Posted on August 28, 2008.
The Canadian Urban Transportation Association (CUTA) holds a youth summit every two years to engage young people - students, young professionals, and those vagabonds looking for some direction in life - about new developments and ideas around sustainable transportation.
Having just celebrated my quarter-century this summer, I was just able to squeak by and attend the conference before becoming no longer eligible as a “youth”. This year’s conference focused largely on walking and cycling as a means of accessing essential community and cultural services, as well as public transit.
Gil Penalosa, a leading international expert and consultant on active transportation planning for communities, opened his keynote address by stating that “a great cycling city is one where children and seniors can all bike safely”.
Mr. Penalosa presented many exciting examples of cycling technology and infrastructure from around the world that facilitates safe, accessible cycling. He illustrated bike path designs that separated car traffic, cycling traffic, and pedestrian traffic within the same right-of-way by slightly raising the pavement for the bike path, while keeping it slightly lower than the sidewalks (above, courtesy of www.PaulHillsdon.com). 
He discussed New York City’s actions to convert an entire lane of Broadway Avenue into a cycling boulevard, separated with a generous buffer from cars and busses (at left, courtesy of www.streetsblog.org). Mr. Penalosa also illustrated the use of linear park systems as opportunities for off-road bikeways to appeal to a wider spectrum of cyclists, including mothers with child trailers, the elderly, or the timid.
The challenge of suburban design was also discussed between Dr. Larry Frank from the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC, and Mr. Penalosa. These experts acknowledged the significant barrier these communities present to pedestrians and cyclists, due to their curvilinear designs and long distances to otherwise-nearby destinations. Suggestions for retrofitting these communities included creating policies that enable municipalities to reclaim property for pedestrian and cycling linkages. They also underscored the need for intelligent urban design, calling for dense neighbourhoods with a generous supply of necessary land uses such as small grocery stores, banks, office jobs, recreational facilities, and medical centres. Creating a community for cyclists and pedestrians means keeping travel distances under 5 km for cyclists, or 1 km for pedestrians. 
Providing amenities to cyclists, such as direct routes to transit facilities and major destinations, plentiful lock-up facilities (preferably covered), and communications for cyclists for way-finding are essential. Denmark’s cycling capital, Odense, even provides a complete network of air pumps, traffic signals that are timed for cycling speeds (NOT cars), and digital sign posts that show how many cyclists have traveled that route that day (at right, courtesy of mgadev at www.flickr.com). These all help promote cycling as an efficient and preferred mode of transportation.
As Guelph’s Bicycle-Friendly initiative takes off, I hope to see some of these best practices implemented over the coming years. There are many challenges and barriers to overcome, but the technology exists, and the community support is strong. Guelph is community that embraces progress and change, and I have no doubt that we will be able to create a strong cycling culture in this city in the coming years!
