Submitted by
Ish Theilheimer
Co-ordinator, Bike Renfrew County
Secretary, Active Transportation Working Group, Physical Activity Network of Renfrew County
PEMBROKE — Active transportation – cycling, walking hiking, paddling and other forms of non-motorized transport – is growing exponentially, and communities, local governments and businesses are working together to keep up with demand and take advantage of opportunities.
That was the message from more than 60 municipal leaders and staff, business owners, and advocates from across eastern Ontario at the Active Transportation (AT) Summit in Pembroke on May 29. It was billed as a second annual event, following up on a successful conference in Mississippi Mills (Almonte) last year. Another is planned for Kemptville next year.
“It’s all about cultural change and redefining what’s normal,” Algonquin College professor Jeff Jackson said in introductory remarks.
“One of our goals today was to reach across eastern Ontario,” event organizer Shawna Babcock told the gathering. “We have achieved that and it’s very exciting to see the number of elected representatives and committed community members from so many sectors here today.”
Madawaska Valley Township Councillor Carl Bromwich said, “We have a jewel of an area for people to walk and cycle. If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Carleton Place Deputy Mayor Jerry Flynn agreed. “We like the money that people bring on their bikes,” he told the assembly.
The summit opened with a welcome from Renfrew County Warden Peter Emon , who spoke enthusiastically about the economic and health benefits of AT. “It’s the perfect package, so it’s time for the rest of us buy in to what you’ve been saying for years,” he said. He posed with former Lanark County Warden Bill Dobson to promote the Silver Chain Challenge, a friendly annual competition between the two counties that happens every year in June to encourage cycling, walking and running. For information about participating, go to www.silverchainchallenge.ca .
Counties across the region have worked hard in recent years to address the gaps in AT infrastructure, education and support. Renfrew County’s CAO Jim Hutton, for instance, spoke about how County staff have worked with AT working group under the Physical Activity Network of Renfrew County (PAN-RC) to develop an AT policy and strategies that identify priority roads and routes for hardened shoulders.
The AT policy adopted last year, “Wasn’t without some controversy at Council, but it was well supported,” he said. In 2014, the County spent $328,000 on shoulder hardening. “We have to move in increments,” he said. “We are making progress.”
Event organizer Damien McCarthy, co-owner of the outdoor equipment store GearHeads, in Petawawa, gave a lot of credit to County staff. “Without the partnership of the County of Renfrew, we couldn’t have got where we are today. County came to the table and things really started changing quickly.
Dr. Maureen Carew, Renfrew County’s Medical Officer of walking and cycling and said that surveys show safety concerns are keeping one in five Canadians from taking part. “Low physical acitivey rates cost Canada $5.3 billion dollars a year,” she said.
Jeff Jackson, coordinator or Algonquin College’s Outdoor Adventure Program and risk management consultant, talked at length about municipal liability, which is often cited by AT skeptics as a reason for inaction. “Liability is a stopping point,” he said. “It’s full of misperceptions and fear. It drives me up the wall we have decision makers worried about protecting themselves when we should be protecting the people who are actually doing this.”
He said anyone in a management role has a “duty of care” which cannot be avoided, regardless of actions taken or not. “By encouraging AT, do I increase my duty of care? No. You had it already. It can’t be elevated or lowered.” The statuatory standard, he said, is the Municipal Act, which dictates that any road, “Shall keep it in a state of repair that is reasonable in the circumstances. The bottom line is that if a municipality puts in place a system, that’s the standard of measurement.”
Ottawa Valley Travel Association President and owner of Bonnechere Caves Chris Hinsperger talked about how local businesses need to undersand the economic benefits of encouraging AT. “You can have the best roads but it won’t do much good if my business colleagues aren’t on board,” he said. “You need to be continuously thinking about what user wants. It represents a big mind change, but the benefits will far outweigh the costs.”
For instance, Hinsperger invites the public to “bike from parking lot any time you care to.” And he advises other businesses, “If they have ‘Bathtrooms are for customers only’ signs, I’d say take if off right away. Put a bike rack in the front of your business. Do you know what cyclists are driving when they’re not on their bikes?” Like other speakers throughout the day, he said AT tourists tend to be well educated and have higher incomes.
“Take time to invest in your customer,” he said. “The customer will come back down the road after you’ve invested in your customer.”
Jamie Stuckless of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition attended from Ottawa. “Changing the conversation is the priority that really drives everything we do,” she said. She said 600,000 daily cyclists on the road in Ontario, and 3.8 million people ride at least monthly in the province. “Fifty four percent of Ontarians want to cycle more. We need to build spaces and do public education to allow them to make that choice.”
The summit included a session in which planning staff from several counties and municipalities compared notes and shared their daily work experiences with the audience. Phil Mosher of North Grenville said the proces of shifting focus from cars is “very incremental,” but, “There are many economic spinoffs of people being more active.”
