Less Car

Author: Rob Attrell

  • Priorities for Orleans for the 2025 Transportation Master Plan Consultations

    Priorities for Orleans for the 2025 Transportation Master Plan Consultations

    A map of key routes to be discussed below for addition to the TMP for western Orleans.

    The city is currently going through consultations (Transportation Master Plan Update | Engage Ottawa) to renew plans for upcoming transportation infrastructure projects. Here are a handful of infrastructure projects that would radically improve the cycling mode share and overall safe cycling network in Orleans if implemented.

    This is a more detailed look at individual projects as part of my transportation and zoning/land use analysis of Orleans as part of the TMP consultation process here: Modernizing Orleans: Integrated Transportation and Zoning for a Sustainable Future.

    Candidates for “Complete Street” makeover with active transportation facilities:

    • Orleans Blvd (traffic calming, cycling infrastructure, bridge crossing, wide sidewalks) – In the TMP already; high priority
      • Safe, separated cycling facilities should take riders all the way from beyond Innes in the south of Orleans up to the River Pathway.
      • Along this route, there are schools, shopping centres, the library, connections to the LRT, St Joseph, Innes, Jeanne d’Arc, etc. It could connect all the way to Navan Rd in the south.
      • Of particular interest is the overpass over the 174, which is the quietest highway crossing with no on or off ramps, and therefore a necessary crossing over the highway that is the safest for less comfortable users.
    • Jeanne d’Arc Blvd (40kph, cycling infrastructure, roundabouts in Convent Glen North, wide sidewalks) – North section in the TMP already; high priority
      • This long road offers multiple chained routes covering most of western Orleans going from Petrie Island all the way to Mer Bleue.
      • This is also a prime candidate for cycle tracks, in particular the stretch from Champlain in the north all the way on to Mer Bleue where it meets up with Brian Coburn.
      • There is lots of space to include this infrastructure in the plans while sacrificing almost no traffic capacity. Countless school, businesses, and community amenities and services are within a couple of kilometres of this road.
      • The intersections along Jeanne d’Arc North between the 174 and Orleans could easily be cheaply transformed into roundabouts given traffic volumes, making it safer for kids to get to nearby schools and saving everybody time and energy waiting to turn left or waiting at red lights. Other intersections could probably also benefit from this treatment but these are the ones I know best.
      • There is also the opportunity along with the redesign of Jeanne d’Arc to put it in a perfectly placed pedestrian crossing right next to Fire Station 52 and Convent Glen Catholic School near Jeanne d’Arc and the new roundabout (see image below). This would be so helpful for local kids to get to school and active transportation in the community.
    You can draw almost a perfectly straight line between these two MUPs, otherwise crossing here is a nearly 400 m walk.
    • Forest Valley (cycling infrastructure) – Not in TMP; medium priority
      • This route is commonly used by active transport users to get from the forest valley community down to the river and just out of Forest Valley to St Joseph or west to Montreal Road.
    • Youville (cycling infrastructure) – In TMP; listed as ‘pavement markings and signage’. Should be actual infrastructure for walking and cycling. Maybe a new MUP, there will be lots of new residents with towers going in.
      • With all the new development planned around Youville, this route should have more than painted lanes, something truly safe and comfortable. This route could also join up with Orleans on the other end offering a connection to Innes on the south end,
    • Champlain Street (cycling infrastructure) – Not in TMP
      • Safe travel from the river pathway all the way to Place d’Orleans Mall and Centrum would give shoppers or LRT connectors an easy way to safely get to and across the highway here as well.
      • This street is already so quiet traffic calming should only make things safer and give buses and cyclists the opportunity to move through this route quickly and easily.
    • St Joseph Blvd (complete street, cycling infrastructure, traffic calming, wide sidewalks, 40kph) – In TMP, but whole length is not listed. Also covered in Orleans Corridor Secondary Plan. High priority.
      • This road is a PRIME candidate for a complete makeover as part of the Orleans Corridor Secondary Plan, with wide sidewalks, less mandatory parking, frequent buses from all over Orleans, cycling infrastructure, the full package.
      • With the 174 so close, there is no reason whatsoever to make it efficient to speed traffic through this route, it should be a destination for people to come and enjoy the quiet and fun atmosphere with mixed use buildings like a Bank or Preston Street. It should be a no-brainer location for a street festival in the summer like streets downtown.
      • The part of St Joseph further west toward Montreal Road also deserves a real bike lane the whole length, with at least some kind of physical infrastructure that consists of more than paint and an unused shoulder.
    • Innes and Tenth Line (permanent cycling infrastructure, not just paint) – Not in TMP; medium priority.
      • I won’t go into details here, but both these roads could easily have bus priority lanes during rush hour and active transportation infrastructure, enabling more buses and more cycling without having too much impact on traffic (is likely to lead to less congestion).
      • These routes also connect shoppers to businesses, schools, Ray Friel, and many other community amenities.

    Cycling Route Improvements

    • Belcourt / Frank Bender (additional modal filter, traffic calming) – partly listed in TMP, second modal filter on Frank Bender is an easy and cheap win if residents are on board.
      • The TMP already lists the modal filter at Frank Bender and Jeanne d’Arc as a completed project, and Belcourt is honestly already a pretty quiet street which is amenable to cycling.
      • This route is used by staff (especially younger staff) to get to businesses on Innes (you can see the bikes parked in the racks at the big box stores), and could easily be used by more shoppers as well.
      • Frank Bender is currently not particularly hospitable to active transportation, and I wonder whether the residents on the street would take the tradeoff of a modal filter halfway down Frank Bender to stop the car traffic that goes through. I bet it would be a nicer experience living on that street without the through traffic.
    With a modal filter (pictured for example in yellow), local residents won’t have to deal with car traffic constantly cutting through the neighbourhood (despite speed bumps). Will also make this route much more accessible to folks shopping on Innes, especially with some tweaks to the intersection at Innes.

