seemed to be an increasingly prevalent culture war between cyclists and drivers, one that was claiming actual lives. At least for one beautiful morning, I wanted to move beyond the alarming headlines and toxic chat rooms and into the real world, to get a sense of how, why—and if—things had gotten so bad. My interest isn't because I'm a cyclist, though I am, in the loose recreational sense. Rather, the issue was forced upon me by the publication of my 2008 book *Traffic*, which looked at the oft-peculiar psychology of drivers. Cyclists were among the book's most devoted readers, although I'm still not sure if it's because they found my dissection of drivers' foibles educational or cathartic. After all, the little things that drivers think are excusable—forgetting a turn signal, weaving a bit as they fumble for their Big Gulps—can range from frustrating to life-threatening for a cyclist. Simonetti's house, a cozy ranch that he jokes is the smallest in Pound Ridge, sits on a twisting country lane. The walkability-measuring Web site Walkscore.org <http://www.walkscore.org/> gives his address a rating of zero, meaning, basically, that you can't get around without a car. Tall and trim, with a professorial salt-and-pepper beard, Simonetti is waiting with his LeMond Buenos Aires, a 50th-birthday gift that, he jokes, makes him look "like a real cyclist." Clad in a helmet, gloves, and a blue cycling jacket, he fills our bikes' bottles with a mixture of juice and water, checks that his back pouch has spare tubes (I've forgotten mine), and clicks his shoes into his pedals. On a still-brisk morning—it's 8:30, and Simonetti's first appointment is at noon—we push off onto a route that Simonetti has refined over the years. It was, in fact, a bike ride that brought him here from the city. After a ride across America for charity in 1998, he returned to New York feeling "a bit midlifey." His daughter was already a teenager, and he craved nature. He and his wife, Carol Goldman, a social worker, were searching for a house that "felt country" but was still within cycling reach of Manhattan. "I never want to commute five days a week by train," he says. He is surely the only person in the history of Westchester County to arrive for a house showing by bike from Manhattan. "They thought I was pretty weird," he says of the realtors. He stresses that he is purely a "functional" cyclist: he rides when he needs to get somewhere, be it the hardware store or Midtown. Our route snakes through preternaturally quiet daytime suburbs whose streets seem plied primarily by women in SUVs and tradesmen in pickups. A Latino landscaping crew smiles at us as we ride through the leaf storm they've blown up in Greenwich, Connecticut. We don't see any other cyclists until New Rochelle, and even then it's two young girls riding on the sidewalk. In the town of Rye Brook, a little after 10 A.M., we pause at a deli for Simonetti's traditional pit-stop fare: an egg-white omelet with Swiss on a whole-wheat bagel. They all know him here, and a clipping from a local paper detailing his commute is stuck on the wall, behind a picture of the clerk's daughter. Here, Simonetti is not some "Lycra lout," some "Lance wannabe," or any of the other epithets often hurled at cyclists. He's simply Joe. He's the guy who rides his bike to work. And, thanks to me and my questions and my questionable pace, he's late. SOMEWHERE SOUTH of Pelham, Simonetti tells me of a crash last summer, in the Bronx, that left him with a broken collarbone. It was a "right hook," one of the most common crash types for cyclists: a driver, traveling in Simonetti's lane ahead of him, suddenly turned right—without signaling—directly into Simonetti's path. An ambulance responded quickly, but the police did not. The paramedics told Simonetti the police would deal with the driver when they arrived, he says. "But the guy left. I don't blame him." When the police, investigating what was now a hit-and-run, came to the hospital, they asked him if he'd gotten the license-plate number. "I was laid out on the ground," he laughs. The driver was never found. Judging by recent headlines, it's not hard to believe that riding a bike has become a little like entering a war zone. No story blew up more than that of Steven Milo, a prominent New York anesthesiologist who was struck near Vail, Colorado, last July 3 by Martin Erzinger, a Denver money manager who specializes in "ultra-high-net-worth individuals." After veering off the road and hitting Milo from behind, throwing him off his bike, Erzinger drove to a Pizza Hut parking lot and called Mercedes roadside assistance. Milo, meanwhile, sustained spinal injuries, lacerations, and, according to court documents quoted by the *Vail Daily*, "bleeding from the brain." When the district attorney, citing "job implications" for Erzinger should he be convicted of a felony, downgraded the hit-and-run charges to a misdemeanor, the cycling blogosphere went off like a supernova. Erzinger had told police that he'd never seen Milo; among the more outlandish of his lawyer's later defenses was that "new-car smell" had impaired his client. Ultimately, the judge accepted the prosecutor's misdemeanor plea deal and sentenced Erzinger to probation, a suspended jail term, and community service. Last September, in Maryland, Natasha Pettigrew, a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, was training at dawn for a triathlon when she was fatally struck by a Cadillac Escalade. No charges have yet been filed against the driver, who said that she thought she'd hit an animal until she got home and found Pettigrew's bike lodged under her car. In Florida, the country's deadliest state for cyclists—119 deaths in 2007, ten more than California despite having half the population—two riders participating in last year's annual Memorial Day ride were stabbed by a driver after words were exchanged on the road. In 2009, the last year for which records are available, 630 cyclists were killed by cars in the U.S. (compared with 4,092 pedestrians). That's arguably a big improvement over the 1,003 cyclist fatalities that occurred in 1975, when, as Census data hint, far fewer people were commuting by bike and still fewer wore helmets. And yet, even if things have gotten safer, at least in terms of absolute deaths (which are easier to measure than where or how much people are actually cycling), a sense of hostility—and sometimes outright violence—seems to be on the rise. When accidents do happen, they can generate as much vitriol as concern, as drivers circle their station wagons and trot out now familiar arguments: that the roads are meant for cars, or that cyclists don't pay for the roads—a particularly unwarranted charge, given that local streets are paid for primarily by sales and property taxes. There's a feeling among many drivers that cyclists, either by their ignorance of the law or by their blatant disregard for it, are asking for trouble. "If the door opens into a bicycle rider," opined Rush Limbaugh on his radio show in 2009, "I won't care." In one sense, the so-called bikelash has little to do with transportation modes. In the late 1960s, a pair of British psychologists set out to understand the ways in which we humans tend to split ourselves into opposing factions. They divided a group of teenage schoolboys, who all knew each other, into two groups and asked them to perform a number of "trivial tasks." The boys were then asked to give money to fellow subjects, who were anonymous save for their group affiliation. As it turned out, the schoolboys consistently gave more money to members of their own group, even though these groups had just formed and were essentially meaningless. "The mere division into groups," wrote the psychologists, Henri Tajfel and Michael Billig, of the University of Bristol, "might have been sufficient to have produced discriminatory behavior." Though not exactly *Lord of the Flies*, the experiment was a demonstration of the power of what's called "social categorization"—and the penalties inflicted on the "out-group." This dynamic appears on the road in all kinds of ways. "We know that merely perceiving someone as an outsider is enough to provoke a whole range of things," says Ian Walker, a researcher at the University of Bath who specializes in traffic psychology. "All the time, you hear drivers saying things like 'Cyclists, they're all running red lights, they're all riding on sidewalks,' while completely overlooking the fact that the group they identify with regularly engages in a whole host of negative behaviors as well." This social categorization is subtle but dominant, he points out. When people are given a piece of paper and asked to describe themselves, "men never write, 'I'm a man.' Whereas women will write 'woman' because being male is the 'default' status in society." And so it is with cyclists. In a country like the Netherlands, which has more bikes than people and where virtually the entire population cycles at one time or another, the word cyclist isn't meaningful. But in the U.S., the term often implies something more, in both a good and a bad sense. On the one hand, cyclists have a strong group affiliation, with clubs, group rides, and a flourishing network of bike blogs. And yet the oft-invoked idea of "bike culture" itself betrays cycling's marginal status in America, observes Eben Weiss, creator of the blog Bike Snob NYC, in his book *Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling*. "The truth is," he writes, "real cultures rarely call themselves cultures, just like famous things rarely call *themselves* famous." The dark side of the "cyclist" label is that it becomes a shortcut to social categorization. Suddenly, that messenger who cut in front of you becomes the face of an entire population. And the next time you have an unpleasant encounter with a cyclist, it isn't just a matter of his (or your) carelessness: it seems intentional. Simonetti sees this type of reaction all the time, on the road and in his practice. "As a couples therapist, I tell people that we take things so personally," he says as we near the Whitestone Bridge, on the first dedicated bike path we've seen in more than two hours. It's easy, when a car edges too close or cuts him off, to "go to that paranoid place where they're just trying to fuck with me. We're so worried that someone else can steal our sense of self that we fight for it at every turn." But it could have been just that the driver didn't see him. Under the spell of what's called "inattentional blindness," people have been known to miss obvious things simply because they're not looking for them. Either that or what seems inconsequential in a car—passing by within a foot or two—can be terrifying to someone on a bike. One way to find out what drivers are thinking, of course, is to actually stop and ask them, which is precisely what one Wisconsin cyclist has been doing, with interesting results, for the past few years. THE FIRST THING Jeff Frings wants you to know is that he's not out to get drivers. (He is one, after all.) The second thing is that he doesn't have a persecution complex. "The majority of drivers go out of their way to give me room, and are decent and good drivers around cyclists," says Frings, a news cameraman and avid rider who lives in the suburbs of Milwaukee. "The problem is, it only takes one mistake to end your life or put you in a wheelchair." A few years ago, Frings found out what happens when you encounter someone who isn't a good and decent driver. Out on a weekday ride, he was nearly sideswiped. Heated words followed. The driver accelerated away, then screeched on his brakes right in front of him. "I said, 'This is out of control,'" says Frings. "I called 911." This wasn't the only time. A similar incident ended not with a reprimand of the driver but with a threat by the responding officer to book Frings for disorderly conduct. Rattled by these experiences and dismayed by the lack of evidence, Frings mounted two small video cameras: one on his helmet, one rear-facing on the handlebars. Frings started filming every one of the 100 to 250 miles he rides in a week, to provide proof against the claims of drivers, who are typically the only ones left standing after a serious bike-car crash. He posts the worst encounters on his Web site, bikesafer.blogspot.com<http://www.bikesafer.blogspot.com/>, which could provide grist for a reality show: *America's Douchiest Drivers*. The incidents tend to follow a pattern: 1. Driver cuts him off or nearly runs him off the road. 2. Frings catches up to driver at red light. 