CAR FREE DAY HAMILTON - VIDEO

FREE CAR-FREE COUNCILLING ON CAR FREE DAY 2001

Thursday September 20, 2001 12 noon until 1:00 pm
Stuck in traffic? Wanting to break the car habit but need a helping hand? Looking for a quick car divorce? The good Doctor Foutenspoche will be on hand on Car Free Day (Thursday, September 20) with practical solutions to North America's car addiction problem.

Pull up a chair in his downtown office, conveniently located in a parking space on King Street West, near Jackson Square (between James and Bay).

While Hamilton Council waits for a staff report on Transportation for Liveable Communities' request for municipal support on Car Free Day, TLC activists will be in the streets once again with their message of car free-dom.

The same folks who've brought Parking Meter Parties, Memorial Processions and Critical Mass bike rides invite you to come for the music, the chalk drawing, the bubble-blowing, banner waving, drumming, face-painting, car-free fun. And right after the party, check out the three minute epic Car Free Hamilton VIDEO at the Art Gallery of Hamilton Community Gallery/Upper Lounges. Free!


After all, Hamilton could sure use a little TLC: cleaner air; quieter, slower, safer streets; more bike lanes and paths; pedestrian zones; improved HSR service; bike racks on buses; parking lots transformed into green spaces; better links to commuter rail; in short: a bold step in the direction of sustainable transit for all.
Last year, 70 million citizens in 760 municipalities located in 26 countries enjoyed Car Free Day. With TLC pushing, Hamilton won't be far behind.

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CAR FREE DAY 2001 Report

Car Free Day in Hamilton unfolded beneath cranky skies.

A pre-fab "the Doctor is IN" facade is erected in moments. A giant "World Car Free Day" banner is duct-taped to the window of the Royal Bank on King Street West, and signs attached to light standards and (again) to a conveniently located illuminated Royal Bank sign.

"Transportation for Liveable Communities: No Room for Racism on our streets" read one sign in response to racist attacks in Hamilton in the aftermath of the World Trade Centre bombing. Another read "Stop the Carnage" referring to the estimated 3000 traffic fatalities that occur every year on Canadian roads.

Our Car Free Day goal today is to help people out of their cars - permanently.

Members of TLC handed out leaflets offering 12 steps to Car Freedom, as well as information on the true cost of our auto-addiction, taken from Katie Alvord's Divorce Your Car (which passes as an article of faith for TLC die-hards.)

John Milton donned his Mad Doctor disguise and waited on patients seeking a way out of their unhealthy co-dependency with their local petrol dealer.

Some therapy questions you can ask yourself:

• Do I really need to take this trip?
• How Can I get where I want to go without using a car?
• What changes would allow me to take this trip without using a car?

Collective Changes:

• Better land use, safer and slower streets, more support for transit, less subsidization of highways, car-free city centres.

Individual Changes:
Location and lifestyle choices.
If you are planning to relocate, ask yourself these questions:

• Can you easily walk, bike, or take transit to work?
• Does your employer, or do other community employers, offer bicycle commuting support, carpooling, vanpooling, and/or telecommuting programs?
• What services, stores, schools and other facilities are within walking distance (whatever that distance may be for you) of your home/your job site?
• What's within biking distance, and are the routes near your potential new home comfortably bikeable? Also check to see whether bikes are allowed on transit, and ask for a local bike map.
• Where's the nearest transit (bus, light rail) stop, and is it within a 15-minute walk from your home? What areas does the transit system cover, and does it reach places you'll want to go, like your job site, schools, shops, medical services, sports stadiums, theatres, libraries, or parks? Check to see also if it links with other transport services, like passenger train stations or airports; if it operates past midnight and /or before 7 a.m.; and if there is a transit map or guide available.
• Are there additional services such as long-distance train service, car-sharing, car rentals, paratransit, taxi service, a rid matching service, etc.?
• Is the community compact and does it have plans to stay that way? Does it have other features that support car-free travel, like car-free streets or parks or an urban growth boundary?

The good Doctor might also recommend David Engwicht's "5 R's of Traffic Reduction"

• Replace car trips with walking, cycling, and transit;
• Remove unnecessary trips by batching errands, sharing rides, using the phone, or getting deliveries;
• Reduce trip lengths by shopping and/or working locally
• Reuse save space by reallocating and reclaiming streets;
• Reciprocate for mutual benefit with walking buses, car sharing clubs, bike-maintenance clinics, transit passes, and shop-and-work-local incentives

As it turns out, the ugly weather cut in to potential clients in a serious way; nevertheless, TLCers, some as young as two-years-old, stuck it out long enough to hand out plenty of flyers and give away free bike route maps for the City of Hamilton to many a passer-by.

As the rain increased its tendency to soak our almond-butter sandwiches, the mini-alternative-to-the-car-circus folded up shop and hustled over to the comfy confines of the Art Gallery of Hamilton. There, the accommodating folks had set up a television and a vcr for a screening of the latest video from our friends at DIVA (Dundas Independent Video Association) who produced a three-minute epic: Car Free Day Hamilton.

A dozen spectators sat spell-bound through the production which outlines the negative impact of cars on our city and then, like sparks of sunlight flashing off stainless steel spokes, shows a glimpse of a potential future. Critical Mass bike rides, parking meter parties, Car Free Day.

