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WFP: Winnipeg Trails breaks ground on more than 30 ski and walking loops in city neighbourhoods (Feb8'21)
by Beth McKechnie 08 Feb '21

08 Feb '21

Winnipeg Trails breaks ground on more than 30 cross-country ski and walking loops in city neighbourhoods MAKING TRAILS, MAKING CONNECTIONS https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/making-trails-making-connections-57… WINNIPEG’S winter sport enthusiasts have more places to go for a ski, snowshoe or hike now that Winnipeg Trails has broken ground on more than 30 cross-country ski and walking loops in neighbourhoods around the city. “One of the most beautiful things about winter is the new trails that it opens up for people,” said executive director Anders Swanson. “It basically creates bridges all over the city on a temporary basis. So it inspired us to see what we could do about increasing access to trails, at least for the winter, in places close to people’s homes.” Planning for the extra trails began in July as Winnipeg Trails started thinking about what a second wave of COVID-19 cases and lockdown rules would mean for Winnipeggers this winter. “The idea ultimately comes from the need for human beings to connect, and it turns out one of the few places we can do that has been outside,” Swanson said. “We are in the business of community-building more than anything else. We do that by connecting people with safe and comfortable ways to be outside and to move so that we can see each other face to face.” More than 30 sites are underway in neighbourhoods such as St. Boniface, Dufferin, Garden City and Tuxedo. Dozens more approved by the city are still to come. “The whole point of this project was to make sure there was some winter fun near you for Winnipeggers; there are sites in every neighbourhood basically,” Swanson said. The trails are built and maintained by a team of volunteers, Swanson said. The crew can make three or four trails a day, and the sites come with benches and sculptures — built of snow, of course — for visitors to use to put on skis or sit for a cup of cocoa. The trails are made by a machine Swanson describes as the “Swiss army knife of trail building.” It looks like a snowmobile cut in half, he said, and can be fitted with different attachments to carve out ski trails or pack snow for walking and biking. The broader Winterpeg project is designed to “spark a little joy” in the city, Swanson said. For those who may not be into skiing, there are opportunities to walk, bike, snowshoe, build snowmen or ice candles, among activities showcased on the organization’s website. For those who want to try skiing for the first time, Winterpeg will offer a mobile ski library to take free ski rentals and guides to loops around the city. “It goes hand in hand with Winterpeg and building the trails,” said Jenny Sawatzky, who runs the Icicle Garden, a gear library that has ski and snowshoe rentals. “People who maybe don’t have access to a car or can’t afford it, show up and try some skis out.” Though the Icicle Garden, based out of the Bicycle Garden storefront on Sherbrook Street, has been in operation all season, the new mobile option is intended to run events and encourage access to winter sports for all Winnipeggers. Sawatzky said the gear library has been a huge success. The storefront has been busy every day, she said, and has had an influx of donations of both money and winter gear. “Everybody has been very grateful that we opened. Feedback has been positive every time,” Sawatzky said. “Everyone’s been fairly generous.” That ski library has been a major source of funding for the trail program: donations for rentals are funneled into the trail-making efforts. The Winterpeg team has received funding from the federal EcoCanada internship program and the City of Winnipeg’s wellness fund. Swanson noted city councillors have roundly supported the trail-building effort, and helped secure the $5,000 in municipal funding. Swanson said the team at Winnipeg Trails and Winterpeg would love to see the entire city connected with ski and walking trails — and bike paths for the warmer seasons — so residents can enjoy time outside with ease year-round. “There are some places where the people in the area already might have skis… and there are some areas in the city, for example, with a lot of newcomers to Canada from countries that may not have long winters, and they’re not as used to it,” said Swanson. “We’re not expecting those to be as popular right away, but it’s one of the reasons why we’re bringing the mobile ski library out, so people get a chance to try.” Swanson said his favourite part is the opportunity to watch people discover the joy of skiing. julia-simone.rutgers(a)freepress.mb.ca <julia-simone.rutgers(a)freepress.mb.ca> Twitter: @jsrutgers

