- How Strong Towns Ottawa got their Bank Street data
Reading Time: 6 minutesIt is not always easy to get data from the City of Ottawa. Strong Towns Ottawa had to go through a city councillor's office to receive the data they wanted to see. And then they got a 2500+ pages PDF with raw data of a Bank Street on line survey.
- A Bicycle Shed in Your Front Yard
Reading Time: 4 minutesCycling through Dutch towns, I started to notice more and more bike sheds in front yards. Back home, I took a look at the Dutch rules for building them and they are pretty relaxed about them. Let's see how they look like and what is allowed.
- New Cycling Infrastructure in Arte Nova Aveiro
Reading Time: 6 minutesLast October, we visited Aveiro in Portugal, a lovely mid sized town with pleasant weather. It is known for its salt lagoons (birding) and its Arte Nova. Cycling might be a good third thing to enjoy in this flat town behind the Atlantic coast.
- You can now see the ‘Fietsberaad’ website in Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutesFor the longest time we were not able to access two important Dutch cycling websites, but this has now changed. And you can sign up for their newsletter.
- Canadian Urban Institute 2024 conference wrap up: “Stop planning, start building”
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe Canadian Urban Institute held its annual conference in Ottawa late 2024 and discussed the challenges of Canadian cities.
- Merivale Road Food Map 2025
Reading Time: 5 minutesHere is the annual overview of the Merivale Food scene, already in its third year. More Indian food, more grocery stores and a few name changes. Check out the map with all the possible places to eat or take out food on the stretch of Merivale Road, Clyde and a bit of Baseline.
- Cycling de Ecopista in Guimarães
Reading Time: 6 minutesThis fall we visited Guimarães and cycled the local Ecopista to Fafe. Here is a short impression and pictures to give you an idea of the pathway in this pretty northern Portugal town.
- November 7: opening new bike lanes with Ariel Troster
Reading Time: 3 minutesThursday November 7 at 11 am, ride with councillor Troster in Ottawa
- Off the Couch: Protest Ride Today
Reading Time: 5 minutesToday, we'll protest against the new law that forces municipalities to ask permission to build a bike lane if it hinders drivers. And worse, to remove existing bike lanes.
- Cycling the Thousand Islands Parkway from Gananoque
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs we turn on the Thousand Islands Parkway from Gananogue, we notice two police cars with their lights flashing. One of the cops is walking in the grass. As we get closer, we noticed he has a carbon race bike in his hands, mangled. Was it a collision, or did a bike just fall off a car? We will never know.
- Cycling the New York Central Fitness Trail in Russell-Embrun
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhen I was writing my blog post about the short lived Ottawa - New York Central Railway, I noticed that part of the former tracks were paved between Russell and Embrun, Ontario and baptised as the New York Central Fitness Trail. Time to check it out.
- My First Time in a Kayak on the Ottawa River
Reading Time: 7 minutesLast week, Maria, the owner of Escape Tours, invited me for a short kayak trip on the Ottawa River. Here are our experiences.
- Are Dutch Bikes Still Dutch?
Reading Time: 4 minutesOn August 4, 2024 the Bicycle Craft Brewery in Ottawa hosts a Bikes + Beer pop up in Ottawa featuring sales of used Dutch bikes. But what makes a Dutch bike Dutch nowadays?
- New cycling film festival at the University of Ottawa
Reading Time: 2 minutesOn August 30-31, 2024, Joerg Esleben, Associate Professor, on behalf of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures organises a Cycling film festival at the University of Ottawa. This event will be the festival’s first North American screening.
- Shocking Truth: “Road safety is simply not cool”
Reading Time: 8 minutesIn June I attended the CARSP road safety conference. Road safety covers many facets, more than you realise sometimes, from impaired driving to road designs and from drivers education to child seats. Here are some more observations from the conference.
- Inaugural Ride in Almonte for 200 km CycleMORE route, June 29, 2024
Reading Time: 3 minutesCycleMORE, the Mississippi and Ottawa Rivers Experience will hold a short ceremony to launch the region’s newest 200 kilometer cycle route at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 29th. Cyclists will begin an inaugural ride from the parking lot of Hummingbird Chocolate in Almonte.
- Ottawa’s People for Bikes network score inches up again
Reading Time: 5 minutesYesterday, People for Bikes in the USA released its annual city rankings for cycling safety progress. Ottawa is gradually improving its score and so do other Canadian cities. Let's have a look at some data.
- How older pedestrians die in traffic in Ontario
Reading Time: 9 minutesOlder adults are a growing population and a vulnerable road user population. In Ontario in 2010, pedestrians over 65 years of age accounted for a strikingly disproportionate share of accidental pedestrian fatalities. Pedestrians over 65 years old accounted for 36% of the fatalities but comprised 13.2% of the population.
- New Rideau River foot bridge is finally open
Reading Time: 6 minutesIt has been a long time coming and part of the time the bridge was just sitting there in place. But since yesterday we can now enjoy a shortcut across the Rideau River at Carleton University, avoiding Billing’s bridge. Read the full story.
- Achieving Vision Zero in Urban and Rural Environments: conference
Reading Time: 4 minutesNext week, Canadian road safety experts are getting together for their annual national conference with the theme: Safe Mobility: Achieving Vision Zero in Urban and Rural Environments.
- Engage with New Bank Street Feasibility Study this Week
Reading Time: 4 minutesEngage on line in the Bank St active transportation and transit priority feasibility study on June 12.