We were pretty impressed, as were city councillors who managed to stay awake for the entire 180 seconds, plus another 180 seconds of a speech when the Car Free video premiered at the swanky Hamilton City Hall Council Chambers on a huge screen, just over a week before, on Tuesday September 11 (yes, that Tuesday!).

In the speech, TLC asked council to support Car Free Day by providing free bus service on the day, as well as creating car free areas in the city, and undertaking a public awareness campaign to promote sustainable transportation.

TLC also slid in some demands for the City to fast-track their excellent but so-slow-as-to-seem de-railed "Shifting Gears" (soon to be dubbed "Spinning Wheels") Cycling Plan, and to think about things like front-mounted bicycle racks on buses.

By way of punctuation, they also received a petition supporting TLC's demands signed by hundreds of citizens.

What we got from council was this: "(Item 5.3).Committee directed staff to bring back a report to provide an overview of the existing cycling plan, a review of a 'Car Free Day' and consideration of "free" HSR Day, by the end of the month."

Rest assured that TLC is on the case in Hamilton and is not about to let the city rain on our sustainable transportation parade.

Pedaling toward Car Free Day 2002 with the wind at our backs

TAKING TLC TO CITY HALL

TLC Presentation to Hamilton City Council, S.11, 2001

When the eyes of the world are focused on Hamilton during the World Cycling Championships in October 2003, we have to wonder what possible scenario Hamilton will be showcasing.

Will we have a high death toll, as we have this year, among pedestrians and cyclists run down by automobiles on city streets?

Will we have experienced another record breaking summer of smog days?

Will we still have giant one way roads splitting the downtown into loud, fast and dirty traffic corridors?

Or, will we have slower, quieter, safer two-way streets with pedestrian improvements, bike lanes and paths. Will we rest in treed park-ettes where there were once parking lots? Will the HSR be well funded and sporting front mounted bike racks as are found on bus fleets in several Canadian cities including Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver?

The question is, will we have a much more liveable city than today, with solid infrastructure in place to support sustainable transportation?

Can we, in the next two years, step up the pace of needed transportation improvements?

There have been some excellent advances made in Hamilton with recreational trails that can be further linked to expand environmentally healthy transportation options. There are innovative and progressive plans in the city's "Putting People First downtown land use and transportation plan" and "Shifting Gears: A new cycling plan for Hamilton."

Today we are here to ask that the city and staff put an emphasis on implementing the city's shifting gears cycling plan in its entirety prior to the cycling race.

When the world media gathers in Hamilton, we want to show off these and other improvements: dedicated bike lanes and a linked series of paths, traffic-calming on major streets, and bike racks installed on the HSR bus fleet.

Now if I could focus on CAR FREE DAY by quoting from carfree canada's website: "With Toronto hosting and staging it's First Car Free Day in 2001, we take our place as the First Canadian and North American city to host Car Free Days. We have also positioned ourselves to become the model and leader of an initiative that has captivated the imagination of bureaucrats and citizens alike around the globe" www.carfreeday.ca

This month, Car free day Toronto will be enjoying full-street bike lanes on St. George Street, road games, street performances, bikewear fashion show, hay-rides, grass-covered pavement, obstacle courses, and valet bike parking.

The bragging rights to car free day may go to Toronto for being the first city in North America, but Hamilton has an opportunity to catch up by making meaningful changes to our transportation system now.

We have a petition with hundreds of signatures gathered on short notice asking the city and staff to support car free day this year and in subsequent years by providing free HSR service on Thursday, September 20; by undertaking an ongoing significant public relations campaign aimed at promoting car free day and sustainable transportation in general; and finally, asking Hamilton to create car-free zones within the downtown (and elsewhere) which would enhance local business environments with the long-term goal of making car free zones in Hamilton permanent, vibrant and viable people places.

Thank you.

POST PARKING

Transportation for Liveable Communities (Hamilton) REPORT

UN-CHANGING THE CLIMATE, 
ONE PARKING SPACE AT A TIME

Combining the motto "live as though the revolution has already occurred" with Emma Goldman's "If I can't dance, it's not my revolution" members of the Climate Change Caravan and Hamilton's Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) ate, played and danced in the parking lot in front of Westdale businesses for several hours Saturday (July 28, 2001.)

Children are twirling, running and playing, chalking the bare asphalt with images of beauty or hopscotch squares; music is playing through loudspeakers, people are talking and dancing, handing out leaflets, writing in journals, hanging out.

The Climate Change Caravan (CCC), a group of 30 cyclists on a cross Canada mission to educate and activate citizens to take responsibility for global climate change, has arrived in Hamilton and a parking lot in Westdale has been transformed into a pedestrian play zone.

Car drivers stare blankly, trying to figure out why people are not moving out of their way: they want to park where they are accustomed but bicycles and moving bodies are in the way.

Cars reverse, and look elsewhere for a place to deposit their cumbersome metal shells.  About 60 people are reversing expectations by holding a parking meter party in celebration of the potential for Canadians to change: rather than continue to change the climate with unparalleled levels of fossil fuel combustion, the Climate Change Caravan is betting on the actions of citizens to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet.

