Re: Environmentalists use pedal power, July 19.

Mike Waite of the Manitoba Safety Council was quoted as saying bike taxis are "risky business" and went on to say that the city's infrastructure "doesn't support another mode of transportation that will slow us down and complicate the system even more."

I understand his concern about safety but he seems to think that completely separate facilities are required before bicycle traffic can be safe. This is not true -- what is needed are cyclists and drivers who know how to share the road, drive safely and respect each other's right to be there. The Manitoba Safety Council could assist in this by offering courses for cyclists, along the lines of the Can-Bike program that has been adopted by the Canadian Cycling Association. And Manitoba Public Insurance could assist in this by providing more focus on how to share the road with cyclists in their driver education program. The reality is that increasing numbers of people travel by bicycle in Winnipeg, and that cyclists need to use city streets to get where they want to go.

We should be supporting the growth of cycling for environmental, health and economic reasons, and making it as safe as possible rather than discouraging cycling because we don't have perfect infrastructure.

Cycling advocates worry an increase in the number of riders on the road could translate into a higher toll of deaths and injuries among cyclists.

Officials with Bike to the Future say the lobby group's surveys of major arteries into downtown Winnipeg suggest that more than 5,000 people commute by bicycle, an increase of 17 per cent over last year.

That meshes with Statistics Canada's information from the 2006 census, which indicated 5,760 Winnipeggers commuted by bicycle in 2006.

Bike to the Future spokesman Dave Elmore said the increase is good news — but the problem is many of the new cyclists don't know the rules of the road.

"People don't see cycling education as being necessary. They've ridden them all their lives. They consider them to almost be a toy," he said.

"We're seeing a lot of cyclists who haven't had a lot of experience, other than riding to the park with their kids, out there commuting back and forth and riding into downtown. And they don't necessarily have the training or experience."

No adult education available

Part of the problem, Elmore said, is that there is nowhere in Manitoba for adults to receive instruction or training.

The Canadian Cycling Association's CAN-BIKE courses, which offer information on traffic safety, equipment, maintenance and riding skills for adults, are not currently offered in Manitoba, although Elmore said efforts are being made to revive the program here.

Elmore suggests Manitoba Public Insurance is responsible for road safety, and that perhaps the Crown vehicle insurance agency should help fill the void.

"It would make common sense that MPI would get involved in educating cyclists, because an educated cyclist would be a better cyclist and a safer cyclist, and that would reduce claims," Elmore said.

An average of 180 cyclists are injured and two are killed on Manitoba roads every year, according to MPI. The corporation paid out $8.2 million in injury claims for cyclists hit by vehicles in 2006, a fourfold increase since 2002.

If MPI spent even a fraction of that amount on cyclist education, Elmore said, the number of injuries and deaths could be reduced.

MPI responsible for autos, not bicycles

But MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said the corporation's mandate is automobile safety.

"Obviously we can't be everything to everyone," he said. "Cyclists need to remember that as the public automobile insurer, we are obligated to providing funding towards safety towards automobiles."

Both Smiley and Elmore agreed that bicycles are vehicles and, as such, are legally obligated to obey the rules of the road.

"Cyclists are riding at night wearing dark clothing and not a light to be seen," Smiley said. "That is not a safe situation. Many cyclists are driving down Portage Avenue, 7:30 in the morning, doing erratic lane changes. Now, again, that's not a wise move. So a lot of the onus will lie with the cyclist."

Despite the acknowledged problems, however, officials with Winnipeg police told CBC News they had not handed out a single ticket to a cyclist this year.

It's Bike-To-Work day today, and if all went according to plan, I arrived at Mountain Avenue this morning on two wheels.

I know it's not something to crow about; lots of people do it every day, but for me, it was a big step forward.

I tried it once two months ago and hated it.

For years, I'd dreamed about getting fit, saving gas money and being ecologically holy. For years, I'd envied my kids, who cycle to school six months of the year whether they like it or not.

It makes sense for busy people, I'd always argued -- especially sedentary people who sit in front of screens or in meetings all day. Why drive to the gym before work to ride a stationary bike when you can ride a real bike to work and skip the gym altogether?

But reality has a way of ruining a perfectly good fantasy.

Reality last time started with a heart-stopping encounter on Portage Avenue with eight lanes of rush-hour traffic; up a bleak, rutted Wall Street to Notre Dame, then McPhillips, jostling for elbow room with cars going 60 kilometres an hour and faster; under a dark and pungent Logan Street underpass.

Every once in a while, just to make it a little more unpleasant, the unseasonably hot south wind whipped up the winter's leftover road salt and crud and sandblasted it into my face.

All in all, it was an ugly ride.

I've cycled on holidays -- in France, in the Netherlands and, last September, the family cycled Le P'tit Train du Nord -- a fabulous 200-kilometre bike trail built on an abandoned train line that winds its way up to the Laurentians.

We saw hundreds of ruddy-faced, Lycraed cyclists speeding along that route and many more-laid-back folks out enjoying a short trek or a lunch-hour picnic.

These are urban bike trails, too, which bring hundreds of cyclists into the cities every day on wide, smooth asphalt or crushed gravel. Like Winnipeg's expansive riverside bike trails, they are well-used and well-loved.

Montreal itself has more than 600 kilometres of bike trails. Winnipeg has about 100.

My kids think cycling is the only way to travel; close to the ground, slow enough to really see and smell and touch where you are. It seems to press more of the place you're visiting into your bones.

Our holidays have often made me wish that the city would embrace its lovely flat terrain, show some vision and build a decent urban bike-trail system.