    A ‘Fix’ for Lacking Sidewalks (upgrade sidewalk to MUP) – not in TMP, new suggestion.

    Many streets in Convent Glen North (my neighbourhood) and other older residential boroughs of Orleans have a now outdated design with only one sidewalk on some collector roads, and often no sidewalks at all on local streets. This means that people out walking, running, or cycling in these areas are compressed into a very small or non-existent space for these activities. Sidewalks aren’t designed to handle this kind of mixed-use traffic, and their narrow and uneven surfaces aren’t designed for wheels like this.

    My suggestion would be that when these single sidewalks reach end-of-life, the city should consider upgrading these sidewalks to nice, wide, bi-directional multi-use paths. This would make this experience nicer for everybody, would make winter maintenance more consistent, and would allow more people to comfortably make use of this infrastructure. If we are taking the step of redesigning active transportation in these communities, I think another step that would be a huge upgrade for safety and accessibility would be continuous sidewalks between side roads, so that to turn off or onto the main road, cars need to slow right now and be more aware of potential cross traffic before proceeding. This could even be done with coloured asphalt along the paths to make the delineation extra clear.

    The collector roads (hopefully I have that terminology right) that I think would be good candidates for this would be (for example): Vineyard Dr, Voyageur Dr, Fortune Dr. There are probably a lot more, but these could absolutely be valuable additions to the connected active transportation network, without even asking to take space away from cars.

    174 Farm Easement Path (new MUP connection) – not in TMP, new suggestion

    There is a farm access road along the 174 that could be restructured and redesigned (in collaboration with the NCC) to include space for an active transportation easement popular with other urban and suburban farms in Ottawa. This is a much faster, safer, and more direct route to Canotek and on to downtown than the current options of the winding river pathway and the shoulder-straddling painted bike lanes on St. Joseph.

    This path could extend all the way up to Jeanne d’Arc for a connection to the LRT and could include a break in the sound wall to connect to Vineyard Drive and the MUP path system in Convent Glen North, giving many walkers and cyclists a faster and more direct connection to local services and amenities via the MUP or the LRT.

    In blue, the MUP connecting to Vineyard Dr and Jeanne d’Arc LRT. In yellow, the path system that connects to Convent Glen North.
  • Modernizing Orleans – Feedback on Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan

    Modernizing Orleans – Feedback on Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan

    This page is an overview of my feedback on the latest draft of the city of Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan. There are three additional pages (linked below and in the relevant sections of the page) that complement the analysis.

  • My Experiences Cycling Through the Winter in Orleans

    My Experiences Cycling Through the Winter in Orleans

    In the spring of 2024, I finally got an electric cargo bike and immediately started using it for everything. I’ve talked about it a lot on this blog, and it has been life changing in many ways. I rode it over 1000 km in the last 10 months, including commuting downtown for work at least 10 times. I also joined the boards of three community non-profits and went full-on, orange-pilled urbanist.

    Today, though, I want to talk about some of my experiences biking during the ‘winter’ (a term I’ll use loosely to describe the period in Ottawa after the first time it snows and before all the snow melts) with my new bike. Unexpectedly, the cold wasn’t high on the list of the biggest barriers to cycling all through the winter, but we will talk about what barriers were.

    man and woman riding bicycle during winter
    Stock Photo by Efrem Efre on Pexels.com

    October 2024

    In October 2024, I joined the Board of Bike Ottawa, an advocacy organization that promotes safe cycling infrastructure and enabling more people to cycle around our city safely and efficiently. The Annual General Meeting for Bike Ottawa was held on October 26, a day that is typically colder than is comfortable for most fair-weather cyclists, but in the grand scheme of things isn’t particularly cold. It hadn’t snowed yet in the season but cycling home from the meeting it was around 0 degrees Celsius. The ride from Orleans to Bayview Yards in Mechanicsville is about 20 km each way, give or take.

    By dressing appropriately (ie. a coat, winter gloves, long underwear, and a balaclava), I was plenty warm enough for the long ride, and it wasn’t busy on the parkway at night, which definitely helped.

    November 2024

    November presented me with an opportunity to cycle more in what I would describe as fall weather, where it was definitely cold, but there wasn’t any snow. In just the last week of November, I rode to my office downtown for work, and to the Plant Recreation Centre at Preston and Somerset for a Bike Ottawa Strategy Retreat. These were effectively the same conditions as my ride downtown described in October, ‘fall’, but not really winter yet. I’m not including a map here as the route overlaps about 95% with the route above.

    The rides were also very similar in conditions to October. The roads were clear, and if it was cold, I used layers. It was not as complicated as I expected it would be.

    December 2024

    December was the month where I had two new thoughts about the possibility of winter cycling. The first thought is that it was totally doable despite cold weather, since I had been doing it in the cold for over a month now and it was fine, given that I prepared appropriately. Second, I could probably take almost no risk or additional effort and cycle at least once (for transportation, an important caveat) each calendar month year-round. Biking around the block to check a box wasn’t necessary, I wanted to actually need to get somewhere. Once I set this goal for myself, I looked for opportunities when it would be possible to use my bike for relatively short trips when the weather was neutral but cold, and the streets and paths were clear enough.

    The biggest issue I had with the roads being clear is that I don’t have a bike with winter or studded tires, and I wasn’t really able or willing to make these modifications to my bike this year to accomplish my goal of cycling at least once a month. December was definitely the closest I came to missing this goal, but I did end up going to pick up a pizza 1.3 km from my house on bike. I probably could have done more, I just didn’t have many other opportunities to go somewhere. It’s not like I was driving solo all over the place during that time.