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WFP: Bundle up and get active with Jack Frost Challenge
by Beth McKechnie 07 Feb '21

07 Feb '21

Bundle up and get active with Jack Frost Challenge KRIS Kuzdub will be taking extra care while bundling up before heading outside this week as the forecasted high for today is pegged at -25 C and with the wind chill considered it could feel colder than -40 C at times. Today also marks the start of Winnipeg’s Green Action Centre’s Jack Frost Challenge. All week, teams and individuals will be competing against one another to log the most outdoor, active kilometres. Kuzdub, the Green Action Centre’s sustainable transportation co-ordinator, says maybe it would have been nice if the challenge landed during one of the more moderate weather weeks, but she thinks the encouragement to get out the door might be needed now more than ever — even if it’s just for a quick walk around the block. “Manitobans are tough, we can do it. Just bundle up,” Kuzdub told the Free Press. After activities outside, participants log onto the website and track their kilometres. There are participation prizes, as well as prizes for the most kilometres logged by a team and by an individual. A reminder to readers that Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued an extreme cold warning for all of Manitoba and notes in this week’s forecasts that frostbite is possible within minutes if the proper precautions aren’t taken and skin is exposed. Kuzdub said unlike other commuter challenges hosted by the centre, people don’t need to be travelling long distances, simply getting outside and making a snowman and using your smartphone to count your steps will do. “People need this this year, myself included,” Kuzdub said. In 2020, the Jack Frost Challenge had 1,400 individuals registered to compete and more than 220 teams. This year, as the competition marks its 10th anniversary, more than a thousand individuals have signed up with more than 400 teams registered. Linda Loewen lives in North Kildonan and has signed up for the group competition for the first time this year. She registered with two friends and a friend of a friend. They won’t be trying any of the currently trendy outdoor activities such as fat biking or cross-country skiing, instead, they’ll be sticking to the basics and walking as much as they can. Loewen says she wasn’t much of a walker before, but since the pandemic began she’s found peace and beauty in just walking around her neighbourhood and down the river paths. “It made me appreciate it more than I probably would have in the past,” Loewen said She’s particularly fallen in love with Fraser’s Grove Park and has made it a ritual to walk past it every time she is on her way home. “I’ve seen the seasons pass. I started walking when there was still ice and snow then watched as the river melted… That’s my quiet, peaceful meditative time.” Loewen signed up for the Jack Frost Challenge because despite the peace walking has offered her in the last year, she’s struggled to get moving again since the holidays. “We just need to get outside because we’ve been so cooped up and people are feeling that. People might just need that little extra push,” Kuzdub said. She also hopes the challenge has some of the lasting effects it aims for every year, such as helping people appreciate the time outside, and maybe learn that biking to work or walking to the grocery store wasn’t as much of a chore as they’d built it up to be in their minds. In order to show the impact, the Green Action Centre tracks the cumulative kilometres moved and travelled by participants. In 2020, it was a total of 28,497 km, and if the same distance were covered in a car, it would have created approximately 6,348 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, their estimates show. It demonstrates that every climate action matters, Kuzdub said, and it also burns calories and is fun — so there’s really no downside. The competition runs from today to Feb. 13 and people can still register at greenactioncentre.ca/jackfrostchallenge. sarah.lawrynuik(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik

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Safety of Bicycle Infrastructure in Canada | TAC webinar slides
by Beth McKechnie 03 Feb '21

03 Feb '21

Hi everyone, In case you missed it yesterday, TAC hosted an interesting webinar on the safety of bicycle infrastructure in Canada presented by Dr. Jeannette Montufar of MORR Consulting in Winnipeg. Here are the slides for reference. If a recording link is provided, I will circulate later. cheers, Beth -- Beth McKechnie (she/her) *| *Green Action Centre <http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/> 3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3777 x102 | Find us here <http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/> *We are located on Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation. The water we drink comes from Shoal Lake First Nation. * Green Action Centre is your green living hub Support our work by becoming a member <http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/> <http://www.gomanitoba.ca>

