2010 City Elections
Election 2010
Information to help you, the Ottawa City cyclist, choose which candidates are most sympathetic to a cycling-friendly city.
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Will your city councilor and mayor be cycling supporters after the October 25, 2010 municipal election ? |
In October, 2010, you have the chance to change Ottawa City Council and Ottawa-area school boards to be more aware of and friendly to cyclists.
Now is your chance to work with CfSC to encourage candidates in the election to support cycling programs and facilities throughout the city. This has been done successfully in previous elections: for example, see the story about the 1988 campaign here.
But how do you determine that? Citizens for Safe Cycling has developed a "platform" covering major cycling issues – everything from major on-road projects to education to bike theft to parking. Talk to candidates at the door and all-candidates meetings and ask them what they think of these issues, and whether they're willing to commit tax dollars to improving cycling conditions in these areas.
And we'll be asking candidates about the platform as well. We'll be sending letters to each candidate, asking them to endorse the platform, and posting their responses here.
Want more information? Contact CfSC.
Citizens for Safe Cycling has put a "quick-reference" version of our Cycling Platform out in pamphlet form.
Print it out and hand it to candidates at meetings or at the door, or give it to your cycling friends. If they have more questions, refer them to the full platform, or have them contact CfSC.
English Side in PDF (358K)
French Side in PDF (205K)
Citizens for Safe Cycling would like to extend an invitation to candidates in the 2010 City of Ottawa election.
Let us take you on a ride!
We'll find an experienced cyclist or cyclists who can ride with you and show you some of the successes and some of the challenges for cycling in your ward.
See your ward in a new way – from a bike seat! We'll guarantee you'll never see it the same way again.
For more info, email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or phone 613-722-4454.
(adopted by the Board of Citizens for Safe Cycling, September, 2010)
Ottawa has always been one of the top cities for cycling in Canada, and the city has benefited from all the cyclists on our roads: through better air, less congestion, less traffic noise, and improved health. Our local governments have been leaders in cycling with programs like Rack & Roll, elementary school bicycle safety programs, and one of the first city cycling plans in the country.
However, in the last decade, cycling programs were cancelled and cycling budgets were cut to effectively zero. Only in the last few years has there been a partial recovery. That's meant that the City has not kept up with the increased use of bicycles here for transportation and recreation. Where facilities were introduced – for example, the Corktown Bridge for cyclists and pedestrians over the Rideau Canal – the take-up was instantaneous and enthusiastic, and more than expected.
Citizens for Safe Cycling (CfSC) has been promoting cycling, cycling safety, and sharing the road for the last 26 years in Ottawa-Carleton. We have educated cyclists to obey traffic laws and cycle defensively, and motorists to respect and look out for cyclists. Based on our experience, we propose a series of programs that would improve the comfort and safety of cyclists on our roads, discourage unsafe behaviour, and encourage more people to cycle, to the benefit of all our neighbourhoods.
We're asking candidates in the 2010 City elections to read, comment on, and endorse this proposal.
1. Major cycling projects
- An east-west link across downtown on Albert/Slater has been planned for 15 years, but was held up by the light rail debate. Now that the LRT is being designed, it's time to provide cycling lanes from the O-Train to Sandy Hill. These streets are confusing for cyclists and motorists alike.
- Cycling-pedestrian bridges: Links over the canal at Fifth Avenue, and over the Rideau River near Donald Street, would avoid congested bridges.
Similarly, a link from the VIA station to near the baseball stadium would make it much easier to cross the Queensway and link to existing bike routes. All three bridges are already being studied by the city. Other 416/417 overpasses (e.g. Eagleson Road) are also serious barriers for cyclists and pedestrians; adding safer crossings would get more people cycling. - Local cyclists have identified ten simple and ten large top cycling problem areas in Ottawa, and CfSC has documented them at ottawabikingproblems.ca/topten . They include unpaved shoulders, a cycling route crossing that involves dashing in front of trucks, and a bypass where cars travel at 80km/h – and there's no alternative for cyclists. It's time to fix these problem areas in the next term of Council.
2. Completing the Ottawa Cycling Plan
City Council recently agreed to complete Phase 1 of the Ottawa Cycling Plan (adopted in 2008) by 2014 instead 2019. With ever-increasing numbers of cyclists, getting the plan completed faster is important. A commitment to multi-year cycling budgets will make it easier to get this done.
