A few newsy items

Now that the weather appears to be warming up slowly and cycling season is about to begin, it's time for some news items:

1. There is a meeting of the Steering Committee (actually anyone interested in getting involved) for the Cycling Coalition. This meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 1st @ 6:30 in the Board Room of the Parksville City Hall. At this meeting we hope to plan for the first general public meeting of the Coalition in about 4 - 6 weeks plus plan activities for the first few months of this year. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to me - Jim Swanson via e-mail at j.e.swanson@shaw.ca

2.There are Cycling Coalitions that are also being formed in Campbell River and the Cowichan Valley. So, it appears that the entire East side of the Island will be represented by affiliates of the BC Cycling Coalition.

OCP Reviews

With both Parksville and Qualicum Beach going through the OCP process, there is now a link on the website in the Activities Page to both OCPs. It's very interesting that all public input is online and one can see everything that has been said. In looking at the public input for the Parksville OCP, there are numerous references to cycling and the need for improvements. I know that, living in the RDN and officially outside of both communities, I had tried to register to participate in the Parksville OCP. Initially I was told "No" and that it was basically for Parksville residents. Apparently this is not the case and anyone locally can attend the OCP meetings.

Bikeshare

Here is an intersting link that shows bikeshare statistics

http://www.cycle-helmets.com/bike-hire-schemes.html#bikehire

Lantzville to apply for funding to alter trails

Nanaimo Daily News
Published: Saturday, November 13, 2010

The District of Lantzville amended its 2010 financial plan this week in order to receive provincial grant money to connect a section of the trail along the E&N Rail corridor with the Parkway Trail in Nanaimo.

Administrator Twyla Graff said the district already has $389,000 from the federal government's Community Works Fund and has now applied for a further $400,000 from the provincial Towns for Tomorrow grant program.

"We needed to make the amendment to the financial plan in order to spend the money we have already received from the federal government on this project," said Graff.


To meet the eligibility requirements of the provincial grant program, the district needed to demonstrate that it would contribute roughly half of the funding for the $809,100 section of the trail, which would run from the intersection of Aulds Road and the Parkway to Ware Road.

"It's one of six sections of trail that we have planned for the corridor," said Graff.

Bike Share comes to Golden B.C.

Check out the article at

http://www.bclocalnews.com/community/106106938.html

Victoria Bike Racks

Victoria mulls bike-parking options

 

By BILL CLEVERLEY, Timescolonist.com November 2, 2010 Comments (12)

 

 

• Story
• Photos ( 3 )

 

 

More Images »

 

Bike parking in front of Mountain Equipment Co-op has become extremely popular since the city got rid of parking meters.

Photograph by: Debra Brash, Timescolonist.com

Downtown bike parking should not be treated as a second-class citizen, says Victoria Coun. John Luton.
"It's part of the continuum. You've got to have the infrastructure — the bike lanes and trails to get people on their bikes, but unless you've got somewhere to put it at your destination then you're suppressing demand," Luton said Tuesday.
Victoria lost almost 2,000 informal bike parking areas when it moved away from parking meters in favour of using parking pay stations last year.
Luton, who is also executive director of Capital Bike and Walk, says providing adequate bike parking has to involve more thought than retrofitting parking stall markers or coming up with minimum bike parking requirements in zoning bylaws.
"What we need to do is tighten up [regulations] to say: these are approved rack designs. You can't just put in any old junk," Luton said.
It's not unusual to see bike racks near buildings that are designed to be accessed from either side that are improperly installed, Luton said.
"There's all sorts of developments where they shove them up against a wall. They become less efficient. You buy a rack that is notionally designed to hold eight bikes or 10 bikes, but if you've pushed it up against a wall, you've cut its capacity in half."
Councillors will be looking at a draft bicycle parking strategy this week. Prepared by consultants Urban Systems Ltd. and Alta Planning and Design, the strategy intends to incorporate best practices and designs from other jurisdictions and makes recommendations on bike rack types and design, and meeting bike parking demand with the likes of bike corrals.
Following the success of the $20,000 covered bike parking in front of Mountain Equipment Co-op, two "bike corrals" were carved out of on-street parking in the 600 block of Johnson Street and the 700 block of Fort Street this spring as part of a pilot by the Downtown Victoria Business Association.
The response has been extremely positive, DVBA general manager Ken Kelly said.
Since the pilot began, the DVBA has received more than 90 comments on the experiment, with 92 per cent from cyclists being positive. Because the corrals aren't covered they were considerably less expensive than the MEC parking — running about $3,500, said Kelly.
"We'll continue this next year and look for other locations," Kelly said.
There's a general reluctance for businesses to give up any on-street parking for anything other than cars. Space for the Johnson Street bike corral was found near the Government Street intersection and did not result in any parking lost. On Fort, the DVBA is looking at relocating the corral, potentially to a space occupied by a planter flanking the mid-block crosswalk on the north side of the street.
Early analysis would suggest there is a need for more of the bike corrals on both a permanent and temporary basis, Kelly said.
"There seems to be pretty substantial use of the bike racks. What we're discovering, however, is these bike racks are used very much by employees who are swinging in and using them for the day.
"We've had some wonderful feedback from consumers who said: 'Give us more.' "
bcleverley@timescolonist.com

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Victoria+mulls+bike+parking+options/3767128/story.html#ixzz14ZXnzwYz

 

 

 

More info on Symposium

Here's more info on the Symposium   

Jim

20/20 Transportation Forum

A Vision for Sustainable Communities by 2020
November 13, 2010
Bowen Park Centre, meeting hall
9 am to 4 pm
Admission is by donation
Keynote speakers
Tania Wegwitz of B.C. Transit: “How can we better integrate our sustainable transportation systems with more liveable communities?”
UBC Professor Patrick Condon, author of Seven rules for sustainable communities: Design strategies for the post-carbon world
Morning panel
Train - Bill Draper: Island Transformations.org
Buses - Dennis Trudeau: director of the RDN Transit
Cycling - David Grey: Greater Nanaimo Cycling Coalition
CarShare - Kurt Fischer: Nanaimo CarShare Co-op
Afternoon panel
VIU - Steve Beasley: Student’s Union E.D.
RDN - Lisa Bhopalsingh: Senior Planner for the RDN
Nanaimo City - Bill Holdom: Councillor
First Nations
Open to the public
Be part of the efforts to make our transportation and our cities more sustainable, liveable, less costly, and more!
Lunch provided for $10/plate by the Thirsty Camel - limited to 100.
Please preregister by sending an email to us at 2020@esvi.ca and indicate whether you wish the meal or not. (Pre-registration is strongly encouraged to reserve seating and food.)
For more information: John @250-716-0930
Sponsored by Energy Solutions for Vancouver Island (Society), VIU Students Union the Mid-Island Co-op and BC Transit