    Sidebar here, a cargo bike with a large, sturdy front basket is absolutely the best way to carry pizza longer distances using active transportation. Using ratchet straps to secure the pizza to the basket makes it pretty easy to keep the pizza securely held to the bike, and you can see it right in front of you and make sure it’s safe on the ride.

    The day I picked up the pizza was absolutely the worst experience I had cycling this year, but only because I wasn’t properly prepared and dressed for the weather (which was about -16 degrees Celsius minus additional windchill). The pizza was fine and still very warm when I got home, but if I had a ski helmet it would have made my ride a whole lot more comfortable.

    January 2025

    Technically, my cycling experience in January was the first one that actually falls in the official winter season. This ride was probably my most ambitious one, not because it was super cold or super far, but because I made the silly (in retrospect) choice to take my acoustic (not electric) bike. At this point, I’d been using my electric cargo bike for almost 8 months, and I had gotten very used to not only the upright riding position, but the cargo capacity as well.

    In the end, I took my road bike and a backpack for a grocery trip after a visit to the dentist. I did this in full winter gear, which made me feel very silly and uncomfortable hunched over for no reason on my hybrid road bike while riding. Both of the places I had to go were quite close, so neither the distance of the ride itself nor the conditions were an issue, it was simply the wrong choice of bike for the task. After the dentist, I wound up needing to get way more groceries (and in particular much more liquid) than I anticipated in bringing just a backpack. It was also snowing lightly by the time I made my way to the grocery store, but, honestly, this was barely made any more difficult by the fact that it was winter.

    Upon leaving the grocery store, disaster struck (though once again nothing to do with cycling). I had managed to just barely fit everything into my backpack, and unfortunately ripped a shoulder strap because I didn’t loosen it from its last use in warmer weather before trying to maneuver with a full bag and bulky winter coat.

    The ride home was a little tricky because of this, but I managed to make it home fairly easily once I secured the strap with a temporary knot. It was fully snowing big fluffy flakes the entire way home, but honestly that didn’t affect the ride at all, it was actually lovely, and those kinds of conditions are some of my favourites in the winter.

    I should note, given this was my one ride on the acoustic bike in the winter, that I made absolutely no modifications to my regular road bike for this, the standard tires were completely fine, the roads we clear, though quite wet due to the fresh snow that morning. I could 100% see myself doing a grocery run repeatedly in the winter as long as the paths/road there was clear, I just need to be better prepared to bring groceries home, which is specifically why I have a cargo bike that can carry probably 100 pounds of groceries when I need to.

    February 2025

    The gap between the previous ride and this one is absolutely the longest period over the winter between my rides, and it was the time when the majority of the snow fell in Ottawa this year. I don’t have a ‘winter bike’, so I have just been using my regular bike to get around and do things when the conditions on the paths and roads were clear. I should also note that basically all of February I am also at my absolute busiest at work, which means I keep my schedule clear of a lot of extraneous tasks and errands that might otherwise require me to leave the house more frequently.

    My ride at the end of February involved running a couple of errands and meeting a friend for lunch. It was a beautiful day, sunny and everything was melting. It was still too cold to consider not wearing a balaclava (especially when going over about 20 kph), but honestly when I have it on with my glasses, it doesn’t matter what the temperature is (within reason), it’s pretty easy to get around comfortably.

    My opinion on winter biking is exactly the same as it is for winter driving. If the streets are clear and it’s not an active blizzard, it seems very reasonable to consider biking places as an option when it’s cold and snowy. If the roads aren’t clear, it doesn’t feel super safe to drive or take a bike.

    The biggest impediment I can see for folks who are considering riding a bike for transportation in my neighbourhood has nothing to do with summer or winter. The road system we have in Orleans is extremely biased towards car travel, making most people who enjoy cycling or want to cycle more feel unsafe or uncomfortable biking in traffic or on the sidewalk.

    March 2025 and Onwards

    The month of March was probably the most interesting one for me in this experiment, because it’s the first time I ’emerged’ after biking less (but not none) in the winter. The roads were mostly clear in March, save for a couple of days of active snowstorm, which meant that I could count on clear roads and rely on my (I’ll remind you) unmodified and unwinterized bike for everyday errands.

    At this point in the season, it’s not even worth mapping out what I did or how many rides, because biking became my main mode of transportation again. My experience biking through very cold temperatures in the dead of winter showed me that with proper preparation and dress, cold wasn’t an issue at all. If you can bike without turning into an icicle at -15 (Celsius), you can obviously do it at -5 or 0 or +5 or anything in between, as long as you know the weather and you’re prepared.

    An ebike definitely takes the edge off, especially on longer trips. That being said, I think that using my cargo bike without the assist mainly feels ‘hard’ (harder than a regular bike) because it’s decked out with so much cargo capacity (and the frame strength to match). That extra weight makes it less agile, but not really slower overall, except maybe up an incline or right off a standing start. When I do use my road bike, it’s easier to pedal and maneuver than the ebike, simply because there is just a lot less mass to move around.

    Biking in the cold has now just become one of my transportation options, and it is my first choice when going out to run errands or get somewhere, especially in my community. And it definitely helps the family budget to have absolutely no need or desire for a second car when a bike that costs a few percent the cost gets the job done in 95% of scenarios.

    My Conclusions and Recommendations

    If winter biking is something that interests you, I would encourage you to just try to get out late in the fall when it’s colder but before snow, and layer up when you go. If your bike isn’t suited to riding in the snow, consider it for trips when the streets are clear instead of just defaulting to the car. If you can include storage on your bike (panniers or baskets are both good options), that makes it much easier to take real trips on a bike, so you have more versatile ways to carry things with you.

