March 2018 Newsletter

Vélo Canada Bikes Summit and Bike Day on the Hill 

Following the success of the First National Bike Summit held in Ottawa on June 1st, 2017, Vèlo Canada Bikes is pleased to announce we will be hosting a two day event this year onMay 28th and 29th.      

See our exciting line-up here! Registration is now open.

BONUS: Participants who register before April 15th will be included in a morning of meetings with Members of Parliament, Senators and other national representatives to move the bike-friendly agenda forward. Add your voice to the pan-Canadian call for safe, convenient, accessible cycling for all ages and abilities!

Made possible with the generous support of our sponsors.
 

              
Interested in becoming a sponsor?

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Vélo Canada Bikes invites you to submit an abstract to present at the 2nd National Bike Summit. Vélo Canada Bikes is a pan-Canadian non-profit organization that advocates for increased federal support for everyday cycling in Canada. Our vision is a Canada where people of all ages and abilities can cycle safely and conveniently, in any community, for work, school, everyday errands, or leisure.

During the summit we will gather with politicians, researchers, private and public sector cycling supporters to discuss how to create a bike friendly Canada.  As part of the event we want to demonstrate that Canada is ready for a federally led National Cycling Strategy, and will be showcasing cycling research from across the country and beyond.

The format for presentations will be posters, and the deadline for submitting an abstract is11:59pm ET on March 15th, 2018. Research may have been previously presented at other conferences and/or workshops, and may be presented in French or English. The word limit for the abstracts is 250 words (not including title, references, author information, and city/province). Abstracts should clearly state (1) the purpose of the research, (2) the methods used, (3) results or expected finds, and (4) conclusions and next steps. Please include at the top the abstract: the study title, the author names, the affiliated institution/organization, the city/province, and the authors’ email addresses.  Please submit your abstract using this google form. For more information, please see full details here.

House of Commons E-Petition

The E-Petition for a National Cycling Strategy closed on March 6, 2018. Nearly 4500 people signed in favour of a federal plan to support safe, convenient, accessible cycling for all ages and abilities, all over Canada.  See the text below:

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Whereas:

• Cycling as active transportation, as a commercial interest, as a sport and as an inclusive, healthy and sustainable activity for all ages and abilities, is gaining in popularity and should be encouraged;
• Current rules, regulations, education and infrastructure are inadequate to promote and securely accommodate this growth;
• Canada faces critical challenges in the next few years, including soaring health care and infrastructure costs, criteria air contaminants (CACs), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, traffic congestion and reaching our emission reduction targets;
• Research has shown that increasing the percentage of people cycling creates significant savings and positive returns unmatched by any other type of government spending, leading organizations such as Canada Bikes to recommend the creation of a Canadian national cycling strategy, in line with global best practices; and
• The 2016 ParticipAction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth shows that we are failing Canadian children in sedentary lifestyles (F), overall physical activity (D-) and active transportation (D).

We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to support Bill C-312 tabled by Gord Johns on October 4th, 2016, and enact a National Cycling Strategy Act.

Thank you to all that signed, shared, posted, tweeted! Stay tuned for next steps…

Ride Your Riding

Not going to be in Ottawa for Bike Day on the Hill? Canada Bikes invites all Canadians to organise a Ride Your Riding event in your community. Please invite your local federal, provincial and municipal elected officials to join your community for a bike ride over the summer to continue the conversation.

Ride Your Riding will help you

• Show off the great active transportation projects and programs happening in your community

• Encourage broader community interest and investment in cycling infrastructure

• Meet with the people that currently make active transportation decisions

• Provide an opportunity to highlight your favourite bike experiences, as well as provide insight into what could be improved

• Meet your local representatives face to face

• Meet members of your community

Ride Your Riding events are encouraged to be all-inclusive and should be planned with consideration of all ages and abilities for cycling. Need some help planning? Let us know! Email [email protected]

Federal Budget Notes

When the Liberals hinted that a “Gender Equality Budget” was going to be announced on February 27th, Vèlo Canada Bikes started speculating what that would mean for cycling infrastructure, especially with news reports that Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson had been consulted by Finance Minister Bill Morneau. We know through studies, women are less likely to choose to bike without separated infrastructures. We see these numbers reflected in Canadian census data, as well as municipal transportation reports across the country. In fact, Statistics Canada reports that males were more likely to have ridden a bike within the last year (46% compared to 34%).

When the “gender equality budget” was announced and did not address active transportation in any way, one has to wonder how this was missed.  This becomes an even harder pill to swallow when you see the statistics of women cycling in countries that have addressed the gender gap with a national cycling strategy, including Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Germany.

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. Please take a moment between now and then to contact your local MP and let them know that a study done by Sustrans in the UK found that:

• 67% of women said cycle lanes separated from traffic was the number one thing that will get more women cycling over other options which included:
• 33% wanted clearly defined cycle lanes shared with buses
• 21% wanted enforced 30 kmph speed limits or less
• 16% wanted bike training to be available where they live

Across Canada
We love to highlight exciting events, projects, news and ways you can ACT from across Canada.

                                       
A steering committee, co-chaired by Alberta Transport and Transport Canada is conducting public consultations  on a summary report that discusses countermeasures, or safety measures, designed to help keep pedestrians and cyclists safe when they interact with heavy vehicles.

The link provided will give you access to an interactive website where you can read the report, participate in a discussion forum and/or complete a survey.

The site will be available from March 2^nd until April 2^nd

https://letstalktransportation.ca/VRU

In Halifax, there were 2 recent wins! Snow clearing will be getting a closer look after a motion to improve quality standards and timelines for all active modes passed in the Transportation Standing Committee. They also made some headway on the South Park Bike Lanes.

Our friends Sustainable Calgary, Montrèal Urban Ecology Centre and Toronto Centre for Active Transportation have collaborated on a new project Co-Designing The Active City including a valuable community tool box.

Winter Cycling Congress announces it will return to Canada for 2019. Plan a winter get-away to Calgary, Alberta for next year.

Upcoming events : 

On April 17-18th, attend the 10th Annual Ontario Bike Summit

UNSM hosts the Atlantic Canada Active Transportation Summit May 23-24th.

Do you have a story of interest or an event you would like to share? Email[email protected] to have it included.