For information about more June Bike Month events, including those co-hosted by GCAT, click here.

Jordan and Yvette from Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation  recently attended Share the Road‘s 2018 Ontario Bike Summit. Here is a short recap of what we attended with some links worth checking out!  

 Bicycle Friendly Community Awards 

Our neighbours in Waterloo were awarded the “Gold” Bicycle Friendly Communities designation Way to go, Waterloo!  (They’ve surpassed us. Guelph is at the “Silver” level.) 

Keynote Address:  Dale Bracewell, Manager of Transportation Planning – City of Vancouver 

Some impressive success stories and challenges from Vancouver who are at the forefront of urban transportation planning  

http://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/walk-bike-and-transit.aspx 

Some highlights: 

• 32% decrease in distance driven per resident since 2007 
• 10% of residents bike to work 
• Half of all trips are using sustainable modes (walking, biking, transit) 

• 25% of their cycling network is AAA (All Ages and Abilities) 

• Vancouver’s 10 Guidelines for AAA Bike Network: http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/design-guidelines-for-all-ages-and-abilities-cycling-routes.pdf 

• Bracewell described his job in the following way:  Ensuring that 100% of “new trips” in the city are not taken by car. In other words, the number of car trips stays the same or decreases while other trip types increase as the population grows. This is a good way of thinking of Guelph given the projected population growth. 
  

Keynote Conversation:  Ontario Minister of Transportation Kathryn McGarry 

• Did you know:  The provincial cycling “file” is shared between Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport 

• The province has just released their Cycling Strategy Action Plan (CycleON 2.0 Action Plan.) Worth a read to learn about new funding streams, and the province’s strategies for benefiting from cycling: 

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/publications/pdfs/cycle-action-plan.pdf  

• The province has just released an update of the Cycling Skills Guide: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/pdfs/cycling-skills.pdf 
  

State of Cycling Presentation by Share the Road CEO, Jamie Stuckless

New polling data collected by Nanos on behalf of Share the Road was presented. This is good stuff for presenting to local decision makers as it shows that there is majority support for investments in cycling infrastructure.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/04/16/poll-shows-ontario-voters-care-about-biking-issues-advocates-say.html 

http://www.sharetheroad.ca/opinion-poll-data-s17022 (includes additional link to full Nanos results) 

 Finding the Right Metrics for Your Project Session – Behind the Scenes of North America’s Most Extensively Studied Bike Lane 

This was about Toronto’s Bloor St. Protected Bike Lane Pilot Project. There were a HUGE amount of contributors to this from cycling advocacy, BIA’s, resident associations, Toronto city hall, researchers, consultants, doctors/health advocates. 

Photo credit to http://news.engineering.utoronto.ca

Final report to Council 

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/8ef6-cycling-bloor-backgroundfile-107582.pdf  

 Highlights from the data collection for Bloor St. Protected bike lane project: 

• Daily cyclist count went from 3,300 in June 2016 to 4,900 in June 2017 (49% increase) 
• The total number of conflicts/near-misses between all road-users decreased by 44% 
• Bike/vehicle conflicts reduced by 61% 
• 85% of cyclists now feel safe, compared to 3% before 

 Other advocacy/community organizations that contributed to this (a few out of many): 

• Toronto Centre for Active Transportation 
• Cycle Toronto 
• Doctors for Safe Cycling 
• http://bellsonbloor.org/ 

 These lanes have now been made permanent. 

 Community Inspiration Session 

This was a “20×20” session where presenters had 20 slides and 20 seconds for each slide to present their inspirational projects.  

BikeOttawa is doing INCREDIBLE bike network mapping 

• https://blog.mapillary.com/update/2017/11/17/completing-the-map-for-bicycle-advocacy-in-ottawa.html is a very cool mapping project designed to enhance the advocacy-case for infrastructure improvements… which they’ve now used to create https://maps.bikeottawa.ca/ . These are interactive maps based on a “traffic-stress” that is assigned to every street in the city using the data previously collected. You can use these tools to create a route that meets the level of stress you are comfortable with. Check it out! 
• https://ibikeibuy.ca/statistics/ is a tool to show that people on bikes are spending money all over the city.

