Category: transportation

Seeing Ottawa in New Ways

GreenLivingOttawa
Background image in grey tones showing a group of people facing away from the camera, one holding a flag with an icon of a person walking. Blue, red and white graphic frames the text "May 4-5: Jane's Walk Ottawa-Gatineau, JanesWalkOttawa.ca"
Image courtesy Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau

There are quite a few opportunities this weekend to think about our city, and what it could be, in different ways. (Apologies for the last-minute post—life happens!) Here are some highlights:

Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau

Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau is happening Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, 2024. Jane’s Walk is an annual series of community-led walks through the places and neighbourhoods of the city, in honour of Jane Jacobs, whose ideas influenced how we understand cities and city-building. This year’s walks explore and celebrate local art, architecture, histories, communities, pathways, greenspaces, habitats and biodiversity. For example, you can learn about the unique ecosystem of the Pinhey Sand Dunes; tour green homes, community gardens, or rewilding efforts; see downtown Ottawa from an Indigenous perspective; and much more. Because this year’s theme is “Towards water,” many of the walks explore the significance of waterways as meeting places, habitats and city shapers. That means you can contemplate an Indigenous canoe portage site connecting the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers; the history of the Ottawa River; or the microbes of Mud Lake. There are virtual and self-guided walks, too. Walks are conducted in English and/or French; some require pre-registration. Check the Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau website for details.

Image of an Indigenous woman (her head and shoulders); she is looking up, and her mouth is covered with red-handprint-shaped paint. Image appears on a black background, between two small red beaded dress images. Text in white and red below the image reads "MMIWG2S need justice; reconciliation demands action"
Image courtesy Families of Sisters in Spirit

Red Dress Day

I’ve posted before about the connections between environmental action and the need to address the ongoing harms of living on unceded Indigenous territory in ways that perpetuate ongoing violence against Indigenous peoples, including Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. On Sunday, May 5, 2024, Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS), in collaboration with Assembly of Seven Generations, the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, and Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, is hosting an event to commemorate Red Dress Day in support of local families affected by the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and Two-Spirit people. They’re welcoming donations of food and other items, as well as financial support. See the event page for details.

Ottawa International Writers Festival

The Ottawa International Writers Festival is bringing several eco-focused authors to the stage on Saturday, May 4, 2024. These include Lydia Millet and Michael E. Mann, who, in different ways, use the power of story to help think through the climate change and environmental crisis. Check the Festival website for details.

+Local Action for Palestine: INSAF and the University of Ottawa Palestinian Students’ Association are asking people to support their efforts, including the “Occupy Tabaret” campaign calling for the University to divest from genocide in Gaza. See their website for more information, and Decolonize Palestine for additional background and why this is relevant to environmental justice globally and locally.

Climate Actions in Ottawa

GreenLivingOttawa
Alt text: “Global Climate Strike 2023: Friday 15 September, 1:00 p.m. Parliament Hill” appears to the right of an icon depicting a globe, the left half covered in orange flames and the right half covered by blue earth and green trees. Below this, four images show (1) smoky skies above Parliament Hill, (2) a burned forest, (3) a house with a broken roof, and (4) an emergency worker walking towards cars on a flooded street. Along the bottom, text reads “Four reasons to be there! FridaysForFutureOttawa.org.” Image courtesy of Fridays for Future Ottawa.

If you’re reading this, you don’t need me to tell you that the climate emergency is here, now. Beyond compelling evidence from successive climate reports, the reality of increasing wildfires, floods, storms, drought and extreme heat around the world is impossible to ignore. Just in Ottawa, over the last few months, we’ve experienced smoke-filled skies, damaging hail and severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and record heat.

Taking action as individuals can feel more difficult than ever, in the face of the scale and magnitude of the emergency, compounded by the failure of many elected leaders, and the companies most responsible for disastrous climate change, to do what’s necessary. It can help to join with others to call for action—that way, we’re not alone, and our collective voices can make a difference.

Here are some upcoming opportunities:

2023 Global Climate Strike

Fridays for Future Ottawa, along with other environmental and Indigenous groups and individuals, are inviting people to gather on Parliament Hill on Friday, September 15, 2023 at 1 p.m. for this year’s Global Climate Strike. We’ll be calling on the federal government and other decision-makers to take climate action: to cap emissions; end fossil fuel extraction, use and subsidies; and support the transition to sustainable and just alternatives. (There’s also a petition to the federal Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland here.) The local event, which includes a range of speakers and musicians, is part of the Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels taking place around the world from September 15-17 this year.