The implementation should include:
- community routes through neighbourhoods, to give students better access to schools and slower cyclists quieter routes.
- specific measures (signals, pavement markings, lanes or bike pockets) to ensure safe cyclist access at choke points, such as bridges and Queensway overpasses
Road construction and repair is inevitable, but cyclists need to be specifically considered in all projects, with safe detours provided and signed, and any hazards on the road properly marked with paint and cones. The Cycling Plan already provides excellent guidelines for this, but they need to be followed.
3. Integrating Cycling with Transit
Many cyclists combine cycling with transit in their trips, especially across the Greenbelt. But not enough buses yet have racks, which means that Rack & Roll service is frustratingly unreliable. As Kingston has done, our city needs to commit to putting racks on all buses. In the interim, all buses on designated routes should have racks, not just every second run, and maintenance procedures should change so that buses scheduled to have racks don't go out without racks.
The O-Train currently carries bikes; the new LRT cars are supposed to do so, but access (particularly in the downtown underground stations) needs to be confirmed.
OC Transpo drivers have been trained to share the road with cyclists, but some of them are passing too closely or leaning on their horns and air-brakes: Transpo must retrain or discipline these drivers.
4. Police pro-cycling campaigns
Councillors on the Police Services Board can do a great deal to support cycling by setting the following priorities:
- increase police resources to identify hot bike theft areas, and to conduct campaigns to find the thieves
- increase the frequency of anti-aggressive-motorist campaigns, and integrate this more into overall traffic policing
- add a blitz targeting motorists who endanger cyclists by passing too closely or cutting them off on right turns
- ensure that cycling safety campaigns focus on moving violations (wrong-way cycling, going through red lights) and sidewalk cycling. Some cyclists are blatantly endangering themselves and others and need to be caught before they get into a collision.
5. More bike parking
If cyclists cannot be sure of secure parking near where they're going, they won't cycle because they can't afford to have their bikes stolen.
The current conversion of parking meters to Pay and Display parking, however, is removing many of the most secure and convenient locations for bike parking in the core. A small percentage of meters are being converted to bike parking, but this is not enough, and the criteria for the conversion is far too restrictive. At least 50% of the current meters need to be converted, and, in high-traffic areas, extra racks need to be added as well to meet peak demand. The City should also add a form on its website (as is done in Toronto and New York City) to request the city install or repair racks on a specific block.
It's still difficult to find secure and convenient bike parking at many locations. It's time to extend city zoning by-laws on bike parking to cover all stores and workplaces, not just new or updated developments.
6. Keeping bike lanes snow-free
The city currently uses some bike lanes (for example, on Bay Street) to store snow in winter. That means that those lanes are blocked by two-feet-high icy boulders well into April although the cycling season has already started.
With generally shorter winters in the last decade, the cycling season has expanded. If all bike lanes, as well as high-priority mixed-use paths, are kept clear during the winter, they will provide safer spaces for winter cycling and will ensure that all cyclists will have immediate access to those routes come spring.
7. Reinstate cycling safety and promotion programs
From 1986 to 2007, local governments ran cycling safety, education, and promotion programs to explain to cyclists how to stay out of collisions and to motorists how to avoid hitting cyclists. Since these programs were removed, there have been many tragedies that could have been avoided by the cyclist or the motorist being aware of basic safety rules and how to drive safely around cyclists. The City needs to reinstate the safety and promotion programs, with a specific staff person designated to work on them, as well as increasing its support for and promotion of cycling education courses. It should also develop partnerships with schools to reestablish school bicycle safety and training programs.
An updated cycling map should be provided every second year, free for both residents and tourists. This is an important tool for promoting cycling.
8. Cyclist representation to the City
No one knows cycling issues better than those who actually ride on Ottawa streets. But the Roads and Cycling Advisory Committee meets only six times a year, meaning it's difficult for city staff to consult with it in a meaningful time frame. Current RCAC agendas are stuffed with items. We urge that RCAC meet at least 10 times per year.
All construction projects and community design plans need to be reviewed by cyclists to check their impact on cycling safety and convenience.
9. Let's measure up!
It's time for the City of Ottawa to examine how it compares to other cities in Canada in terms of cycling facilities and programs. In the U.S., the League of American Bicyclists provides a cycling-friendly designation for cities, which could be adapted to Canada. Ottawa could easily meet most of those criteria: why don't we blow our own horn for what we have done, as well as looking for places we could improve?