Senator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 9, 2023
Yesterday, I had the privilege & thrill of visiting the Edmonton International Airport tower and the Nav Canada control centre, in my capacity as a member of Standing Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications. It was a fascinating visit, and one that gave me so much insight into this aspect of our aviation sector. #Edmonton #yeg #EIA #NavCanada #Canada #SenateofCanada #TRCM #AirTrafficControl #Alberta
Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦

@Paulatics has, does, the committee consider the *bicycle* when considering #transportation?

We see federal and provincial interest in electric cars, & hear of aspirations for passenger trains, but with so many Canadians living in dense urban communities, the potential for bicycles (acoustic & electric) to reduce carbon emissions, city infrastructure costs & health risks as well as to improve quality of urban life, is profound. Yet we hear zip from our federal authorities. Why?

#biketooter

Aug 10, 2023 at 1:44pmWeb
Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 10, 2023

@Paulatics just to be clear, I'm not trying to be rhetorical or antagonistic. I'm genuinely puzzled.

Bicycles are so obviously the personal vehicle of the future; we make steel & aluminum & batteries in Canada, we have a history of bike design & building; we could have a bike/trike industry here (we could lead the world on #winterbiking). But our MPs seem oblivious (even Steven Guilbeault🤯).
Is it b/c the auto lobby is too rich? Or policy ppl still equate bikes with recreation?
#biketooter

Show thread😀🚲Aug 10, 2023
@HyL @Paulatics bicycles are incredibly efficient and thus don't cause enough money to slosh around to capture the attention of for-profit politicians. They are an incredible lever to achieve public good though, with ROI of 5-10x just accounting for public health and economic activity. Bikey people just misunderstand the greasing of palms that's required since we put grease on everything with threads. What about square taper crank spindles #bikeTooter
Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023
@enobacon @HyL I'm a cyclist. When I worked for the Edmonton Journal, I routinely used my bike to get to work from April thru September. (I was never a winter rider, I confess.) I am a big fan of bike paths, especially proper separated ones. But as I explained in another toot, the Transportation committee deals with federally related transportation - planes, trains and ships. That said, I'd be all in favour of seeing municipalities direct more federal infrastructure $$ to active transport.
Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023

@Paulatics @enobacon
:-)
As you probably know, the City of Edmonton budgeted $100M to expand the bike network, but that is 50% of the estimated need. Sohi told the committee they would try to get the other $100M from federal funding, but I've not heard anything positive on that, as yet. Yeg has contracted Toole to help decide how to allocate the $100M (= good!).

PS: if you're in town on September 17, join the Fancy Women Bike Ride! Fyi: @FWBR_yeg

#BikeTooter

Show threadRide of the Fancy Women, YEGAug 11, 2023

Yes, @Paulatics, do join the Fancy Women Bike Ride in Edmonton!

The event is international, always the 3rd Sunday in September (the Sunday before Car-Free Day).
2023 will be the 3rd year in Edmonton, but the 11th year internationally.
Last year 120 ♀️🚲 came out to Churchill Square! It was such fun.

RSVP & more details:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/fancy-women-bike-ride-2023-edmonton-tickets-681521718807

(🙏Help us amplify by boosting?🙏)

@enobacon

Fancy Women Bike Ride 2023 (Edmonton)

FANCY. FIERCE. FUN. You are invited to join the Edmonton Fancy Women Bike Ride on Sunday Sept 17, 2023.

Eventbrite
Show threadKathyReidAug 11, 2023
@FWBR_yeg @Paulatics @enobacon I have my ticket and looking forward to this!
Show threadRide of the Fancy Women, YEGAug 12, 2023

@KathyReid
Hooray!❣️

🚲Bring on the colour🌼💠💐
🚴‍♀️Bring at least one new friend 🩰
🚴See you at City Hall

🚲🎉🚲👠🚲💃🚲🩰🚴‍♀️🎉

(Route TBA, but we'll probably end up at Café Bicyclette)
#FWBRyeg
#FWBR2023

@Paulatics @enobacon

Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023
@HyL @enobacon @FWBR_yeg Oh I would love to. But that’s the day I fly back to Ottawa for the start of the new Senate sitting!
Show threadRide of the Fancy Women, YEGAug 11, 2023

😿 @Paulatics

@HyL @enobacon

Show threadRide of the Fancy Women, YEGAug 14, 2023

@Paulatics
Senator, perhaps you can make it in time for Ottawa's Fancy Women Bike Ride!

https://facebook.com/events/s/ottawa-fancy-women-bike-ride/298819849492039/

#FWBR2023
#FWBR🇨🇦
#FWBRyow

@HyL @enobacon

Ottawa Fancy Women Bike Ride

Event by Christie Hearts Trees on Sunday, September 17 20236 posts in the discussion.

Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 14, 2023
@FWBR_yeg @HyL @enobacon Alas, I shall be in midair, being a fancy woman flying.
Show threadAmelia Bellamy-Royds Aug 10, 2023

@HyL @Paulatics Probably a good part of this is the constitutional division of powers. The federal government really doesn't have a lot it can do to promote bike use. Traffic planning is a local matter. Licensing (of e-vehicles on public roads) is provincial.

Federal transportation authority is specifically for interprovincial modes of transportation (trains & planes) and product safety & environmental regulations (cars).

For bikes, the main thing they can do is directed infrastructure grants.

Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023
@AmeliasBrain @HyL Thank you. That's what I was about to explain. The Senate Transportation and Communications Committee deals with transportation that is federally regulated: so airports and airlines, railways, ports, etc. Municipal roadways, provincial highways, bike lanes, are not n our ambit. HOWEVER....I have also launched a Senate inquiry into federal/municipal relations which tries to deal, among other things, with federal infrastructure funding for municipalities. #TRCM #SenateofCanada
Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023

@Paulatics @AmeliasBrain Many 🙏thanks🙏 to you both. I will be interest in the results from your inquiry, Senator.

Perhaps advocacy re: bicycle as climate-change mitigation, as transportation vehicle & manufacturing opportunity should be directed at Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne?

#biketooter
#CDNgovt

Show threadJasmine LiskaAug 11, 2023
@HyL @Paulatics @AmeliasBrain You could also ask about the lack of incentives for bikes by sending a letter through the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to any minister that it relates to, if you wanted. It’s an official process, so you’d be guaranteed to get a response: https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_fs_e_919.html#:~:text=Environmental%20petitions%20are%20a%20unique,ministers%2C%20with%20a%20guaranteed%20response.
Environmental Petitions

Show thread😀🚲Aug 11, 2023
@Paulatics @AmeliasBrain @HyL local bike and transit is key to the decision of whether a trip to a central train station is viable, vs an airport and a rental car. Also, much of the big-money projects need to do is stay out of the way of local connectivity, don't bisect neighborhoods and leave zero safe ways around by bike, walking, especially kids getting around on their own. Overbuilt carways take all of the space, to move handfuls of cars to the next red light, average 15mph on a good day.
Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023
@enobacon @AmeliasBrain @HyL Edmonton's train should be easily accessible by bike. A paved bike path along an old railway right-of-way goes almost all the way there. But not quite. And last time I checked, there was no sidewalk, much less a bike trail, that connects the last few blocks. There's also no way to get to the train station by bus or LRT, even though the LRT station isn't that far away. (But then again....we have almost no useful VIA service anyway.) Sigh. #Edmonton #yeg
Show threadchris - sᴉɹɥɔAug 11, 2023
@Paulatics @enobacon @AmeliasBrain @HyL
Blatchford has been under construction for a decade, and we're still no closer to getting connections through and around that giant barrier.
Maybe one day?
But if the city were serious it would be done already, rather than another decade into the future.
Show threaddragonfrogAug 11, 2023

@Paulatics @enobacon @AmeliasBrain @HyL

Not just a few blocks - it's about a kilometer walk from the VIA station to the nearest sidewalk.

Truly, the car-free way to travel couldn't have been better located to repel those who don't have a car.

Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023
@dragonfrog @enobacon @AmeliasBrain @HyL It is so bizarre. It must be the least publicly accessible train station in Canada.
Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 11, 2023

@Paulatics @AmeliasBrain
Yes. I read @enobacon's reply & knew immediately it was from someone unaware that Canada has effectively no passenger rail system (except for rich tourists) 🤭.

But a bike + bus route to the airport, and safe bike parking there, is something we *could* and should have. (Would bike storage at airports fall under your committee's purview, Senator?)