Yes, there are at least five months a year when cycling here is as much fun as toboganning in July, but if we celebrate winter with ice rinks and skating trails, why not embrace the summer in like-minded fashion?

Last week, I ran into an old friend who cycles yearround. She looked 10 years younger than the last time I'd seen her; lithe and fit and full of energy.

I told her I had tried to bike to work, but explained that my route was just too industrial and gritty.

She looked puzzled.

Apparently, she takes almost the same route north as I do, only it's a whole lot farther -- 30 kilometres in total from south Winnipeg to the Maples. And she loves it.

It took me a few days to figure out where I'd gone wrong. But today -- and until city council builds a better commuter system for cyclists -- I offer some hard-learned tips on how to get to work on a bike and not completely hate it.

Change your route. Forget about the congested urban thoroughfares. Take back roads and lanes. They're more interesting, more fun, and a lot less scary.

Change your routine. I left earlier today to avoid the morning rush hour, and read the papers at the office, instead.

Change your perspective. This is not just exercise and it's not just a commute. It's both. So if it takes longer to get somewhere that's a good thing.

Now if one person can be inspired by one person's example, maybe city hall should take a look at the hundreds of shiny examples out there today on two wheels -- and help Winnipeg change for the better, too.

Margo Goodhand is editor of the Free Press.

Thousands leave cars at home

If you drove to work Friday you missed out on a chance to be part of history as part of Winnipeg's first annual Bike-To-Work day.

The riding fest, organized by cycling advocacy groups including the Manitoba Cycling Association, Climate Change Connection, and the Winnipeg Trails Association, was in full swing Friday, with more than 2,200 cyclists counted at 10 stations around the city.

"We thought today's impact was about a 70-per-cent increase," said organizer Ron Brown Friday, thrilled by the jump based on estimates taken last year of the number of commuters who cycle.

One of the aims of Bike-To-Work day is to promote cycling as a viable transportation alternative to cars.

About one in seven of the roughly 2,000 registrants were new commuters who had never taken their bike to work, Brown said.

The bike-promoting groups also lobby for a "connected route system" -- trails or road -- and support from workplaces such as providing secure bike-locking areas and change rooms, Brown said.

At The Forks market, cyclists parked their bikes with a valet and enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes and fruit to the sounds of the Garfield Street Strings cello quintet.

Cellist Eleanor Thompson arrived at The Forks on her bike with her fullsized cello strapped to her back. She gets around the city on two wheels this way except in the winter. Thompson's idea for promoting city cycling is one gleaned from Europe.

"In Vienna, they have these big sidewalks just like we do down Portage Avenue," Thompson said. "And they've divide it into two. And half of it is pedestrian, and the other half is bicycle."

Across the city, volunteers greeted cyclists at 12 "energy stations", distributing T-shirts and counting the number of cyclists coming through.

"It was a great morning, actually," said MLA Jennifer Howard, who admitted biking was a bit beyond her abilities but said she'd wanted to help out at the Osborne St. station.

Volunteers counted a total of 276 bicycles passing the pit-stop, with their tallying cut off at 8:30 a.m.

"Everyone was very appreciative," said Vico Fabbri, offering free water from Culligan at the pit-stop.

The event cost around $30,000, Brown said, with corporate sponsorship from about 40 different companies, and involved about 75 volunteers.

"It'll take people out of their cars and make them see how easy it is to bike to work," said Wilderness Supply employee Katrina Rosen. The company's entire workforce is registered for the event, Rosen said.

A police spokesperson said they recorded only one bicycle accident yesterday -- a bike-car crash, apparently after which the cyclist refused treatment, and no one remained on the scene to report to police.

Police could not comment on whether they were doing extra monitoring of traffic due to Bike-To-Work day.

Some bike-to-work cyclists are in for long commutes. A colleague of Rosen rides in from outside the Perimeter highway, she said. And Mike Caslor, 31, pedals infrom Portage La Prairie about twice a week, a trek of 86 km each way. Caslor, vice-president of the Manitoba Cycling Association, has done the bike commute for about the last three years.

"I think people underestimate what they're capable of," Caslor said of people's ability to bike to work. "Start small and then build modestly."

With files from Lindsey Wiebe

will.tremain@freepress.mb.ca

They are coming from far and wide, propelled by leg-power alone.

Winnipeg’s first annual bike-to-work day is in full swing today, with more than 2,000 cyclists registered, said organizer Ron Brown.

The riding-fest aims to promote cycling as a viable transportation alternative to cars.

At The Forks market, cyclists parked their bikes with a valet and enjoyed a pancake breakfast to the sounds of a string quintet. Twelve “energy stations” are also greeting cyclists at other points across the city, distributing T-shirts and counting the number of cyclists coming through.

“It’ll take people out of their cars and make them see how easy it is to bike to work,” said Wilderness Supply employee Katrina Rosen. The company’s entire workforce is registered for the event.

This week, thousands of Manitobans have been leaving their cars at home as part of the Commuter Challenge ­ a week-long initiative that began June 1 and continues until June 7.

Coordinated locally by Resource Conservation Manitoba, the challenge runs in conjunction with Canadian Environment Week (yes, there is such a thing) and encourages people to find alternative ways to get to work or school.

It¹s a well-meaning endeavour for all the obvious reasons. Transportation accounts for a significant portion of Manitoba¹s greenhouse gas emissions -- in 2005, it represented 37% of our overall total -- which means that driving a car is one of the main ways individual citizens contribute to climate change and that, conversely, not driving a car is one of the main ways us regular folks can be a part of the solution.

