Take The Lane

Cycling infrastructure vs. riding on roads

It's not often that The Waterloo Region Record devotes this much space to cycling.

In Saturday's paper and on the website are a front page photo and story opening, turning inside to almost three full pages of main story, photos, sidebar articles and graphics about our network of bicycle infrastructure, that, according to Record reporter Catherine Thompson, "looks more like a spilled bowl of noodles than a comprehensive transportation system."

The thrust of the piece was that people will ride their bicycles if they are not afraid of becoming a roadway casualty, and that the way to prevent roadway injury is to improve the bicycle infrastructure.

A missed opportunity in the package was the option offered by CAN-BIKE: that hesitant riders can become competent and confident riders through bicycle training (Full disclosure: I am a CAN-BIKE instructor).

CAN-BIKE is the recreational cycling training program offered through Cycling Canada.

Trainers like me help non-riders learn to ride, and help hesitant riders learn to ride in traffic. Why spend millions on bicycle lanes when you can spend thousands training people to use the roadway infrastructure that now exists?

And as Thompson noted in her article, every bike lane ends somewhere. A cyclist must use a roadway, likely more than one, to complete a journey. Best to learn now how to use those roadways effectively.

Watch the City of Waterloo website for details on the next CAN-BIKE courses, or contact me.

Taking a stand on protected bike lanes

About four dozen people interested in safe urban cycling infrastructure lined the west side of King Street between Princess and Dupont streets in Waterloo tonight, to make a point about protected bicycle lanes.

The point is that the new bicycle lanes in Uptown Waterloo aren't protected. At least, not on the west side.

On the east side of the street in this section, parked cars act as a barrier between those using the bicycle lanes and motorists. The idea of using a car as a buffer for cyclists is nothing new, but it's a welcome addition to the cycling infrastructure in the very busy Uptown core.

But on the west side, there really isn't anything to differentiate the bicycle lane from, say, a raised parking area. No bollards, raised curbs, flex posts or street furniture mark the bike lane boundary. The slightly elevated curb might even be considered an invitation for a vehicle to roll up onto it, as did this truck on the east side.

On several occasions, I have seen vehicles actually pull completely onto the bike lane, to discharge passengers or cargo. It was a parked truck that disconcerted his cycling daughter earlier this year, that motivated Scott Weldon to make this lack of differentiation an issue.

Weldon and Jeff Fedor organized tonight's People Protected Bike Lane, modelled on similar events in Boston and San Francisco. 

A steady stream of volunteers arrived before and after the 5 p.m. start time, to line the street, standing roughly along the roadway edge of the bike lane, to provide a human buffer between cyclists and motorists.

Some of the cyclists using the lane appeared a bit baffled about what was going on, but enjoyed the applause they got. Based on friendly honks from the motorists and one friendly air-horn equipped trucker, some of the motoring public got the message.

Weldon and Fedor hope that Waterloo councillors, prospective councillors who will be seeking a seat in this fall's municipal election, and urban planners will get the message.

Weldon noted that it's ironic that planters and other street furniture on the west side will be placed on the boundary between the pedestrian sidewalk and the bicycle lane.

Indeed. How much better it would be to have those buffers placed on the boundary between the motorists and both sets of vulnerable roadway infrastructure users. 

Such a buffer has the additional value of reducing stress for drivers, who would not have to worry about whether a cyclist would roll off the not-really-separate bike lane onto the roadway. It sounds like a win-win.

 

 

These postal delivery vehicles belong in bicycle lanes

I thought it was amusing to read the Toronto Star story that ran earlier this year, about how Canada Post vehicles are the worst offender for those ticketed for parking in Toronto bicycle lanes.

While my partner and I were in France this fall, I was delighted to see postal vehicles that absolutely belonged in bicycle lanes.

 

This is a La Poste France delivery bicycle, ridden by a 40-something woman who was delivering small parcels and letter mail in the plaza near where we were staying in Caen.

She said the rugged, electric-assist bicycles are equipped with weather-proof bags, and are ideal for navigating some of the narrow streets in the old French city of about 110,000 people. She said there are about 100 of these bicycles servicing the community.