Show threaddragonfrogAug 11, 2023

@HyL @Paulatics @AmeliasBrain @enobacon

I understand that in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor (which does hold half the country's population), passenger rail almost rises to the level of a European economic basket case country that wouldn't be admitted into the EU.

I have not used the train in that corridor, so that's just from what I've heard.

In Western Canada, the Maritimes, and the rest of Ontario and Quebec, it's purely a tourist attraction, for sure.

Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023

@dragonfrog @Paulatics @AmeliasBrain @enobacon

yes, between Hamilton & Montreal there is passenger rail & even commuter trains. But that is a tiny part of Canada's geography, & it used to be better, affordable, and an alternative to short flights.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/rail-travel-canada-1.6681160

https://www.viarail.ca/en

What we can learn about the future of rail from its past | CBC Radio

The train used to be a romantic and luxurious mode of transportation, with companies competing for passengers. But in the last century, cars and airplanes have edged out an option that — with the right investment and infrastructure — could be a cheaper and greener alternative in Canada.

CBC
Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023

@dragonfrog

If you like being frustrated, try to find trips between major Canadian cities using the ViaRail booking site ( https://www.viarail.ca/en )🤣

@Paulatics @AmeliasBrain @enobacon

#Canada
#Rail
#Travel
#AltText: Two screen shots, 1st showing search for train travel between Edmonton & Montréal, 2nd showing no train service found.

VIA Rail Canada: Train travel in Canada

Book now and discover all the benefits of travelling by train with VIA Rail. Take advantage of our best offers and enjoy a unique travel experience.

VIA Rail
Show threadDaveography 🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023

@HyL @dragonfrog @Paulatics @AmeliasBrain @enobacon

God what a tragic state.

Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023
@Daveography @HyL @dragonfrog @AmeliasBrain @enobacon Years ago, when our daughter was small, our family took the train from Edmonton to Jasper and back. (With a holiday in between.) Now that’s near to impossible, since, last I checked, the only available train left at midnight and arrived about 5 AM. It’s such a waste. A useful Edmonton-Jasper train could be a huge boon for tourism. And business.
Show threadScott M. Aug 12, 2023

@Paulatics @Daveography @HyL @dragonfrog @AmeliasBrain @enobacon
There was a brief time when their website showed connections off of the Canadian and on to corridor trains. Some of the connections had hilarious layovers, but they'd show it nonetheless.

But now the Canadian is reliably unreliable, with VIA giving up on any guarantees (they used to refund if over 4 hours delayed, etc). In 2022 across the whole network - including corridor - on-time performance was only 57%.

That's very bad.

Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023
@Paulatics
Indeed. I used to live in Jasper. The municipality, & Tourism Jasper, in diff years, spent thousands on market studies or lobbying, re: passenger rail service between Edmonton & Jasper. To no avail. There is interest; the market demand exists, year round. But there's no room on the tracks, b/c freight. So town & Parks spend $$ on parking lots & wider highway.
Now, a 🚲bike route🚴‍♀️ like the Loire Vélo routes, would be fun tourism🤔
@Daveography @dragonfrog @AmeliasBrain @enobacon
Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023
@HyL @Daveography @dragonfrog @AmeliasBrain @enobacon Sharing the tracks with the busy freight trains, of course, is a huge impediment to reliable, regular passenger service.
Show threadBruce Acton 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦Aug 12, 2023
@HyL @Paulatics @Daveography @dragonfrog @AmeliasBrain @enobacon there use to be a ski train from #Edmonton to #jasper you could hop on do a day of skiing then come back home later that day. Even as short as 20? Years ago there was a downtown rail station in #Edmonton to #Vancouver with stops along the way. It was a great trip.
Show threaddragonfrogAug 12, 2023
@Bwacton @HyL @Paulatics @Daveography @AmeliasBrain @enobacon I used to work in the CN tower and you could still see remnants of the boarding area in the ground floor.
Show threadJasmine LiskaAug 11, 2023
@AmeliasBrain @HyL @Paulatics I don’t think it really came up until the federal government announced incentives for buying electric vehicles and promoted them as “zero-emissions vehicles” (which, as we all know, given their full life-cycle, they are not). The question I kept seeing then was, why support for electric vehicles but not acoustic or electric bikes, which are closer to zero-emissions? That’s not within the scope of this particular committee, but it is a discrepancy people noticed.