    Biking throughout the year isn’t like daylight savings time, it doesn’t need to switch off and on once in the fall and spring. It is very possible to read current conditions and make the right transportation choice for you on a given day. Of course, zoning bylaws in my community make many easy trips and errands much longer trips than they realistically need to be, but that hasn’t got anything to do with weather either.

  • 10 Ways to Reduce Car Dependence in Ottawa

    10 Ways to Reduce Car Dependence in Ottawa

    three women biking on sunny urban street
    Photo by El gringo photo on Pexels.com

    By focusing on active mobility and becoming a transit-first city, Ottawa has enormous potential to shift away from car dependence by reorienting infrastructure, policy, and land use toward walking, cycling, and transit. Below are ten revolutionary interventions that could reshape how Ottawa moves—dramatically reducing car mode share and making sustainable options the default choice for most trips.

    1. Build a Complete, Citywide Protected Bike Grid

    What to do: Design and implement an all-season network of protected, separated bike lanes that connect every ward, prioritizing routes to schools, transit stations, and commercial corridors. This network should feature physically protected intersections, snow-cleared paths, and strong wayfinding.

    Why it works: Safety is the #1 reason people don’t bike. Where cities like Paris and Vancouver have installed citywide protected lanes, cycling mode share has doubled or tripled within a few years. Ottawa’s current fragmented bike infrastructure is great in places, but to shift trips out of cars, it needs to be safe, fast, and connected everywhere.

    2. Convert Key Arterials into “Transit-First” Complete Streets

    What to do: Redesign major corridors like Bank Street, Montreal Road, and Baseline Road with dedicated bus lanes, physically separated bike lanes, widened sidewalks, and traffic-calming measures. Limit private vehicle lanes and restrict curbside parking during peak hours.

    Why it works: Streets are public space—we’ve just been using them inefficiently. Giving transit and active transportation the majority of the road space increases throughput, reduces collisions, and shortens travel times for the majority of users. When done well, transit-first streets become vibrant, people-friendly destinations.

    3. Dramatically Increase BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Infrastructure

    What to do: Build out a network of fully separated, signal-prioritized BRT lines with all-door boarding and off-board payment—especially in areas not served by rail. Treat BRT as “surface rail”: fast, frequent, and reliable.

    Why it works: BRT is faster and cheaper to deploy than rail and offers rail-like service when properly implemented. Ottawa pioneered this with the Transitway; expanding and upgrading this system would deliver immediate reliability and speed gains without the delays of rail construction.

    4. Eliminate Minimum Parking Requirements Across the City

    What to do: Remove minimum parking mandates for all new development citywide, including in suburban zones. Encourage shared parking, unbundled parking leases, and redeployment of existing lots for better land uses like housing or mobility hubs.

    Why it works: Parking minimums incentivize car ownership and sprawl. Dropping these mandates cuts building costs, discourages car ownership, and frees up land for walkable development. Cities like Buffalo and Minneapolis have seen a measurable decline in car use and housing costs after making this change.

    5. Create a High-Frequency “Transit Spine” Grid

    What to do: Develop a grid of ultra-frequent (5–10 min) bus and train routes that serve as the backbone of the city’s transit system. These should be easy to navigate, reliably fast, and run all day—including evenings and weekends.

    Why it works: Most trips don’t go downtown anymore. A high-frequency grid simplifies trip planning, reduces transfer penalties, and makes transit work for trips across town. Transit agencies from Houston to Barcelona have seen ridership surge after adopting this approach.

    6. Establish 15-Minute Neighbourhood Zoning Across Urban Wards

    What to do: Reform zoning to allow mixed-use, mid-rise development along every major street and near all transit stops. Enable corner stores, daycare, clinics, and housing in formerly single-use zones to support car-free lifestyles.

    Why it works: You can’t walk or bike to things that don’t exist nearby. Enabling small-scale mixed-use infill throughout the city cuts the need for car trips and supports active transportation. Cities like Portland and Paris are leveraging this model to reshape travel patterns toward walkability.

    7. Launch an Integrated, App-Based Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) Platform

    What to do: Develop a unified app that allows users to plan, book, and pay for trips combining OC Transpo, bike-share, e-scooters, carshare, and on-demand microtransit—complete with real-time updates and dynamic routing.

    Why it works: People are more likely to use sustainable transport when it’s seamless and easy to understand. MaaS platforms in Helsinki and Vienna have increased mode shifts by simplifying multimodal travel and reducing the need to own a car.

    8. Prioritize School Streets and Car-Free Zones Around Schools

    What to do: Close streets around schools to non-local traffic during arrival and dismissal times. Improve pedestrian crossings, reduce speed limits to 20 km/h in school zones, and install traffic diverters to reduce through traffic.

    Why it works: Kids are more likely to walk or bike to school when their route is safe. This not only reduces school-related congestion and emissions but instills lifelong active travel habits. Cities like Montreal and Milan are already leading in this area.

    9. Invest in Secure Bike Parking and End-of-Trip Facilities

    What to do: Build secure, covered bike parking at every major transit station, shopping hub, and public institution. Include lockers, repair stations, and showers at workplaces and campuses.

    Why it works: Lack of secure parking is a major barrier to cycling. Studies show that people are twice as likely to bike if secure facilities are available. This is especially important for commuters, families, and e-bike users who need to protect high-value bikes.

    10. Develop a Citywide Network of Car-Free Greenways

    What to do: Convert low-traffic residential streets, rail corridors, utility rights-of-way, and riverside trails into an all-ages greenway network that links schools, parks, transit, and commercial areas. Limit car access, add greenery, and design for social use.