“Fossil fuels—coal, oil and gas—are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.”

United Nations

Community Bike Rides

A number of residents and groups offer opportunities to remind our elected leaders that investing in sustainable, safe and affordable cycling infrastructure is an essential part of climate action and community-building. For example, every month, cyclists get together for a community bike ride—a “self-organizing” Critical Mass ride—that demonstrates the importance of, and celebrates, active transportation. There’s a Critical Mass Ride for Climate on Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 10 a.m. departing from the Canadian War Museum.

Inspired by critical mass events, Kidical Mass is a family-friendly bike movement created to “celebrate the joy of biking while calling for a need to create streets that are safe for kids and therefore safe for everyone.” Bike Ottawa, For Our Kids Ottawa-Gatineau and School Streets Ottawa are co-hosting a Kidical Mass Ottawa bike ride on Sunday, September 24, 2023, starting with bike decorating at 9:30 a.m. at Sylvia Holden Children’s Park, 641 O’Connor Street, followed by a ride along Queen Elizabeth Drive to Confederation Park at 10 a.m., and activities in Confederation Park from 11 a.m.-12 p.m.; see the event page for details.

Rally for Public Transit

There’s no denying that the erosion of Ottawa’s public transit system, along with continuing fare hikes, are not helping residents shift from car-dependent to more sustainable and equitable transportation. Free Transit Ottawa and other groups are holding a rally on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. calling for accessible, affordable and reliable public transit.

Petition for Municipal Climate Action

Ecology Ottawa has made it easier to call on Ottawa’s Mayor to address the climate emergency, by posting a petition demanding that Mayor Sutcliffe to take the lead in reaffirming the City’s commitment to and implementation of climate action. Please sign and share!

Time for a Sustainable and Equitable Budget for Ottawa

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Close-up of brown cardboard placard with red lettering that reads "People Power," in front of blue sky.
People Power by Quinn Dombrowski on flickr – Creative Commons – Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic – https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/15229787189 Image modified (cropped)

Ottawa City Council has officially recognized that Ottawa is in a climate emergency. The City has a climate change plan, active transportation plans, a housing and homelessness plan, and other commitments to sustainability and equity. Beyond such public statements and plans, though, the City’s progress toward these goals depends on how the City allocates public resources—which largely happens at municipal budget time.

Ottawa City Council will vote on the 2023 City Budget, which various City committees have already reviewed, on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 10 a.m.

Many community groups have spoken out about problems with the draft budget. It prioritizes unsustainable and inequitable expenditures such as road widening (at the expense of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure) and overpolicing, while it underfunds essential services including public transit (to be cut by $47 million), housing, community services, and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Dubbed an “austerity budget” by some groups, the draft budget sets property tax increases at 2.5 per cent—an arbitrary cap that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe campaigned on—which is well below inflation and will undoubtedly result in real service cuts and increased user fees, and pave the way for ineffective and costly private provision of public services.

Ottawa’s municipal budget process is largely opaque for many residents—and the draft budget tends to be presented more or less as a done deal. Fortunately, the good people of the Ottawa Coalition for a People’s Budget have created a guide to engaging with Budget 2023. Several other groups have offered excellent resources for understanding the draft budget and its implications, and for advocating for a better budget:

[Added:] The People’s Official Plan Coalition is hosting a virtual press conference on the draft budget on Monday, February 27 at 10 a.m. The Coalition’s Priorities for Budget 2023 include climate action; forest, greenspace and wetlands management; food security; affordable housing; and social services.

Horizon Ottawa held a City Budget 101 Training Session with useful analysis of the draft budget and alternatives for the City to raise revenues and reallocate expenditures in more sustainable and socially just ways. The recording is available online, as is an online letter to Council that people can sign calling to stop the cuts to public transit.

Ecology Ottawa is asking people to call on their city councillors to support a motion to defer funding to widen the Airport Parkway—which the new Trillium Line would run parallel to—and allocate the funds to active transportation elements of the project instead.

Acorn Canada is asking people to support a call for a “People’s Budget” in Ottawa that supports all residents, including low-income residents, by adequately funding needed services.

Starts With Home is a coalition of organizations and businesses that has set out a platform and actions, including budget measures, that Ottawa needs to take to ensure everyone has a safe, affordable home.

The Ottawa Mission has posted a budget consultation toolkit as well as an online form to ask City Council to provide much-needed funding for affordable housing.

You can also share your views on the draft budget with your city councillor and on the City’s Engage Ottawa website.