3. Frings points out error of driver's ways. 4. Driver says something like "Get on the sidewalk where you belong, jag-off!" 5. Thus ensues what Frings calls "the Conversation," in which he notes (sometimes to police officers) that it's in fact illegal for him to ride on the sidewalk, and that while the law dictates that he be "as far to the right as practicable," that doesn't mean the shoulder, and so forth. Typically, this goes about as well you'd expect. "I'm trying to be less confrontational," says Frings. He's embracing politeness. "Can I just ask you one favor?" he will say. "Can you give me a little more room next time?" He takes his victories in handshakes, promises to do better, and the occasional ticket police give a driver after seeing Frings's evidence. And while he's not optimistic about converting the "haters"—those who believe bikes have no place on the road—he hopes that if he can just get one driver to be more empathetic toward cyclists, it's worth it. "Because the next time," he says, "could be my time." The confusion over the laws pertaining to cyclists unfortunately echoes throughout the entire legal system, argues Bob Mionske, a two-time Olympic cyclist and Portland, Oregon–based lawyer specializing in cases involving bikers. "Enforcement is really where it all starts," he says. "If the police don't respect your mode of transportation, don't expect the rest of society to." Laws are often unenforced. In researching a case in Tennessee where a driver hit a cyclist (who was "lit up like a Christmas tree," says Mionske) while passing, he found that the driver hadn't been given a ticket for violating the state's three-foot passing law—in fact, he couldn't find a case where a ticket had ever been given. Even worse, laws are sometimes used against cyclists. In 2008, a cyclist in Madison, Wisconsin, who'd been hospitalized after being "doored" was actually ticketed for riding less than three feet away from parked cars—even though, as most state traffic codes note, it's the driver's responsibility not to obstruct traffic of any kind when he opens his door. But the biker had only bad choices: ride too far into traffic and risk getting hit, or ride to the right and risk getting doored. Wisconsin has since changed the law. In Mionske's view, justice for cyclists is often invisible, handled with civil settlements that rarely draw public attention. And criminal justice often hangs on a knife-edge. When a 14-year-old teenager in Connecticut was fatally struck by a speeding driver, Mionske notes that it was the driver's prior convictions—including multiple DWIs—that helped land him in jail. For anything but the most egregious cases, Mionske says, a driver who strikes a cyclist—even fatally—is rarely even brought to trial. In the case of the Vail hit-and-run last July, what changed things was that the victim was a successful doctor. "He wasn't going to sit down on this," Mionske says. "Can you imagine if the guy had been collecting aluminum cans?" Like many cyclists, Mionske would like to see some version of the liability system used in the Netherlands and other European countries, in which the burden of proof in a car-cyclist crash is on the driver—the idea being to encourage the user of the far deadlier vehicle to act more cautiously around the more "vulnerable road users," as cyclists are called in road-safety parlance. Of course, if calling cyclists "vulnerable" makes it seem like they're never to blame, that's not true, either. It's not just those hipsters on fixies sealed off from the world by earbuds who give bikers an image problem. Plenty of well-meaning bike commuters aren't aware of the laws, or fail to use bright flashing lights at night, or turn without giving hand signals. Statistically, some studies show cyclists running more red lights than drivers—for a number of complicated reasons, whether to conserve momentum, to get ahead of traffic and be more visible, or, more profoundly, perhaps because their out-group status leads them to act that way. But the red lights may be a red herring. The way cyclists get hurt seems to have less to do with their own culpability and more to do with getting hit by cars—either from behind or when a car turns right, the way Simonetti was struck. Echoing research in the UK, a recent three-year study by Australia's Monash University found that in 54 recorded crashes among a sampling of cyclists, drivers were at fault nearly nine out of ten times. Regardless of fault, there's another twist here. As various studies have found, the more cyclists and cycling infrastructure a town has, the safer it becomes statistically, not just for cyclists but for drivers and pedestrians alike. When New York City put a protected bike lane on Ninth Avenue, some protested it as unsafe for people on foot. But since the lane's opening, pedestrian injuries on Ninth have dropped by 29 percent. Last year, as miles of bike lanes were added, New York had its best pedestrian-safety record ever. While Mionske is generally positive about recent initiatives like Oregon's Vulnerable Road User law, which stiffens penalties for striking a pedestrian or cyclist, and the bicyclist bills of rights passed in a number of other states, he believes that laws are not enough. "Until the public attitude changes, you're not going to change the experience everyone has out there in the world," he says, "whether it's other kinds of discrimination or modism—discriminating against people because of their mode of transportation." THERE ARE TIMES, however, when the gulf seems too wide to span. On one of his rides, Frings was hailed by a man standing in his front yard. The man announced he had passed him earlier in his car. He told Frings he had almost hit him, because he was riding too far into the road. "I tried to explain to him the concept of 'taking the lane'—that the lane's too narrow for us to be side by side, and drivers would think they could pass me even when there's oncoming traffic," Frings says. "That concept, before I talked to him about it, was completely foreign to him. He couldn't understand how it would be safer for me to ride farther out." Hence one of the major fault lines of driver-cyclist relations. While virtually every cyclist in America is also a driver, relatively few drivers are also cyclists. "People either don't know how to handle you," says Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, "or they don't want to handle you." There's an empathy gap that, as you know if you've spent much time on cycling blogs, can cut both ways. In one study in which drivers were asked how they feel about cyclists, one of the recurring labels was "unpredictable." When asked to elaborate, drivers often blamed the "attitudes and limited competence" of the cyclists themselves, rather than the "difficulty of the situations that cyclists are often forced to face on the road." When asked to describe their own actions or those of other drivers, however, they blamed only the situation. Psychologists call this the "fundamental attribution error." So drivers, perhaps already stressed out from being late for work or stuck in traffic, then have to negotiate their way around a vehicle they essentially don't understand, causing even more stress, which they tend to attribute to something about cyclists. It's a vicious cycle—most vicious, in terms of actual harm, for cyclists. Cyclists, too, can be as susceptible as anyone to "modal bias," thinking that one's mode of travel is the "normal," even superior, one. After researching my book, there may be no more conscientious—or paranoid—driver on the American road than me. But I am still occasionally flummoxed by some wrong-way night rider wearing black. I want to tell them, "Don't ruin it for everyone!" Then again, I wouldn't tell a rude fellow driver not to ruin the image of drivers. Yes, cultural politics are getting weird, which may also explain some of the tension, as Brian Ladd, author of the 2008 book *Autophobia*, argues. "Most Americans," he wrote in a December post on the urban-planning Web site Planetizen.com <http://www.planetizen.com/>, "know one thing about the bicyclists they see on the roads: they are losers, and you thank God you're not one of them." But wait, he says, noting the fashionability of cycling: Who's doing the sneering here? "It's harder to dismiss cyclists as beneath contempt," he says, "when you suspect that they might just be contemptuous of you." In thinking about how to improve driver-cyclist relations in America, the easiest thing is to simply get more people on bikes. Growing up in the small Wisconsin town of Twin Lakes, Mionske notes, he "didn't see more than two road bikes in my entire childhood." Now, he jokes, "you've got packs of 40 guys riding around pissing people off." But with each new cyclist, he says, it's no longer "the Other; it's us." Few American cities have done a better job of getting people on bikes than Portland, Oregon, where around 7 percent of the population bikes to work and children cycle to school in huge "bike trains." And yet, last year, like many recent years, no cyclist was killed. (By comparison, Tampa, Florida, a city where fewer than 1 percent of the population commutes by bike, had nine cyclist fatalities in four months in 2009.) Greg Raisman, a traffic-safety specialist with Portland's Bureau of Transportation, says one key to getting people biking is providing infrastructure—actual or symbolic. The city features "bicycle boulevards" and bike-only traffic signals, and it's planning new six-foot-wide bike lanes. It recently put some 2,100 "sharrows" bike symbols on 50 miles of residential streets. He says the symbols send messages to motorists and are, as many Portlanders have told him, changing "people's mental maps of the city." "We need to get people to change the way they think about transportation," Raisman says. While all road users need to step up in terms of behavior, he believes, calling for cyclists to be licensed, as some critics have lately done, isn't the right place to start. "I recently got my driver's license renewed," he says. "They just asked me if my address was the same." Among the things he was not asked was whether he was aware of traffic-code changes like the 2007 Vulnerable Road User law or a new Oregon rule that makes it legal for cyclists to pass on the right so they can filter to the front past queues of cars stopped at traffic lights. THE GREENWAYS of Portland seem very far away as Joe Simonetti and I pedal down a street in the Bronx that looks like the nightmare underbelly of America's car culture. In front of myriad body shops sit subcompacts with mashed-in crumple zones and SUVs with spidery shattered windows. A billboard urges auto-accident victims to dial 1-800-I-AM-HURT. Cars honk and weave, delivery trucks wait parked in the bicycle lane. "The Bronx is lawless," says Simonetti. "It's the Wild West, dog eat dog—or car eat car." We cross the Madison Avenue Bridge into Manhattan and a few minutes later reach the Central Park loop, one of the few car-free spaces of the day. Our ride has gone off without conflict, not that it's always so. "It's hard to ride ten years without some incident," Simonetti says. There's a crash—not always major—every season or so, not to mention logistical concerns like bathroom breaks. He says he enjoys two-thirds of the ride but admits to having to "push myself" through the final third. But the benefits are clear. For one, Simonetti, despite being nearly two decades my senior, seems ready to keep riding, whereas I'm struggling from an old knee injury that's come wriggling up like worms after rain. For another, knee notwithstanding, I feel fantastic. In a study by the University of Surrey, car commuters reported having the "most stressful" commutes, while cyclists saw their journeys as "interesting and exciting." Indeed, where driving into New York City always leaves me feeling edgy and irritable, I now feel curiously alive. To cycle in America today is to engage in an almost political act, but what's often obscured is the simple idea of pleasure. Andy Clarke notes that bike-component maker Shimano, in some research it conducted with the design firm IDEO, found that when you talk to adults and ask them about their earliest childhood memory, "it invariably involves a bike—exploring their neighborhood, careening down a hill, ditching the training wheels." We need to rediscover that, he says. "They don't want to feel like they have to be Lance. People want to be normal, and they want cycling to be a part of normal life." Returning from a visit to Cape Cod last summer, I was staggered to see a traffic jam stretching for dozens of miles, heading to the beaches. Almost every car had several bikes lashed to it. You could almost feel the collective urge to escape traffic and get on a bike. I thought: *This is the country that hates cyclists, that sees them as a road menace?* Simonetti and I draw to a stop outside his office building, two people on bikes amid Midtown gridlock. I ask him why he does it. "I have a tremendous feeling of accomplishment," he says. "No matter what else happens in the day, I can feel good about the ride. There aren't many other things that make me feel that way." How many people can say that about their commute? After saying goodbye to Simonetti, I head home myself, riding over to the Hudson River Greenway, that jewel of New York's expanding—and controversial—bicycle network, where none of the larger thoughts about cycling in America intrude. I'm just enjoying the breeze off the river and thinking about that final climb over the Brooklyn Bridge. -- And the last word goes to Goofy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZgiVicpZGk

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Systematic Review of Interventions Promoting Active Transportation to School
by Mike Tutthill 28 Feb '11

28 Feb '11

A <http://politiquespubliques.inspq.qc.ca/url.php?i=2386&f=News&l=En> systematic review of interventions for promoting active transportation to school This first-ever systematic review of interventions designed to promote active transportation to school among young people was published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity. It looks at 14 intervention studies related to active school transportation undertaken in the U.S., Australia and the U.K. to identify approaches that were most successful and issues that should be addressed in future research. Mike Tutthill Information & Access Coordinator HEALTH in COMMON 100-6 Donald Street Winnipeg, MB R3L 0K6 tel: 204.949.2002 1.800.731.1792 fax: 204.284.2404 email: <mailto:mtutthill@healthincommon.ca> mtutthill(a)healthincommon.ca web: <http://www.healthincommon.ca> www.healthincommon.ca +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ April E-Newsletter deadline is March 18. <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-in-Common/120069149875> Health in Common on Facebook * Please consider the environment before printing this email. Coming to Health in Common? By bicycle: Bicycle parking is located behind the building. By Winnipeg transit: Routes 62, 65, 66, 68, 70 By car: Two visitor parking spaces are available at the back of the building. Street parking (restrictions): Bell Avenue (1hr 9h00 - 17h30), Clarke Street (none); Lewis (none); Cauchon (none); River (none west of Clarke).

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Active Transportation - Canada: February 17, 2011
by Beth McKechnie 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Haynes <activetransportation(a)rogers.com> Date: Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 5:33 PM Subject: Active Transportation - Canada: February 17, 2011 Twenty (20) new items have been posted on the Active Transportation-Canada Website during the month of December. A complete list of titles may be found in the "Blog Archive" box, located on the right margin of the Website. some highlights include: - Measuring the Global Health Impact of Transportation Reform - Active Transportation Planning Videos - Video - Walking and Texting Woman Trips Into Mall Fountain Active Transportation Canada URL: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com A "Search" function is available on the site. You will find this at the bottom of the page. With more than 1,000 items posted on Active Transportation - Canada, there are links available to dozens of studies and hundreds of news items from communities across Canada and the world. If anyone has a problem reading this message, please let me know. I welcome suggestions for posts, so if you have news items featuring your community, please share them with the many subscribers to Active Transportation-Canada. Thank you. Michael Haynes Director TransActive Solutions 613.424.2803

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Name the Greenway Ponds Contest!
by Shona Kusyk 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

Name the Greenway Ponds Contest If you were to explore Bishop Grandin Greenway, you may be surprised to find that hidden from the street are 3 small retention ponds. Fondly referred to as “pond 1, pond 2 and pond 3” they are teeming with aquatic/plant life, attract birds and wildlife and provide every-changing scenery to those who travel the trail. We figure the time has come to give these ponds some recognition for the part they play on the Greenway; to gain an identity that reflect their unique character and link to St.Vital. And since Bishop Grandin Greenway (BGG) is a ribbon of natural green space to be used by our community, it should be our community who gets to name the ponds. The names should be easy to remember and ideally have some association with the pond itself, its unique attributes, the environment, or St.Vital’s history. Contest closes midnight March 11th, 2011. Submissions will be presented to a panel of judges comprised of local area residents who will create a short list of their top choices/pond, which will be forwarded to City of Winnipeg Committee for approval. Winners will be published in the Lance and the pond names will be posted on the Bishop Grandin Greenway web site www.bishopgrandingreenway.com. The ponds’ new names will be officially announced at BGG International Trails Day June 4th, 2011. * * *Contest Rules:* The names could be related to natural environment surrounding the ponds, reflect active living, or recognize our local history. They should be unique and not already used in other locations in Winnipeg.(Names of individuals, family names, service organizations and businesses will not be considered.) Briefly describe your reason(s) for your submission (s), include your name, contact information (phone/email address). Please specify which pond; #1 (east of River Road); Pond #2 (west of St.Mary’s Road); Pond # 3 (west of St.Annes’ Road, near Home Depot). You can contact us through the BGG web site: www.bishopgrandingreenway.com Or mail/drop off your entry to: Name the Greenway Ponds c/o Youville 6-845 Dakota Street Winnipeg, Manitoba Fax: 255-4903 Should your submission be one of the winning pond names please indicate if you are willing to have your name mentioned in the Lance. (Please check one) _____ Yes I agree to have my name published in the Lance and on the BGG web site. ______No, I do not want to have my name published in the Lance and BGG web site. Please Print Name Sign Name * * *Contest closes midnight March 11, 2010* -- *Shona Kusyk ** Winnipeg Trails Association Coordinator * Cell (204) 479-8412 skusyk(a)riverswest.ca *winnipegtrails.com*

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Planning for Sustainable Transportation in Small and Mid-Size Communities webinar - Wed, Feb 23, Noon-1 pm, Green Action Centre
by Beth McKechnie 21 Feb '11

21 Feb '11

Green Action Centre will host a Winnipeg viewing of the following MOST (Transport Canada) webinar on *Planning for Sustainable Transportation in Small and Mid-Size Communities* on Wed, Feb. 23rd. If you would like to join us, please let me know at * beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. See you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 ------------------------------ Webinar: * **Planning for Sustainable Transportation in Small and Mid-Size Communities* * *Date: *Wed, Feb. 23, Noon to 1:00 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside MEC) **** Brenda Kelley from Bathurst Sustainable Development will present on a "How to Guide for Incorporating Sustainable and Active Transportation into Festivals and Special Events" and the use of charrettes to generate recommendations for incorporating Transportation Master Plan Recommendations. Laena Garrison from Ecology Action Centre in Halifax will present on *Municipalities for Green Mobility* – a project that aims to incorporate and advance sustainable transportation in long-term municipal planning. NOTE: Brenda Kelley has requested that a publication – Bathurst N.B. Green Guide for Festivals and Special Events – relevant to her presentation be circulated ahead of time. It is available for downloading (until Feb.28) at the following link: ** https://download.yousendit.com/eURCeVdvWlRBNkd4dnc9PQ <https://download.yousendit.com/eURCeVdrMVhubVh2Wmc9PQ> -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Building Great Communities Forum: 7-9 pm, Tues, March 1st, Canad Inns Polo Park
by Beth McKechnie 18 Feb '11

18 Feb '11

------ Forwarded Message ------ *From: *"Teranishi, Shirley" <STeranishi(a)winnipeg.ca> *Date: *Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:05:29 -0600 ** *Subject: *FW: Building Great Communities Forum Good morning! You are invited to attend a workshop on the topic of *Building Great Communities – Working Towards Win-Win Solutions to Accommodate Growth* to be held on March 1, 2011 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Canad Inns Polo Park located at 1405 St. Matthews Avenue in Winnipeg. There is no cost associated with this event and registration is not required. Please feel free to pass this invitation on to other in your network. We look forward to seeing you on March 1! Yours truly, Deepak Joshi, Director of Planning, Property and Development -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Webinar: Talking to Decision Makers about TDM - Wed, Feb 16th, noon-1pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 10 Feb '11

10 Feb '11

Green Action Centre will be hosting a local viewing of the following ecoMOBILITY (Transport Canada) webinar on Talking to Decision Makers about TDM (Transportation Demand Management). If you would like to join us, please let me know at *beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 ------------------------------ Webinar: * Talking to Decision Makers about TDM *Date: *Wednesday, Feb. 16, Noon to 1:00 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) ** *Description* Learn about Transport Canada’s new TDM (Transportation Demand Management) Guide, which will aid practitioners in presenting the case for TDM to decision makers, and hear how Smart Commute obtained support for their program. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Minneapolis: As bicycle use climbs, rate of crashes with vehicles falls (Feb.6'11)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Feb '11