At around 3:30 pm, TLC scouts Christine and Andrew started laying down orange traffic cones to reserve five parking spaces for the CCC support bus. They managed to stave off the parking commissionaire who approached them and gruffly inquired as to whether or not they had a permit. Since the spaces were paid for (with quarters in the meters) and the dilemma of finding a location for leaving the ticket was too much of a quandary, (neither Christine or Andrew where wearing wiper-blades at the time) he left them to attend to the more usual routine of ticketing automobiles.

Then around 4:00 the bus pulled in, just as other cyclists from TLC arrived to claim other empty parking spaces for the party.

In all, about 15 spaces were made temporary pollution-free zones.

Onlookers could be seen staring, dumbfounded; cyclists cruising through the area changed their course to stop and check out the inviting scene which included soap bubbles; children with faces painted with flowers, buses and bicycles; a table laden with food; parking spaces filled with bicycles and lawn chairs; people dancing, playing hacky-sack; and the rather impressive deep-red Climate Change school bus replete with solar panels, wind turbine and a store of vegetable oil (used to fuel the bus.)

People from as far away as the Yukon happened upon the party and joined in the fun.

The sight of children liberated and able to play without fear of being run down by automobiles was inspiring. Children are too often the victims of North America's obsession with cars, either as fatalities, or as prisoners in neighbourhoods over-run with motor vehicles and roads.

Children are also going to bear the brunt of global warming. As Canada's top climate change expert says, "we can expect temperatures in the Toronto-Hamilton area to top 30 C -- often 35 C -- more than 50 days each summer by 2050, unless we cut global greenhouse gas emissions. That's up from the present 15 or 16 days each summer."(Hamilton Spectator)

Increased temperatures will result in more smog (the heat from the sun "cooks" pollutants from motor vehicles, industry and power plants to create smog) which means more people dying from bad air. The Ontario Medical Association estimates that 1900 Ontarians die prematurely each year due to poor air quality.

As this article is being written, yet another smog advisory has been issued by the Ministry of the Environment, making this the worse year on record for smog alerts.

Are we going to be hostages to our hyper-consumption lifestyles, or are we going to learn to tread lightly on the earth?

Cyclists in the CCC began their journey in Tofino, B.C. and have been raising awareness in cities and towns along the way about personal consumption habits which drive the damage of climate change. Check out their web site at www.theBet.ca

parking meter noise

Car culture killing us, activists say

By MIRA OBERMAN, The Hamilton Spectator
A12, Thursday, July 19, 2001

Trying to convince Hamiltonians to leave their cars at home is about as easy as convincing them to skip Tim Hortons in the morning.

It just goes against the grain.

Kind of like playing chess on a blanket of sod spread out over a King Street East parking spot.

About 30 people created a "car-free space" in front of Jackson Square Monday afternoon in an attempt to raise awareness about the destructive side of a North American obsession.

Beatrice Ekwa-Ekoko, 32, can't fit everything she dislikes about cars into one breath.

Cars harm the environment, kill children, isolate people from their community, gobble up half of the city with parking lots and roads, and frighten cyclists off the streets.

It sounds wonky, but the mother of three has a lot of solid facts to back her up. According to Statistics Canada, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of hospitalization among Canadians aged 15-35.
More than 40 pedestrians have died in traffic accidents in Hamilton in the past six years while 470 more were hit by cars last year.

And motor vehicles are the leading cause of smog pollutants in North America.

"We're in an environmental crisis -- we've had more smog days this year than ever before," Ekwa-Ekoko said as dozens of cars sped past the parking spot filled with lawn chairs, bikes and protesters sitting on green grass.

"People actually cannot breath the air it's so bad."

As a solution, Ekwa-Ekoko would like to see city hall do more to encourage alternative forms of transportation.

She'd like to see big improvement for the HSR and GO transit, She'd like to see more bike lanes so cyclists can get downtown safely. She'd like to see a city-wide educational campaign that would include closing downtown streets to cars on World Car Free Day, "It's about quality of life --slow down and take a breath of clean air," she said.

Ward 2 councillor Andrea Horwath stopped by the parking meter party yesterday and said Ekwa-Ekoko might be able to get some of what she wants.

"Out city will be totally connected with trails in the next couple of years," she said. "Bike racks (on HSR buses) are a great idea since we're also having issues around strollers and walkers."

But major changes, like reworking traffic flows to make Hamilton feel less like an expressway, are going to take a lot more time. If they happen at all, Horwath said.

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PARKING METER PARTY - VIEW MAGAZINE

BY SCOTT NEIGH

For a few short hours, last week, the uniform grey of downtown Hamilton's concrete was disrupted by a splash of vibrant green. Members of Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) held a "parking metre party". They reclaimed a parking space on King Street, in front of Jackson Square, putting a layer of sod on top of the asphalt, blasting out music, dancing, playing chess, and placing phone calls to their municipal councillors.

"Cars kill community," says TLC spokesperson Beatrice Ekwa-Ekoko. "We're claiming a piece of public space that's usually destined for the car...where community can be encouraged."

The group was demanding that city hall increase funding for new bike lanes and public transit service, put bike racks on HSR buses, and lobby for expanded GO service to Toronto. In addition, they were asking that city council close downtown Hamilton to cars on September 20, 2001, which is World Car Free Day.