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What We Learned from Tracking Cycling Deaths for a Year
by Beth McKechnie 01 Feb '21

01 Feb '21

Deaths by Road Type The most dangerous place to be a cyclist, however, was on an arterial road, which we defined as a busy, multilane thoroughfare with traffic signals at intersections and speeds limits exceeding 30 miles per hour. Arterials accounted for 65 percent of the fatal crashes in our database. We saw that poorly designed intersections along these roads presented serious hazards for cyclists. While many had multiple lanes for cars, they had none for bikes. Furthermore, many had speed limits as high as 45 miles per hour. (Speed limits have been increasing in many parts of the country.) And numerous intersections on arterials allow vehicles to turn right on a red light, or have several turning lanes, which makes it much more likely that a driver won’t see a cyclist while they are turning. BikeMaps.org executive director Karen Laberee adds that cars making unprotected left turns—those with no dedicated left-turn light—are especially hazardous, because a driver may be watching for other cars coming in the opposite direction but not for cyclists or pedestrians. “A left turn is a particularly challenging maneuver cognitively <https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-cure-for-killer-cars/> for a driver—there’s a lot going on for them to process,” Laberee says. One solution is to restrict concurrent movement, with separate light cycles for left-turning vehicles, vehicles driving straight, and pedestrians and cyclists, she says. That way, only vehicles or pedestrians are going through the intersection at one time. Full article: https://www.outsideonline.com/2420196/what-we-learned-tracking-cycling-deat…

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WFP: New Flyer in automated bus driver’s seat (Jan30'21)
by Beth McKechnie 30 Jan '21

30 Jan '21

AV pilot project running in U.S. rapid transit corridor NFI in automated bus driver’s seat https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/nfi-in-automated-bus-drivers-sea… ON Friday, NFI Group officially launched North America’s first fully operational automated transit bus, once again staking its claim as the industry leader. The bus maker has been working for more than a year with Maryland-based Robotic Research LLC to fit out its Xcelsior battery-electric model with all the technology that allows it to navigate autonomously through city streets as well as expertly dock three inches from the curb and deploy accessibility ramps for passengers. The bus is currently operating in a pilot project with the Connecticut Department of Transportation on the CTFastrak, a dedicated nine-mile-long bus rapid transit corridor that runs between downtown Hartford and downtown New Britain. The bus uses sensors, radar, LIDAR (sometimes referred to as laser radar) and cameras to create a 360-degree digital 3D modelling of the environment. It can digitally communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure like traffic lights and the technology will work day or night and with or without satellite GPS. It has integrated so-called advanced driver-assistance systems achieving level four certification with the Society of Automotive Engineers. In a virtual presentation on Friday, Chris Stoddart, president of New Flyer, referenced recent comments made by General Motors CEO Mary Barra, about creating a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. “I could not have said it better myself,” he said. “What we are unveiling today will help fulfil that vision.” Industry proponents believe autonomous vehicles will reduce accidents — 94 per cent of the most serious ones are caused by human error — reduce travel time and be more efficient because of reduced maintenance. While New Flyer currently has its hands full managing delayed orders and a disrupted order book caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company hopes to be fully on top of automated bus technology when the time comes. Company officials were clear that regulations are a long way from catching up to autonomous technology which is not currently able to be deployed in public transit on shared roadways except in controlled environments like the one in Connecticut. But Stoddart said, “In the coming decades we anticipate fleets of automated buses improving road safety and potentially improving commute times, increasing energy efficiency and reducing congestion.” But before that becomes a reality, North American cities have to make some significant commitments to getting people out of their cars and redesigning streets. “First of all, cities need to dedicate resources to urban redesign,” said Jennifer McNeill, New Flyer’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Cities have to dedicate laneways for buses. Transit buses have to be privileged over, or in tandem with, vehicles. Once that starts to happen, AV (autonomous vehicles) can happen.” In a panel discussion with industry experts at NFI Group’s virtual investor day held earlier this month, Josipa Petrunic, the president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium, said although there has been plenty of talk and development of autonomous vehicle technology, it won’t happen until a couple of things take place. “Cities (need to) dedicate time and effort to urban redesign,” she said. “And the second thing that has to happen is that cities have to set a gold standard or target for why they’re deploying AV shuttles or buses. And the target has to be: move more people and kill cars. It has to be that. If it’s anything else, there’s no point in deploying AV technology.” New Flyer has already started the process of encouraging cities in that direction. In March it’s holding a free virtual session on workforce development and training related to the Xcelsior autonomous vehicle. martin.cash(a)freepress.mb.ca

