Category: Sustainable Transportation
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Council Summer Wrap Up – Housing, Bike Lanes, Sports Fields, and More
Thursday was our last Council meeting before a summer recess, and it was a long one! It was probably one of the most exciting days in my almost-decade at the Council table in terms of big moves that lay the ground work for the future. Here’s a synopsis of the key decisions and, where applicable,…
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Clover Point 2.0, Accessibility, Confronting Reality, and The Future We Need
Dave Obee’s Times Colonist editorial on Friday, “Clover Point redesign ‘fixes’ what wasn’t broken,” really got under my skin. So I thought I’d go down to Clover Point on Saturday afternoon, watch the world go by for a little while, and start this blog post. What I saw were people of all ages and abilities…
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City Makes More Room for Pedestrians on Neighbourhood Streets
For those who want to stay right up to date with what’s happening in the City on COVID-19, please join me daily on the City of Victoria’s Facebook page at 2:30pm. And please share this link and information with your friends and neighbours. We’re getting lots of emails with lots of questions and we’ll do…
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Election 2019 Candidates Listening Session: Focus on the Future
“Choose forward.” “Not left. Not right. Forward together.” “In it for you.” “It’s time for you to get ahead.” Looking carefully at the slogans of the four main political parties in English Canada, it’s clear that this October’s election is about the future. Thankfully campaigns are about more than slogans. In my experience they’re…
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Victoria Region Begins Electrification of Transit Fleet
Near the end of the last term, the Victoria Regional Transit Commission passed a motion directing staff to prepare a business case for the transition of our bus fleet to electric. We also indicated to the BC Transit Board that we’d like to be a pilot region in the province for electric buses. So it…
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Vélo Canada Bikes: The Case for a National Cycling Strategy
I was in Ottawa recently as a representative of the South Island Prosperity Partnership which had been shortlisted for an Infrastructure Canada Smart Cities Challenge prize. Coincidentally, and luckily, one day earlier, also in Ottawa, was the third annual National Bike Summit. I’m so glad I was able to attend. Even as an already strong…
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Victoria: One Pedestrian Hit, By Car, Per Week
Very informative presentation to Victoria City Council on Go Victoria: Our Mobility Future In a recent Times Colonist opinion piece, “I walk my daughter and her friend to school; I don’t want you to kill them” a mom addressed the “the typical driver. I’m sure you’re a very nice person,” she writes, “but if you’re…
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Smart Mobility Manifesto and Our Transportation Future
Last week I posted a story to Twitter about Oslo becoming a car-free city centre this year. There were some typical social media responses: “I think you should move to Oslo. You would like it there. I have a car not a bike.” But there were also many thoughtful comments: “We need better public transportation…
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Pandora Street Businesses Celebrate Bike Lanes and Endorse Lisa Helps
The owners of three popular businesses on the 500-block of Pandora in Downtown Victoria have endorsed Lisa Helps for re-election. They say that bike lanes are good for business. They submitted this joint statement to our campaign: “As established small business owners working downtown, we hear a lot of discussion about bike lanes, and, occasionally,…