Now, here is an option for mail delivery in urban areas. Ottawa could look to this as a creative way to reduce its carbon footprint, as well as legitimizing bicycles (in the eyes of motorists) as part of our everyday road user community.

You read it here first: new CAN-BIKE classes for 2018

I have in my hands — hot off the presses — a bundle of brochures for the Spring 2018 CAN-BIKE Course Offerings from the City of Waterloo.

At the moment, the City of Waterloo (a Silver Level City under the national Bicycle Friendly Community program) is the only municipality in the Waterloo Region to offer all four levels of the Cycling Canada-sponsored national cycling education program, aka CAN-BIKE.

If you are a knowledgeable cyclist who wants to take your road experience to the next level, book April 19, 21 and 26, 2018 on your calendar for CAN-BIKE Level 4: Advanced Cycling Skills. The class will have in-depth, hands-on experience about riding in complex traffic situations, included the daunting LRT tracks and traffic, as well as class time spent on cycling maintenance, tire repair and cycling theory.

For young people and adults who have no riding experience whatsoever (so "learn-to-ride without falling over" instruction) Level 1 Classes will be held Tuesday, May 1 and Thursday, May 3. These are compact, accessible evening classes. Level 2 Classes, which take you beyond learning to ride to get into cycling fundamentals and perhaps some road riding, will be held Wednesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 17. And the Level 3 Class, which adds layers of understanding and experience on and off your bicycle, is a two-part session: Thursday, May 24 and Saturday, May 26.

These courses will be taught at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex by qualified CAN-BIKE instructors (including yours truly) who have years of experience in helping people of all ages feel comfortable and confident riding bicycles. 

Join the cycling generation.

(If you want a copy of the brochure, send me your email and I'll flip you a PDF. Please note that the City of Waterloo CAN-BIKE website is not yet updated. When I said you are reading this here first, I meant it!)

Will the Iron Horse Trail become redundant?

The Iron Horse Trail is a cycling jewel in the Region. Occupying the route of a former rail line to connect Kitchener, near the Rockway Golf Course, to Waterloo, just outside the Bauer Lofts, the IHT offers a special space for cyclists and pedestrians, removed from traffic.

But like many jewels, it has flaws. Quite a few, in fact.

Anyone who has ridden it from Ottawa Street to Caroline Street South, knows the flaws: the Courtland/Stirling intersection, the Queen Street crossing, the Victoria Park rail crossing, the West Avenue/Victoria Street double whammy, the Glasgow crossing (oh, that Tim Horton's traffic), the Union Boulevard crossing, and the Park Street crossing.

With this many flaws, you might ask if the Iron Horse is a jewel, or just an uncut rock.

So, the City of Kitchener is planning a number of changes to the trail between Queen Street and Victoria. 

They are all very impressive, but I wonder if the time for such changes has passed.

I was thinking this as I exited the trail at the notorious Courtland/Stirling exchange and started riding on the bike lane on Courtland. As a a trail rider, I have to stop at every road crossing; as a road rider, I join the traffic in riding through every traffic light. 

As more and more dedicated bicycle lanes and sharrow lanes are added to the local roadway infrastructure, how much value is there, for cyclists, in infrastructure like the Iron Horse Trail?

Add the Spur Line Trail and the Laurel Trail to the list. Why ride the Laurel Trail from Bearinger to Columbia (well, the Laurel Trail doesn't even go to Bearinger) when Hagey Boulevard covers the same ground (Note to City of Waterloo: clean the debris from the bike lane on Hagey!)?

Having said all that, I acknowledge that joggers, parents with strollers and dog walkers also use the IHT. But one wonders, don't they already have sidewalks? Everywhere?

Left-handed bicycle bells? Yes!

In case you ever need to know, Canadian Tire stocks left-hand bicycle bells.

They aren't pretty, but they make a pretty sound.

Mapping safe cycling, one point at a time

I happened to be in Victoria last month for an MEC-sponsored bike fest, where I had some chat time with the people at BikeMaps.org.

