Richard Pootmans

What do you think are the benefits of active transportation (e.g. walking, riding a bicycle)?

health and cost savings to city re road construction

 

Research recommends enabling biking and walking for transport as an important public health measure. What are your thoughts on the current state of the infrastructure for active transportation in the city? How will you increase the convenience and safety of all modes of transportation, including walking/using a wheelchair, riding a bike, and transit?

infrastructure needs more work

 

Lowering speeds to 30 kph in residential areas improves road safety for all users, especially children and seniors.  Calgary citizen groups in many communities are calling on the City to act against speeding. If elected, how will you work to reduce vehicle speeds in residential areas in Calgary?

lowering to 30 will have to be very selective

 

Vibrant communities depend upon everyday people using city streets to shop, eat, linger, and walk. Several factors play into the walkability of communities including: intensity, mixing of different types of uses, connectivity, and quality of the urban realm. If elected, how will you increase the walkability and vibrancy of Calgary’s communities?

deliberate planning and industry collaboration

 

Bicycle access to amenities (e.g. work, school, recreation) requires bicycle facilities that extend beyond our pathways. In addition, this summer we saw how reliance on a pathway network built primarily in a river floodplain resulted in a loss of viable travel routes for many Calgarians. Of its 18,000 lane-km of roads, Calgary has only 26 km of marked on-street bike routes. Given that 98% of Calgarians are uncomfortable riding in traffic, do you support reallocation of roadway space to provide people on bicycles with equitable, reliable, safe, comfortable, and efficient access to the amenities they need to reach?

not quite yet, we need to build new generation of roads for this to work best

 

How will you increase the convenience and appeal of transit as a mode of choice, as well as facilitate the possibility of multi-modal trips (e.g. walking & transit, riding a bike & transit)?

education and travel at off peak hours when have capacity

 

Are you familiar with the New York experience from 2007-2013? How can we replicate most of that success here in the next five years?

no

 

Will you advocate for the prioritization of cold hard cash directed towards alternative transport options, and an urgent move to make on-the-ground changes immediately?

not yet, but when is a topic for future debate!

6 Comments on “Richard Pootmans

  1. Totally against allocating road lane space to bike lanes. This is the worst case of resource allocation I’ve ever seen! The economic impact of this poor decision is huge. Needs to be reversed!

    • I completely disagree with Frank. Too many people drive downtown simply because there are not safe, viable options. Building dedicated bike lanes increases safety for bicyclists and encourages those who were nervous about using their bicycles as a mode of transportation to do so. We need MORE bike lanes downtown, not less!

  2. Thanks for another informative blog. The place else may just I am getting that type of info written
    in such an ideal approach? I’ve a mission that I’m simply now operating on, and I have been at the look out
    for such info.

Leave a reply to Allison Cancel reply