08 Feb '11

As bicycle use climbs, rate of crashes with vehicles falls *City data seem to bear out idea that seeing more bikers leads drivers to watch for them.* *By STEVE BRANDT<http://www.startribune.com/bios/10644486.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUi…> ,* Star Tribune Last update: February 6, 2011 - 8:42 PM The more people bike in Minneapolis, the safer they seem to be. *What's new? *Recently crunched city data show the reported cyclist-motorist accident rate dropping as the number of bike commuters grows. For 2008, the most recent year for which complete data were available, the crash rate was one-quarter that of 10 years earlier. Moreover, a trend line shows a steady decrease in the crash rate even as the number of commuting cyclists more than doubled. There are some limits to the Minneapolis data. The number of cyclists is taken from the number of people ages 16 or older who tell census takers that their main transportation to work the previous week was a bike. That figure grew from about 3,000 in the 1990s to about 8,000 in 2008. It excludes infrequent commuters and recreational bikers. Meanwhile, the number of crashes involved only those reported to the city between bikers and motorists, which remain at or below 1990s levels. That means the crash rate has fallen sharply while commuting bikers are on the rise. *Is this happening elsewhere?* It squares with a 2003 analysis on biking and walking in two California cities. "A person is less likely to collide with a person walking or biking if more people walk or bicycle," public health consultant Peter Jacobsen wrote in the journal Injury Prevention. *Why is this happening? *Familiarity breeds safety, one city bike advocate believes. "People are so used to seeing bicyclists -- love them or hate -- and they don't want to hit them," said Shaun Murphy, coordinator of the city's nonmotorized transportation program. Murphy said the map of hot spots for bike-car accidents doesn't show major issues around the University of Minnesota because drivers there are so used to watching for bikes. *Do bike lanes help?* Murphy also credits more bike lanes. Bike lanes can benefit pedestrians as well. When bike lanes were striped on Riverside Avenue, for example, the number of bikers riding on sidewalks dropped by 87 percent, said Hilary Reeves, a spokeswoman at Transit for Livable Communities, which manages a federal grant to promote biking and walking in the Twin Cities. *How many bike crashes are there?* The city records 200 to 300 bike-vehicle crashes annually. Preliminary statewide numbers show that nine bikers were killed in vehicle crashes in 2010, with 926 crashes reported. All but one of the fatalities and the preponderance of those injured last year were male, while close to half were between ages 10 and 24. Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438 http://www.startribune.com/local/115449079.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O… -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Snow Trek 2011 - starts THIS Sunday! (please forward)
by Beth McKechnie 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

Hello, Can you please assist the Snow Trek 2011 Organizing Committees and their * many* community partners by promoting the following *FREE* event and * forwarding* this information on to your networks? Cheers, Deanna *************************************** *2011 Snow Trek – 2nd Annual winter in motion**…one more Sunday!*** There is still ONE more Sunday for you to take advantage of Snow Trek 2011 - a fun filled afternoon for the whole family (all ages) to head outdoors for some cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tobogganing and winter walking. *No Experience, No Problem*! We are offering FREE cross-country ski instruction and guided snowshoe walks. *No Equipment, No Problem*! We will have a limited supply of FREE cross-country skis & snowshoes for you to use (ID required). *Too Young, Too Old!* No such thing...Everybody Welcome! *What*: Snow Trek – 2nd Annual winter *in motion* *When & Where*: *Sunday, February 13th, 2011* Living Prairie Museum (2795 Ness Ave.) *Time*: 12:00 - 4:00pm *Who*: All Welcome! *Cost*: FREE! *** We are also looking for a few more volunteers … if you’re interested, please contact Deanna at dbetteridge(a)wrha.mb.ca For more information and a detailed schedule, be sure to check out * www.winnipeginmotion.ca *or call Winnipeg *in motion* at 940-3648. See you on the trails! 2011 Snow Trek – 2nd Annual winter *in motion* is a community event put on by many community partners - Thank you! ********************* ** Sign-up to receive Winnipeg in motion email updates http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/ ** ------------------------------------------------------------- Deanna Betteridge, BESS, M.Sc. *in motion* Coordinator 2 - 189 Evanson St. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 0N9 204-940-3264 (w) 204-232-3297 (c) 204-940-8409 (f) E-mail: dbetteridge(a)wrha.mb.ca Web site: www.winnipeginmotion.ca

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Snow Trek 2011 - one more Sunday! (please forward)
by Deanna Betteridge 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

Hello, Can you please assist the Snow Trek 2011 Organizing Committees and their many community partners by promoting the following FREE event and forwarding this information on to your networks? Cheers, Deanna *************************************** 2011 Snow Trek - 2nd Annual winter in motion...one more Sunday! There is still ONE more Sunday for you to take advantage of Snow Trek 2011 - a fun filled afternoon for the whole family (all ages) to head outdoors for some cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tobogganing and winter walking. No Experience, No Problem! We are offering FREE cross-country ski instruction and guided snowshoe walks. No Equipment, No Problem! We will have a limited supply of FREE cross-country skis & snowshoes for you to use (ID required). Too Young, Too Old! No such thing...Everybody Welcome! What: Snow Trek - 2nd Annual winter in motion When & Where: Sunday, February 13th, 2011 Living Prairie Museum (2795 Ness Ave.) Time: 12:00 - 4:00pm Who: All Welcome! Cost: FREE! *** We are also looking for a few more volunteers ... if you're interested, please contact Deanna at dbetteridge(a)wrha.mb.ca For more information and a detailed schedule, be sure to check out www.winnipeginmotion.ca <http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/> or call Winnipeg in motion at 940-3648. See you on the trails! 2011 Snow Trek - 2nd Annual winter in motion is a community event put on by many community partners - Thank you! ********************* ** Sign-up to receive Winnipeg in motion email updates http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/ <http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/> ** ------------------------------------------------------------- Deanna Betteridge, BESS, M.Sc. in motion Coordinator 2 - 189 Evanson St. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 0N9 204-940-3264 (w) 204-232-3297 (c) 204-940-8409 (f) E-mail: dbetteridge(a)wrha.mb.ca Web site: www.winnipeginmotion.ca This email and/or any documents in this transmission is intended for the addressee(s) only and may contain legally privileged or confidential information. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, copying or dissemination is strictly prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and return the original. Ce courriel et tout document dans cette transmission est destiné à la personne ou aux personnes à qui il est adressé. Il peut contenir des informations privilégiées ou confidentielles. Toute utilisation, divulgation, distribution, copie, ou diffusion non autorisée est strictement défendue. Si vous n'êtes pas le destinataire de ce message, veuillez en informer l'expéditeur immédiatement et lui remettre l'original.

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in motion @ library - Create your own boot camp - February 11, 2011
by Beth McKechnie 07 Feb '11

07 Feb '11

*Create your own boot camp – No drill sergeant required! * *Are you looking for a fun way to get fit? Why not create your own boot camp? Boot camps are no longer just for military personnel. Join Winnipeg in motion and local exercise professional Stuart Klassen of MORFit Training to learn how a boot camp workout can be a fun, new, and challenging way for people of all ages and fitness abilities to increase their strength and stamina. Attend the session and receive a free exercise band. ** When: *Friday, February 11, 2011 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. *Where: *Millennium Library, 2nd Floor, Carol Shields Auditorium Wear comfortable clothing and join in the activities, or come out and watch. Admission is *FREE* and registration is *NOT* required. *Unable to attend?* Visit our website (www.winnipeginmotion.ca) where we will post all the resources and information shared at the session! Contact Winnipeg *in motion* at 940-3648 for more information. *Create your own boot camp – No drill sergeant required *is part of *in motion* @ the Library, a series of monthly workshops that promote physical activity for better health. The *in motion* @ the Library series is sponsored by Winnipeg *in motion* and the Millennium Library. For a complete list of workshops, visit http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/resources/in_motion_library.

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Reminder: The Future of Transit in Canada webinar - Thurs, Feb 3, 11-12:30, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 31 Jan '11

31 Jan '11

If you haven't already registered for this Thursday's webinar but are interested in attending, we still have seats available for the viewing in the EcoCentre boardroom. If you would like to join us, please let me know at *beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. thanks! Beth Green Action Centre 925-3772 ------------------------------ Webinar: * The Future of Transit in Canada *Date: *Thursday, Feb. 3, 11 to 12:30 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) *Speakers: * - Michael Roschlau, President and Chief Executive Officer Canadian Urban Transit Association <http://www.cutaactu.ca/> (CUTA) - Don Hull, Director of Transit, City of Hamilton<http://www.hamilton.ca/index.htm>(Ontario) - Derek Bacchioni, Treasury Manager, TransLink <http://www.translink.ca/>(British Columbia) - Derek Stewart, Manager, Environmental Sustainability, Coast Mountain Bus Company, Ltd. <http://www.coastmountainbus.com/> *Session description: * How will we get around in our cities in the future? What transit options fit the size and form of my community today? How do I improve service to increase active and mobile transit tomorrow? This webinar will begin with CUTA’s Transit Vision 2040<http://www.cutaactu.ca/en/publicationsandresearch/vision_2040.asp>, which explores changes likely to take place in Canadian communities over the next generation. These changes and strategic directions can optimize public transit's contribution to our quality of life. Let’s prepare for these changes by sharing knowledge and best practices. The City of Hamilton’s revitalized B Line Bus rapid transit line<http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/Search/PDF/GMEF9458_CS_e.pdf>combines hybrid bus technology, service improvements and social marketing to increase ridership and improve service. Learn why these steps fit Hamilton’s local context and their experiences since initial implementation in 2007<http://www.hamilton.ca/NewsandPublications/NewsReleases/2007News/April/07-0…>. The webinar will also profile several initiatives in Metro Vancouver, supported by TransLink and FCM's Green Municipal Fund. These innovative sustainable transit initiatives point the way toward this vision for 2040, including: - Jack Bell Ride-Share's Online Ride-Matching Project & Enhancements<http://online.ride-share.com/en/my/index.php> - Main Street Transit & Pedestrian Priority Project<http://www.translink.ca/en/Be-Part-of-the-Plan/Projects/Main-Street-Upgrade…> - Feasibility Study for the Metro Vancouver Public Bike System<http://www.translink.ca/en/Cycling/Public-Bicycle-System.aspx> - Bike Transit Centres - Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Pilot Retrofit Testing for Natural Gas Buses<http://www.translink.ca/en/About-TransLink/Media/2005/September/TransLink-b…> - Diesel Oxidation Catalyst Retrofits -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Active & Green e-Newsletter Winter 2011
by Beth McKechnie 27 Jan '11