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WFP: Councillor takes aim at surface parking lots (Jan27'21)
by Beth McKechnie 27 Jan '21

27 Jan '21

*Councillor takes aim at surface parking lots * * Allard wants council to have more say in how land used* https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/councillor-takes-aim-at-surface-par… A WINNIPEG councillor is calling for the city to find ways to prevent street-level parking lots from being set up after commercial and industrial buildings get torn down. “I’m looking at ways to essentially curb this and ensure we end up with at least a say, as a council, on how much of our urban form is surface parking lots, as opposed to buildings,” said St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard. “Buildings… generate more property values and lead to a more sustainable city than a city full of surface parking lots, which I think Winnipeg has a lot of.” Since commercial and industrial demolitions that lack new building permits aren’t subject to a public hearing process, despite the fact similar applications for residential homes require such as hearing, Allard said the city should try to increase oversight. If Allard’s motion is approved by council’s property and development committee, a public service report will check out how other cities address the issue. The councillor said he was inspired to take action after a commercial building at 384 Tache Ave. was torn down in 2018 and replaced with a surface parking lot. Allard said his new motion isn’t meant to criticize the owners of that particular lot, but aims to see council get more control over future property changes. “It just brought forward the policy issue that commercial buildings can go down, industrial buildings can go down and there’s no public hearing. (With) residential, you do have that public hearing and, in some cases, the area councillor and the community committee can turn them down and the end result is you have a building and not a surface parking lot,” said Allard. While some Winnipeg drivers might find them convenient, Allard said he believes surface parking lots aren’t the best use of space, since they prevent density and impede the city’s climate change goals. “The more surface parking lots there are, the more Winnipeggers will be choosing the single-passenger vehicle trip (to reach their destinations),” said Allard. Winnipegger Stephane Dorge said he believes that while some surface parking lots may be required, the city should address an “excessive” amount of them in and around downtown. “I definitely think there’s a better use of land than surface parking… To me, it creates dead zones instead of having neighbourhood activity or resources or storefronts that residents could access,” said Dorge. The city has attempted to reduce the number of downtown surface parking lots for several years. As of 2018, 150 surface parking lots took up about 20 per cent of Winnipeg’s downtown real estate. A development permit is required to legally set up a surface parking lot in Winnipeg. Land owners who skip that step can face an enforcement process, the city noted in an emailed statement. If the property and development committee approves Allard’s motion next month, the report would be expected in four months. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb <joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca>.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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Ridar Systems partners with HERE Technologies to detect bicycles and motorcycles more accurately - Green Car Congress
by Terry Zdan 27 Jan '21

27 Jan '21

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2021/01/20210127-ridar.html

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WFP Analysis: Parking minimums stifle development (Jan25'21)
by Beth McKechnie 26 Jan '21

