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You are here:   Home > Community > Active Transportation

Active transportation is any form of human-powered transportation. It is any trip made for the purposes of getting yourself, or others, to a particular destination - to work, to school, to the store or to visit friends. As long as it is 'active', you can choose the mode - walking, cycling, wheeling, in-line skating, skateboarding, ice skating (eg. on a canal). Walking and cycling are the most popular forms of active transportation. It can also involve combining modes such as walking/cycling with public transit (Source: Public Health Agency of Canada).  Also visit Wikipedia for Human Powered Transportation, Car Free Days and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car-free_movement

 

Why Do It? Benefits    

Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit: Walkable Communities; Healthy Communities

Making the Case for Active Transportation (Source: Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute)

What's your reason to walk or wheel more?   Economic?   Environmental?   Health?

 

What does an Active Transportation Community look like?

 Cycling Friendly Cities. Script by Enrique Penalosa. 16:04 min.

Melbourne: A Pedestrian Paradise 9.54 min.

John Pucher - Cycling for Everyone

Jan Gehl - Liveable Places, Contested Streets

 

Taking Action - Source: Public Health Agency of Canada

Here are some ideas that may help you consider adopting more active modes of transportation:

  • Think twice about using your car for every trip. Could you walk or use your bike to visit friends?
  • Dust off your bicycle and cycle to work when the weather permits.
  • Trade in your dress shoes for running shoes, strap on a backpack and walk all, or part of the way to work/school.
  • Instead of driving your kids to the park, why not make it a family outing on your bikes.
  • If you are considering moving, think about the transportation options available to you in the new locations you are considering. How far will the distance be to those places you regularly need to get to. Could you walk to do most of your small errands? How far away is the nearest school for your child? Is this new neighbourhood 'pedestrian friendly'?

But keep in mind, it's not just up to an individual to adopt active transportation, our communities, workplaces and schools must also support active transportation.

Communities that endorse active transportation :

  • have dedicated bicycle lanes and routes;
  • advocate for sharing the road with cyclists;
  • undertake specific measures to ensure the safe integration of pedestrians, cyclists and other active users among motorized vehicle traffic;
  • regularly maintain and upgrade pedestrian and cycling facilities;
  • provide storage for bicycles throughout the city;
  • have an integrated network of pedestrian and cycling paths that are designed for efficient transportation as well as recreation;
  • favour urban design that reduces the distances that people have to travel to get to work, retail areas, schools and recreational/leisure pursuits;
  • encourage the retail and service sectors to support customers who use active modes of transportation;
  • plan streetscapes to be visually pleasing and inviting to pedestrians;
  • have a network of green spaces throughout the urban and suburban areas;
  • make access to public transit easily integrated with pedestrian and cycling facilities to encourage intermodal travel;
  • encourage driver education about how to share the road with multi-users; and
  • encourage feedback from citizens, pedestrian and cycling advocacy groups.

Workplaces that endorse active transportation:

  • support and encourage their employees to adopt active transportation;
  • provide secure bicycle storage, lockers and shower facilities for employees;
  • allow more flexible dress codes;
  • organize workplace challenges, employee recognition programs or support community events to increase awareness;
  • work with municipal planners to map out safe and efficient routes to work and to address infrastructure or safety problems;
  • emphasize reduced motorized transportation while at work, and encourage more active modes; and
  • provide or subsidize safe cycling or in-line skating clinics for their employees.

Ecological commuting

Schools that endorse active transportation:

  • support and encourage their students to adopt an active way to get to school;
  • work with the municipality to identify safe routes for children while addressing safety and infrastructure barriers;
  • encourage parents to form 'escorted walks' to and from school for young neighbourhood children;
  • have teachers work with children to identify the safest routes to get to school while teaching children about traffic and pedestrian safety;
  • offer cycling and in-line skating skill and safety courses;
  • work with parents, motorists and the community at large, to make the trip to school a safe trip for children and youth.

        Active and Safe Travel to School   

Links

Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation, Bike Summit 2009

Walk and Bike for Life

Projects for Public Spaces - Gil Penalosa

Last Updated: August 10, 2009

 

PAST EVENTS

BARRIE'S FIRST CAR FREE SUNDAY EVENT  - This is a FREE all ages event.

When: SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m

WhereLAKESHORE DRIVE Between Tiffin St. and Minet's Point Rd. closed to vehicular traffic; roadway reserved for recreational use only.

WhoDuring the event, many attractions will be located on the roadway along Lakeshore Drive.       Radio presence by B101   , Town Crier,  

                               BIKES: Bike Rodeo - Barrie Police, Bicycle Museum, Rentals and Free Bike Inspection, SMDHU helmet safety, Unicyclist Busker, Big Bike Fundraiser, Free Monitored Bike Corral Parking

                               FEET: New Balance

                               SKATEBOARDS: Skateboard Design Workshop

                               ROLLERBLADING: Rollerblading Clinic by Go Figure Family Fun & Fitness, Poling (Nordic Walking) Clinic by City of Barrie Recreational Programmers

                               Fresh Food: Browns Farm, Lakeview Gardens and Rustic Gardens.

                               South Shore Community Centre: Washrooms, Water, Giveaways and Displays - Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Safe Routes to School - Walking School Bus, Simcoe County Farm Fresh Marketing Association, Living Green (Environmental Action Barrie)

How:  Walk or Wheel, Free Barrie Transit Tickets (see Transit Information) or Carpool down to the waterfront, free parking available in Centennial Park.  When parking, consider using the Free Weekend Waterfront Bus Shuttle to connect to the waterfront.

Event Key Messages:

  • Reduce automobile dependency and increase walking and wheeling .
  • Improve your health and the health of our community by walking and wheeling .
  • Find ways to get there without using the car - support walking and wheeling in our community .
  • Make walking somewhere part of your everyday routine.
  • Use active means for transportation  - such as walking or wheeling to work, school, shopping, visiting friends and running errands

Look for ways to get out of the car and use active transportation by walking and wheeling .

Thank you to our many community partners and sponsors.

           

 

 
     
 

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