Policy

On June 16th, 2010 Waterloo City Council approved a Transportation Master Plan that features a Complete Streets policy as its "cornerstone" component. "As a result, Active Transportation becomes an integral part of the municipal transportation system." (The City of Waterloo Transportation Master Plan, "A City that is truly accessible to all", June 2010, pg 26). Read the full plan here.

This month, Vélo Québec released Planning and Design for Pedestrians and Cyclists. This 150+ page technical guide is intended for planning professionals as well as active transportation advocates. According to Vélo Québec:

“The information in Planning and Design for Pedestrians and Cyclists is drawn from Vélo Québec's expertise in the field of active transportation and from the contributions of experts in matters of local planning, design and mobility.”

The City of Toronto, in association with the Toronto Entertainment District Business Improvement Area, is undertaking a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) Study to examine potential improvements to the public realm of John Street consistent with concepts outlined in the Toronto Entertainment District Master Plan.

This week, Spacing published its second article in a two-part series on TCAT's recent Complete Streets Forum. (TCAT reported on the first post in the last TCAT News.)

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, at its meeting of June 15, will be considering a staff report seeking authority to install 13 new traffic control signals and road alterations to enhance 5 uncontrolled trail crossings, related to 30 kilometres of new trails and 4 kilometres of upgraded trails along the Finch Hydro Corridor, Gatineau Hydro Corridor and CN Leaside Rail Corridor, across the North York and Scarborough Districts. View the report here.

An Environmental Assessment (EA) study is underway for the eastern Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard corridor between Jarvis Street and the Don Valley Parkway.

A survey of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers who use this corridor has started. Members of the general public are invited to provide their input so that informed, high quality decisions can be made about the future of the Gardiner.

The results of the survey will provide valuable public input about key travel behaviour and attitudes concerning the future of the eastern Gardiner-Lake Shore Corridor.

One of TCAT's goals for last month's Complete Streets Forum was for the City of Toronto to adopt a complete streets policy. As such we were quite pleased that Gary Welsh, General Manager of Transportation Services and many other senior transportation staff attended the Forum. Mr. Welsh was quoted in the Toronto Star the day after the Forum that he will take a serious look at adopting a complete streets policy in Toronto.

Talking Tolls: What’s leadership got to do with it?

Congestion charging. Priced networks. High Occupancy Toll Lanes. These road pricing systems are being implemented around the world in order to reduce congestion, fight climate change and generate revenues for sustainable transportation infrastructure. But why would politicians anywhere support road pricing in the face of widespread opposition? How do they communicate road pricing benefits and costs to the public? What can we learn from their experiences?

Interested in finding out more about best policy and implementation practices to create complete streets? Barbara McCann, Executive Director of the Complete Streets Coalition has recently published a book on the topic available here.