Ekwa-Ekoko points to countries like Denmark and the Netherlands, where 20% and 33%, respectively, of all trips are made by bike, not car. Some Latin American cities, most notably Bogota, Colombia, have taken steps to restrict automobile use in their downtown areas, and Bogota's mayor hopes for a complete ban on cars in urban core areas by 2015. Bordeaux, France, will soon have 50% of its streets reserved for pedestrians and cyclists.

For TLC member Seth Sazant, the imagery of the plot of grass in the parking space was a "representation of how crazy things are...My mode of transportation is bicycle. I feel angry as well as threatened a lot of the time by cars." This action was important, he says, becasuse it is "bordering on useless to be writing to my councillor, when the city has not done much to make streets safer for bikes, for example. I'm pretty frustrated."

The reaction from passers-by was mixed. William Davy, aged 13, stopped as he was biking past the party, and after brief discussion, joined in the fun. He says, "I'm really hoping that they'll make it so bikes can go on buses."

Ralph Ellis was more skeptical. "Getting rid of cars is a lost cause. It's a good idea, but it's a lost cause." Even intermediate measures, like a significant increase in bike lanes, he sees as unlikely. "You'd have to take up a certain amount of road space...[and] then you'd have drivers getting mad."

City councillor Andrea Horwath, who represents the downtown ward, paid the party a visit. She described the event as "great", and herself as "frustrated" with the speed of progress in the city on sustainable transportation measures. "The focus of our transportation department and the focus of our council is asphalt expansion programs." She wants to see "equal investment in other modes of transportation."

Marvin Caplan, who represents Ward 1, also dropped by. He expressed general support for TLC's demands, and said everyone should "act locally by reducing the use of single occupancy vehicles." However, he said the demand for a ban on autos downtown during World Car Free Day "would be a problem," and he was skeptical of the direct action methods chosen by TLC. "Not that I have a problem with them. They just won't work."

One of the participants in the action was Euan Gibb, an auto worker. Though it might appear that he would have a lot to lose if there was a cultural shift to more sustainable means of transportation, he doesn't agree. "I don't accept the premise that we need to perpetuate a huge auto market." He believes that auto workers would "not necessarily be adversely affected." He advocates changes like reducing opportunities for overtime, and having a shorter standard work week, to allow more people to benefit from a given demand for labour. He points to the success of France's recent reduction of the length of its work week.

TLC's next action will take its struggle on the road, to the corporate headquarters of Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in Toronto, on August 20. OPG operates the Nanticoke coal power electiricity generation plant, the largest single source of air pollution in Canada. The group will be joining people from across the province in a civil disobedience action to demand greater action to improve air quality. Back in Hamilton, the group will be taking part in Gaia-Fest 2001, a radical eco/political gathering and festival, in Gore Park on September 9.

SOD IT!

PARK IT!

First PMP in Hamilton drew a crowd (King W at MacNab) 

Hamilton. Ontario. Monday, July 16, 2001

More than one motorist did a double take while driving downtown Hamilton during the lunch hour: where they expected the usual grey concrete and asphalt they were treated to some impromptu green space and a parking meter party.

The parking meter party was thrown together by local transportation activists, members of Transportation for Liveable Communities (a working group of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group at McMaster) who hope to make this a frequent event for lovers of clean air, and safe, quiet streets.

Parking meters provide cheap party rental space (50 cents an hour in downtown Hamilton) and are readily available on city streets all over North America. Unroll a bit of sod for texture and some green and crank up the boom box. Pull up a chair, play a game of chess, have a glass of lemonade. Enjoy the streets!

At about 11:00 am a few people started handing out flyers at King and James Streets; by noon, a full blown street party was underway.

As people unrolled fresh sod, others strung banners and colourful flags. Chairs and table were set up and the cassette dropped into the boom box. A quarter was placed into the parking meter, the dial turned and then, nothing could stop the celebration.

As the steady stream of mobile smog producing factories (AKA automobiles) rumbled past, about 40 citizens partied on the grass. People held signs that read "End the Automobile Age" and "Cars Kill Community."

Over the strains of music (the Clash "Car Jam;" Rancid "Avenues and Alleyways;" Patti Smith "Dancing Barefoot") members of TLC encouraged citizens to call their councillors, going so far as to provide a cell phone and a list of council phone numbers; some people invited their councillors to the party; a couple actually made it down to check out the action.

Artists used chalk to enhance the dull sidewalks with artful renderings of flowers, as others blew soap bubbles which gently floated out over the traffic.

A bike repair workshop materialized and lucky cyclists got free tune-ups from Mark and Chris of Spin Cycles.

Eric Ferguson brought down several orange bicycles (modelled on the white bikes of Amsterdam, the bikes are free for anyone to use, as long as they leave it for others when their trip is done) and bicycle couriers stopped by to have a glass of lemonade and chat.

People concentrated on two chess games that were sharing prime real estate while people danced beside them. Some people just laid down and stretched out, enjoying the only green space within sight.
Passer-by gave thumbs up, and some joined in the fun.