 The Halifax Cycling Coalition developed a crowdsourcing app called Cycle snApp to capture geo-tagged citizen feedback on anything cycling-related 

https://cyclehalifax.ca/learn/snapp/ 

 The Toronto Bicycle Music Festival is a bicycle-powered mobile music festival that’s been taking place since 2010. Their message:  “Just add bikes” to your event. 

http://torontobicyclemusicfestival.com/   

Hope this gives you a good summary of the Ontario Bike Summit!

When: March 23, 2018 , 11:30-12;30

Where: University Centre, University of Guelph,  room 335

Can the bike save your city and you?

We’ll discuss how biking makes a city more liveable, and you happier. We’ll inspire you to see how biking is such an important mode of transportation in making a city, and your life more resilient. We’ll also provide you the support to get you started and to keep you going.

Yvette Tendick is president of Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation, a local advocacy group whose mission is to increase the amount of people who are comfortable and safe walking and riding bikes around the city.

Hello all! 

I am graduate student at the University of Guelph in the Capacity Development and Extension program. I have an assignment for one of my courses that requires me to work in collaboration with a community organization and develop a media product that addresses an issue in the Guelph community.  

A few weekends ago I was at the Farmer’s Market representing 10C (a local co-working space) and sharing a table with Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation as the volunteers were promoting GCAT’s AGM and collecting annual memberships. After hearing the GCAT’s member’s comments about cycling in Guelph and the concerns around bike safety, I thought it would impactful to put together a documentary that can be presented to the City of Guelph to raise attention of the cycling community’s needs and narratives.  

I would really appreciate it you took five minutes next weekend (February 17, 2018) at the Farmer’s Market to sit down and have a conversation with me. I will be videoing and recording these interviews, if you have any comments or concerns please do not hesitate to email me and we can figure out other ways that you can participate! My email is asmart01@uoguelph.ca. 

 Thank you for considering this, 

Sacha Smart 

University of Guelph Masters Student,  

Capacity Development and Extension 

Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation invites the public to GCAT’s  Annual General Meeting and after party on Feb. 22!

You will hear about the accomplishments and goals of GCAT to make Guelph one of the best places in Ontario for cycling and walking. Our guest speaker will be Benita Van Miltenburg, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator from the City of Guelph. Her topic is “Lessons from Amsterdam…. and Hamilton!”

Benita entered the field of sustainable transportation thanks to a passion for population and environmental health, and a love of recreational and utilitarian cycling.  She worked as project manager for Cycle Hamilton, and volunteered as Chair of the Advocacy and Communications Committee.

In conjunction with her graduate degree, Benita attended the University of Amsterdam’s Planning the Cycling City course, and will be speaking about her experience.

Come out and get inspired!

Location: Red Papaya

Time: 7-8 pm for AGM*, 8-10 pm for after party. Come to one or both!

Free apps and great door prizes!!!! (Thank you Guelph Solar and other sponsors!)

*We are actively taking memberships, online, at the Guelph Farmer’s Market on Jan. 27 and Feb. 17, as well as at the AGM. Please see gcat.ca for more details. All members of the public are invited to the AGM but only GCAT members can vote.

2017 was a great year for Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation!  We worked hard to support and encourage citizens who want to bike and walk in Guelph. Here are some highlights  the work that we have done this year.  Please support our membership drive for 2018 so that we can continue to work hard for Guelph citizens to make Guelph a leading city for Active Transportation!