27 Jan '11

In case you did not receive our latest e-newsletter (and if so, apologies for duplicate postings!)... Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.<http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f55cc&id=a80e2822ac…> [image: Active & Green Winter 2011] Let us help! *Looking to improve commuter options at your workplace?* R<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/request-information-presentation-or-mee…>equest resources<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/request-information-presentation-or-mee…>on cycling, carpooling, commuting surveys and tracking progress, among others. Book a presentation<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/request-information-presentation-or-mee…>on the various commuting options, as well as fuel-efficient driving, creating a commuter friendly workplace, and greening the workplace. Talk to us about implementing a Smart Trips<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/smart-trips/?utm_source=Active+%26+Gree…>program at your workplace. Upcoming Events *Reel Green Film Festival* February 4-5 *Earth Day* April 22 *Jane's Walk* May 7-8 *International Trails Day* June 4 *Commuter Challenge* June 5-11 *Bike to Work Day* June 24 If you like what you read, become a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/?utm_source=Active+%26+Gree…>of Green Action Centre (membership is free!), visit our website at greenactioncentre.ca<http://greenactioncentre.ca?utm_source=Active+%26+Green&utm_campaign=a80e28…>or make a donation<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/make-a-donation/?utm_source=Active+%26+…>. Welcome to our new look! Hope you enjoy our new e-newsletter format. Stay warm, active & green! Don't be 'car-bound' Winter can be the perfect time of year to get around without your car. With the right gear and planning, a trip to work, school or the grocery store can turn into an opportunity for fresh air, exercise, and fun. Get to your destination satisfied and safely with our winter tips<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/don%E2%80%99t-be-%E2%80%98car-bound%E2%…> . Take a video break - Rap your way to using those bike racks on buses<http://www.activelivingbydesign.org/communities/featured-community/bike-rap…> - The bike 'helmet' of the future? Check out this collar air bag<http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/cyclists-airbag-helmets-bursts-forth…> - Get your daily hug with your bike to work<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-04-will-bike-for-hugs-video?utm_source…> - A must-see Goofy cartoon! "Motormania" (1950)<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZgiVicpZGk&utm_source=Active+%26+Green&utm_…> Get recognized! Have you heard about the *Commuter Friendly Workplace Awards*? These unique awards are given out to Manitoba workplaces offering great commuter options programs for their employees. If your workplace is making strides to improve your options for getting to work, consider applying. *Click here*<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/commuter-friendly-workplace-awards/?utm…>for more details and to apply. The WRENCH After more than a year of planning and negotiations, The Winnipeg Repair, Education and Cycling Hub (The WRENCH) will be opening it's doors to the public this spring. The organization seeks to improve access to bicycles and to teach community members bike maintenance and mechanical skills. Learn more<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/the-wrench/?utm_source=Active+%26+Green…>about this valuable service. Transportation Plan What would you like to see happen in the next 20 years in Winnipeg? More cycling infrastructure? Rapid transit? A policy for complete streets? Pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods? Check out<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/transportation-master-plan/?utm_source=…>what Green Action Centre is recommending and how you can put in your two cents. Year-Round Challenge! Ever wonder what your daily commute can do for you? Sign up<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/year-round-commuter-challenge/?utm_sour…>to take the Commuter Challenge year-round. Track your commute and get weekly email updates on how many calories you've burned, emissions you've avoided and how much fuel you have saved by green commuting. [image: Year-round Commuter Challenge] You are receiving this email because you are an Active & Green subscriber. Unsubscribe<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a1…> beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca from this list. Our mailing address is: Green Action Centre 3-303 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3V6 Add us to your address book<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/vcard?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f5…> Copyright (C) 2011 Green Action Centre All rights reserved. Forward<http://us2.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f55cc&id=a80…>this email to a friend Update your profile<http://greenactioncentre.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3…> [image: Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp]<http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?aid=af15a2f9f91ef9a183a3f55cc&afl=1> -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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The WRENCH - Learn How to Fix Your Bike
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jan '11

21 Jan '11

*Bicycle Repair Workshop Series * at the Bike Dump 631 Main St. (use south side entrance) All workshops are from 6-8 PM unless otherwise noted. The workshops are FREE of charge and do not require pre-registration. HEADSETS - Learn how to adjust and replace the ball-bearings around your fork. Jan 19th SINGLE-SPEEDS - Learn how to convert your multi-speed to a single (ideal for Winnipeg winters). Jan 29th *@ 2 PM* BRAKES - Learn how to adjust and upkeep your brake system. Feb 23rd DERAILLEURS - Learn how to maintain and adjust your gear system. March 16th 3-SPEED HUBS - Learn how to overhaul and adjust those perplexing internal hubs. March 23rd SPRING TUNE-UP - Be nice to your bike after winter and/or get your bike ready for the spring. April 20th Workshops presented with support from the W.R.E.N.C.H (Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub) www.thewrench.ca

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Mark your calendar - upcoming webinars
by Beth McKechnie 17 Jan '11

17 Jan '11

*Mark Your Calendar! * Upcoming webinars being hosted by Green Action Centre in the EcoCentre boardroom (3rd Floor, 303 Portage, MEC building) include: *The Future of Transit in Canada* (presented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities) Thursday, Feb. 3rd, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm CST *Talking to Decision Makers about TDM *(presented by Transport Canada / ecoMobility) Wednesday, Feb. 16th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm CST *Complete Streets* (presented by Transport Canada / ecoMobility) Wednesday, Mar. 9th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm CST Details on the Feb 3rd webinar on The Future of Transit in Canada have already been circulated. Information on the other two will be circulated closer to the dates. cheers, Beth -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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[At-network] The Future of Transit in Canada webinar - Thurs, Feb 3, 11-12:30, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 17 Jan '11

17 Jan '11

Green Action Centre will be hosting the following FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) webinar on "The Future of Transit in Canada" on Thurs, Feb. 3rd. If you would like to join us, please let me know at * beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. Hope to see you then! cheers, Beth 925-3772 ------------------------------ Webinar: * The Future of Transit in Canada *Date: *Thursday, Feb. 3, 11 to 12:30 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) *Speakers: * - Michael Roschlau, President and Chief Executive Officer Canadian Urban Transit Association <http://www.cutaactu.ca/> (CUTA) - Don Hull, Director of Transit, City of Hamilton<http://www.hamilton.ca/index.htm>(Ontario) - Derek Bacchioni, Treasury Manager, TransLink <http://www.translink.ca/>(British Columbia) - Derek Stewart, Manager, Environmental Sustainability, Coast Mountain Bus Company, Ltd. <http://www.coastmountainbus.com/> *Session description: * How will we get around in our cities in the future? What transit options fit the size and form of my community today? How do I improve service to increase active and mobile transit tomorrow? This webinar will begin with CUTA’s Transit Vision 2040<http://www.cutaactu.ca/en/publicationsandresearch/vision_2040.asp>, which explores changes likely to take place in Canadian communities over the next generation. These changes and strategic directions can optimize public transit's contribution to our quality of life. Let’s prepare for these changes by sharing knowledge and best practices. The City of Hamilton’s revitalized B Line Bus rapid transit line<http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/Search/PDF/GMEF9458_CS_e.pdf>combines hybrid bus technology, service improvements and social marketing to increase ridership and improve service. Learn why these steps fit Hamilton’s local context and their experiences since initial implementation in 2007<http://www.hamilton.ca/NewsandPublications/NewsReleases/2007News/April/07-0…>. The webinar will also profile several initiatives in Metro Vancouver, supported by TransLink and FCM's Green Municipal Fund. These innovative sustainable transit initiatives point the way toward this vision for 2040, including: - Jack Bell Ride-Share's Online Ride-Matching Project & Enhancements<http://online.ride-share.com/en/my/index.php> - Main Street Transit & Pedestrian Priority Project<http://www.translink.ca/en/Be-Part-of-the-Plan/Projects/Main-Street-Upgrade…> - Feasibility Study for the Metro Vancouver Public Bike System<http://www.translink.ca/en/Cycling/Public-Bicycle-System.aspx> - Bike Transit Centres - Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Pilot Retrofit Testing for Natural Gas Buses<http://www.translink.ca/en/About-TransLink/Media/2005/September/TransLink-b…> - Diesel Oxidation Catalyst Retrofits -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Fwd: Tuesday January 18, 7pm meeting RE: West Broadway Community Planning & AT
by Beth McKechnie 17 Jan '11

17 Jan '11

(please see below) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Shelagh Graham <s.graham(a)westbroadway.mb.ca> Date: Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 9:48 AM Subject: Tuesday January 18, 7pm meeting RE: West Broadway Community Planning To: Shelagh Graham <s.graham(a)westbroadway.mb.ca> *Meeting re: planning for active transportation in West Broadway* Tuesday January 18, 7pm @ 608 Broadway All are welcome! Please pass this along to anyone you feel might be interested. West Broadway Development Corporation is hosting meetings with groups interested in contributing to the 5-year community plan. It was suggested that active transportation supporters and cyclists get together to share their thoughts. We’ve managed to set up a time that works for many of those who responded directly and want to spread the word to anyone else who would like to participate. If you want any more information about the community plan process, check out our website (www.westbroadway.mb.ca) or get in touch with me. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks! Shelagh Graham *West Broadway Development Corporation* *(204) 774-7201x4* *www.westbroadway.mb.ca* ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *Shelagh Graham* <s.graham(a)westbroadway.mb.ca> Date: Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:48 AM Subject: West Broadway Community Plan Events To: s.graham(a)westbroadway.mb.ca *We want to hear from you!** *We are gathering information from residents of West Broadway to create a new five year community plan that will identify priorities and an action plan. The goal is to make West Broadway a safe, healthy and vibrant place to live, work and play. *Please reply to this email if you would like copies of the attached notice for posting. *How can you get involved?* There are at least four ways for you to get involved in this process:1. participate in the West Broadway Community Forum & Resource Fair 2. participate in the Housing West Broadway Forum 3. complete the Community Plan survey 4. become involved in Small Group Discussions For more information about the Community Plan process, please visit our website: www.westbroadway.mb.ca *1.** **West Broadway Community Forum & Resource Fair Saturday, November 27th, 2010 *Crossways in Common 222 Furby St., Second Floor Noon – 1:00 pm: Open House and lunch 1:00 – 3:30 pm: Presentations and discussions Please register at 774-7201×1 or info(a)westbroadway.mb.ca Lunch & childcare provided *2.** **Housing West Broadway Forum Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 *Crossways in Common 222 Furby St., Second Floor 6:00 – 8:30 pm Please register at 774-7201×1 or info(a)westbroadway.mb.ca Dinner & childcare provided *3.** **Community Plan Survey* Visit our website (link to be added shortly) to fill out the Community Plan Survey or drop by one of the community sites from November 22 until January 10 to fill out a paper copy: · Art City, 610 Broadway · Assiniboine Credit Union, 640 Broadway · Crossways in Common front office, 222 Furby St. · Broadway Neighbourhood Centre, 185 Young St. · Resource Assistance for Youth, 125 Sherbrook St. · Wannabes Diner, 641 Broadway · West Broadway Development Corporation, 608 Broadway · Wolseley Family Place, 691 Wolseley Ave. Surveys are confidential. Respondents can enter to win a Diamondback Extreme mountain bike from Gooch’s Bicycle & Hobby Shops! *4.** **Small Group Discussions** *If you’d like to be involved in a small group discussion, or would like to organize your neighbours or community group to participate in a discussion group for the Community Plan, please contact 774-7201×1 or info(a)westbroadway.mb.ca. *Apologies for cross-postings! Shelagh Graham *West Broadway Development Corporation* *(204) 774-7201x4* *www.westbroadway.mb.ca* ------------------------------ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1153 / Virus Database: 424/3264 - Release Date: 11/18/10 -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Snow Trek 2011 - starts THIS Sunday! (please forward)
by Beth McKechnie 12 Jan '11