Several organizations are holding a rally against the draft budget on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. Details will be posted here.

As well, the Ottawa Police Services Board will consider the 2023 police services budget on Monday, February 27, 2023 at 4 p.m. (At the same meeting, they’ll be deciding on proposed changes to limit public input at Board meetings.) According to Defund the Police, what the city spends on policing is roughly the same as it spends on public health, paramedics, public libraries, social housing, parks and recreation and employment services combined, and the police’s share of the municipal budget is increasing. The Coalition Against More Surveillance has compiled resources to help people who want to submit comments to the meeting, and the Ottawa Coalition for a People’s Budget has plenty of ideas for shifting resources from policing to essential services.

The time is now for a municipal budget that shifts us towards a more sustainable, climate change-resistant and equitable city.

Towards Effective Light Rail Transit in Ottawa

GreenLivingOttawa

Ottawa’s LRT – D. Deby photo

I admit to being excited when Ottawa’s LRT launched. By its second day of operation, I found an excuse opportunity to try it out, and marveled at the efficient ride, gleaming new stations and impressive scenery en route.

There were a few gaps—not least accessibility challenges, minimal space for bikes, and the problem that the switch to LRT didn’t benefit everyone (for many residents, including me, it means longer commuting times and fewer bus options). Still, the LRT marks an important shift to more environmentally sustainable transit in Ottawa. We were offered a big-city, world class system that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, fossil fuel consumption and road salt use, and increase connections to healthy transportation options (biking, walking).

Now, like many other residents, I’m frustrated.

Daily delays and breakdowns, in conjunction with the elimination or adjustment of many bus routes, have eroded confidence in the transit system. Residents are calling for solutions, improved accountability and transparency, and better public communication.

Obviously, Ottawa needs a public transit system that works and is equitable and accessible to everyone—which means not putting all our eggs in one (LRT) basket.

We could draw on (eco-)systems thinking here. Systems thinking is about seeing all the parts of the system and the relationships among them as an integrated, dynamic whole, rather than just the individual parts. Integrating (eco-)systems thinking into design can improve a system’s capacity to handle pressures and disruptions. Fundamental to complex systems is the existence of alternatives, so the system is maintained even when something goes wrong somewhere. Redundancy, diversity and resilience are features of systems approaches.

That means a problem with one train car door doesn’t shut down the entire train/transit system. It means that bus options remain, so people have alternatives to get to where they need to go, at least through a period of transition from buses/transitway to LRT if not beyond. It means investing in improving ParaTranspo, and cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, as seamless parts of an integrated system.

It’s good that the City has announced some attention to and investment in solutions. Let’s make sure they’re comprehensive ones.

All Roads Lead to Tunney’s Pasture – D. Deby photo

Making Cycling Safe in Ottawa

GreenLivingOttawa

Chalk tributes and calls for action for safe cycling, Ottawa City Hall, May 22 2019 – D. Deby photo

Update: A Rolling for Justice Bike Ride and Gathering will take place on Wednesday, May 22 at 7:45 a.m. to show respect for the person who lost their life and to press for safe cycling in Ottawa. Everyone is welcome to cycle, roll or walk together, starting at the southwest corner of Nicholas and Laurier at 7:45 a.m. and ending at City Hall. Organizers encourage people to wear black and to ride silently. Further details on the Facebook event page, and/or follow #ottbike and #ottbikeaction on Twitter.

* * *

Sorrow, anger, fear.

These are some of the feelings prompted by yet another death of an Ottawa resident, while he was cycling on one of Ottawa’s designated bike routes.

Sorrow—for the person who was killed, his family and friends and their loss.

Anger—that infrastructure- and driver-caused injuries and deaths are normalized in our city and that prevention of those injuries and deaths is not treated as a priority.

Fear—that while I’m cycling to and from work or errands my life is at risk. My own routes often take me on the Laurier Bike Lane, or through the Parkdale-Ruskin intersection. While the city has made some welcome improvements in cycling infrastructure, cycling in Ottawa is still unacceptably dangerous.

Improving it requires collective action and investments in better infrastructure, including changes in the way we think about and value those who use non-vehicle modes of transportation. As a cyclist, I try to bike safely and defensively, but all the helmets, lights, reflectors and bright orange vests I personally invest in are not going to keep me safe.

What was heartening yesterday was the groundswell of people, including city councillors, who spoke up, gathered outside City Hall, and left tributes to the cyclist. Hopefully this will be a turning point in our tolerance for cyclist and pedestrian injuries and deaths.

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