There are other negatives associated with car use, too: air pollution, traffic congestion, excess wear and tear on our city¹s existing (and already crumbling) infrastructure, and a reduction in the amount of physical activity within our daily routines, just to name a few.

Last year, 12,881 people from more than 250 workplaces and schools across the province participated in the Commuter Challenge. Collectively, they prevented about 154 tonnes of GHG emissions from entering the atmosphere -- a noteworthy success, to be sure, and an encouraging sign -- particularly here in Winnipeg, a city that, historically, has been less than enthusiastic to embrace alternative transportation as a viable concept. (See: the kiboshing of rapid transit in 2004; the two years of foot-dragging prior to the adoption of our active transportation study last summer; and the lack of investment in commuter cycling infrastructure such as on-road bike lanes.)

Clearly, those attitudes are definitely changing. But, while the city may now be more willing to endorse drive-less initiatives such as the Commuter Challenge or the upcoming Bike to Work Day on June 20, and while increasing numbers of people may be more willing to participate in them, the fact remains that we citizens have yet to abandon our cars en masse.

This could be because the decks appear to be stacked against us. Our city is spread out, our current transit system is painfully slow and frequently inadequate, and prolonged bouts of freezing weather makes the idea of year-round cycling daunting, to say the least.

Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that our reluctance to change our behaviours has more to do with our unwillingness to inconvenience ourselves. We like our cars, we like the freedom they give us to get around quickly and with minimal effort, and we¹re just not prepared to sacrifice that -- even if we know we should; even if soaring gas prices have added a financial incentive to do so.

So what will it take for us to change our driving habits once and for all? What¹s the tipping point at which we finally say enough is enough -- and are we close to reaching it?

E-mail me at marlo.campbell@uptownmag.com and let me know your thoughts. Are you driving less nowadays -- or are you just feeling guiltier?

New bicycle lanes are being painted on more than a half a dozen busy traffic routes throughout Winnipeg.

The new lines create "sharrows," or narrow lanes demarcated on existing streets; it's hoped they'll help ease tension between cyclists and motorists, who often feel like rivals for space on the roads.

"It's going to increase the awareness of drivers to share the road with cyclists, and … it'll increase the awareness for cyclists, you know, to stay where the sharrows are," said Janice Lukes of the city's active transportation advisory committee.

Since the new lanes are on seven busy streets, most of the people who will use them will be experienced cyclists, Lukes said. She hopes the sharrows lead the city to take more steps to become more cycling-friendly.

"It's an absolutely huge first step, from nothing to this — and then it's only a matter of time where you're going to have more families [who] want separated lanes," she said.

"I do believe that the will of the government is there to where eventually we'll see that, maybe in the next two years. It wouldn't surprise me."

The city set aside $100,000 in the 2008 capital budget for the sharrow initiative.

The lanes, accompanied by signs urging motorists and cyclists to "share the road," will appear on:

Higgins Avenue. Roblin Boulevard. Grant Avenue. Regent Avenue. Plessis Road. Dakota Street. Dunkirk Drive.

Winnipeg's and Manitoba's economies appear more robust than they have for many years. As the nation's labour force stagnates, Manitoba's continues to grow. Houses continue to sell at more than their asking price and, while spring always makes Winnipeggers feel better, there is a sense of optimism in the air.

This optimism and growth needs sustaining. To do so, the province and the city need to become truly innovative. We need the image of our city to be such that it becomes a magnet for people because it is ahead of the curve. We need to make ourselves one of the most creative places to do business in Canada. As Minneapolis has dubbed itself, Winnipeg needs to be "one cool city."

How would we do that?

Not so much by big moves but by small gestures. The big moves are developments like the human rights museum. That's going to be a huge attraction adding to the perception that Winnipeg is a city to live in. Other developments have created a cool image for us -- the Louis Riel bridge is one, the continuing success of our arts and culture is another.

But it is smaller, non-institutional developments that often really turn the image of city -- its restaurants, clubs, a digital movie theatre, a new festival, a new feeling.

The best innovation of this type builds on natural advantages -- winter skating on the Assiniboine is an example -- next year we should get Starbucks to provide stops along route. The restaurants and open spaces and access to the rivers at The Forks are another.

The water buses are way cool.

In an environment where gas is more expensive than it has ever been and a barrel of oil worth four times what it was a couple of years ago, anything that looks like an answer to the looming energy crisis is worth its weight in image gold.

Winnipeg has one key advantage that seems almost to be forgotten about. It's flat. That's why it once had streetcars. Bringing streetcars back would be innovative but is a big ticket item, not one of the smaller gestures that can bring as much notice.

Our city has the ideal typography for bicycling. Not just bicycling for recreation along the four designated streets closed to cars in May for the weekend, but bicycling to get to work, visit your friends and run easy errands. Despite an active lobby to encourage commuter bicycling and the city promise of $500,000 for biking and walking trails, true commuter bike paths and lanes are few if not non-existent.

There are signs for biking on lesser used roads, but not bike lanes to go with them.

Why not?

The last place I lived that was as flat as Winnipeg was on the Plain of Holderness in England. The city was Hull and you couldn't move for bikes.

Commuter bike lanes in Winnipeg would do all kinds of good, at least in the summer. It would encourage a healthier lifestyle, reduce the number of cars on the road and save energy.

In other cities, kids too young to drive and too poor to own cars bike to see their friends, to school and to university. Who in their right mind would bike down Waverley or Pembina at rush hour? With bike lanes, it would be possible.

Winnipeg could also follow Washington D.C. and create a public-private partnership to rent bikes by the hour similar to the Zipcar and Autoshare plans I recently wrote about.

Why not combine the two?