12 Jan '11

*2011 Snow Trek – 2nd Annual winter in motion*…starts THIS SUNDAY! As the mercury plunges and the snow settles around us, your first instinct may be to hibernate until spring. But, get up off the couch, put down the remote, and discover the real potential of Winnipeg's winter by joining us at the 2nd annual "Snow Trek - winter *in motion* ". It promises to be *THREE fun-filled Sunday afternoons* for the whole family (all ages) to get outside for some cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tobogganing, winter walking and outdoor winter play. You are encouraged to come out to *any* & *all* of the Snow Trek 2011 dates & locations. *No Experience, No Problem!* We are offering FREE cross-country ski instruction. *No Equipment, No Problem!* We will have a limited supply of FREE cross-country skis & snowshoes for you to use (ID required) at all four locations. *Too Young, Too Old!* No such thing...Everybody Welcome! *What*: Snow Trek – 2nd Annual Winter *in motion* *When & Where: * *1st Sunday - January 16, 2011* Assiniboine Park Duck Pond Fort Whyte Alive (1961 McCreary Rd) *2nd Sunday - January 23rd, 2011* Windsor Park Nordic Centre (10 Des Meurons St.) *3rd Sunday - February 13th, 2011* Living Prairie Museum (2795 Ness Ave.) *Time:* 12:00 - 4:00pm (at all four locations) *Who:* All Welcome! *Cost:* FREE! For more information and a detailed schedule, be sure to check out http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/snow_trek_2011/ or call Winnipeg *in motion*at 940-3648. See you on the trails! 2011 Snow Trek – 2nd Annual winter *in motion* is a community event put on by many community partners - Thank you! ********************* ** Sign-up to receive Winnipeg in motion email updates http://www.winnipeginmotion.ca/signup/ ** ------------------------------------------------------------- Deanna Betteridge, BESS, M.Sc. *in motion* Coordinator 2 - 189 Evanson St. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 0N9 204-940-3264 (w) 204-232-3297 (c) 204-940-8409 (f) E-mail: dbetteridge(a)wrha.mb.ca Web site: www.winnipeginmotion.ca This email and/or any documents in this transmission is intended for the addressee(s) only and may contain legally privileged or confidential information. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, copying or dissemination is strictly prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and return the original. Ce courriel et tout document dans cette transmission est destiné à la personne ou aux personnes à qui il est adressé. Il peut contenir des informations privilégiées ou confidentielles. Toute utilisation, divulgation, distribution, copie, ou diffusion non autorisée est strictement défendue. Si vous n'êtes pas le destinataire de ce message, veuillez en informer l'expéditeur immédiatement et lui remettre l'original. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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[At-network] TDM & Special Events webinar: Wed., Jan 12th, Noon-1 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 05 Jan '11

05 Jan '11

Green Action Centre will be hosting the following ecoMOBILITY (Transport Canada) webinar on Special Events & TDM (Transportation Demand Management) on Wed, Jan. 12th. If you would like to join us, please let me know at * beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. Hope you can join us! cheers, Beth 925-3772 ------------------------------ Webinar: * Special Events & TDM *Date: *Wednesday, Jan. 12, Noon to 1:00 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) Sporting events, concerts, town celebrations…they all involve a lot of people trying to get to the same place at the same time. How can you sustainably plan transportation for these types of events? How can you convince attendees to walk, cycle, or take public transit to special events instead of using their cars? In order to manage dramatically increased transportation demand during the 2010 Olympic Games, TransLink (Metro Vancouver's regional transportation authority) and its partners set the ambitious goal of reducing vehicle use by at least 30% during the Games. In this ecoMOBILITY webinar, JoAnn Woodhall from TransLink will speak about the highly successful measures put in place to not only transport Olympic spectators, volunteers, and staff, but also to provide local commuters and businesses with travel options that would keep commuters, customers, and goods moving during the Games. She will also discuss the monitoring and measurement of these initiatives, and how the quantitative data TransLink obtained is helping to prove the value of transportation demand management in Vancouver. -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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WFP: $18-M remake for Osborne Bridge - Focus on cyclists, peds, art (Dec.17'10)
by Beth McKechnie 17 Dec '10

17 Dec '10

{Winnipeg Free Press] $18-M remake for Osborne Bridge Focus on cyclists, pedestrians, art By: Geoff Kirbyson A newly rehabilitated Osborne Bridge will have separate spaces for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as an artistic component to fit in with the eclectic neighbourhood, according to plans unveiled Thursday evening. A smattering of area residents and users of one of the city's busiest bridges discovered active transportation will be the central theme of a planned $18-million renovation. Construction, which is scheduled to begin in April, will feature one three-metre-wide walkway and two two-metre-wide bike paths. [image: The Osborne Bridge, shown in artist’s conception.] Enlarge Image <http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/artistosborne.jpg> The Osborne Bridge, shown in artist’s conception. To accommodate these features, the bridge will be widened by about five feet by extending the overhangs and replacing the existing wide median with a narrower barrier. Matt Chislett, bridge projects engineer for the city's public works department, said the city decided against a joint pedestrian-cycling lane. "We have a high percentage of people in the area with vision impairment or who use seeing-eye dogs and we didn't want them sharing space with cyclists," he said at an information open house at Holy Rosary Church. Chislett said making the bridge safer for people on foot has been a concern since a vehicle jumped the curb and killed a pedestrian in the late 1980s. He said the renovation will prolong the lifespan of the bridge for another 75 years. The Osborne Bridge was built in 1975. Replacing the bridge would cost about $25 million, he said. Chislett said he and his team will take the most recent public feedback and potentially "tweak" bridge plans. The current schedule calls for the east side of the bridge to be closed in April, with construction finishing up in October. The following spring, the same thing will happen to the west side. During both construction periods, traffic flows in both directions will be restricted to a total of three lanes, he said. "It's going to be a snarl," he said, noting 40,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day. Most of the time, two lanes will head south, with one going north. During morning rush hours, however, it will be reconfigured with two lanes heading north. Chislett said an artist has been hired to incorporate art into the bridge's design, such as the handrails or at the end of the bridge. "We want to make it an esthetically pleasing bridge to fit the neighbourhood," he said. About 60 people came through the open house during the first three of four hours Thursday night. Gerald, whose family operates a business in the area and who asked that his last name not be published, said he appreciated the chance to voice his opinions on the project design. He said he was confident it would not result in the public relations disaster that accompanied last fall's introduction of traffic circles in several neighbourhoods. He said he believes the bigger problem is traffic flow in Osborne Village, used by people from other neighbourhoods simply passing through on their way home from downtown. "I think they should tunnel under the Osborne overpass and come up under the river by the (Legislative Building)," he said. geoff.kirbyson(a)freepress.mb.ca -- *Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living. Support our work by becoming a member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>

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Employment opportunities with Green Action Centre - December 2010
by Beth McKechnie 08 Dec '10

