Active Transportation In Ontario

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Active Transportation In Ontario

A Go for Green Project Presented to the PARC
Conference by Don Houston
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What we will talk about today

• What is Active Transportation
• Why Active Transportation is a Good Thing!
• Positive conditions for Active Transportation or
  What gets People Walking and Biking!
• Making the right conditions or Getting to There
  from Here

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Go for Green
encourages outdoor physical activity that
protects, enhances, or restores the
environment. works with organizations,
businesses, governments at all levels, and
community groups

Environmental Citizenship
Active Living
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Go for Green Programs

• Active Transportation
• In the Workplace
• In the Community
• Commuter Challenge
• Active Safe Routes to School
• Trails Canada
• Green Prescription
• Winter Green
• Ice Dreams
• Gardening for Life

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What Is Active Transportation?

• Any Mode of transportation that requires
• HUMAN POWER

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Active Transportation is
any mode of transportation that requires human
power

• walking, bicycling
• wheel chairing
• in-line skating
• skateboarding
• skating
• skiing
• Short trips - less than 30 mins
• (2.5 km of walking, 8 km of cycling)

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Why Support Active Transportation?

• Local and Global Environment
• Economic and Financial
• Community and Social
• Personal and Public Health and Fitness

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Environmental

• Major sources of Air pollution
• transportation (48),
• industry (27),
• stationary fuel burners (14),
• forest fires (6),
• burning of solid wastes (2).
• Source The Canadian Encyclopedia 2004

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Community and Social

• Facilitate informal meetings
• Recognize and know neighbours
• Eyes on the street
• Walkable/Bikable places are attractive

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Business Case for Active Transportation

• Created as a follow-up to the first National
  Roundtable on Active Transportation hosted by Go
  for Green
• Outlines the economic, environmental and health
  benefits of walking and cycling

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Target

• Currently 6.6 of Canadians walk to work and 1.2
  cycle, a combined total of 7.8 (Statistics
  Canada 2001 Census)
• Recommended increase of mode share to 10.4 for
  walking and 4.8 cycling for a combined total of
  15.2 (current mode share for Victoria, B.C.)
• Common in Europe for more than twice this
  percentage to be Active Commuters

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Total Economic Benefits

• Total economic benefits of active transportation
  at the current levels (7.8) are estimated at
• 3.5 billion dollars per year.
• If active transportation mode share for all of
  Canada increases to 15.2, the direct benefits
  would increase to 7.0 billion dollars per year.

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Enhanced Health and Reductions in Health Care
costs

• Improved health and reduced health care costs
  associated with physical inactivity, air
  pollution and bodily injuries caused by motor
  vehicle accidents
• Health care costs would be reduced by
  480,144,000 annually

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Competitiveness of the Economy

• Improved competitiveness of our economy through
  reduced traffic congestion costs, and improved
  workplace productivity measures.
• Anticipated 616,380,000 contribution to our
  economy.

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Total Environmental Benefits

• The environmental benefits of using
• active transportation including
• reductions in greenhouse gas
• emissions, air pollution, water pollution
• and noise would total 636,272,000
• annually.

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Automobile User Savings

• Total user savings for fuel, repair, maintenance
  and parking of automobiles would total
  1,995,136,000.

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Tourism and Bicycling

• Bicycle sales and bicycle tourism currently
  account for 637,168,000 annually.
• The projected value of this industry would be in
  the billions of dollars annually.

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Conclusion from Business Case

• Many countries have significantly higher levels
  of Active Transportation use indicating much room
  for growth in Canada especially in cycling.
• A major barrier is the lack of safe, convenient
  facilities. Legislation to promote and support
  Active Transportation at all levels is critical.
• The economic benefits realized with a modest
  increase in mode share are enough to support
  increased government investment in Active
  Transportation.

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Physical Inactivity

• The personal health of Canadians is being
  compromised by physical inactivity.
• Two thirds of all Canadians are not physically
  active enough to achieve health benefits.
  (Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research
  Institute, 1999 and 2002)

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Obesity Trends Among Canadian and U.S. Adults,
1996

Mokdad AH, et al. J Am Med Assoc
199928216. Katzmarzyk PT. Can Med Assoc J
20021661039-1040.
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Obesity Trends Among Canadian and U.S. Adults,
2000

Mokdad AH, et al. J Am Med Assoc
200028413. Statistics Canada. Health
Indicators, May, 2002.
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Can Active Transportation Improve Health?

• YES!
• There is a growing consensus among Scientists,
  Health Organizations, Environment and
  Transportation groups and Governments that
  people who walk and bike are slimmer and
  healthier than those who dont and people in
  sprawled communities do not walk and bike as
  much.

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Leading Scientist Says

• Strategies to increase land use mix and distance
  walked while reducing time in a car can be
  effective as health interventions
• Frank et al. Obesity Relationships with
  Community Design, Physical Activity and Time
  Spent in Cars in American Journal of
  Preventative Medicine 2004

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Disease and Conditions influenced by Physical
Activity

• Coronary Heart Disease
• Hypertension
• End Stage Renal Disease
• Type II Diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Colon Cancer
• Surgical Trauma
• Depression and Anxiety
• Loss of function and independence in Old Age

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Source  Pucher and Dijkstra, Promoting Safe
Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health
Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany,
American Journal of Public Health, September
2003, Vol. 93, No. 9, pp. 1509-1516.
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Obesity rate by Country

Source Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Eurostat, Public Health Statistics
(from Eurobarometer 44-3).
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Does auto-dependency make us fat? Obesity falls
sharply with increased walking, cycling, and
transit use.

Source Pucher and Dijkstra, Promoting Safe
Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health, Am
Journal of Public Health, September 2003.
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Active Transportation Community Components

Connected Barrier-free

Mixed Use Compact
Safe and Secure
Active Transportation Community
Beautiful and Inviting
Institutional Support
Walkable Bikable
Vision and Commitment
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Active Transportation Community Components

Connected Barrier-free

Mixed Use Compact
Safe and Secure
Active Transportation Community
Beautiful and Inviting
Institutional Support
Walkable Bikable
Vision and Commitment
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So what does that look like?

• Mixed Use Compact
• Connected and Barrier-free
• Safe and Secure
• Beautiful and Inviting

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Mixed Use Compact

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Connected
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Barrier free

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Good Maintenance

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Beautiful and Inviting

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Safe and Secure Eyes on the Street

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Identify the Problems

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Beautiful and Inviting

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People Friendly Streets
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Traffic Calming

• Give priority to people over cars
• Slows but does not eliminate traffic
• Often done badly

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Moving Forward

• Assess the current state and problems
• Define objectives and goals
• Pick the low hanging fruit
• Set up the social infrastructure (groups,
  committees etc).
• Find the CHAMPIONS
• Create an A.T. PLAN