A city that is serious about combating its energy usage takes easy routes to get cars off the road. That has to start somewhere and it is unlikely to get going without a public commitment.

So, Mr. Mayor and city council, get going. Create bike lanes for children and commuters. Get in touch with the bike shops and bicycle lobbyists to set up a bike-sharing scheme. Try a pilot plan with bikes located behind the barriers at Portage and Main and at The Forks.

Combine the bike-sharing scheme with a car-sharing scheme.

Recreational biking is fine. But in Winnipeg, it often means taking your bike on a rack on your car to where the recreational trails start.

It doesn't have to be that way.

An innovative city sees its natural advantages and takes small measures for big gains. Designated bike lanes and bike and car sharing -- maybe working together -- are the types of innovation that would get our city talked about and put it ahead of the curve. Will we do it? If not, why not?

Nicholas Hirst is CEO of Winnipeg-based television and film producer Original Pictures Inc.

(c) 2008 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

Founder of One Green City gets things done

He could easily be one of Winnipeg's busiest volunteers, donating his time to more organizations and committees than he can count on his fingers.

Thirty-year old Anders Swanson is dedicated to helping Winnipeg become a greener city by improving the cycling network, with more trails, safer lanes on roads and maps that will get beginner cyclists and veteran cycling commuters alike, from point A to point B.

The Mayor's Environmental Committee, the City of Winnipeg's Active Transportation Committee, Bike to the Future, BIZ Transportation Committee, and the Winnipeg Trails Association are just a few of the groups he's involved with. In addition, he helped form the North Winnipeg Commuter Cyclists, the West Central Commuter Cyclists and was the founder of One Green City -- a service which liaises cycling groups and encourages them to connect.

"I am essentially volunteering with as many cycling related committees and volunteer groups throughout the city as I can to try to bring them together around the idea of building a comprehensive network of cycling routes," said Swanson, a Corydon Village resident who hasn't owned a car for more than five years. "I really felt I understood why people weren't cycling. I wanted to address the reasons that they weren't rather than just telling them to."

His hard work is paying off. Since he became involved just a few years ago, progress has already been made with a $600,000 commitment from the city budget now dedicated to building a trail infrastructure and the creation of the Northwest Pioneers Greenway.

He said that with a larger budget dedicated to the issue, cyclists will be safer and the tensions between motorists and those riding bicycles will be lessened.

"The more cyclists you have out and the more cycling infrastructure there is, the less people get hurt," explained Swanson, who works as a bike mechanic at Natural Cycle. "I think the key is reducing conflict. I don't drive now, but as a driver I was scared of hitting cyclists. It's stressful."

Janice Lukes, co-ordinator for the Winnipeg Trails Association, said the work done by Swanson for her organization and the many others he volunteers for, has been nothing short of amazing.

"I have been involved in trail development since 2001 and have met a ton of volunteers, all passionate, all motivational," she wrote in an e-mail to the Winnipeg Free Press. "But Anders Swanson's commitment, dedication and passion to help others embrace the bicycle as a means of transportation and source of recreation is simply unprecedented. I know many of the trail and cycling organizations in Winnipeg would agree that Anders has been instrumental in helping secure more trails and bike pathways for Winnipeggers!"

For more information about the work done by Swanson, visit www.onegreencity.com. To learn more about the Winnipeg Trails Association, visit www.winnipegtrails.com.

If you know a special volunteer who strives to make their community a better place to live, please contact Erin Madden at erinmadden@shaw.ca.

Mayor Sam Katz predicts the first day of summer will be a nice day to get on a bicycle.

The mayor has proclaimed Friday, June 20 "Bike To Work Day" in an effort to persuade more Winnipeggers to leave their carbon dioxide-spewing cars at home.

"You may wish to know that spandex is not required," the mayor joked Friday as he encouraged all 16 members of city council, 9,000 city employees and all 660,000 Winnipeg residents to commute on two wheels instead of four.

So far, Couns. Justin Swandel (St. Norbert), Gord Steeves (St. Vital), Scott Fielding (St. James), Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge), Russ Wyatt (Transcona) and Mike Pagtakhan (Point Douglas) have pledged to ride to work on June 20.

Bike To Work Day is entirely separate from the weeklong Commuter Challenge issued every June by Resource Conservation Manitoba, a non-governmental lobby group. This year's challenge, which implores Winnipeggers to commute by any means other than single-occupancy cars, takes place June 1-7.

The non-profit organization supports the mayor's efforts and is not concerned people will confuse Bike To Work Day with the Commuter Challenge.

"We look at it as another thing to do after the challenge," said Sara Perlmutter, who co-ordinates the seven-day event for RCM. "The challenge is great, but it's only one week."

Other non-profit organizations supporting the civic event include the Manitoba Cycling Association, Climate Change Connection, the Winnipeg Trails Association and Bike To The Future.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Winnipeg will spend more than $3 million this year to create 70 kilometres of new bike-and-pedestrian paths and bike lanes in an effort to make the city easier to navigate for commuters who don't use cars.

Asphalt and limestone-covered trails will be completed in North Kildonan, Charleswood, St. Vital, Fort Garry and Fort Rouge, new bike lanes will appear downtown and bike corridors will be created on inner-city streets in 2008, according to a trail-creation plan presented to city councillors on Friday.

Two years of grassroots activism by organized cycling groups -- as well as the rising price of gasoline and the high cost of maintaining conventional roadways -- helped convince politicians of the need to beef up the city's trail-creation budget.

"I'm not one to go 'rah-rah city,' but this is great," said Janice Lukes, executive director of the Winnipeg Trails Association. "People are speaking up and elected officials-- who like to get elected -- are listening."