It's a University of Victoria-supported project that uses rider input and GIS mapping tools to show cycling trouble spots in urban areas.

Not surprisingly, there is a lot of information about cycling infrastructure in Victoria and Vancouver, but there is also mapping for the Waterloo Region. As with any crowd-sourced information system, you get as much out of it as you put into it. You can go to the website and add information about collisions or cyclist hazards, or you can download the IOS or Android app and use your mobile device.

You can learn more about BikeMaps by going to the website, or look for the guy in the BikeMaps T-shirt (that'll be me) during Kitchener's BikeFest on Sunday, May 29 at Kitchener City Hall. I'll have BikeMaps stickers to hand out. 

Nearly two million bucks for regional cycling infrastructure

When I was talking with a rep from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation this morning, I asked when Waterloo Region municipalities would hear how much money they would be getting from the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program.

"Very soon," she said. How soon, I asked. In a week? "Very soon," she said.

So "very soon" means, as we are speaking. The press release announcing $975,000 for cycling infrastructure for Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge was being posted online while we were talking. 

If you want to skip the link, here are the short strokes: 

Cambridge will get $325,000 for a 2.2 kilometre cycling and walking path alongside Conestoga Boulevard; 

Waterloo will get $325,000 to upgrade nearly one kilometre of a cycling and walking path through Waterloo Park (connecting the university district to Waterloo's downtown and the future LRT stop in the park); and

Kitchener will get $325,000 to improve about one kilometre of a cycling and walking path along Courtland Avenue. 

Each community got basically the maximum under the program. Since the funds are dependent on matching money from the cities, this works out to $1,950,000 for cycling infrastructure. 

Spring IS in the air.

 

 

Can-Bike courses being offered in Waterloo

This one may have slipped under the radar. If you are interested in getting a Can-Bike 2 certification, or your Can-Bike Instructor's certificate, the City of Waterloo is hosting training sessions starting next week at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.

The Can-Bike 2 Course will be instructed by Bruce Hawkings and Philip Martin, beginning Thursday, Sept 10 from 6-9 p.m., with subsequent classes on Saturday, Sept. 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday, Sept. 19 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Can-Bike Instructor course will be taught by James Herman beginning Tuesday, Sept. 22 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and then Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26 and 27, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Can-Bike 2 is intended to help experienced cyclists become better riders in the urban environment. I believe that the No. 1 reason that adult cyclists give me for riding on the sidewalk is "riding in traffic is scary." Can-Bike 2 teaches you how to manage risk and respond to urban traffic situations. Take the course and learn to be confident that you can ride in traffic.

The Can-Bike Instructors course is intended to show experienced and confident riders how to teach cycling skills to others. (Can-Bike 2 is a prerequisite for Can-Bike Instructors).

The cost is normally about $180 per person, but Martin says the City of Waterloo is subsidizing this course for any Region of Waterloo resident, so the cost per student is $50 (plus HST).

I couldn't find the courses on the Waterloo website, but Martin says you can register directly by going to Waterloo's ExpressReg, and searching the course code for Can-Bike 2 (181279) or Can-Bike Instructors (181229). 

Full disclosure: I'm a graduate of both courses, and happily endorse them.

The investment you've all made in cycling infrastructure is already in place. You just have to feel comfortable using it. Can-Bike 2 is worth the investment if you want to get off the sidewalks and use the roads. And Can-Bike Instructors is a worthy investment if you want to help others join the cycling revolution.

Want better trails in Kitchener?

You can contribute to better trails in Kitchener by taking some time to make comments on the City of Kitchener Interactive Trail Survey.

The map shows existing trails and trail proposals, and allows users to identify problem areas, improvement opportunities or wayfinding suggestions, among other things. You have to attach your name to the comment, but the comments show only first names when other users open the map. You can add your voice to another person's comment with a simple click. Keep your comments concise, though, as there is a word-count limit. 

It hardly needs to be said that the Iron Horse Trail crossing at Victoria Street should be one of the things you comment on... Not that I'm trying to sway you.