One elderly pedestrian promised to quit smoking if we could get rid of the cars downtown, a promise he repeated for the benefit of all through the bullhorn.

TLC demands include a push for long awaited bike lanes on downtown streets, support for municipal public transit and for Hamilton to take part in World Car Free Day by closing streets to cars on September 20.

The celebration was offset by the dark side of life in North American cities: car-nage.

Hamilton drivers have, through years of official encouragement and traffic design aimed at "efficiency", become a serious menace.

Cameras installed to catch red light runners in Hamilton reveal the depth of the problem: compared to Toronto where cameras captured an average of 53 motorists running red lights in May, Hamilton captured an average of 198 motorists for the month.

Recently in Hamilton, 36-year-old Tim Ekelman was killed as a speeding car (racing with another car) slammed into his bicycle from behind. As the Hamilton Spectator reported "A black baseball cap lay half a block away at the point of collision and a man's contorted body lay twisted and bleeding heavily at the intersection." The driver has been charged with criminal negligence causing death. Police are searching for the other car, which left the scene of the "accident".

The man's sister in law works as a parking-meter attendant and happened upon the parking meter party. She instantly understood TLC's message:

It is past time to curb the car.

Between 1990 and 1998 motor vehicle accidents killed 289 people in Hamilton Wentworth and injured 34,220 more. Worldwide cars kill 500,000 people, two thirds of whom are pedestrians, of which one third are children.

According to the Canadian Automobile Association, there are now more than 2.78 million vehicles on highways per day in the Hamilton and Toronto region.

One full transit bus could replace up to 40 single occupant vehicles, thereby saving 70,000 litres of fuel and avoiding nine tonnes of air pollutants a year!

The same day that climate change talks resumed in Bonn, TLC activists reminded people that motor vehicles are the leading cause of smog, and contribute 65% of all carbon monoxide emitted into the environment, a primary element contributing to global warming.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to Hamiltonians, who are experiencing the worst year ever for poisonous smog. Last summer's total of nine smog days were matched as early as June this year. This year also ushered in the earliest smog alert ever issued (April)

Activists vow to keep pressure on politicians at all levels to fund and implement transportation strategies that encourage non-fossil fuel alternatives and support integrated public transit systems.
Canada currently has no sustained federal support for transit and Ontario has made no commitment to transit investments. Ontario has, though, recently announced their intention to build a super "mid peninsula" highway, which will only exacerbate suburban sprawl, highway gridlock, smog and global warming.

A light rain which began just as our two hour limit ran out on the meter signalled the end of the party. As people rolled up the lush green sod to reveal the oil stained pavement beneath, the main question on people's minds was "when is the next parking meter party?"

The answer is: "Soon."

PARKING METER PARTY!

Transportation for Liveable Communities presents a  

Parking Meter Party
Monday July 16, 2001
11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Meet at King Street just west of James Street (across from Jackson Square by the CIBC bank tower)
Bring some grass (the kind you sit on), a lawnchair, food, drums, soap bubbles, boombox ,sidewalk chalk, and your sense of adventure as we reclaim some prime downtown street space in smoggy, noisy, car-infested Hamilton.

We will supply the quarters for parking spaces, which will magically transform into liberated car-free spaces.

There will be a free bike repair clinic, free lemonade and most importantly, some car-free space as we confront out of control auto-culture.

Bring your musical instruments, gas masks (for the smog), banners, signs, bikes, roller blades, wheelchairs, kitchen sinks and help de-pave the way to a car free future.

CALL YOUR CITY COUNCILLOR

 
Contact your city councillor and demand bike lanes on King and Main; ask them to support World Car Free Day by closing streets in Hamilton to cars, September 20, 2001.

Hamilton City Councillors can be reached by phoning (905) 546-2489, or fax (905) 546-2535, or write them at City Hall, 2nd Floor, 71 Main Street West, Hamilton Ontario, L8P 4Y5. Click here to find council contact info on the web

THE FRIGHTENING FACTS ABOUT CARS:

• Cars are the leading killer of children under 14 years of age in North America.
• Vehicles are the number one source of smog producing pollutants in North America (Ontario Ministry of Transportation.)
• There are currently no safe, direct bike routes (marked bike lanes) on downtown Hamilton streets (King and Main)
• According to the Canadian Automobile Association, there are now more than 2.78 million vehicles on highways per day in the Hamilton and Toronto areas.
• More than 40 pedestrians have died in traffic accidents in Hamilton in the past six years. Last year alone, 470 people were hit by cars. (Hamilton Spectator, March 15, 2001).
• Between 1990 and 1998, a total of 289 people were killed in motor-vehicle crashers, 77 of whom were pedestrians or cyclists. (Spectator, March 26th, 2001).
• Between 1986 and 1998, 6760 pedestrians and cyclists were injured by cars. (Spectator, Jan 30th, 2001).
• A single bus can take up to 40 vehicles off the road, save as much as 70,000 litres of fuel and keep 9 tonnes of air pollutants out of the air per year (Pollution Probe).
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average person who cycles instead of driving alone saves (per mile) at least 24 pounds of smog-causing pollutants and 1.1 pounds of carbon dioxide.
• In Denmark, 20% of all trips are by bike. One third of all trips are made by bike in the Netherlands.
• Buenos Aires has a complete ban on private vehicles in the downtown district on weekdays.
• Bordeaux, France will shortly have 50% of its streets reserved for pedestrians and cyclists (Steve Nadis and James Mackenzie, "Car Trouble" 1993).
• Driving downtown in Oslo, Norway, costs $2 per trip (Environment Views p. 12 spring 1993)