    Why it works: Greenways are more than transport—they’re public health infrastructure. They provide safe, low-stress routes for walking and cycling, encourage social connection, and increase nearby property values. They’ve been transformative in cities like Bogotá and Rotterdam.

    By taking a network-wide, people-first approach to mobility—centered on comfort, speed, and accessibility—we can make walking, biking, and transit not just viable alternatives to driving in Ottawa, but the preferred choice for most trips. This isn’t just a dream—it’s within reach, and cities around the world are doing it already.

  • Ideas For A More Green and Resilient City

    Ideas For A More Green and Resilient City

    Engage Ottawa just launched a new wave of public consultations on making the city more green and resilient. I’m sure I won’t be pitching any new ideas, but I went through the exercise of putting together a few key thoughts on this. Go ahead and steal any of these ideas when you go fill out their survey.

    Adopt a Citywide 15-Minute Neighborhood Model

    Reconfigure zoning and land use so that every resident can access work, shops, parks, schools, and healthcare within a 15-minute walk or bike ride, reducing car dependency and transportation emissions significantly.

    This compact urban form also boosts local economies by keeping spending in neighbourhoods and improving public health through daily physical activity.

    Pretty much all of these ideas work best if all cars all the time is deprioritized in the transportation network so other modes of transportation can fill in gaps in a more sustainable way.

    Introduce Congestion Pricing & Car-Free Downtown Zones

    Implement dynamic tolls on private vehicles entering the core at peak times, reinvesting revenues into transit and cycling infrastructure; London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone reduced central traffic while raising money.

    Complement with pedestrian-only streets on select avenues to activate plazas and support outdoor cafés, markets, and pop-up green spaces.

    Launch a Citywide Community Agriculture & Edible Landscaping Program

    Formalize allotment gardens and edible streetscapes on public land—transforming boulevards, medians, and underutilized plots into fruit-tree alleys and vegetable beds managed by neighbourhood co-ops.

    This fosters local food security, slashes transportation emissions from food imports, and builds social cohesion through shared stewardship.

    Retrofit Suburban Malls into Mixed-Use Eco-Hubs

    Convert sprawling parking lots and underused retail shells into high-density, climate-positive villages with energy-efficient apartments, coworking labs, vertical farms, and daycare facilities.

    By repurposing existing structures, the city saves on new infrastructure costs and curbs sprawl-related service expenses.

    Expand Zero-Fare Transit for Low-Income Riders

    Extend and promote the EquiPass program—already offering half-price fares for qualifying households—to full zero-fare status for anyone below the low-income threshold, ensuring that cost is never a barrier to transit access.

    Studies show that eliminating fares for low-income groups can increase ridership while reducing social inequities in mobility.

    Subsidize E-Bikes and Community Bike-Share Across All Neighbourhoods

    Partner with Ottawa-Gatineau’s upcoming bike-share feasibility study to launch a city-funded e-bike lending program, offering deep subsidies or free membership for those earning under the median income.

    Global pilots show e-bike subsidies can shift short car trips to cycle, cutting household transport costs.

    Create a Citywide Micro-Mobility Hub Network

    Install “mobility hubs” at every major transit interchange, offering shared bikes, e-scooters, carshare, parcel lockers, and real-time trip planning kiosks in one location. Part of this plan necessarily involves making sure safe and efficient connections exist across the city to make this hub function.

    Integrated hubs reduce first-/last-mile barriers and can boost public transit usage.

    Optimize Freight with Urban Consolidation Centres and E-Cargo Bikes

    Establish a suburban consolidation centre where deliveries are sorted and then distributed into the core via e-cargo bikes—already under pilot in Ottawa—to cut downtown delivery truck traffic and reduce road damage and emissions.

    This model lowers logistics costs for local businesses.

    Integrate Stormwater Parks and Permeable Pavements

    Redesign select plazas and parking areas as bioswale parks that detain, filter, and slowly release stormwater, reducing sewer overflows and treatment costs.

    Pair with permeable asphalt on sidewalks and local streets to recharge groundwater and mitigate urban flooding at minimal incremental cost compared to traditional paving.

    Scale Solar Microgrids on Rooftops and Parking Structures

    Leverage flat rooftops of libraries, schools, and government buildings for community solar farms, tied into local microgrids that can island during extreme weather. Such systems reduce peak-hour grid demand, lowering city-wide electricity costs and enhancing resilience during blackouts.

  • Sprints and Marathons: What Track Meets Can Teach Us About Cars, Bikes, and Better Cities

    Sprints and Marathons: What Track Meets Can Teach Us About Cars, Bikes, and Better Cities

    person riding bicycle near fence
    Photo by Sebastian V. on Pexels.com

    When we talk about city planning and transportation, the conversation often turns into a battle of extremes—cars versus bikes, highways versus bike lanes, speed versus sustainability. But maybe we’re framing the issue all wrong. What if, instead of pitting one against the other, we thought of our transportation network the way we think about a track meet?

    After all, no one shows up to a track meet expecting the sprinters to beat the marathoners at long-distance events—or vice versa. Each athlete shines in their own event because they’re using their body in the most efficient way possible for the distance and conditions. Transportation should be no different.

    The Marathoner: Cars

    Cars are the long-distance runners of our transportation ecosystem. They’re built for endurance, capable of handling long trips with relative comfort and speed. Need to travel across town, to the suburbs, or between cities? That’s a marathon—and the car excels. Like a long-distance runner who maintains a steady pace over kilometers of terrain, cars perform best when they can travel uninterrupted over long stretches.

    But we don’t expect marathoners to be nimble in a short dash, and we shouldn’t expect cars to be agile in short, stop-and-go urban trips either. In dense environments, their size, speed, and storage requirements start to look more like liabilities than strengths.

