Transportation Committee

Comité des transports

Minutes 32 / ProcÈs-verbal 32

Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 9:30 a.m.

le mercredi 19 octobre 2005, 9 h 30

Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West

Salle Champlain, 110, avenue Laurier ouest

Present / Présents : Councillor / Conseillers J. Stavinga (Chair / Présidente), C. Doucet (Vice-Chair / Vice-président), G. Bédard, R. Bloess, A. Cullen, E. El‑Chantiry, J. Legendre, D. Thompson

Absent / Absente : Councillor / Conseillère M. McRae (Regrets / excuses)

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

DÉCLARATIONS D’INTÉRÊT

No declarations of interest were filed.

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

Ratification du procÈs-verbal

Minutes 31 of the Transportation Committee Meeting of Wednesday, 5 October were confirmed.

PRESENTATIONS

PRÉSENTATIONS

1. 2005 INTERNAL COMMUTER CHALLENGE AWARD PRESENTATION

REMISE DU PRIX DU DÉFI TRANSPORT INTERNE 2005

At the outset of her presentation, Chair Stavinga congratulated all City of Ottawa employees, who participated in the Commuter Challenge this year. She noted that the Commuter Challenge, a component of the City’s TravelWise (transportation demand management) Program, is a one-week long event that encourages commuters to get to work by walking, cycling, taking transit, in line skating, running, carpooling or teleworking. This year’s event took place from June 5 to 11.

She advised that again the National Capital Region lead the way nationally for cities with populations between 500,000 and 999,999. In Ottawa more than 8,000 residents walked, cycled, took transit, in-line skated, ran, carpooled or teleworked reducing motor vehicle kilometers by 1.04 million; the first time any city has broken the one million mark.

At the corporate level, City of Ottawa employees travelled 36,068 kilometers using sustainable modes of transportation. Although the number of City employees, who participated this year was lower than in 2004, the overall participation rate at the City of Ottawa was greater than the participation rate for city residents at large – 1.90 per cent of City employees vs. 1.26 per cent of residents.

The following City of Ottawa employees were individual prize recipients:

· Allison Collins from Community and Protective Services

· Diane Martin from Community and Protective Services

· Charles Lanktree from Planning and Growth Management

· Ian McMurray from Corporate Services

· Steve Pusiak from Corporate Services

· Andrew McNeill from Councillors’ Offices

· Valerie Kitchell from Community and Protective Services received the prize for logging the most kilometers — 1,168 kilometers — over the week.

To encourage more City employees to try sustainable modes of transportation, a challenge was issued to see which department could reduce greenhouse gas emissions the most.

Corporate Services lead all departments by having the greatest number of participants overall and travelling 9,187 kilometers for the week, thus is the recipient of the 2005 Commuter Challenge award.

Chair Stavinga then asked Transportation Committee Members to join her in congratulating Greg Geddes, the Chief Corporate Service Officer and his team for their achievement in reducing green house gas emissions by making wise travel choices. A plaque was presented to Mr. Geddes.

A copy of Chair Stavinga’s Presentation is on file with the City Clerk.

On behalf of the Corporate Services Department, Mr. Geddes thanked the Transportation Committee for recognizing the Department’s effort and the effort of all who participated in the Community Challenge. He also thanked all Corporate Services Department employees, who contributed in this annual weeklong event.

In his acknowledgement of the Commuter Challenge Award, Mr. Geddes stated that choosing environmentally friendly alternatives is important every day of the year but this national competition is a great way for City of Ottawa’s employees to demonstrate to the community that the City is a leader in the use of transportation modes that improve people’s health and help the environment.

2. 2005 BRUCE TIMMERMANS AWARD PRESENTATION

REMISE DU PRIX BRUCE TIMMERMANS 2005

On behalf of the Transportation Committee, Chair Stavinga and Vice-Chair Doucet Speakers presented the 2005 Bruce Timmermans Individual Cycling Award to Dr. Peter C. Mason.