To get involved in bringing about a breathable, liveable future of sustainable transportation, contact Transportation for Liveable Communities c/o The Ontario Public Interest Research Group, (OPIRG) McMaster: (905) 525-9140 ext. 27289 or e-mail opirg@mcmaster.ca

REMEMBERING: ACTING: CHANGING

MEMORIAL PROCESSION - VIEW MAGAZINE

BY SCOTT NEIGH, March 29, 2001

In an event that combined carnival with mobile traffic calming, last Thursday members and supporters of Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) held a memorial procession through the downtown to remember pedestrians and cyclists killed by cars in Hamilton.

The collection of more than forty citizens, with ages ranging from a few months to seven decades, occupied the leftmost lane of King Street between Wellington Street and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

They moved at a leisurely pace, distributing leaflets and sharing grim statistics over a megaphone.

"In Hamilton, between 1990 and 1998, 289 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, 77 of whom were pedestrians," announced Andrew Curran of TLC. "Cars are the leading killer of North American children aged zero to 14 years."

While creating a moving blockade of one lane on King Street, the group received some supportive calls from sidewalk-bound pedestrians, and was the target of little or no obvious anger from drivers. The group, which was riding bikes, walking, and even skateboarding, blocked the intersection of King and James Streets for about one and a half cycles of the traffic lights, to observe a moment of silence. A chorus of horns signalled driver anger at this brief but complete interruption of traffic flow.

The group travelled through the walkway by the Art Gallery, and across Main Street to the open area in front of city hall. They blocked Main Street for about half of a cycle of lights during this time, and were treated to a string of profanities by an irate driver.

"We'll probably anger a lot of motorists, but that's fine, that's par for the course," said TLC member Jeff Santa Barbara, before the procession started. "But occasionally you find a supportive motorist, and we're hoping to turn the angry motorists into more of the supportive motorists. We have a bit of literature to hand out that hopefully will change peoples' minds a little bit."

One member of the diverse crowd that made the symbolic journey was Tooker Gomberg, the candidate that placed second in the race to be Toronto's mayor last November, behind Mel Lastman. Gomberg is a former Edmonton city councillor, and a long time environmental and social activist.

He observed, "If I could wave my magic wand and make these cars disappear, we'd have a really nice scene, here, in downtown Hamilton. But we're infested with cars."

Senior citizen Sally Tabuns joined the event "to protest the drivers killing so many pedestrians." She is also "really mad" about recent anti-pedestrian rhetoric in the media, particularly that targeted at seniors.

"As far as having a video of tips for seniors on how to cross the road--are you kidding? I've lived long enough, I know how to cross the road. The drivers ought to learn how to drive, and have some patience."

The procession was met at city hall by Ward 2 Councillor Andrea Horwath, to whom they presented a list of pedestrian and cyclist demands. The list included that the annual $300,000 budget for cycling initiatives be maintained; that snow clearance on frequently used sidewalks be made higher priority than that for roads, in residential areas; that the city deveop a pedestrian plan, and implement the cycling plan originally brought forward in 1999; and that a city-wide transportation demand management plan be developed and implemented, to provide incentives for walking and cycling, and deterrence for single occupancy vehicle use.

In addition, says Erica Oberndorfer, "Speed reduction is a huge thing. We're hoping for a 30 kilometre per hour zone in the downtown."

Horwath complimented the organizers of the event, calling it "a really successful and educational rally," and promised to present the demands to council.

She was cautiously optimistic about what the reaction of her colleagues might be. "I don't think it has been tested with the new council, yet...I don't think a wholesale change is going to happen, but if we keep pushing pieces and pieces and pieces, we can get somewhere."

In speaking at the event, and at a teach-in at the public library later that day, Gomberg encouraged TLC and other citizens to continue with their efforts to "conspire to transform our cities."

He pointed out that, although more than twice as many people on the planet depend on cycling for transportation as use the automobile, developing countries like India and China seem keen to adopt North America's car culture. He suggests that "the only way we can say to those people, with any integrity, 'Don't drive, don't make the same mistake we did,' is if we in the industrialized world say, enough is enough...[and] in our cities, enthusiastically embrace the alternative modes of transportation."
As far as public policy goes, his main question is "how can we make some of these alternatives more attractive, so that, little by little, people start choosing other alternatives?"

Gomberg warns that what he calls the "transportation mess" did not just happen by accident, and will require deliberate effort to escape. "This is the greatest conspiracy story I've ever heard, and it's true."
He says that in the 1930s and 1940s, the streetcar was a very popular mode of transportation in North America, that "people were riding it in a very big way, and the system was expanding." It has been documented in an investigation by the United States Senate, published as the "Snell Report", that the streetcar networks in 30 or 40 cities around the continent were bought up and destroyed by a front company for Standard Oil (now Exxon, parent company of Esso), the Firestone tire company, General Motors, and a few smaller players.

