I am an active cyclist. I love to ride my bike and I get really excited in the Spring when the weather warms up... because that means that I'll be back on my bike again soon. I am not a cycling expert, I don't bike in the winter anymore, and I don't go on 50km rides just for the fun of it; most of my cycling is utilitarian.  So for a person that is on their bike basically every day in the summer time, you can imagine that I worry from time to time about getting hit by a car. It has happened to me a few times in my life and so I don't blame people who don't want to ride their bikes in heavy traffic. And when I watch videos about bike infrastructure in cities, I definitely cringe when I see how unsafe it can be. (I suggest this video by Not Just Bikes if you are looking for a good watch) Now the reason I am focusing on bike safety is because I know that getting more people on bikes is better for the planet, but to get more people on bikes they have to feel safe cycli...

We all love it when everything is covered in white snow... or hate it, winter is just an unpredictable season. You might be one of those people who store their bikes when the 'frozen season' begins; or maybe you’re one of those people that own a bike but has not used it in a long time. But in our pandemic reality, biking has become a popular activity; one that doesn’t have to stop just because of a bit of snow.  Honestly, I’ve never biked in Canada before; much less during winter. I come from a country where I grew up afraid of biking; there were no bike lanes (unless you lived in a very privileged neighborhood); no bike racks on buses; and a lot of careless drivers (I've actually seen a lot of accidents). Let's just say cycling was more of an extreme sport than a pleasant day to day activity.  But here in Ottawa, it’s different. It’s easier to navigate through the city. Even during winter it’s possible to explore the surroundings and get you where you have to go. So I’...

When I was a student at the University of Ottawa, back at the turn of the century, there was no pedestrian zone on campus. The entire campus had traffic moving in both directions on every street. Imagine it, there was smog all over the place, little gas puddles everywhere, and you had to always watch out to make sure that a car wasn't going to bump into you. And believe it our not, there was actually rush hour on campus. Then, slowly some areas of the campus started to become more pedestrian friendly. Over the years, we have blogged about how the campus is gong to one day create a car-free core. Well, that day is here. Come September, you are going to notice a lot of changes on campus, especially if you arrive by automobile. A large section of the campus will be closed to unauthorized vehicles, marking the beginning of our transformation. And if you ask us why we are doing this... well the answer is Vision Zero. Vision Zero is a "strategy to eliminate all traffic...

It shouldn't come as a surprise to many of you who like to cycle but bicycle parking sucks. They are the afterthought of urban design, something you add after all the important things have been considered. They are the parsley garnish on your plate, the very last thing you toss in there in the hopes it will make you look fancy. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Office of Campus Sustainability at uOttawa has just completed a full annual assessment of the bike parking spaces on campus and the results are... well they are pretty awesome. This year, an audit was conducted to determine the state of the bike racks on campus. The assessment included the number of spaces available, the proximity to a major building entrance, if they were covered, and the ease of access. These criteria were selected as measures of how attractive and effective the bike racks are to users. The report revealed that there are 58 distinct parking locations on campus, with approxima...

We've seen that post somewhere... "Headed to Toronto this weekend, I have a few extra seats". Sometimes people are doing this because they don't like o make ling drives alone, or because they are looking for someone to split gas money with. Either way, this is ridesharing and it is an important part of the sharing economy. Ridesharing isn't a new concept. The idea is fairly simple, a car is headed somewhere and there some empty seats... Ridesharing is the basically an option to fill those seats up. Think of it like carpooling but to another city. So if you have a car, you can offer a ride to people headed to the same place as you (and charge a small fee for the ride). Or if you want to go somewhere but don't have a ride, you can ask someone who is headed to the same place to drive you (and compensate them for their troubles). The internet is awash in "ride boards", places where you can see where people are headed or where they need a ride t...

The Office of Campus Sustainability is working to change the story when it comes to campus emissions, especially when it comes to fleet vehicles. So don't be surprised this summer if you notice the staff of uOttawa Facilities zipping around campus on bikes. I once heard a talk that emphasized the idea that if you want sustainability to stick, you need to make sure that it is making your life better. It may not seem like it a first blush, but that is exactly what this initiative is all about. So why put people on bikes? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Employees First, the employees wanted it. Although the uOttawa campus isn't huge, it is still a bit of a trek to go from one end to the other, even more so to get to the Lees campus. And there are always a few meetings at the hospital or City Hall. Having some bikes to move around more quickly makes everyone's job easier. The bikes are fixed gear for easy maintenance. They have a wooden box fixed to the back...

