Week in review: September 18, 2017

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Consultations, feedback, and events

• PEDESTRIANS: Feedback on ION from the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region
• Volunteer Committees:
  • Climate Action WR Transportation Sector Committee applications due Oct 15
  • Regional Active Transportation Advisory Committee applications due Oct 6
• ION FIX-IT LIST: What details need correcting?
• CAMBRIDGE: Transportation Master Plan
• TRANSIT:
  • Transit affordability study – call for participants
  • 2018 Grand River Transit service changes, Sept 18, 21, 27, Oct 3, 16, 18 (online)
• BARRIERS: Highway 7/8 multi-use trail crossing
• REGION:
  • Trade-offs in transportation
  • Moving Forward progress report and consultation Sept 19

Vision Zero

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g-z-PEzTas

• Wide residential streets are dangerous. Why are they so common? (Streetsblog)
• Science backs the safety of 30 km/h limits (Edmonton Journal)
• When cyclists break the law for their own safety (Planetizen)
• Where “jaywalking” is not a crime (Streetsblog)

Transit

• Region looks for feedback on proposed GRT changes (Kitchener Post)
• Bus network design is a “hot trend” (Human Transit)
• Responding to public transit criticism (Planetizen)
• The new bus campaigners (Transit Center)
• Region calling on participants for affordable transit pass study (CBC)
• Metrolinx promises greater transparency after GO station controversy (The Star)
• Eglinton Crosstown makes infrastructure exciting again (Globe and Mail)

Cycling

Our favourite cafe and bike shop, the Berlin Bicycle Café, announced it will be closing at the end of the month. Drop by and show them some love.

Kitchener is seeking up to $600,000 in funding from provincial cap and trade funds for cycling infrastructure, including protected bike lanes for Wilson Ave.

• If you have safe lanes, people will cycle (The Record)
• How do you design an effective bike lane barrier (CityLab)
• How Dutch biking changed the way I ride (Beyond the Automobile)
• The ‘miracle pill’: how cycling could save health care (The Guardian)
• Ontario to add more secure bike parking at GO stations (Ontario)
• Why few people bike to and from transit, and what we can do to change that (Alta Planning & Design)

What others are doing:

https://twitter.com/HealthyCityMaps/status/908297720976289792?s=09

• Montreal to invest $150 million in ambitious 5-year bike plan (Daily Hive)
• Portland will maintain 25% bike mode share goal by 2035 (Bike Portland) - by contrast, the Region’s goal is just 3% by 2031
• 2017 summer sees record cycling volumes across five major routes in Vancouver (City of Vancouver)
• Bike commute growth has levelled off, but some cities still show the way (People for Bikes)

Land use

• OMB OKs parking reduction for Galt apartment building (Cambridge Times)
• Cities aren’t using their key tool for climate action: urban planning (Cityscope)
• How to build better burbs to ease the housing crunch (The Tyee)
• Seattle neighbourhood is preparing now for 2031 light rail station (Next City)