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From http://donfex.typepad.com/don-fex/cycling.html

Creating a cycling-friendly city may very well be the single biggest thing that we can do to improve Ottawa. By allowing more people the opportunity to safely cycle, we help our environment, reduce smog and noise pollution, help our citizens stay fit and active, and increase the overall sense of community in our neighbourhoods.

My platform was built after talking to cyclists, and asking them what they want cycling in their city to be. It amazed me, when I started asking questions, how many people came out with the same answers. This says to me that the solutions are there, and that they are straightforward. We just need to move forward to make them a reality.

Cycling infrastructure, like any other form of transit infrastructure, has a lot of complexities, and the following items by no means make up an exhaustive list of what needs to be done. Nor are they the sole items I support, but they are meant as an indication of my commitment to making Ottawa a world-class, bike-friendly city.
East-West Cycling in Centretown

According to the Citizens for Safe Cycling, an east-west path has been in the works in one form or another for 15 years. Yet Council has just recently cancelled a pilot project that would have seen the beginning stages go down Somerset. The reason given was that the staff working on the project did not get public consultation, despite the fact that a significant point of pilot projects is precisely to gauge public opinion for a particular plan, as well as to see what works and what doesn’t. By cancelling this plan, we have once again gone back to the drawing board, and we will go through at least one more full season where we do not have a safe east-west route through the core.

Now the project has apparently been handed over to a Montreal company for further consultation, which will take more time and cost the taxpayers more money. It also devalues over a year’s worth of work by Ottawa’s own knowledgeable staff. And in all likelihood, the consulting firm will come back with very similar recommendations.

My first cycling priority as your councillor will be to ensure that an east-west cycle plan moves forward with as little red tape and posturing as possible. We need east-west in order to ensure the safety and comfort of those cyclists who are using their bikes as an alternative and responsible mode of transit. Fifteen years of thinking about an east-west lane is too long. We can no longer keep stalling on this project.

Safe Cycling Programs

I intend to work on Council to ensure that safe cycling programs are brought back into schools so that our next generation of children learn how to be safe and responsible cyclists. This must be done in conjunction with the province, as it is their responsibility to manage automotive driving standards, and I believe they have a responsibility to share in the cost of educating our young cyclists to be safe. As your councillor, I will push the provincial government to partner with the city in creating a comprehensive cycling program for our schools.

However, safe cycling should not stop in schools, and the city should also make programs available to adults who want to increase their knowledge of safe cycling and the rules governing responsible cycling.

Bicycle Parking

Due to the removal of parking meters around the city, there is a danger of losing many places to safely lock up bicycles.

I propose that businesses be given assistance in developing bicycle parking. This should not be a cost passed on to the businesses, but a partnership with the city to ensure that businesses thrive due to increased cycle parking on their premises.

All city lots should increase the number of bicycle spots that they presently have, and cyclists should be encouraged to use these spots for free.

All new developments should, as part of their design plan, have bicycle parking built in at a rate that fits the needs of the cyclists, not merely a token bike rack that will only allow five bikes.

The city should create an online database of all the cycle parking spots that it maintains or is partnered with, so that cyclists can check to see if safe parking is available to them before they journey out.

Cycling and OC Transpo

All major OC Transpo routes must be part of the Rack & Roll program. I will work to see an increase in bike parking at all Park and Ride locations. Going forward, all new LRT stops must have adequate cycling infrastructure built in –such as cycling racks and easy, accessible ways to allow bikes into the stations – and we must establish guidelines on how bicycles should be brought onto the trains. I propose the last-car model used in NYC and Montreal, where cyclists are allowed to take their bikes on the train, but must be in the last car (usually the least crowded).

Cycle Routes

I will work to ensure that we close the gaps in our cycle network to reduce long unsafe trips between cycle paths. In addition, I will work with the NCC to ensure seamless link-ups between city paths and NCC paths. I will work to find ways to create links between neighbourhoods. The lack of a cycle bridge as part of the Lansdowne redevelopment plan was a mistake, as we should be doing as much as possible to decrease the need for excess driving.

Policing

More work needs to be done to enforce the rules of the road among motorists and cyclists alike. Motorists should be reprimanded for not sharing the road and other activities that endanger cyclists, and cyclists should also be ticketed for road infractions, such as going the wrong way down one-way streets, running red lights, and riding on sidewalks.

I think that with a little hard work, we can create a city that embraces cycling as an alternative form of transit, where cyclists are as safe as they can be and where they are respected as vehicles that have a right to the road. But this can only be done if we take decisive action, stop making excuses for why it can’t be done, and look for ways to accomplish our goals.