In 2006, Winnipeg devoted $200,000 to trail creation. The trail-building budget increased to $1.5 million in 2007 and now stands at $2.56 million for dedicated paths for bikes and pedestrians, plus $600,000 for shared spaces for bikes and cars on existing roads.

By the end of the year, Winnipeg will have 190 kilometres of dedicated paths and shared bike corridors. The city's existing trail network of 120 kilometres has long been derided as inadequate by commuter and recreational cyclists alike.

"This is long overdue. We're still behind other cities, but we're starting to catch up," said Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.

All new city roads and bridges will include lanes for cyclists and pedestrians, the mayor said.

But the greater challenge lies in connecting Winnipeg's existing patchwork of trails, especially in older neighbourhoods where it's difficult to acquire land, said Kevin Nixon, the city's active-transportation co-ordinator.

To that end, Nixon said, this year's Active Transportation plan is primarily aimed at eliminating commuter-cycling "choke points" such as the Osborne Street underpass south of Confusion Corner, which can soon be avoided by a new 1.5-kilometre connection to the Red River.

New signs funded by the city and the Winnipeg Trails Association will help cyclists find the new routes, he said.

The trail-creation plan was hammered out over six months at dozens of meetings involving hundreds of volunteers who belong to trail-building organizations as well as lobby groups such as Bike To The Future and the Manitoba Cycling Association.

"The city is going in the right direction," said Kevin Miller, Bike To The Future's co-chair. "We hope to see the momentum carried through in following years, until Winnipeg reaches the level of bicycle infrastructure that other Canadian cities already have."

The Active Transportation plan does not, however, address the largest issue looming in Winnipeg's transportation future: The need to develop some form of rapid-transit corridor parallel to Pembina Highway.

The volunteers who hammered out the trail-creation plan actually listed the southwest Winnipeg corridor as the city's top trail priority, but the city has neither the money to create the busway that would make it possible -- or the land-use deals in place with CN Rail.

The first leg of that busway, from downtown to Jubilee Avenue, would cost $70 million. The city and the province are still deciding whether to devote $17.9 million of new federal transportation dollars toward the corridor.

"If there is a busway, there will be a bike path," said Katz, who personally prefers light-rail transit but does not believe Winnipeg can afford it.

A decision about how to spend the federal transportation kitty will be made before the end of July, the mayor said.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Happy trails to you

The City of Winnipeg plans to spend $2.58 million on bike and pedestrian paths in 2008, plus $600,000 on active-transportation corridors where cyclists will share roads with motor vehicles. Here's where the money will be spent:

Dedicated trails for bikes and redestrians

Northeast Pioneers Greenway (Phase II)

Six more kilometres of this North Kildonan commuter trail will be completed between Knowles Avenue and Springfield Road. Pricetag: $500,000

Harte Trail

Packed gravel surface to be completed on this 12-kilometre trail south of the Assiniboine Forest, between Shaftesbury Boulevard and Elmhurst Road. Pricetag: $250,000

Bishop Grandin Greenway

Asphalt paths alongside Bishop Grandin Boulevard will link St. Vital Centre to St. Vital Park and the University of Manitoba. Pricetag: $900,000

WinSmart Pathway

A 1.5-kilometre path connecting the Red River to Osborne Street, allowing cyclists to avoid the Osborne Underpass south of Confusion Corner. Pricetag: $150,000

Southpoint Pathway

A two-kilometre asphalt path connecting the Lord Roberts neighbourhood to The Forks. Pricetag: $400,000

On-street improvements

Sharrows

Extra-wide lanes will allow bikes and cars to share portions of major commuter routes, including portions of Higgins Avenue, Roblin Boulevard, Grant Avenue, Regent Avenue, Plessis Road, Dakota Street and Dunkirk Drive. Pricetag: $50,000

East-west bike boulevards

Portions of Assiniboine Avenue, Elgin Avenue, Pacific Avenue and Alexander Avenue will be modified to encourage cycling and discourage automobile traffic. Pricetag: $550,000, including bike lanes (below)

Downtown bike lanes

New bike lanes on Carlton, Hargrave, Fort and Garry Streets are designed to make it easier for cyclists to navigate downtown. Pricetag: $550,000, including bike boulevards (above)

Other Projects

Trail signage

New, consistent signs for all Winnipeg trails. Pricetag: $80,000

North Winnipeg Parkway

Completing a study on how to complete a 10-kilometre stretch of the Trans-Canada Trail along the Red River between Alfred Avenue and St. John's Park. Pricetag: $50,000

The federal government has announced that $17.9 million from the new Transit Fund is committed for Manitoba, creating a new window of opportunity to start building a rapid transit system for Winnipeg.

The federal government has said that the money must be used to implement the 2005 Rapid Transit Task Force recommendations (designated busways, other transit improvements) and/or bike paths.

The ball is now firmly in the court of the city and the province to decide how the money will be spent.

What isn't clear yet is whether this new federal cash infusion will go towards finally getting started on rapid transit for Winnipeg.

This window of opportunity could be lost if the funds are spent on replacement busses or recreational bike trails which may not even be located in the City of Winnipeg.

A key recommendation of the Mayor's Rapid Transit Task Force was to build designated busways starting with downtown to the University of Manitoba and also the eastern corridor.

Phase One of the busway would cut off nine to 10 minutes of travel time going from downtown to Jubilee, bypassing congestion on the Donald Street Bridge, in Osborne Village and at Confusion Corner.

Over $100 million of infill housing development would be stimulated in the Fort Rouge Yards where existing schools, recreational facilities and infrastructure are in place. The economic benefit of compact, sustainable infill development clearly brings both financial and environmental benefit.