    The Sprinter: Bicycles

    Enter the sprinter—the bicycle. Bikes are unmatched in short-distance speed and efficiency, especially in an urban context. Like the 100-meter dash, a bike ride across a neighborhood is quick, elegant, and often faster than driving once you factor in traffic, stoplights, and parking.

    Bikes don’t need much space. They start and stop easily. They work well when things are close together, when the “track” is smooth, direct, and safe. In a compact city core or residential area, they’re the ideal sprinter—quick off the line, light on their feet, and capable of weaving through dense infrastructure with grace.

    Designing the Right Track

    Just like we wouldn’t ask a marathoner to run a 200-meter dash on a twisty, narrow track, we shouldn’t ask cars to dominate city cores—or ask bikes to survive on wide, fast roads built for speed and distance. Good transportation planning isn’t about declaring a winner. It’s about designing a city where each “athlete” has a course tailored to their strengths.

    That means:

    • Protected bike lanes and calm streets for short urban trips—the 100m dashes of daily life.
    • Efficient arterial roads and intercity connections for longer trips—the marathons that keep the regional economy flowing.
    • Seamless transitions between modes of travel—like sprinters handing off to distance runners in a weird hybrid relay (OK I stretched the metaphor too far 😆).

    Playing to Our Strengths

    The takeaway? Bikes aren’t a niche option for the hyper-fit or environmentally zealous. They’re the “sprinters” of the transportation world—ideal for quick trips, local errands, and everyday commutes. Cars still have a role to play—but let’s stop asking them to run sprints they’re not built for. And let’s stop designing our cities like every trip is a marathon.

    Let’s give each mode the space to do what it does best.

  • A Superpowered City

    A Superpowered City

    a boy wearing a superman costume
    Photo by Vicki Yde on Pexels.com

    In the bustling city of Metropolis, a groundbreaking research project promised to change the world. The project, funded by the wealthiest citizens, aimed to replicate the powers of Superman. For a hefty fee, participants could gain super strength, flight, and other extraordinary abilities. As more people joined the project, Metropolis began to transform.

    Skyscrapers reached new heights, with landing pads for flying individuals. Streets were widened to accommodate super-speed runners, and buildings were reinforced to withstand the impact of superhuman strength. The city was becoming a paradise for the super-powered.

    However, as Metropolis evolved, the lives of ordinary citizens grew increasingly difficult. Public transportation systems were neglected, as flying became the preferred mode of travel. Elevators were replaced with vertical tunnels designed for those who could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Sidewalks were narrowed to make room for high-speed lanes, leaving little space for pedestrians.

    For those without superpowers, daily life became a struggle. Commuting to work was a nightmare, with limited options and overcrowded buses. Navigating the city on foot was hazardous, as they had to dodge super-speeders and avoid areas designated for superhuman activities. Access to essential services became challenging, as many buildings were only accessible to those who could fly or leap great distances.

    The disparity between the super-powered and the ordinary citizens grew wider. Those who couldn’t afford the expensive procedure felt left behind, trapped in a city that no longer catered to their needs. The once vibrant community spirit of Metropolis began to fade, replaced by a sense of isolation and frustration.

    In the end, the city of super-people faced a critical choice. Would they continue to prioritize the needs of the few, or would they find a way to create a more inclusive society? The future of Metropolis hung in the balance, as its citizens grappled with the consequences of their pursuit of power.

    Cars are a superpower, and life without them now seems impossible for many, because every aspect of our life is dependent on superpowers. Good thing Superman doesn’t need to park.

  • A Tangent About Cars

    A Tangent About Cars

    This is an excerpt from a longer piece about Why I’m Obsessed With My Community from cgow.ca, where I publish urbanism stuff specific to my work with the local community association.

    vehicle in road at golden hour
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    This is Part * of a 5* part series of posts about my thoughts on the urban design of our community.

    Cars (and other motor vehicles), in the way we’ve designed and built cities these days, are typically the most convenient and flexible way to get places. The key here is to think about how monumental a task it has been to get out of the way of cars to have that be the case. Cars are not convenient and flexible inherently, it’s because cities have been doing socioeconomic gymnastics for decades making sure cars are king.

    Look at any suburban neighborhood with an eye for how much space we set aside almost exclusively for motor vehicle use. The easiest way to see this is to look for parking lots, which are really easy to see in satellite view because they’re extremely empty the vast majority of them, and they typically reflect a lot of light, so they are nice and bright from above. But one must also consider garages, where cars live for an incredible majority of their lives (think about how many hours you drive in a typical day, the rest of that time your car is in a garage or a parking lot). Another important space taker in the suburbs is driveways, which can easily take up even more space than a garage in terms of square footage. Some residents use their driveways for hockey or basketball or chalk drawings, but a lot of the time it’s just the place your car lives or the way your car gets to the garage.

    So far, I haven’t even brought up streets and roads yet. Despite the fact that in the suburbs, only a very very small percentage of road space is actually used by cars at any given moment, to venture there outside a car is considered extremely dangerous. We teach our kids to be on high alert when they have to cross even the street we live on, because at any moment a car could basically appear and take precedence as road users, despite the fact that (again) there is no sidewalk.

    Now that we’ve spent a little time talking about just how much work we have done to ensure that cars have the absolute priority in transportation almost everywhere, we can talk about how frail car supremacy actually is. Cars are flexible and convenient for everyone, up to and until everyone actually tries to express this freedom all at the same time. This leads to a little discussed phenomenon called ‘traffic’, and it is the main way in which arguments for car-dependent culture fall completely flat for me.