08 Dec '10

***PLEASE POST WIDELY - apologies for cross-posting*** * * *GREEN ACTION CENTRE* EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY; two positions available December 3, 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------- *Active and Safe Routes to School Program Intern* ------------------------------------------------------------- *Application deadline:** *Monday, December 13 2010** *Start date:** *Thursday, January 6 2011 *End date: *Friday, March 18 2011 * * These positions being funded through the YMCA’s Post-Secondary Graduate Youth Eco Internship Program (PSYEIP) with funding provided by the Government of Canada. This program places unemployed youth aged 15 to 30 from diverse backgrounds into paid internship opportunities within the private, non-profit, public, and charitable service sectors in Canada with a focus on the environment and community*. Applicants must meet ALL eligibility criteria for the program in order to be considered:* - between 15 and 30 years of age (inclusive) at the time of placement; - not receiving Employment Insurance benefit; - a graduate of a post-secondary education program; - be unemployed; or underemployed (working 20 hours or less on a regular basis); or working in a job that does not match your area of educational study; - out of school; - a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person on whom refugee status has been conferred; - legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations; - have a social insurance number; - be willing to complete a Police Records Check. *Note: Youth who previously participated in the Youth Eco Internship Program will not be considered* * * Green Action Centre is a non-profit, charitable community organization currently seeking *two program interns* for our Active and Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) program. The interns will actively encourage walking and cycling as healthy alternatives for getting kids to and from school by working closely with teachers, parents, school staff and students at selected Manitoba elementary schools. The interns will be involved in the lead up to Clean Air Day in June, and the coordination of a regional meeting of Active and Safe Routes to School practitioners in Manitoba. The interns will work closely with the Active and Safe Routes to School Program Team on the planning and delivery of events, and will act as supports for other areas of the program including policy development, in-class workshops and education, best routes to school mapping, report writing, fundraising and materials development. *RESPONSIBILITIES* * * · Promotes elementary school participation in the annual Clean Air Day Walk to School (June) · Assists with the administration and coordination of the poster contest linked to Clean Air Day · Communicates with schools to encourage environmentally friendly travel year-round through surveys, telephone conversations and site visits as well as ASRTS program components such as the Walking School Bus, Walking Wednesdays Club and Neighbourhood Walkabouts · Maintains a database and contact list of participating schools and community partners · Researches, prepares and distributes kit materials such as fact sheets, checklists, surveys, brochures, posters, and resources · Monitors project-related expenses · Writes reports and assists in preparing proposals and applications · Assists with website development through the Green Action Centre content-managed system – writing updates and blog posts related to Active and Safe Routes to School-related items. · Compiles, publishes and distributes the quarterly Active and Safe Routes to School newsletter *“Off on the Right Foot”* · Assists with the coordination of a regional training event for Active and Safe Routes to School practitioners in Manitoba (involving invitations, managing registrations, preparing materials, taking minutes and assisting with follow-up reporting). *QUALIFICATIONS* Must be self-motivated, reliable and able to work collaboratively and individually. *Must meet the requirements of the Post-Secondary Youth Eco-Internship Program administered through the YMCA.* *Key qualifications include:* · Self-initiator with excellent interpersonal and time management skills · Professional writing, editing, research and communication skills · Commitment to work in a collaborative setting to achieve common goals · Experience in organizing events and workshops · Background in areas such as communications / social marketing / community development / environmental or health education / urban planning, GIS, social change / non-profit project work · Familiar with Community Based Social Marketing concepts (see www.cbsm.com) · Ability to handle multiple tasks in a brisk work environment with a flexible schedule · Knowledge of internet-based communication and research tools · Experience in organizing promotional events, and creativity in developing advertising and media campaigns · Experience in proposal and report writing · Ease in giving public presentations and speaking with media · Demonstrated commitment to the goals of ecological sustainability and sustainable transportation · Understanding of urban transportation, planning and environmental issues · Experience working with teachers, parents, administration and staff in an elementary school setting an asset · Experience with GIS or other mapping software an asset *ABOUT THE POSITION* * Direct applications by Monday, December 13 2010 to:* ASRTS Hiring Committee Green Action Centre 303 Portage Avenue, 3rd Floor, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2B4 E-mail: asrts(a)greenactioncentre.ca *Green Action Centre*: Green Action Centre is a non-profit, non-governmental organization directed by an elected community Board. Green Action Centre’s mission is to promote ecological sustainability through environmental education and the development of sustainable alternatives to unsustainable current practices. Further information about Green Action Centre projects and activities is available on our web site www.greenactioncentre.ca. -- *Jackie Avent* Active and Safe Routes to School Green Action Centre 204.925.3773 www.greenactioncentre.ca Green Action Centre is a non-profit organization. Please consider making a donation. *Coming to the EcoCentre?* (3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue at Donald Street; Take the elevator to the third floor of the MEC building) Winnipeg transit stops and bicycle racks are located in front of MEC

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Bike Boxes webinar - Wed, Dec. 15, 2-3 pm, EcoCentre
by Beth McKechnie 01 Dec '10

01 Dec '10

Green Action Centre will be hosting the following APBP (Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals) webinar on "Bike Boxes" on Wed, Dec. 15th. If you would like to join us, please let me know at * beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca*. See you then! -thanks, Beth (925-3772) ------------------------------ Webinar: * Bike Boxes *Date: *Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CST * Location: *EcoCentre boardroom, 303 Portage Ave, third floor* (enter via elevator inside front doors of MEC) The webinar will have two main sections: - The evolution of bike box design, citing examples in the UK and northern Europe, and including a discussion of details such as coordinating traffic signals, signal phasing, and cost/durability of different materials. - A presentation about Portland, Oregon’s, study of how bike boxes perform for motorists and bicyclists at ten locations. Although there are bike boxes in a number of U.S. cities now, Portland has probably done the most experimentation and evaluation. *Presenters: * Webinar presenters will be Christopher Monsere, Assistant Professor at Portland State University, and Tom Bertulis, formerly of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, and now a doctoral student at Northeastern University. Hope you can join us! -- Beth McKechnie Workplace Commuter Options Green Action Centre 204.925.3772 www.greenactioncentre.ca Green Action Centre is a registered charity. Please consider making a donation <https://www.canadahelps.org/DonationDetails.aspx?cookieCheck=true> . *Coming to the EcoCentre?* (3rd floor, 303 Portage at Donald, MEC bldg) Enter via the elevator just inside MEC's front doors Bike racks are located in front of the building Find your bus route with Winnipeg Transit's online trip planner Navigo<http://www.winnipegtransit.com/en/navigo>

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City of Winnipeg transportation survey
by Beth McKechnie 30 Nov '10

30 Nov '10

In case you hadn't heard, the City of Winnipeg is in the process of developing a Transportation Master Plan. You can find information presented at a recent Open House along with a link to a survey on the future of transportation in Winnipeg here: http://transportation.speakupwinnipeg.com/ If you want to go straight to the survey, see: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/winnipegtmp The feedback received from the survey will help inform the plan, so it's definitely worth taking a few minutes to complete. cheers, Beth -- Beth McKechnie Workplace Commuter Options Green Action Centre 204.925.3772 www.greenactioncentre.ca Green Action Centre is a registered charity. Please consider making a donation <https://www.canadahelps.org/DonationDetails.aspx?cookieCheck=true> . *Coming to the EcoCentre?* (3rd floor, 303 Portage at Donald, MEC bldg) Enter via the elevator just inside MEC's front doors Bike racks are located in front of the building Find your bus route with Winnipeg Transit's online trip planner Navigo<http://www.winnipegtransit.com/en/navigo>

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Nova Scotia looking to pass one-metre rule
by Beth McKechnie 30 Nov '10

30 Nov '10

Nova Scotia is looking to be the first in Canada to "*require drivers to leave one meter of open space between the vehicle and bicyclist when passing *". Other proposed amendments to their Motor Vehicle Act include to: - define 'cyclist' and 'bicycle lane' - prohibit vehicle parking in a bicycle lane - make it an offence to fail to yield to a cyclist in a bicycle lane - redefine cycling on the extreme right - allow drivers of vehicles to cross a centre line to pass a bicycle, if the driver can do so safely - require cyclists to ride single file and in the same direction of the traffic Full details: http://spacingatlantic.ca/2010/11/18/keep-those-wheels-turning-cycling-ackn… -- Beth McKechnie Workplace Commuter Options Green Action Centre 204.925.3772 www.greenactioncentre.ca Green Action Centre is a registered charity. Please consider making a donation <https://www.canadahelps.org/DonationDetails.aspx?cookieCheck=true> . *Coming to the EcoCentre?* (3rd floor, 303 Portage at Donald, MEC bldg) Enter via the elevator just inside MEC's front doors Bike racks are located in front of the building Find your bus route with Winnipeg Transit's online trip planner Navigo<http://www.winnipegtransit.com/en/navigo>

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Fwd: Active Transportation - Canada: November 30, 2010
by Beth McKechnie 30 Nov '10

30 Nov '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Haynes <activetransportation(a)rogers.com> Date: Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 10:49 AM Subject: Active Transportation - Canada: November 30, 2010 Dear Listserv Members: Thirty-five (35) new items have been posted on the Active Transportation-Canada Website during the month of November. A complete list of titles may be found in the "Blog Archive" box, located on the right margin of the Website. some highlights include: - 2011 World Record Walk<http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf9723> - Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation Papers<http://torontocat.ca/main/> - Ted Talks - James H Kunstler dissects suburbia<http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia.h…> - Reality vs. Myth: The "dangers" of Dutch cycle paths<http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2010/11/reality-vs-myth-dangers-of-dutch-cycle.…> - Vancouver selected as the host of the Velo-city Global 2012 conference<http://www.velo-city2012.com/> Active Transportation Canada URL: http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com A "Search" function is available on the site. You will find this at the bottom of the page. With nearly 1,00 items posted on Active Transportation - Canada, there are links available to dozens of studies and hundreds of news items from communities across Canada and the world. If anyone has a problem reading this message, please let me know. I welcome suggestions for posts, so if you have news items featuring your community, please share them with the more than 500 subscribers to Active Transportation-Canada. Thank you. Michael Haynes Director TransActive Solutions -- Beth McKechnie Workplace Commuter Options Green Action Centre 204.925.3772 www.greenactioncentre.ca Green Action Centre is a registered charity. Please consider making a donation <https://www.canadahelps.org/DonationDetails.aspx?cookieCheck=true> . *Coming to the EcoCentre?* (3rd floor, 303 Portage at Donald, MEC bldg) Enter via the elevator just inside MEC's front doors Bike racks are located in front of the building Find your bus route with Winnipeg Transit's online trip planner Navigo<http://www.winnipegtransit.com/en/navigo>

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WFP: City bike routes going on Google next week (Nov.23'10)
by Beth McKechnie 23 Nov '10

23 Nov '10

City bike routes going on Google next week By: Adam Wazny The snow and ice suggest otherwise, but life for the Winnipeg cyclist just became a little easier. In an announcement at the Sustainable Mobility Conference in Ottawa Monday, Internet search engine giant Google has added Winnipeg to its list of Canadian cities that will have bike routes available online for those looking for the best path to take on two wheels. With Google Bike Directions, scheduled to be added to Google Maps during the next week, users can pore over city-fed bike maps using the popular web atlas to chart a course for their daily commute. Comprehensive maps of various bike routes and paths are already available on the city's website, but Winnipeg Trails Association director Janice Lukes was thrilled to find out Google has added the city to its new mapping feature. "We have all this new infrastructure and many people don't know where it is," she said. "This will encourage those who are looking to get out on the weekends or do a little riding after work." What has the cycling community excited about the Google Maps addition is the reach it will have to those contemplating ditching their vehicle for a bike. Jeff Martin, owner of Alter Ego Sports, feels the undecided might finally decide to switch to a two-wheeler permanently, thanks to Google Maps. Not every trail or dedicated bike lane is visible from behind the wheel, he notes, so not everyone is up to speed with the layout of the city's active transportation framework. "For the serious cyclist, they're going to ride their bikes regardless," he said. "But for the inexperienced rider, this will show them they can get from point A to point B in a safe way, especially for winter riding." Google Bike Directions works like this: A click on the bicycle icon shows a dark green line indicating a bike-only path. A lighter green line signals a dedicated bike lane and a dotted line shows a city street that doesn't have a dedicated bike lane, but could still be suitable for riding. The city planned to spend $20.4 million dollars on 36 bike-and-pedestrian projects under a federal stimulus program this year. Cold weather cut six of those projects short, with completion scheduled for 2011. Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, Gatineau and Waterloo are the other Canadian cities involved in Google's announcement. Bike-trail data for U.S. markets was added to Google Maps earlier this year. adam.wazny(a)freepress.mb.ca -- Beth McKechnie Workplace Commuter Options Green Action Centre 204.925.3772 www.greenactioncentre.ca Green Action Centre is a registered charity. Please consider making a donation <https://www.canadahelps.org/DonationDetails.aspx?cookieCheck=true> . *Coming to the EcoCentre?* (3rd floor, 303 Portage at Donald, MEC bldg) Enter via the elevator just inside MEC's front doors Bike racks are located in front of the building Find your bus route with Winnipeg Transit's online trip planner Navigo<http://www.winnipegtransit.com/en/navigo>