The Bruce Timmermans Awards are a cornerstone of the City’s TravelWise program. Bruce Timmermans was a long-time cycling educator and advocate, who was an active member of the Ottawa Bicycle Club and a founding member of Citizens for Safe Cycling. Bruce worked tirelessly to promote cycling and safety for cyclists and his legacy lives through the awards program created by the City of Ottawa to recognize individuals and organizations that demonstrate a genuine commitment to cycling in our community.

The Annual Awards are divided into two categories:

· An individual award bestowed to honour one exemplary citizen of the City of Ottawa who proactively and publicly promotes cycling as a viable, environmentally friendly mode of transportation and/or who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to cycling, providing a highly visible and positive example of safe cycling for others to emulate.

· An organization award bestowed to honour the exemplary contributions or investments of one business, organization or government each year that promotes cycling as a viable, environmentally friendly mode of transportation.

It was noted that Members of the Roads and Cycling Advisory Committee (RCAC) reviewed the nominations with staff to determine this year’s individual award winner and that no nominations were received for the organizational award this year.

It was pointed out that Dr. Mason, the winner of this year’s Bruce Timmermans Cycling Award for an individual is an inspiration. He cycles year-round from downtown to Shirley’s Bay, commuting five days a week in spring, summer and fall and when ever he has a clear wheel rut during the winter. So far he has commuted over 4,400kms this year. He even rode his bike solo from Ottawa to a meeting in Rome, New York — a 340km trip.

Dr. Mason has inspired 19 people (out of 25) in his section to cycle to work at least occasionally (and have fun doing it) by establishing a competition between two teams — “Team Semi-Dedicated” and “Team Fair-weather”. The goal was to ride 20,000kms this year. At the time the nomination was submitted the teams were sitting at 16,000kms and will most likely exceed their goal. This means the equivalent of 1⅔ cars have been taken off the road as a result of this initiative.

Dr. Mason has been such a successful advocate that even those that are not participating have found a new respect and understanding for cyclists on the road. By speaking out and creating awareness of the difficulties faced by cyclists he has created a greater understanding of why cyclists ride on the road. As one co-worker commented, she is much less frustrated with cyclists when driving.

As part of these challenges, he is also working to make it easier for everyone to partake in cycling at his workplace. He has already successfully encouraged his employer to have a bike rack installed at the front of their office building. He is currently working on advocating for additional shower facilities.

Over and above his normal commute, Dr. Mason has assisted new and timid riders by going out of his way to ride with them to work and if needed riding back home with them.

Dr. Mason is an activist in the community advocating environmentally friendly lifestyles. He has also spoken at City Council advocating for better cycling facilities, including cycling lanes, whenever the topic arose.

He is the best kind of cycling advocate — using positive attitudes and motivational techniques to encourage those around him (and their families!) to take up cycling. He leads by example and gentle encouragement. He is there to offer advice and information on routes, cycling techniques, dealing with injuries or the weather and bicycle repair. He always carries a repair kit with tubes for both mountain and road bikes regardless of what kind of bike he is riding. He has stopped to repair flats for strangers. He rode an extra 15kms to go back home to get tools and parts to fix a colleague’s bike when the crank arm fell off. When one colleague was injured in an accident he was there to help her get home. Afterwards he was there to give her advice on recovery and to make sure that she did not return to riding too soon.

Acknowledging the 2005 Bruce Timmermans Individual Cycling Award, Dr. Mason stated that he is also accepting this Award on behalf of his dedicated scientist and engineer colleagues. He spoke of Bruce Timmermans in whose memory these awards are given to recognize people in the community who have done good work. He then spoke of Dr. Sarah Jane Cook and her tragic accident while commuting on her bicycle to work. He pointed out the reason she was struck was because the street she was riding on was not designed to take cyclists. He referred to a Globe & Mail article written by Dr. Cook stating that she is not sure whether she is going to ride her bicycle anymore. He reminded people that while things are getting better, and applauding the National Capital Commission for the work done in the City, we still have a long way to go. He is going to use this Award to make the City a better place in memory of Bruce Timmermans so that the Sarah Jane Cooks of this world can get to work safely.

