Tag Archives: round-up

Screenshot from the game "Mini Metro"

Weekend reading

News, Transit

Two articles caught our attention this week that we thought worth sharing.

How Design Can Help Build a ‘Transit Culture’ – Eric Jaffe, The Atlantic Cities

Increasingly, transit agencies are realizing the importance of the user experience and public perception to  ridership.  TriTAG has long maintained that bus-wrap ads not only make taking transit unpleasant, but they also severely dilute GRT’s brand into rolling advertisements.  We’re hopeful that wrap ads never appear on the ION, and that the Region eventually realizes how much brand-value is lost by covering up entire sides of their buses. (more…)

Read More »

The Week’s News

Cycling, Light Rail, News, Transit, Walking

It’s Committee week at the Region, which means lots is happening. But first, two other things. Our almost-monthly pub night is tomorrow evening, and you should join us!

Today, the Ontario Coroner’s Office has released its Cycling Deaths Review (HTML / PDF). I have not read through it yet, but it is supposed to claim that all the cycling deaths it looked at were preventable. It also recommends a mandatory helmet law for everyone, which is deeply problematic if the goal is making cycling a safer and larger part of the transportation system. We’ll have more on this later.

Tomorrow is Committee day for the Region of Waterloo. Agendas are always posted here at around 4pm on the preceding Friday. Typically, most issues and reports go to initially to the appropriate Committee, where motions are made, to be finalized at the full Council meeting on Wednesday of the following week. (See Council agendas.) As the standing committees are currently composed of all the councillors, the decisions are effectively made at the committee level, with rare exceptions. (more…)

Read More »

Recent News and Link Round-up

News 1 Comment

Interesting recent news and links from our region and around the world:

The City of Waterloo is looking at redesigning Columbia Street / Lexington Road between King Street and Davenport Road, with a complete streets approach. Public Information Centre this Thursday, April 28. Details at the City’s website.

Regional Council last week approved a road diet and bike lanes for part of Frederick Street in Kitchener, bike lanes for a missing link on Fischer-Hallman Road, and the last phase of public consultations on Rapid Transit. Details in the April 12 Planning & Works Committee agenda.

The Region of Waterloo is planning to rebuild University Avenue in 2013 between Weber Street and Lincoln Road, with a proposed new design including on-road bike lanes. A Public Consultation Centre has already been held, and comments are due by April 29. Details starting on page 94 of that same April 12 Planning & Works Committee agenda.

The last round of Rapid Transit consultations will begin next Saturday.

The Record reports on a battle between bike lanes and parking spots in Cambridge.

The University of Waterloo Bike Share Initiative is now the Region of Waterloo Bike Share Initiative. We’ll be writing more about this soon.

Raise the Hammer writes about forgiving and unforgiving approaches to street design in Hamilton.

GO Transit has a new online advisory panel called Let GO Know.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities wants us to tell party leaders to #CutMyCommute.

Take the Lane reports that there will be an Active Communities Summit in Guelph on May 27.

Streetfilms shows the support for the two-way protected bike lanes on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn.

Streetsblog: Despite the gridlock of New York City’s bridges, they carry far fewer people now than they did 70-80 years ago, when they had dedicated space for transit.

Streetsblog: Since pedestrian plazas have been installed on Broadway and Times Square, air quality has dramatically improved.

Streetsblog: In Portland, there is massive demand by businesses for replacing on-street parking with bike corrals.

Copenhagenize: Western Australia has a short video encouraging drivers (and not only) to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Read More »

Rapid Transit Media Round-up

Light Rail, News

The past week or so has seen a lot of talk about Rapid Transit in Waterloo Region. A round-up of media reports and opinions follows.

On Tuesday morning, staff presented a “Preliminary Preferred Rapid Transit Implementation Option” to Planning & Works Committee.

Reporting prior to the meeting:
Support for light-rail trains gets boost – The Record
City wants trains: Officials surprised by public opinion in Cambridge – Cambridge Times

Reporting on the meeting:
Region chair, Cambridge mayor bow out of rapid transit votes – The Record
Same plan: New LRT plan same as old one – Waterloo Chronicle
Councillors still trying to gauge if there’s support for light-rail transit – The Record
High cost of trains will delay better buses – The Record
Regional councillors pull out of voting on transit plan – CTV
Seiling says conflict on LRT proposal never crossed his mind – The Record
Councillors clarify conflict of interest concerns – CTV

Developments in Cambridge:
EDAC wants LRT scrapped – Cambridge Times
Cambridge Chamber of Commerce’s thoughts on the report
Cambridge council motion rejects paying for light rail – The Record

Developments in Waterloo:
An email regarding a planned “anti-LRT rally”
LRT meeting rescheduled – 570 News
Mayor Halloran’s clarification on Twitter

Recent opinion pieces of note:
Cambridge Times editorial – No shock as LRT goes ahead
The Record editorial – Transit debate about to resume
Waterloo Chronicle editorial – Who’s to say?
The Record editorial – A clash of interests at the region
Sean Geobey – We’re more than a collection of taxpayers (The Record)
Ruth Haworth – Questions about rail plan go beyond money (The Record)
Kate Daley – Without the right questions, transit plan could fail (The Record)
Cherise Burda – Light rail transit suitable for high-tech hub (Pembina Institute)
Bill Romahn – Many benefits for city in preferred LRT option (Cambridge Times)
Matt Tiessen – Follow Berlin model (The Record)

Read More »