I know that there is a lot of controversy these days about bike lanes, especially of the segregated variety. Ottawans have been fiercely debating the infamous "Laurier segregated bike lanes", specifically as to whether the lanes should stay in place or be removed. But regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, bike lanes make cyclists safer. And not only that, bike lanes also make everyone safer. So it is with great pleasure that we would like to announce that the Parking and Sustainable Transportation Office at the University of Ottawa is creating a new counter-flow bike lane that will span a majority of the campus. Although the completion date has not yet been determined, the plans have been approved and early construction has already begun. What this means is good times for everyone on campus; cyclists, pedestrians, and even individuals in cars. Allow me to explain. But first, one small step backwards to explain what is a bike lane. Well d'uh, of course ...

There was once a time when university campuses where funded almost exclusively by land endowments.Some noble person would bequeath a plot of land to a university in the hopes of providing a place for education to flourish. These parcels of land were typically enormous, and small sections of the land could be sold or leased for a profit. In this manner, the institution would be able to pay for the cost of operating their institution. Need to hire more profs, sale a patch of land over in the East corner. Need to build a new library, log some of the forest and make a profit from the timber. And thus an institution could thrive perpetually on the land endowed to them. But, the world changes and gone are the days of land endowments functioning as the sole money generator for universities. Today, most endowments are financial in nature and are vulnerable to the whims of the market and political popularity. If the market slumps, universities have less operating funds. If the government t...

Are you a student? Are you stuck doing that thing where you pack your life into boxes and relocate to another place in the near future? Are you stressed and overridden with tonnes of stuff that you realize you don’t really need in your new place? (If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should probably continue reading. If not, maybe read anyways or continue browsing this blog for something more applicable to you.) Moving sucks, the effort that is required to sort through your junk and meticulously wrap your breakables is an arduous task at best. Hopefully some of these tips will help make the process a bit easier. 1. Gather the necessary packing equipment  DOs: Boxes- can be found on campus in “cardboard” recycling bins, be sure to recycle them after/give to others in the moving process! Crates- ask local stores (such as grocery stores) if they have any that you can borrow, some are surprisingly friendly if you offer to put a “deposit” down Grocery Ba...

photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo Car Free Day is just around the corner and once again the argument has made its way to my doorstep... "Can we really ban all the cars on campus? Won't people freak out?" Yes, people will freak out and maybe that is the point. But in a world where I have to be realistic... no, we cannot ban all cars on campus. Here are a couple of pretty important reasons why. Some people have legitimate mobility issues and we have a pretty big campus. Sometimes a CAR is the only real solution Deliveries need to happen... enough said Sometimes big things need to be moved around and that takes a vehicle. BUT, I secretly do believe that we can have a car free campus and here are some solutions to the problems listed above. There are legitimate mobility issues and on many other campuses there are building linkages and a designated transit system to assist movement around the campus. So by building linkages I am talking about hallways that connect buildings toget...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo There is an old hipster adage, "if you want to sell something, put a bird on it". The idea being that hipsters love birds and so if you put a bird on it, they will buy it in droves. I kind of think that this is what OC Transpo had in mind with their new "hipster purple" bus tickets. Seriously though, last year it could be argued that the U-pass saved transit for the City of Ottawa. Ridership was down after the strike and a fresh injection of the "youthful" variety has really helped out. Carleton University turned out to be the big winner with a huge increase in ridership. Anyways, when the U-pass was brought back to council this year for renewal, there was a resounding yes from the transit committee and the program was re-implemented at the same price of $145 per semester (this is not at anyone's expense, this is simply because the program is revenue neutral so the addition of thousands of more students to both institutio...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo But what is a revolution? The most spoken of campaign on the University of Ottawa campus is the Drop Fees campaign. More than a thousand students turn up on the Morisset terrace to show their displeasure with high tuition fees. I applaud you all for standing up for what you believe in. Then again, when studying the 2008 uOttawa sustainable transportation modal share study, the revolution isn’t as obvious. Out of 36 244 students, 48% use public transit (yay U-Pass!) and 20% of students walk, which is more than the 16% of people who drive alone. But what happened to sharing, people? Carpooling is down to 5%. And what about buns of steel? Cycling is about the same as carpooling in the numbers. I admit that biking in snow sucks, but fall and spring biking is great! The more research I do, the more I realise I am not alone complaining about the lack of bike lanes, common courtesy from angry drivers and secure bike installations. But that’s what BikeDan is here...