Advocacy

• successfully delegated at city council to support 12 million dollars funding over 10 years to complete an Active Transportation Network
• formed a coalition with other stakeholder groups to get staff and city council to reverse decision on cancelling Speedvale Bridge Underpass project. Helped to organize delegates (11!) and letter writers (27!) and petitioned (420 names!) to reach this end
• gave input to the Guelph Trail Master Plan Update
• facilitated at Learning for a Sustainable Future’s EcoLeague Youth Forum to engage high school students on importance of alternative transportation options
• ran workshop at Resilience Festival on “Building Emotional Resiliency through Outdoor Exercise”
• submitted comments along with Guelph Wellington Regional Trails Committee,  Guelph Off Road Cycling Association on identifying a Province Wide Cycling Network
• City of Guelph’s Transportation Demand Coordinator, Jennifer Juste to spoke about cycling in Guelph at our first Annual General Meeting
• had booths at several community events, such as the EcoMarket, Tour de Guelph, Hillside Festival
• helped the City of Guelph promote BikeMaps.org (an international organization working to make cycling safer by mapping trouble spots) by doing encouraging public to do volunteer surveys, handed out bikemaps.org bling
• participated in citizen run Southwestern Ontario Regional Bike Summit sponsored by London Cycle Link to learn best practices from other advocacy groups in Southwestern Ontario
• wrote this and this article in the Guelph Tribune to raise awareness of issues to the general public

Fun Events to encourage a culture of cycling in Guelph

• Magnolia Ride-ride through the Magnolia trees in Guelph, followed by a tea party
• Bridges and Beers-celebrated at 2Rivers Festival with a bike ride on the Bridges of Guelph over the Speed and Eramosa Rivers, celebrated with a pint at the end
• Love Your Bike Festival– celebrated with 2Rivers and St Andrews Church, and led families on a bike ride through Exhibition Park, and finished at Wooly’s pub for free hotdogs and face painting
• Tweed Ride– we dressed in old timey clothes and rode through the beautiful neighbourhoods of Guelph and celebrated with a pint
• ran bike tour with Alex Chapman, City of Guelph, highlighting energy innovations in Guelph at Municipal Innovators Conference
• Guelph Community Santa Parade-we all got dressed up and rode all kinds of bikes..we won the “Best community”  award!

Please join us in 2018 on our journey to get more people to enjoy healthy transportation!  For only $10, your membership in GCAT will allow us to give a voice to more and more people who want to be healthy, fit, and contribute to the well being of the city.

For only $10 for an individual membership, there are several perks:

• 10% off parts, clothing and accessories from Speed River Bicycle
• 10% off parts and accessories from Paramount Skis Bikes and Boards
• $10 off certificate for a meal at Mijiidaa Cafe and Bistro!

In addition, the first 50 people who renew their membership or become new members will have their name added in a draw to win a free safety inspection* at Speed River Bicycle! (valued at $50!)  Memberships must be paid for before Feb. 17, and the winner will be announced at this year’s AGM!

If you wish to donate more than $10 for an individual membership, there is the $25 sustaining option. This membership is for those who want to pay a little more in order to help GCAT become an even stronger voice for those who want to cycle and walk safely and comfortably in Guelph.

Please get your membership at http://gcat.ca/membership/

Register early!

Thank you sponsors for your generous donations!

*safety inspection must take place between Feb 22 and March 22

For more information, contact info@gcat.ca or activeguelph@gmail.com

Due to widespread public support,  the Committee of the Whole meeting of November 6, 2017, City council decided unanimously to have staff take a second look at the design of the Speedvale Underpass. This is great news, as the underpass trail was recommended by staff to be dismissed at the Oct. 2 Committee of the Whole meeting

Efforts on behalf of Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation, the Guelph Hiking Club, the Guelph Wellington Seniors Association, 2Rivers Festival as well as an informed, engaged community were able to convince council and staff to work together to make this happen. Mayor Guthrie also championed this project on his blog, which undoubtedly helped move the project forward.

GCAT is very pleased with the result, but we also understand that we can’t sit back and expect the underpass to be built.

Therefore, over the coming months, our groups will continue to be engaged with city staff to get an all ages and abilities design that meets provincial and city guidelines in terms of accessibility, safety, and respect for the Natural Heritage systems.

Once again, it is the public rallying together that saved this underpass trail, and for this, we are grateful.