Not everyone is aware that it has always been part of the bus rapid transit plan that true commuter bike lanes would be built alongside the transit bus ways.

Building BRT from downtown and ultimately to the University of Manitoba achieves both the goals of high-speed transit and of safe commuter cycling.

There are huge cost savings to be found by building commuter bike paths in conjunction with the bus way using railway lands.

In the case of the south corridor, trying to build a commuter bike path apart from the transit project requires taking away lanes of traffic on Pembina Highway, costs more and would do nothing to improve transit service.

The amount of these new federal funds that go to the City of Winnipeg is based on transit ridership which gives Winnipeg most of the money if the money is used for transit. However, if the money is used for recreational trails, the projects and the dollars could go anywhere in the province.

Focusing on a transit-related project gives Winnipeg a better deal.

There are, in fact, financing options that would make building rapid transit doable.

The cost of BRT from downtown to Jubilee is about $70 million, up from the $43 million it was in 2004. The longer it takes Winnipeg to get started on rapid transit, the more it will cost.

Assuming the federal funds are designated for BRT, the province and the city would need to each find $26 million to build the first phase of BRT from downtown to Jubilee.

Capital projects are usually built by financing them over 20 or 30 years. That is how the Chief Peguis Trail, the Disraeli Bridge and the widening of McGillivray Boulevard will be financed.

The new rapid transit reserve fund of $2.7 million that was established in the city budget should be used to fund capital investment in rapid transit.

One scenario could involve the province matching the city's contribution to the reserve fund each year. The fund could be used to pay the financing charges over a number of years, just as we do with our other capital projects.

The announcement of the new federal money is the perfect opportunity to get rapid transit back on track. The longer we wait to get started, the higher the costs of construction will be.

The price of gas will continue to rise. Greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced. A rapid transit system benefits all Winnipeggers by reducing traffic congestion and providing an environmentally friendlier, quick and reliable alternative mode of transportation

Winnipeg, our capital city, has an opportunity to be a leader and to plan for the future in a changing world.

There are ways to make this work if the mayor and the premier have the political will to make it happen.

Councillors Jenny Gerbasi and Mike Pagtakhan were members of the Mayor's Rapid Transit Task Force.

"The Public Works Department will be promoting active transportation options such as commuter cycling alternatives during the bridge closure. A sidewalk over the bridges and pedestrian and cycling connections to it will be maintained throughout the rehabilitation of the bridges. In addition, pedestrian and cycling routes that connect to the bridge, transit options, and cycling networks to downtown will be identified."

Cyclists are continuing to find excellent traction at City Hall, where Mayor Sam Katz’s cabinet has found another $500,000 to spend on bike corridors next year. Earlier this year, lobbying efforts by cycling and walking-trail groups helped convince the city to name planner Kevin Nixon the city’s first active-transportation co-ordinator, a new full-time position devoted to creating and connecting trails.

Then over the past two weeks, cycling and trail groups appeared before city council subcommittees to request more spending on commuter trails, stressing not just the environmental and health benefits, but the potential cost savings from reduced motor-vehicle wear-and-tear on roads.

While the 2008 capital budget already called for $1.5 million worth of spending on trails, council’s executive policy committee passed a budget amendment today calling for an additional $500,000 to be devoted to new active-transportation corridors.

The money will not flow until March, when Nixon is expected to complete a trail-creation report. But Katz said Nixon will need some money to work with once his plans are in place. “We all know we lag far behind the rest of Canada, if you take a look at the cycling infrastructure in other cities. We’re catching up, but we need to do more,” Katz said.

As recently as 2006, Winnipeg spent approximately $200,000 a year on trails. In 2007, that figure was increased to $1.5 million, with most of the money consumed by the creation of the Northeast Pioneers Greenway, the new commuter trail in East and North Kildonan.

The 2008 capital budget and six-year spending forecast calls for $1.5 million on spending to build new walkways and bike paths every year until 2013. The additional $500,000 announced on Wednesday is devoted to corridors, which could include new trails as well as new bike lanes on existing roads or more extra-wide curb lanes designed to be shared by cars and cyclists.

“The trails budget is useful for cyclists, but ultimately people start on the road,” said Anders Swanson, project co-ordinator for volunteer trail-advocacy group One Green City.

On Monday, a presentation by Swanson helped convince Katz’s cabinet to find a little extra cash in the tight capital budget.

“I’m not surprised. This is going to be very popular. With the price of gas, concerns about the environment and health issues like obesity and asthma, more and more people are cycling,” Swanson said.

In other capital budget amendments, EPC bumped up the city-wide accessibility program by $100,000, which means Winnipeg will spend $350,000 next year on the likes of new wheelchair ramps and curb cuts.

But EPC also cancelled a Public Works amendment that would have seen Panet Road and Molson Street added to the list of regional roads slated for improvements in 2008.

City council will debate the 2008 capital budget during a special session on Dec. 18.

"A sense grows that the electorate as a whole is defenseless against the leviathan state," writes Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor in his book The Ethics of Authenticity. "A well-organized and integrated partial grouping may, indeed, be able to make a dent, but the idea that the majority of the people might frame and carry through a common project comes to seem utopian and naive. So people give up."

Referring to the general malaise experienced by many living in Western democracies, Taylor points out that the common people feel detached from the processes whereby any meaningful action or change can take place in their societies. Rather than moping around like pessimistic teenagers, suggesting we should burn the system down, he insists instead that we should get active and bring the system back to life. This is exactly what happened this past Thursday, Oct. 11, in the Bulman Centre at the University of Winnipeg, where members of the cycling advocacy group Bike to the Future met to flex their socially concerned muscles at their second annual forum, "From Imagination to Creation: The Future of Cycling in Winnipeg."

