I had the chance to chat with Mayor Peter Fassbender from the City of Langley about October 23rd's vote on TransLink’s ten year funding plan by the Council of Mayors. TransLink has basically given the mayor’s three options: cut service, maintain current service, and expand service. While the "expand service" option would seem like the plan to approve, it has a major problem. Under the current TransLink legislation, the plan could not be completely funded. The only logical choice is to approve the “maintain current service” plan. This is the plan that Mayor Fassbender supports and the plan that most of the South Fraser mayors support.
According Fassbender, this plan is only a short term solution for the next 6 to 12 months. By approving the plan, he hopes it will give the Province, TransLink, and the mayors more time to find a long-term funding solution for TransLink. He said that he supports the vision of TransLink’s "expand service" option and that the Mayor’s Council will be working with the Province to find funding to improve transit service. He also said funding TransLink “is not going to be easy”, but that Road Pricing and carbon tax redirection may be some of the option to fund TransLink.
Fassbender confirmed that the South Fraser mayors are still pushing hard for improved tranist service and that they recently had a very good conversation with the Minister of Transportation Shirley Bond, but wouldn’t comment further.
I believe that the Mayor’s Council has no choice but to approve the “maintain service plan” in the short-term, but that all orders of government need to work together, fast, if we are too see improved transportation in our region. It's about time that the South Fraser get the transit it needs...
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Bike Lanes on 208th Street
According to a press release on the City of Langley's website:
The combined Federal, Provincial and Municipal funds will provide $5,039,043 to upgrade 208th Street, from 48th Avenue to Fraser Highway. The work will include bidirectional bicycle lanes, selective road widening, pavement and pavement markings, traffic control including signals and sidewalk, as well as curb and gutter repairs as required. Water mains and storm sewers will also be replaced and upsized, and the sanitary main will be replaced.
The combined Federal, Provincial and Municipal funds will provide $5,039,043 to upgrade 208th Street, from 48th Avenue to Fraser Highway. The work will include bidirectional bicycle lanes, selective road widening, pavement and pavement markings, traffic control including signals and sidewalk, as well as curb and gutter repairs as required. Water mains and storm sewers will also be replaced and upsized, and the sanitary main will be replaced.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
New York Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan
“One of the good legacies of Robert Moses is that, because he paved so much, we’re able to reclaim it and reuse it,” she says. “It’s sort of like Jane Jacobs’s revenge on Robert Moses.” - Janette Sadik-Khan New York Magazine
Last night I had the opportunity to attended a lecture called “Learn from New York.” The lecture is part of a larger Shifting Gear Series put on by the SFU City Program. New York’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan gave the lecture about transportation in NYC and their new focus on sustainable transportation. It was a packed house.
Janette Sadik-Khan is an avid cyclist and that show in what’s happening at the NYC DOT. The DOT is no longer planning around moving cars as fast as possible, but focusing on creating complete street that are safe and accessible to all. Janette Sadik-Khan said that New York is expecting an additional 1 million people to move into the city in the next decade or so, and sees cycling as a major component for getting people around. From the DOT website:
To encourage cycling further, New York City has passed legislation that requires all new buildings to have inside bike parking and old commercial buildings to have inside bike parking provided if requested by tenants. New York is giving Portland a run for its money in becoming the bike capital of North America. During QA time, the first question was “What is one thing that Vancouver could learn from New York?” The answer was to build separated bike lanes!
Another great that has coming out of NYC DOT is their new Street Design Manual. At last night’s lecture Sadik-Khan said that New York is partnering with other city to come up with a urban street manual that will replace Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices issued by the US Federal Highway Administration. She said that the MUTCD is too heavily focused on designing for highway and is not too relevant in modern, 21st century cities.
Anyway, check out New York DOT’s website which contains a wealth of information on their Sustainable Streets Plan.
Last night I had the opportunity to attended a lecture called “Learn from New York.” The lecture is part of a larger Shifting Gear Series put on by the SFU City Program. New York’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan gave the lecture about transportation in NYC and their new focus on sustainable transportation. It was a packed house.
Janette Sadik-Khan is an avid cyclist and that show in what’s happening at the NYC DOT. The DOT is no longer planning around moving cars as fast as possible, but focusing on creating complete street that are safe and accessible to all. Janette Sadik-Khan said that New York is expecting an additional 1 million people to move into the city in the next decade or so, and sees cycling as a major component for getting people around. From the DOT website:
In June 2009, the NYC Department of Transportation completed the City’s ambitious goal of building 200 bike-lane miles in all five boroughs in just three years, nearly doubling the citywide on-street bike network while reshaping the city’s streets to make them safer for everyone who uses them. The same period also saw unprecedented expansion and innovation of the overall network, including the installation of 4.9 miles of bike paths physically separated from car traffic lanes, 20 sheltered bike parking structures and 3,100 bike racks, accompanied by a more than 45% growth in commuter cycling in that time.The great thing about most of these improvements is that they are cost effective and mostly involved repainting lines on the road and placing planters on the street.
To encourage cycling further, New York City has passed legislation that requires all new buildings to have inside bike parking and old commercial buildings to have inside bike parking provided if requested by tenants. New York is giving Portland a run for its money in becoming the bike capital of North America. During QA time, the first question was “What is one thing that Vancouver could learn from New York?” The answer was to build separated bike lanes!
Another great that has coming out of NYC DOT is their new Street Design Manual. At last night’s lecture Sadik-Khan said that New York is partnering with other city to come up with a urban street manual that will replace Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices issued by the US Federal Highway Administration. She said that the MUTCD is too heavily focused on designing for highway and is not too relevant in modern, 21st century cities.
Anyway, check out New York DOT’s website which contains a wealth of information on their Sustainable Streets Plan.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Portland Bike Network 2030
Portland has a reputation as being the sustainability Mecca of the West Coast. As you many know, Portland has been working on their long term 2030 bike network plan and I have to say that it is pretty impressive. Right now their 2030 long term bike plan is in the public comment period.
In 1996, Portland adopted their first Bicycle Network Master Plan. Since that time, they have added 482km to their bike network. Portland was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Bicycle Friendly Community in 2008. Even with Portland’s success, the community recognizes that they have much work to do. According to Scientific America, men out ride women 2:1 in North America. This is not the case in Europe. It is suggested that this is due to the lack of off-street and separated cycling lanes in North America. With this in mind, Portland has identified the following goals for increasing ridership:
Looking at Portland’s Green Transportation policies, it really makes the South of Fraser region seem like we are in the dark ages when it comes to cycling. Check out the Bicycle Master Plan for 2030 website for more information.
In 1996, Portland adopted their first Bicycle Network Master Plan. Since that time, they have added 482km to their bike network. Portland was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Bicycle Friendly Community in 2008. Even with Portland’s success, the community recognizes that they have much work to do. According to Scientific America, men out ride women 2:1 in North America. This is not the case in Europe. It is suggested that this is due to the lack of off-street and separated cycling lanes in North America. With this in mind, Portland has identified the following goals for increasing ridership:
1) Introduce safe, comfortable, attractive bikeways that can carry more bicyclists and serve all types and all ages of users, building on the best design practices of great bicycling cities around the world.Portland plans on implementing a aggressive education program and adding an additional 965 to 1,496km to the network.
2) Construct a dense network of bikeways so that all Portland residents can easily find and access a route.
3) Create a cohesive network with direct routes that take people where they want to go.
Looking at Portland’s Green Transportation policies, it really makes the South of Fraser region seem like we are in the dark ages when it comes to cycling. Check out the Bicycle Master Plan for 2030 website for more information.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)