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G&M: Sidewalk experiments drive new ideas about urban public space
by Beth McKechnie 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

[Great article in the Globe & Mail about sidewalks and a whole "new era of sidewalk sociology". -cheers, Beth] *Full article with photos & videos:* http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/americas/lane-storming-cities-dri… Sidewalk experiments drive new ideas about urban public space SIRI AGRELL From Thursday's Globe and Mail Published Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010 8:10PM EST A line has been drawn in the battle over city streets. On a busy Manhattan morning this spring, a comedy troupe drew a chalk divide down the edge of Fifth Avenue, creating one lane for “tourists” and another for “New Yorkers.” It was just a joke, but the news quickly spread around the world and inspired copycat initiatives. The changing look of city sidewalks >From Lebanon to Calgary, the humble pavement has recently emerged as new frontier in urban warfare. It is a way for cities to demonstrate their personality and environmental cred, and take sides in the war between driver and pedestrian. But it is not, as San Francisco has forcefully pointed out with a ballot initiative approved earlier this month, a place to sit down. “We’re truly at the launch of a new science of creating walkways,” said Dan Burden, an urban planner and the creator of the non-profit group Walkable Communities. “They do a lot more work than just move people from place to place. We’re starting to see the sidewalk as a system that drives the successful social life of a street.” The popularity of the New York experiment was a signal that citizens are ready for bold thinking when it comes to urban design, he said, no longer content to cede the sidewalk to municipal authorities. In London and Toronto, business owners have paid out of pocket to make their sidewalks more attractive and easier to navigate by funding a sidewalk redesign and enforcing an invisible “shopper’s lane.” In a response to citizen complaints, Montreal is taking steps to make sure sidewalks are quickly cleared of snow while Lebanon is trying to keep them free of cars. Concrete, too, is losing favour, being replaced with recycled tiers, tamped earth and fine grain materials that come in a variety of colours. In the future, Mr. Burden predicts the “hardscape” of city sidewalks will be softened with materials like grasscrete, porous blocks that allow natural vegetation to work its way through. The sidewalk may end, but innovation has just begun. *MANHATTAN* *What:* In May, the comedy group Improv Everywhere spray painted a line down the middle of Fifth Avenue, demarcating lanes for “New Yorkers” and “tourists.” Fake department of transportation “employees” directed tourists to the left, telling them, “You can take pictures and go as slow as you want.” *Pros:* Pedestrians were also asked for their feedback on the initiative, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg thought the idea was “cute.” *Cons:* For busy New Yorkers, the idea didn’t go far enough. As the Web site Gothamist suggested, “Now we just need a lane for strollers and people who text while walking, and we'll be all set.” *Lessons for other cities:* Anger over sidewalk slowpokes is no joke. *LONDON* *What*: Inspired by the New York experiment, a group of business owners in the city’s Oxford Street district introduced a “shoppers lane” along store fronts this fall, with employees encouraging tourists to stay out of the way of locals. They plan to lobby to have the lane officially incorporated into city tourist maps next year. *Pros:* With more than 200 million visitors a year, nearby residents “absolutely love the idea” of a shoppers lane, according to Jace Tyrell, spokesperson for the New West End Company, which represents 600 local business owners. *Cons:* The lane is not actually marked on the sidewalk, and is not officially sanctioned or enforced by city council. Instead, New West End is advertising the rogue idea on tourist maps and enforcing it with the help of Red Caps, a group of employees who provide information and directions on the street. *Lessons for other cities*: You don’t need a bylaw to change the way cities work. Even without official enforcement, Mr. Tyrell said the system is embedding itself in the public consciousness. “It’s like the escalator, where people stand to one side or the other depending on whether or not they’re walking,” he said. “We hope over time, this will become a behavioural thing and people will just do it naturally.” *PORTLAND, ORE.* *What: *Under the direction of the Office of Transportation, 13th Avenue was redesigned as a curbless street, where the sidewalk and roadway are one level but paved with different coloured materials. *Pros:* Popular in Scandinavia, curbless streets have been shown to actually change the way people drive through “psychological traffic slowing” making neighbourhoods more pedestrian friendly. *Cons:* Short vertical posts called bollards that mark the line between street and sidewalk have been blamed for damaging cars. *Lessons for other cities:* Studies have shown curbless streets slow traffic by an average of nine kilometres an hour. An analysis of five years of traffic statistics in one California town found that the only pedestrian injuries occurred on streets that did have curbs. *CALGARY* *What: *In October, the city started replacing asphalt sidewalks with recycled rubber tires, as part of a one-year pilot program. *Pros:* The material won’t crack, reduces storm runoff, absorbs sound and is more comfortable for runners. City transportation engineer Blanka Bracic said public feedback on the city’s blog and 311 line has been overwhelmingly positive. *Cons: *Some residents are worried that the product’s uneven surface will make snow removal difficult. *Lessons for other cities:* Unlike traditional asphalt, the rubber sidewalk does not require the roots of nearby trees to be excavated. Ms. Bracic said that cutting down trees to lay new sidewalk is a major source of citizen complaints. The material costs the same as concrete, but is also cheaper to maintain. *TORONTO* *What: *The recently completed Bloor Street Transformation Project. *Pros: *The project has widened and beautified the sidewalks using Quebec granite, mature trees, improved street furniture and manicured flowerbeds. *Cons:* The project took more than three years to complete, snarling traffic on a major city street. *Lessons for other cities:* Inspired by Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the project was championed by the Bloor Street BIA, who contributed $20-million to the project. *LEBANON* *What: *Last month, various municipalities launched a crackdown on vehicles parked on sidewalks. *Pros: *The move is a response to growing chorus of complaints, many from the disabled and mothers with young children, noting that pedestrians are forced to walk on the road because of the popular practice of parking on sidewalks. *Cons:* Street vendors who deal food and other goods from their parking spots complain that their business is being ruined. *Lessons for other cities:* Previous efforts by Lebanese authorities to clear sidewalks of cars have failed due to the objections of merchants, who were given no alternative location from which to vend their wares. *SAN FRANCISCO* *What: *Proposition L, a city wide ordinance passed on Nov. 2 that bans people from sitting of lying on sidewalks between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Those caught breaking the law face fines, community-service sentences and even jail time. *Pros:* Dubbed the Sit/Lie ordinance, the idea was a response to a recent escalation of aggressive panhandling in the iconic Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood. Police can now take action against an individual without having to wait for a complaint from the public, according to Ted Loewenberg, president of the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association. “This gives police the ability to pay attention the kind of behaviours we’re worried about,” he said. *Cons: *Those opposed to Prop L say it unfairly targets the homeless. *Lessons for other cities: *The measure was passed through a ballot initiative included in the Nov. 2 election, and garnered the support of 55 per cent of voters. Mr. Loewenberg said city council had originally opposed the idea, which was proposed by chief of police. *MONTREAL* *What:* The city announced in early November that it will deploy quick reaction snow clearing brigades to specific pedestrian-packed sidewalks this year to keep downtown businesses moving. *Pros:* Main sidewalks in the busy downtown area of Ville Marie and the Plateau district will be completely cleared within 12 hours of a snowfall, with the city setting aside $262,000 for trucks and $150,000 for salaries to fund the rapid deployment teams. Michael Applebaum, the city executive committee member responsible for snow clearing, said the cost of leaving the sidewalks clogged is much higher, as it puts a freeze on tourism, restaurants and the retail business. “We’re a winter city. Our priority has to be to make sure people can get around,” he said. “We can’t stall the economy.” *Cons: *The city wants to have a strict 24-hour deadline for snow removal in place throughout the city by 2014, but they can’t enforce the deadlines until their contracts with private snow removal companies come up for renegotiation. *Lessons for other cities: *Mr. Applebaum, who is also borough mayor of Côte des Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, says technology has dramatically shortened citizen’s patience with city services.**Because they can report city issues on cellphones and via e-mail, they expect an immediate response, even when it comes to fighting Mother Nature.

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Planning, transport and health inequalities
by Mike Tutthill 15 Nov '10

15 Nov '10

Planning, transport and health inequalities This British website presents case studies of what can be achieved when places utilise planning and transport to tackle the social determinants of health. But they also highlight the limits of what these environment-focused professions can do. The website is regularly updated as shown by the two most recent cases studies presented: The London Borough of Waltham Forest and the Stoke-on-Trent City Council http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=23261408 Mike Tutthill Information & Access Coordinator HEALTH in COMMON 100-6 Donald Street Winnipeg, MB R3L 0K6 tel: 204.949.2002 1.800.731.1792 fax: 204.284.2404 email: <mailto:mtutthill@healthincommon.ca> mtutthill(a)healthincommon.ca web: <http://www.healthincommon.ca> www.healthincommon.ca +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ December E-Newsletter deadline is November 19. <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-in-Common/120069149875> Health in Common on Facebook * Please consider the environment before printing this email. Coming to Health in Common? By bicycle: Bicycle parking is located behind the building. By Winnipeg transit: Routes 62, 65, 66, 68, 70 By car: Two visitor parking spaces are available at the back of the building. Street parking (restrictions): Bell Avenue (1hr 9h00 - 17h30), Clarke Street (none); Lewis (none); Cauchon (none); River (none west of Clarke).

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