PUBLIC WORKS AND SERVICES

TRAVAUX PUBLICS ET SERVICES

TRANSIT SERVICES

SERVICE DU TRANSPORT EN COMMUN

3. REVISIONS TO BOUNDARY OF URBAN TRANSIT AREA

RÉVISION DES LIMITES DU SECTEUR DE TRANSPORT URBAIN

ACS2005-PWS-TRN-0008 CITY WIDE / À L'ÉCHELLE DE LA VILLE

Appearing before Committee to answer questions on this report were Richard Hewitt, Acting Deputy City Manager, Public Works and Services (PWS); Gordon Diamond, Director, Transit Services (PWS); and Dr. Helen Gault, Manager, Transit Service Planning and Development, PWS.

The Committee heard from the following delegation:

Catherine Gardner expressed concerns about the expansion of the urban transit area and the need to integrate when expanding service to ensure the support infrastructure so that people can access the service. She raised the following points:

· The sale of OC Transpo tickets at higher prices by certain vendors.

· Safer sidewalks for people in wheelchair and people with strollers.

· Para Transpo access to areas without addresses such as Stony Swamp, Mud Lake, Petrie Island, etc.

· Para Transpo drop-off at the Hospitals.

· Operational push buttons and elevators at Transitway Stations.

Mr. Diamond advised that OC Transpo Staff is meeting with Ms. Gardner to address her issues on 26 October 2005. The Committee will be provided with the outcome of that meeting.

Councillor Cullen suggested Ms. Gardner come forward at the budget meetings in December to raise her concerns, which are mostly budget issues.

In response to question from Councillor Cullen, Mr. Hewitt advised that support infrastructure, such as availability of sidewalks is taken in consideration when reviewing new sidewalk locations. He pointed out the backlog of new sidewalk requests in comparison to the available funding, thus a budget issue. While staff recognizes that there are problem areas, they endeavour to address them; and Transit Service and Bus Stops are parts of that evaluation.

Responding to further question from Councillor Cullen, Mr. Diamond advised that additional revenues are being picked up through development chargers and taxes to pay for these additional services. However, the purpose of this report is a housekeeping matter to include developments that are already included in the urban transit area and are now starting to receive service.

On the issue of selling bus tickets at higher costs, Mr. Diamond confirmed Councillor Cullen’s statements that it be reported immediately to OC Transpo for investigation.

The Committee then approved the following recommendation contained in the staff report dated 28 September 2005:

That the Transportation Committee recommend that Council approve the revisions to the boundary of the Urban Transit Area detailed in this report to be effective on January 1, 2006 to provide for the provision and funding of transit service in expanding areas of the City.

CARRIED

INQUIRIES

DEMANDES DE RENSEIGNEMENTS

Councillor Doucet put forward the following inquiries, which were referred to the Acting Deputy City Manager, Public Works and Services, for response:

1. “Many residential areas in the City of Ottawa benefit from 40km/hr speed limit signs (for instance in the former Cities of Nepean, Kanata and Gloucester). What can be done to harmonize residential speed limits across the City?”

2. “Why do some of the bus shelters on Wellington Street have their door facing the Parliament Buildings instead of the road?”

3. “What is the time table for removing bus bays in Capital Ward?”

4. “Toronto apparently has a transferable bus pass to encourage family members who do not need to travel concurrently to use transit. Would there be any benefit to Ottawa also considering some form of limited transferability of bus passes?”

5. “People requiring accessible buses rely on the published schedule to plan their journeys. On routes where both accessible and non-accessible buses run, it is critical that the right type of bus is sent as per the published schedule. This is particularly true when the bus in question runs infrequently and serves a hospital campus as it can leave persons with disabilities unexpectedly stranded (such as on Route 16). What measures or procedures are there to ensure that last minute replacement of vehicles on such routes adheres to the accessibility on the published schedule and do these measures apply more strictly when a route serves a hospital and / or is infrequent (half hour service or less)?”

ADJOURNMENT

LEVÉE DE LA SÉANCE

The Committee adjourned the meeting at 10: 15 a.m.

Original signed by Original signed by

Anne-Marie Leung Councillor Janet Stavinga

Committee Coordinator Chair