Forum organizer Molly McCracken urged the over 200 cyclists gathered to speak up, take action, and make the city of Winnipeg a better place for cycling. "All of the knowledge is here in this room," she said, "and all of the right people are here in this room, so we have a lot of experience and knowledge because we ride our bikes and we know what it's like, so we can do it." With these confident, democracy-rousing words, the group split up into smaller groups according to area of specialization or interest to hash out the specifics.

To hope that such a small group of people could affect change could be called naive, but considering the concrete results of last year's forum, the word "ambitious" is much more fitting, no irony attached. Bike to the Future outlined some of the key successes in a press release earlier this month: "the city hired an Active Transportation Co-ordinator ... we expanded our trail systems ... and new zoning bylaws require bike racks in parking lots." Funding for trails also jumped this year from $200,000 to $1.7 million. Far from naivet�, it is informed optimism that set the goal for this year's forum, which was "to celebrate advances and explore options to create a future Winnipeg as a great cycling city."

To be sure, what happened at this event must happen elsewhere, but it was my first real experience of participatory democracy. While casting a vote in federal and provincial elections is technically referred to as participating in a democracy, it is nonetheless a very hands-off process with a very limited number of choices that doesn't seem to have much to do with me beyond placing a checkmark inside a box. The process at the forum was quite different and much more involved.

Participants split up into groups under broad category headings such as "Safety and Education," "Civic Issues," "Bikes and Police," "Sharing the Road," and "Mapping Galore." This is when participants could voice individual concerns and ideas which ranged from "how to prevent death while riding on ice" and "there's nowhere to lock my bike when I go to the salon on Academy" to "but I like going through stop signs" (that one was mine) and "drivers need to know that bikers are not as soft and durable as pillows." Everyone willing to speak was listened to, suggestions, ideas, and concerns were written down and then at the end of the small group sessions the top issues with greatest consensus were compiled and presented back to the entire gathering so that the group as a whole would know what they were about. Findings and recommendations are going to be presented to city council later this year.

Karin Kliewer, membership co-ordinator and city planning grad student, talked to me about the importance of consensus building in working for social change, but was realistic about the speed at which that sometimes happens. Citing an example given by one of her professors about the Quakers, she said: "They do everything by consensus building and it took them 90 years to build consensus that they were against slavery. Even then they were way ahead of actual thought at the time. But when they had finally built that consensus, they came out so strong and were such an active voice for it. So I think that groups like Bike to the Future, when we can slowly build a critical body, a critical mass, I think that's what will make the most difference."

Though the group still seems small, they've already accomplished quite a lot, and the larger critical body is actively growing. When the forum opened at 7 p.m., Bike to the Future had 175 members. When they shut down at 9:30 p.m., it was announced that membership had surpassed the 200 mark. Despite the obvious successes, Karin still emphasized that significant progress and growing membership does not automatically guarantee that the city will continue moving forward based on the recommendations of Bike to the Future, nor even on the recommendations of city planners. The final decisions end up being entirely in the hands of politicians.

But just because the final say is technically out of the people's hands, it does not mean that if a recommendation gets blocked people should give up and fall back into the apathy Charles Taylor describes. Politicians are supposed to represent the voice of the people and they can only do so if the people keep speaking loud enough to be heard, which is exactly what Bike to the Future is doing. Bolstering the confidence and resolve of the participants during an intermission at the forum, the Purple Pirate, children's performer and bicycling advocate, wore bright spandex and rhymed, "Expecting I was to peddle alone, all 900 kilometres away from home, people said, 'Not possible, to peddle that far without a car.' But I knew I could do it, I could see it in my mind. I trained for it daily and then I would find that people can talk only about what they know. People say, 'There are places you can't go, it isn't possible, you can't do it.' But I know better. I plan to prove it."

It's not just your handlebars you take in your hands when you get on your bicycle, but your life.

Last month was a particularly bad time to be a cyclist in the city.

During little more than a week, five cyclists were injured after tangling with vehicles. A Free Press carrier suffered fractures to her nose and jaw and a broken leg after being struck head-on by a car. A 16-year-old was treated for minor injuries after being hit, smashing the car's windshield. A 46-year-old broke an ankle after being hit by a motorist.

This past Monday, a 17-year-old was virtually uninjured after a Winnipeg Transit bus struck her and dragged her underneath the vehicle about 12 metres.

But last week, a 20-year-old bicyclist died from injuries after being struck by a car in an isolated area of Transcona while on his way to work.

The spate of collisions comes at a time when the city is beginning to greatly increase the number of kilometres of bike trails. After years of slowly putting in place features to help cyclists, earlier this year the city boosted its annual trail-creation budget from about $200,000 to $1.7 million.

Last month, this money resulted in the opening of Phase 1 of the Northeast Pioneers Greenway along a portion of the former CPR Marconi Line from Springfield Road south to Herbert Avenue. The city is also putting in bike trails beside Bishop Grandin and McGillivray boulevards.

The city has also appointed a civic bureaucrat as its first active transportation co-ordinator to set up a committee to advise on trails and to help plan new ones. But because so many bicyclists were recently hurt, the Free Press asked some key people their views on the state of bicycles and cycling in the city and what can be done to make things safer.

Kevin Miller, Co-chairman of Bike to the Future, a group representing the city's cyclists:

Miller said every bicyclist needs to be armed with skill and knowledge before venturing out on the city's streets.

