Week in review: September 10, 2016

Consultations and feedback deadlines

• CAMBRIDGE: Transportation Master Plan, public consultation September 21
• DEVELOPMENT CHARGES: Public meeting September 13
• MOVING FORWARD: What are your priorities for transportation in Waterloo Region? 
  • Public Information Centres in
    • Cambridge, September 21
    • Kitchener, September 22
    • Waterloo, September 29
• HOMER WATSON: Public consultation September 15
• GTHA: Next Regional Transportation Plan
• MAPS: Regional cycling map, first edition in need of feedback
• GROWTH: Coordinated land use planning review (deadline extended to October 31)
• MORE GROWTH: Snacks and Smart Growth – September 15
• FUNDING: Federal public transit infrastructure feedback
• TRANSIT STATIONS: Midtown and Rockway September 29
• KITCHENER: Community Engagement Workshops, September 27 and October 4

Headlines

• Vision Zero: School safety, multiple crashes, a deadly weekend, erratic driving, and racing.
• GO trains: a rough start to new service
• Development charges: new construction fees to help pay for ION could be applied to downtowns, townships
• Transit safety: video surveilance may not be retained for long enough when sexual assaults are reported

Top reads

• Cycling: the Financial Times finds urban cycling health benefits outweigh the risks, Columbus Ohio ditches ambiguous “share the road” signs in favour of something better, Robin Mazumder proposes pop-up bike lanes for Edmonton, and Ontario Traffic Man reviews Toronto’s Richmond-Adelaide cycle track
• Land use: the Ryerson City Building Institute has published a report on building transit-family neighbourhoods outside of the Toronto core, with lessons from and for Waterloo Region. Richard Joy calls for a ‘new urgency’ and ’another Greenbelt moment’ for transit-oriented development and James Howe writes about not allowing garages to ruin downtown neighbourhood character.
• Ride-sharing and transit: Seattle Transit Blog on how Uber depends on subsidies just like transit (it’s just in the form of venture capital), and Transit Centre has a new report on how public transit agencies can work with new private mobility providers
• HOT lanes: Ontario’s road-pricing plan anything but HOT
• Politics: David Miller on the real consequences of ‘hidden’ government cuts, Spacing’s John Lorinc on how PC leader Patrick Brown might target Metrolinx and the Greenbelt