26 Jan '21

*Parking minimums stifle development * *https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/parking-minimums-stifle-development-573655122.html* <https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/parking-minimums-stifle-…> FOR the next few weeks, the City of Winnipeg is seeking public feedback on the Winnipeg Parking Strategy, a five-year vision to manage vehicle parking across the city. It may not sound glamorous, but parking is quietly one of the most powerful forces shaping our cities, having a fundamental influence on cost of living, neighbourhood form and character, and building design. Six months ago, Edmonton became the first major Canadian city to eliminate parking minimums for new development. The new strategy presents an opportunity for Winnipeg to follow this lead. Parking minimums are municipal-government regulations that dictate the number of parking stalls a new development must include on its property. The ratio is derived from a decades-old formula based on building size and whether it’s a new house, apartment block, commercial building or other use. In Winnipeg, outside of downtown, 1.5 parking stalls are required for every residential unit, reduced to 1.2 in some inner-city areas. An important shortcoming of these blanket ratios is that they do not account for variables influencing the amount of parking actually required, such as vehicle ownership in the neighbourhood, adjacent amenities, transit access, suite sizes, demographics and evolving mobility trends. Mandated parking levels have resulted in significantly more parking being built than is required. Studies have found in the United States, there are as many as eight parking stalls for every vehicle, which is likely similar in car-dominant Canadian cities such as Winnipeg. Before Edmonton implemented its new policy, a thorough study was undertaken that found only seven per cent of parking lots city-wide are full at peak times and, overall, parking lots are typically no more than 40 per cent occupied. It was concluded that Edmonton has 50 per cent more parking than is needed. A 2018 study in metro Vancouver found that the rate of unused parking stalls in the region’s apartment buildings was between 35 and 40 per cent. The impact of this over-built parking is significant. The simple construction costs for parking can range from about $7,000 for a single surface stall to $40,000 for an above-ground parkade stall, and $60,000 or more for an underground stall. Knowing that range in cost, it is easy to understand why developers prefer suburban projects, surrounded by oceans of asphalt, over infill development with expensive enclosed parking. When parking minimums are required, it is effectively an incentive for urban sprawl. This high cost of parking is passed down to consumers, baked into rents and real-estate prices, the groceries we buy and the services we use. It can have a significant impact on housing affordability in a city. As an example, the little brick apartment buildings familiar to many inner-city Winnipeg neighbourhoods were often built with little or no parking. They provide valuable affordable housing opportunities in these neighbourhoods and are typically well leased. If one of those buildings burns down, it is impossible to replace because of mandatory parking requirements. For most of these buildings, filling the entire property with parking alone would not meet the requirements,and if parking is located underground, affordability is lost. Overbuilt parking pushes buildings farther apart, which has the cumulative effect of reducing urban density, increasing infrastructure needs and diminishing the walkability of a neighbourhood. The impacts of parking on the pedestrian quality of a street can be seen side-by-side on Winnipeg’s Corydon Avenue, where older buildings built to the property line with active storefronts along the sidewalk have created an attractive street to walk down. New developments have been set back from the sidewalk behind parking lots, increasing walking distances, reducing visual interest, and making the street feel less safe and less attractive to shoppers and residents. Eliminating parking minimums does not mean eliminating parking; it instead allows developers to build what they need. Developers have a strong incentive to find the balance between building as little parking as possible and building so little that their investment becomes impossible to lease. When the market, rather than government, decides how much parking should be built, developers can be more targeted, flexible and able to incorporate less impactful solutions, which generally results in more appropriate parking amounts being built. Parking minimums were established in the 1960s out of a fear from neighbourhood residents that new development would cause an increase in street parking. This is still a primary source of opposition to new development today. Cities that are eliminating minimums are dealing with this by taking a proactive approach to managing on-street parking. Requiring the purchase of neighbourhood parking permits, as an example, allows the city to control who is parking on the streets, ensuring that new development is not freeloading, as well as signalling to homeowners that on-street car storage does not come free with the purchase of their property. Cities that can balance strong parking management policies with elimination of parking minimums for new development will see more appropriate amounts of parking built in the future, resulting in higher levels of investment and development, greater housing affordability, higher density and more sustainable infill growth, as well as more vibrant and beautiful streets and neighbourhoods. *Brent Bellamy is senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural Group.*