    The reason I created a website called lesscar.ca last year is that it is a unifying idea. If you’re driving to work and moving 5kph on the highway, the idea of “less car” is super appealing. If you’re downtown looking for parking and spend 15 minutes circling the block to park and get to a restaurant, in that moment what you want is less car. When you are trying to head home after a football game at Lansdowne and stuck behind a lineup of 300 cars trying to leave the parking lot, would you prefer there to be more car, the same amount of car, or less car. The choice is obvious to all of us in those cases, but the same arguments can be applied to almost every situation.

    In an ideal world with no changes to the way our cities are laid out, any sane person would want to be the only one driving. Why wouldn’t you want a transportation system that is designed perfectly for your use case and your use case alone, and why can’t other people stop using it so much. I hope this is obvious, but people want to go to places that are nice, and if places are nice, people want to go there. If you want to go somewhere, other people are probably also going to want to go as well. Cars scale just terribly, they are good for going somewhere that has mainly straight or gently curving lines along the way, and they do best with a lot of open space around them.

    Cars are not maneuverable, they cannot change size, shape, or direction easily, and they have to go somewhere when you’re not using them. When you are in a car, you cannot see anything except what’s right in front of you. A modern car from the driver’s perspective is mostly blind spots, with some affordances to try to help you determine whether anything is occupying that space around you. The very first time I drove an SUV, it was a rental car and I absolutely hated it. At the time, I was mainly getting around on a bike or by bus, both of which have great visibility (and in a bus, only a single person actually needs to concern themselves with what’s going on around the vehicle). I sat down in the rental, and realized that on this trip, I wasn’t going to be able to see…anything… Sure, I could see out the front windshield fairly easily, as long as I didn’t want to look up or down, but a shoulder check in a vehicle like this shows you basically nothing.

    Cars are by far the most isolating form of transportation. There are an extremely small number of ways to communicate with other drivers. You have: 2 turn signals, brake lights, 4-way flashers, flicking your headlights on and off, and a couple of hand gestures if you happened to be moving at low relative speed with respect to another driver so there is any way they can see your hands, and of course the car horn.

    The horn is by far the funniest to me, because it is the most ambiguous communication signal in the entirety of human existence. Imagine going on a first date except you can’t talk or gesture or signal anything, each of you just has a button to facilitate communication. It would be completely useless. Now imagine the restaurant you’re having this date at is full of couples with buttons and anytime one is used you have to also figure out if it was your date who actually pushed it. I’d watch that dating show, except no I wouldn’t because as funny as it would be for a few minutes, it would be so painful.

    Previous Part: Part 2. Oops, All Cars

    Next Part: Part 3. Isolation and the Status Quo

  • What a Difference Accessible Infrastructure Makes

    What a Difference Accessible Infrastructure Makes

    Photo taken on Feb 19, 2025 near my house. Massive snowbank with a plow track through it.

    I want to give a massive shoutout to the city of Ottawa for continuing to maintain the parts of this path system that they’ve committed to, to the best of their ability (and it has really been solid!). This has made school drop-off every day this winter on foot way easier (not to mention getting around the community whenever we need to!).

    In past years before these paths were maintained, when I was bringing my kids to kindergarten and daycare, if (when, realistically) it snowed a bunch, this would look very different. You can basically picture the exact landscape from this picture, except instead of having a neat path cut through it, it is just a giant impassable mountain.

    The unspoken but excellent thing about this end result (a walkable path system) is that typically the paths are cleared very early in the process, within 4-6 hours of the snow being done, and sometimes while snow is still falling. Later, since this connects to a side street that isn’t cleared very often, a plow will usually come by and clear the whole street. That street clearing tends to leave a giant snowbank piled right in front of the mouth of the path, which obviously isn’t ideal. In this case, though, the path plow has been excellent about coming back within a short time after the plow has come to clear the path again, which leads to the image you see at the top of this post.

    This snow clearing makes this path walkable and gives many community residents access to the neighbourhood and nearby schools, without requiring people to get around on short trips using only their cars. It also gives the active older population of the community a safe way to get moving in the fresh air without resorting to walking on the streets or risking falling trying to trudge through deep or dense snow.

    The fact that the city has prioritized maintaining these connections has made a huge difference in the walkability of the community, and hopefully we will be able to get more paths in the area upgraded to be plowable so the whole extensive park system can all be accessible through the winter.

    Great work!

    Contrast the extremely clear and accessible path above with the situation 2 years ago in January when I first started asking about this:

    Photo taken on January 26, 2025 near my house of a gigantic snowbank with a narrow path around it.

    This is basically the same view as above except not only was the path not cleared, but you had to blaze a trail of your own around a literal mountain to get through, only to need to trudge through deep snow on the other side as well to get to school.

    I could make it through here, but my kids definitely weren’t making the walk with a toboggan to pull them in, and it was a huge workout even as a relatively fit person in my 30s. It is SO much better now.

  • What to Expect When You’re Expecting… to Drive Everywhere

    What to Expect When You’re Expecting… to Drive Everywhere

    bicycle lane on asphalt road of residential district
    Photo by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.com

    In many North American communities, the prevailing expectation is that driving is the primary, if not the only, way to get around. This assumption has shaped our transportation infrastructure in ways that often go unnoticed but have significant impacts on accessibility and livability. Streets and even whole suburban neighbourhoods are designed with cars in mind. Often neglected are the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users, basically anybody who isn’t in a vehicle.

    This car-centric approach can lead to a range of issues, from increased traffic congestion and pollution to reduced safety and mobility for those who do not drive. It can also cause issues when road infrastructure eventually needs to be replaced or upgraded, because a single road closure (for a crash or construction) in the wrong place can block traffic until it’s cleared up. With a more diverse transportation network, people can walk or bike past construction to nearby amenities or take the bus for longer journeys. And for people who don’t want to do that, driving around the blocked streets will be easier for them too. By examining the consequences of this expectation, we can begin to understand the importance of creating a more balanced transportation network that serves all members of the community.