"We didn't get into this mess by happenstance," Gomberg observes. "And now we've designed our cities in such a way that it is very difficult for many people not to drive."

He cites academic Jane Jacobs, who has described how cities have been shifted gradually, over time, to automobile related uses, by a road expansion here, a parking lot there, a paved driveway somewhere else. However, Gomberg has confidence that cities can be won back from the car.

He advocates creative, public action to try and reclaim some of that urban space, such as the Reclaim The Streets parties that were popular in England in the 1990s, and strong lobbying action to oppose road consruction and expand public transit.

Another option, he suggests, is depaving. He and some friends converted a paved alley in Montreal to a "pocket park" in one afternoon.

"It's easier than you might think. On a hot day, it peels up like toffee. You just need some pick axes, some shovels, some beer."

DEMANDING LIST

MEMORIAL PROCESSION - MARCH 22 2001

LIST OF PEDESTRIAN & CYCLIST DEMANDS

Presented To: Hamilton City Council
Presented By: Transportation For Liveable Communities, a Working Group of McMaster OPIRG

• That the 1999 staff report Shifting Gears: A New Cycling Plan for Hamilton-Wentworth be implemented.
• That the $300,000 budget that has been dedicated to cycling initiatives each year since 1992 be maintained in 2001 and beyond.
• That motor vehicle speeds are enforced and, in residential areas, reduced to 30 km/hr.
• That traffic calming and other vehicle speed reduction techniques be implemented.
• That a Pedestrian Plan be developed for the New City of Hamilton.
• That a sidewalk needs study be conducted and priority areas identified.
• That sidewalks be built as part of any new development and that these sidewalks have a boulevard or separation between the sidewalk and the road
• That intersections in the New City be systematically reviewed and prioritized for necessary pedestrian-friendly improvements
• That snow clearance on frequently used sidewalks and trails be made a higher priority than road clearing and salting in residential neighbourhoods.
• That a City-wide Transportation Demand Management Plan be developed and implemented. Such a plan would provide incentives for walking and cycling and deterrents for single occupancy vehicle use.
• That the New City support development within urban areas and deter greenfield development.

Cars are killing us

In Hamilton, between 1990 and 1998
289 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes,
77 of whom were pedestrians or cyclists.
Cars are the leading killer of
North American children aged 0 -14 yrs.

CARS ARE KILLING US.

But it doesn't have to be this way...
___________

Join us for a Memorial Procession for Change

Meet at 2:30 pm. Thursday MARCH 22, 2001
corner of King Street East at Wellington
solemn procession to Hamilton City Hall

A procession to remember the hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians who are killed and injured by automobiles in Hamilton each year.

Bring a flower to create a temporary memorial on the street.

Bring your bicycle, wheelchair, roller blades, walking shoes, skateboards, or scooters and join the struggle to make our city streets safe for children.

Practical solutions towards safer streets will be presented to a representative of the City of Hamilton.
Contact TLC - Transportation for Liveable Communities
c/o OPIRG-McMaster, 905 525-9140 ext.27289; opirg@mcmaster.ca

and later

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION and Healthy Communities:
Visions for the New City of Hamilton

-a public speakers series-

________________________________

TOOKER GOMBERG

"Activism for Healthy Transportation"

Thursday March 22, 2001
7:00 room A
Hamilton Central Library

WALKING THE OP ED LINES

Everybody Targets Walkers

By Christine Shalaby - TLC (Hamilton Spectator, March 2001)

On Thursday, March 15, Jocelyn Bell wrote a front-page article entitled "Police Target Walkers," about the anticipated "crackdown" on jaywalkers to take place in May.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this article was not the statistic given about how many pedestrians have been killed by cars over the last six years (43), but the sheer acceptability of this campaign.

What is being suggested here is that if people are being hit and killed by automobiles, it must be their fault, and pedestrians must be re-educated as to how to coexist peaceably with these masterful showpieces of our society.

This type of victim targeting can be likened to an NRA crackdown on the victims of gunshot wounds, for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fining pedestrians is like fining shop owners in parts of town where they are likely to be robbed for badly selecting a place to set up their business.

This campaign ignores the structural nature of the jaywalking problem. The problem isn't pedestrians or cyclists, or even motorists necessarily, but for the most part, the problem is that Hamilton has been designed for drivers. Those of us who cannot afford or choose not to own cars are held at the mercy of the automobile culture.

Guns are legal. Murder is not. Cars are legal. Hit-and-run is not. What is being ignored here is the chaos into which our city has descended. Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians do not share the roads, but struggle over them in an endless tug-of-war that is severely imbalanced.

Hamilton's police are trying to address this problem by educating senior citizens on how to "Step out Safely." Perhaps a more effective campaign, one that would have more long-term impact, would be the improvement of driver education. No matter how nimbly a pedestrian may be able to avoid oncoming traffic, the continuing presence of a "defensive driver" culture will work against all those who cross the streets by foot, whether with or against the light. And a tonne of steel will always win over a human being.

As long as the city of Hamilton ignores the overarching problem of a pro-automobile urban design, no real improvement will ever be made to "the jaywalking problem."