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WFP: EPC puts brakes on speed limit plebiscite (Jan21'21)
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jan '21

21 Jan '21

*EPC puts brakes on speed limit plebiscite * https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/epc-puts-brakes-on-speed-limit-pleb… WINNIPEGGERS will not get to vote on whether they support lowering the default 50 km/h speed limit on residential streets. Coun. Shawn Nason’s call for the city to hold a plebiscite during the 2022 municipal election, or a mayoral byelection, was rejected by the executive policy committee Wednesday. Council’s most powerful committee decided to receive the idea as information, which means no action will be taken on it, a decision only Coun. Jeff Browaty opposed. Mayor Brian Bowman, along with councillors Matt Allard, Scott Gillingham, Cindy Gilroy, Brian Mayes and Sherri Rollins voted not to pursue the change. Nason argued a plebiscite would be a fair way to seek feedback from all residents before deciding if a major change should take place. “My (request)… is to engage our community on a question that touches, I believe, every member of this city,” Nason told EPC members. Several Winnipeggers spoke out against a plebiscite at the committee hearing, arguing that lower speed limits would reduce the risk of a serious or fatal injury in a crash, making the matter a safety issue that should be guided by research. “The issue of safety should not be up for debate... these things should not be in the realm of, nor be swayed by, the public opinion of the day. Instead, decisions on such issues must remain firmly in the hands of those with the knowledge and expertise to make those decisions,” said Kira Coulter, who spoke on behalf of the advocacy group Safe Speeds Winnipeg. Prior to the decision, Rollins argued that letting Winnipeggers vote on the topic would amount to shifting responsibility for what should be a policy decision made by elected officials. The mayor said he rejected the motion because it would tie city council’s hands and prevent it from taking any action on the file. “I think city hall needs to be open to the topic of lowering speed limits. We’re doing some policy work right now and I’m looking forward to reviewing that work… I’m trying to be guided by the input of road safety engineers and I’m trying to look at it through that lens,” said Bowman. The mayor noted the city has not decided whether to lower the default speed limit. In July, council approved a pilot project to test a 30 km/h speed limit on five residential streets in a one-year period. It’s not clear when that will begin. For many months, advocates have repeatedly lobbied the city to reduce the default residential speed limit to 30 km/h. However, an online petition against that proposal has gathered almost 9,000 signatures. Winnipegger Ray Hignell said he’s among those who don’t think a reduced speed limit is justified. He said he’s disappointed the plebiscite won’t occur. Hignell said he believes crashes that kill pedestrians tend to happen on busier streets, not residential ones, so he’s not convinced a speed limit reduction is warranted. “This city seems determined to slow down traffic, impede people’s progress and there’s no facts that I have seen... that suggest there really is a problem,” he said. joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb <joyanne.pursaga(a)freepress.mb.ca>.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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PSU Study Evaluates Impact of Speed Limit Reductions on Driver Speeds
by Beth McKechnie 21 Jan '21

21 Jan '21

PSU Study Evaluates Impact of Speed Limit Reductions in Portland, OR on Driver Speeds In 2015 the City of Portland adopted a Vision Zero plan. Crash data revealed that speed was a contributing factor in 47% of fatal crashes in Portland. In 2018, the City Council reduced the speed limit on all residential streets to 20 mph. Funded by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and conducted at PSU by Monsere, Kothuri and Jason Anderson, this study looked at the before and after the speed limit changes at 58 locations and found that the change likely reduced driving speeds by small but significant amounts. The speed reduction in the percentage of vehicles faster than 30 mph and 35 mph on residential streets are larger in magnitude than other observed impacts. https://trec.pdx.edu/news/effect-residential-street-speed-limit-reduction-2…

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