    Expectations play a crucial role in shaping urban transportation options. Currently, throughout the continent there is a widespread expectation that cars should be able to navigate almost anywhere with minimal delay and in the shortest possible time. This assumption heavily influences how transportation infrastructure is designed and maintained. It is extremely rare in North America to find communities where car isn’t #1 and any other transportation options are typically orders of magnitude less important in terms of planning

    There are suburban streets (including the one my house is on) in my community and suburb where there are no sidewalks at all. When the community was built, the expectation was that everyone would be driving everywhere, and if people wanted to leave their house for a walk literally anywhere, they could walk in the street with the cars.

    Yes, It’s Bad

    I have stood at my window and watched as an SUV pulls up to the curb (I live across from a lovely park, for which I am very grateful), and watched a mother get out of the car. She got a bike out of the trunk and her son out of the back seat. This woman (who I absolutely do not know) felt compelled by our road and/or path network to teach her child to ride a bike far enough from where they live that she couldn’t get there on foot, or possibly didn’t feel safe doing so. This is a symptom of community infrastructure that fails to meet the needs of its residents.

    The system we’ve created and continue to rely on EXPECTS almost exclusively people in cars in many places. We give vehicles a literal red-carpet experience to move through our neighbourhoods, but don’t afford any of the same luxuries to people walking, cycling, taking the bus, or using any other mode of transportation.

    If we as a city and community can escape the car-centric design bubble and apply the same expectations we have for cars, trucks, and other vehicles to other modes of transportation, such as cycling and public transit, we can create a more inclusive and efficient transportation network. When a city anticipates that its transportation network will be used by a variety of modes—cars, pedestrians, cyclists, strollers, scooters, or buses—it becomes easier to design and prioritize infrastructure that accommodates all users, as well as to justify diversifying the network further.

    In truth though, this is more nuanced than just a checkbox ‘there’ or ‘not there’ for sidewalks, bike lanes, bus routes, paths, etc. There are degrees of expectation for transportation infrastructure, and here again we see huge disparities in many suburban places in North America.

    We have more than our fair share of spacious, 4-lane roads with speed limits of anywhere from 40 up to 80 kph. Lots of these roads are often lined with massive parking lots leading to shops with almost nowhere for people to exist in between. This is because the whole system is designed for the expectation that people will drive ‘there’ (wherever ‘there’ is), do whatever they need to do, and drive home. Sidewalks along these roads are basically never more than a few feet wide, and you sometimes (but definitely not always) get a 2–3-foot asphalt or grass buffer from the roads.

    If a transportation network is instead designed with the expectation that pedestrians, cyclists, and buses will use it, the infrastructure must therefore be maintained according to those expectations, lest it be considered inadequate. This means ensuring routes (including paths and bike lanes, painted or separated) are clear of snow, free of obstacles, and safe for use. It means sidewalks should be wide and friendly and not right next to fast-moving and loud car traffic. It means buses and other public transit should be able to follow their routes without getting stuck in car traffic, and should offer frequent service and with a variety of local and commuter routes.

    By setting these expectations, cities can create a more resilient, reliable, and user-friendly transportation system for everyone. Once this has started to change, when users can trust that their chosen mode of transportation is supported by the transportation infrastructure, they are more likely to get out and try to use it confidently. This almost inevitably leads to increased usage of alternative transportation options, reducing traffic congestion and promoting a healthier, more sustainable urban environment.

    But It’s Cold

    These expectations continue to be true regardless of the weather. Right now, for example, it’s mid-January and we’ve just experienced a pretty cold snap, with weather between -10 and -25 Celsius for the last 3-4 days. At the moment in Orleans, where I live, we have had to bug and poke and plead to get some of the main community paths cleared in the winter. This was only possible due to recent asphalt upgrades on the paths to fit them for modern standards and to have the mini-plows drive over them without ripping up the pavement.

    However, what minimal active transportation networks we have access to in better weather, other than the paths I just described, are not maintained at all. When transportation infrastructure is maintained in the winter according to the expectations of its users, people use it. This is true of cars and roads, and also the other transportation options we’ve been talking about. When there is a blizzard in Ottawa, road crews ask drivers to stay off the road outside of emergency situations, because driving in these conditions is less safe than once roads are cleared. Without maintenance in the winter when necessary, none of our transportation options are safe or accessible.

    If the city took the transportation network seriously all the way from Kanata to Orleans, with separate and safe infrastructure for people outside of cars, maintaining that infrastructure through the year could be an easily achievable goal. This would have the added benefit of helping us mitigate the effects of climate change and traffic congestion (and more) over time. It is not and probably never will be for everyone to cover long distances in the winter on foot or on bike, but for short (2-5 km) trips unless it is extreme cold warning levels of cold, being on a bike is actually quite nice. We are so used to being cold in the winter because we are using no energy to keep ourselves warm, but on a bike, you’re moving and it’s much easier to not get cold, especially if you’re prepared for it.

    If you spend your days driving around in a car in the winter, you’re much less likely to be prepared to be outside for more than a couple of minutes. If you’re dressed to be outside though, it truly doesn’t take much to stay warm, especially if you’re moving on foot or by bike. Combine changes to the transportation network with zoning changes to slowly allow small businesses to build and operate inside our single–family-home-exclusive neighbourhood, and it is certainly much easier to imagine running errands and getting around the community without relying on a car.

    Setting clear expectations for diverse transportation modes and maintaining the infrastructure to support them can transform urban transportation networks. By doing so, cities can ensure that all users have access to safe, efficient, and reliable transportation options. This is not something that is likely to change overnight, but when presented with the opportunity as a community, we should jump at it. Funding for future-thinking projects like this don’t come around often.