Pedal Poll bike count is here and VeloCanadaBikes needs your help
Reading Time: 3 minutesFor the forth time, volunteers across Canada fan out to count cyclists and pedestrians in the second week of June. Will you volunteer a few hours too?
traffic
How to Measure Drivers’ Speed Without Tools
Reading Time: 2 minutesDo you find yourself wondering how fast traffic moves through your neighbourhood? Here is a simple method to roughly calculate just that.
Ottawa Commute Census Data Show Growth in Cycling Commute
Reading Time: 6 minutesRecently, Statistics Canada released commuter data for 2016. Over the last 20 years, commuter trips grew considerably. That is not a surprise as the population grew, from 29.6 million in 1996 via 32.5 million in 2006 to 36.3 million in 2016. Yes, that is 7 million people extra in 20 years. This growth is about the equivalent of the entire population of Bulgaria. In other words, in twenty years we took in the equivalent of the population of an entire European country. And they move around. But how did Ottawa fare in the ‘journey to work’ census? I put some [Read more…]
Halloween: 13 Spooky Scenarios for Cyclists
Reading Time: 9 minutesToday is Halloween so I wrote up 13 scary cycling scenarios for you. Some of them are infrastructure related, others are law related and yet others are behaviour related. I hope it doesn’t scare you away from cycling. Storm sewers Storm sewers are usually placed within about 60 cm of the curb. This is also where cyclists ride. Some storm sewers have a design so that it makes no difference how they are placed, but others still have a pattern that allows for bike wheels to get stuck, causing serious falls. Warn your municipality that this has to change. In [Read more…]
Bike Lane at US Embassy Open 2/2: Photos
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs you read in the previous post earlier today, the Mackenzie bike lane was opened today. The stretch in front of the embassy was an eye sore after a lane was blocked off by concrete barriers. Mayor Watson called it something else, but I forgot what he called the barriers. (Update, Mathieu Fleury wrote they are called Jersey barriers) The mayor mentioned former ambassador Bruce Heyman and thanked him for his initiative. Dr. Kristmanson said a few words, mentioning the closing of the ceremonial boulevard this Sunday morning for Bike Sunday (“The first time ever that the boulevard is closed [Read more…]
Dutch City of Leeuwarden About to Toss Out 1000 Traffic Signs
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Dutch try to use as few traffic signs as possible. The City of Leeuwarden found another 1000 to throw out.
A Closer Look at the Bronson Improvements
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe city got a lot of flak for the Booth Bridge Boondoggle and rightly so, as the design goes against all the modern road design principles. Big intersections, 4 lanes, no bike infrastructure, despite the connection to Quebec, the Zibi developments, the future Senators stadium and the Ottawa river pathways, even though there have been dire warnings from different sides years (!) before it was built. Once the opening came closer, the general public woke up and started to ask questions. The city scrambled a team together and a temporary provision for cycling was made. All you can do is roll [Read more…]
Dutch Road Network Energy Neutral by 2030
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Netherlands is behind in meeting climate change goals, but wind parks are being built and road and waterways will operate energy neutral by 2030.
8 Bike Infrastructure Improvements in Ottawa
Reading Time: 5 minutesSince 2011, when Laurier Ave got segregated bike lanes, many other infrastructure projects were built in Ottawa. You may have seen a few of my images in Janette Sadik-Khan’s presentation last night (I couldn’t be there myself, but I heard there were about over 1000 people). If she didn’t use them or if you weren’t able to go, here are a few examples of the improvements the city and the NCC have made. I thought I use a ‘before’ and ‘after’ image, so you can see the difference. There are more examples, but I want to keep the post to a [Read more…]
Photo Radar in Hi-Tech Ottawa? Yes please!
Reading Time: 6 minutesIn a province that advertises itself as hi-tech, photo radar is not on the radar. The province needs to see the light. Automate the process please.