Only through the construction of more bike lanes, the adoption of traffic calming techniques, and a greater respect for the pedestrian in matters of street design will this problem begin to diminish.
In short, we must learn to share our streets as true members of a community, rather than support oppressive fines and rules that consistently favour one class over another.

Don't target the walkers: target the system

- - - -

Police target walkers

Jocelyn Bell,  The Hamilton Spectator Thursday March 15, 2001

More than 40 pedestrians have died in traffic accidents in Hamilton in the past six years. Last year alone, 470 people were hit by cars. Of the eight who died, three were to blame for the accident.
Police are now gearing up to catch law-breaking pedestrians and aggressive drivers in May as part of the annual road safety blitz.
"People walk out whenever they feel like it," said Hamilton Constable John Rusnak. "It only takes about 40 seconds for the light to change. It's certainly worth life and limb to wait."
About six Hamilton pedestrians die in traffic accidents every year -- a total of 43 since 1995. The May jaywalking blitz will focus on three of Hamilton's worst intersections: King Street East and Wellington Street, Barton Street East and Kenora Avenue, and Ogilvie Street and Governor's Road.
Anyone caught disobeying the signals or failing to use the crosswalk could face a fine of up to $40.
Under the Highway Traffic Act, a person can be charged with failing to use the designated crosswalk if they are within 100 metres of the crosswalk.
"We're just saying: 'Listen --cross the proper way,'" Rusnak said. "We want to reduce the number of people struck on our streets."
Although jaywalking and disobeying traffic signals is a habit that spans all age groups, senior citizens and children are at particular risk of being hurt.
Because children are short, they have trouble seeing cars and drivers have trouble seeing them. Kids are also poor judges of the speed at which an oncoming car is being driven.
Seniors are often less mobile than younger adults and may take longer to cross.
About a quarter of the pedestrians struck and killed each year in Canada are senior citizens.
"Many of the worst intersections are around seniors' residences," Rusnak said. "Drivers need to be patient."
A Canadian Automobile Association spokeswoman says the risk to older pedestrians increases in winter.
"Snowbanks pose a particular problem to seniors," says CAA's Pauline Mitchell.
White hair and a light coloured jacket are enough to make it "difficult to distinguish between a snowbank and a senior standing beside a snowbank."
Hamilton police are trying to spread the message to seniors with a seminar called Step Out Safely. It teaches pedestrian safety tips to senior citizens. The annual traffic safety blitz begins in April with seatbelts and speeding and continues to November.
--With files from John Burman, The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton's First Car Free Day!

CAR FREE ATTITUDE
World Car Free Day asks "Why don't we do it in the Road?"
BY RANDY KAY, VIEW MAGAZINE, September 21, 2000.

Activists lay claim to some asphalt in cities around the world today (September 21) as "World Car Free Day" opens the avenues of creative responses to auto-addiction.

Hamilton environmental actionists will celebrate with a mobile street party in the downtown during afternoon rush hour traffic.

Andrew Curran of Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC), a new group out of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) at McMaster University, says the street party will be a celebration of alternatives and a glimpse of a more pedestrian friendly future for downtown.
Beginning at the North West corner of King and James and moving west on King will be a diverse group including pedestrians, cyclists, in-line skaters, hoola-hoopers and, of course, musicians to compete with the din of rush hour. Expect some street theatre to blend with the exhaust fumes.

Curran says King Street is a potent symbol of auto-domination with traffic roaring through the heart of the city.

"At one time the streets were social spaces, but the automobile has deteriorated or eliminated that use for people: to reclaim even a little space is to take a step toward bringing life back to the streets" says Curran

A movement to restrict or eliminate the use of private automobiles is spreading, almost as fast as suburban sprawl. The idea for Car Free Day originates in the collective behind Car Busters Magazine, located in Prague, Czech Republic.

Car Buster's Randy Ghent says the idea for a global, activist Car Free Day may have originated with them, but how it is played out depends on the actions of people around the world.

"We're mostly giving people the tools they need to organise things locally, wherever they might be. In Prague we'll be forming a street theatre 'funeral procession' visiting various car dealerships, especially targeting Audi and Volkswagen for their sponsorship of the concurrent World Bank/IMF summit"

Ghent says that while Europe and North America are at different stages of auto-dependence he sees the problems as basically the same.

The main difference is that "Europe is fortunately about 20 years behind in its embrace of motorisation. Europe still has in many places a development pattern (street layout, population density, public transport network) suitable for non-car transport. In other words, urban sprawl isn't nearly as developed or extensive here."

Ghent sees hope for the car free movement in cities like Copenhagen, where public spaces once allocated to the car are being reclaimed for more social purposes.

"This is key" says Ghent, since the amount of road space available to the car will determine the maximum amount of car traffic.

"It may seem counter-intuitive to remove a car lane as a way of reducing traffic, but this is in fact the most effective tool out there. Whereas when you build more roads or expand existing ones, the traffic just grows to fill the available space, usually in a very short period of time."

In Canada, the people at Adbusters magazine are helping create a buzz around Car Free Day. Both the Car Busters and Adbusters web sites (www.carbusters.ecn.cz and www.adbusters.org) have downloadable posters, media releases and useful background information on the impetus to keep car free days grassroots and, perhaps most significantly, on the streets.