He said that's why his group, which wants to make cycling safe in the city, is setting up a bike-riding safety program here.

"It's true -- and motorists say it all the time -- there are yahoo cyclists out there and that's a problem."

Miller said his group -- which is holding a forum about the future of cycling in the city at the University of Winnipeg's Bulman Student Centre on Oct. 11 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. -- is also meeting with the province to try adding bike safety to the education curriculum as they have in British Columbia.

But Miller said bicyclists also need to be supported and that's where the city comes in.

"The city's street system is designed to take motorists. To a great extent, transportation corridors like Pembina and Henderson fail cyclists."

Miller said when the city renovates its aging streets, it will include improvements designed for bikes, such as bike lanes. But, he said, sometimes the city has to be reminded, so his group makes sure it has members advising on the projects.

"We want it to get to the point that any time a street is done, the active transportation co-ordinator has to sign off on it before it goes ahead," he said. "Collisions will always occur, but hopefully they can be minimized."

Miller said the city's appointing of Kevin Nixon as the city's active transportation co-ordinator is a good sign.

"That is the most profound action the city has ever done to recognize bicycling is a legitimate type of transportation," he said.

On that note...

Brian Smiley, Manitoba Public Insurance:

Because Autopac is the insurer that has to pay out when a bicyclist is injured, it's in their best interests to provide safety tips to riders.

Smiley said that's why the insurer provides bicycle rodeos for children where they are provided with safety tips, including proper hand signals and rules of the road.

"One of the biggest tips is obeying the rules of the road," he said. "Follow stop signs and signals. And cyclists need to be very visible. You have to have a flashing light on your helmet or the back of your waist. You need very bright clothing."

Smiley said when bicyclists are injured by a motorist, whether or not they are at fault, MPI can assist them in several ways, including income replacement if they lose time from work or replacing broken glasses.

"If the bicyclist was not at fault, we will replace the bicycle, minus depreciation," he said.

Smiley said MPI will even pay out a benefit if the bicyclist is fatally injured.

Kevin Nixon, The city's active transportation co-ordinator:

Nixon said his role during his two-year secondment from the planning department is to focus on pedestrians, rollerbladers, skateboarders, and bicyclists. During that time, besides an advisory committee being set up, a detailed action plan with time-frames will be set up for trails and other bike needs through the city.

Nixon said most potential bike projects are still in the proposal stage, but next year the city will be looking at constructing the bike-trail portion of WinSmart from The Forks to the Jubilee underpass.

"It's a very green thing to do," he said. "It reduces greenhouse gases. It increases peoples' health.

"And safety is a big issue."

Nixon knows of what he speaks. He is an avid cyclist himself and while he might drive to work, most of the time his bike is in his trunk.

"Twenty years ago I bicycled to the University of Manitoba. A study has found that there is a cusp population that would cycle and walk to work if things were a bit different. We're trying to improve things that bit to get them to bicycle and walk."

Const Clyde Raven, Winnipeg Police Service:

Raven, who just completed his fourth year as part of the force's bike patrol unit, said he sees first-hand in front of his handlebars the interactions between bicyclists and motorists.

"Even we, as police officers, have to be very vigilant," Raven said. "Motorists don't give us a wide berth. Each summer, two or three times, I'm almost killed. Motorists just don't see cyclists and motorcycles."

Raven said many cyclists who are ticketed for riding on sidewalks can't believe it is against the law. The officers handed out about 100 tickets for bicycle infractions this year, out of a total of 2,000 offence notices issued for various offences. Under the Highway Traffic Act, it is illegal for bicycles with wheel diameters bigger than 16 inches (32 centimetres) to be ridden on a sidewalk.

"Every summer we get an old lady picked off by someone on a bike," he said.

"Everyone says it's too dangerous to ride on the road. Can it be dangerous? Yes, it can be, but what contributes to that? I think cyclists have a bad reputation and I think that's because many don't follow the rules of the road.

"Anybody breaking the law is giving all cyclists a bad name. If everyone followed the law, the public would learn to respect cyclists and give the cyclist a wide berth the next time they go by."

Raven said on the positive side, the unit did hand out more than 120 envelopes filled with $25 worth of Canadian Tire dollars to bicyclists they spotted following all the laws this summer.

And as for infrastructure, Raven, having pedalled through San Francisco last month during a fundraiser by several officers for the Children's Wish Foundation, said he appreciated the marking of a bike lane on major traffic routes through that city.

"The big, thick, white line on the pavement isn't a physical barrier, but it feels like it makes you safer," he said.

Ken Allen, Spokesman for Winnipeg Transit:

Allen said the city came up with a program to allow bicyclists to put their bikes on racks at the front of the vehicle and hop on the bus in 1999.

Since then, 35 transit buses have been outfitted with the racks for the 60 Pembina route, the only route that has them. The free program runs during the main bicycle season from May 1 to Oct. 31.

Allen said this route makes the most sense to have the bike racks on because it is the major one from downtown to the University of Manitoba.

"They are used by about one person per day," he said.

"There's room for these bike racks to be used more."

Neophyte cyclists are reminded to remove their bikes from the front of the bus because many forget the first time they use the service.

For more information about the bike and bus transit program, go to www.winnipegtransit.com/main/bikeandbus.jsp

Don't hit me, driver -- it'll delay your commute

Geoff Kirbyson

"Aren't you afraid of getting smoked by an SUV?" one of my editors asked me as I clicked my cycling shoes into my pedals.

"Every day," I replied. "Every day."

I've been riding my mountain bike to work from March to November for the last nine years. As a one-vehicle family, my wife and I have found this far easier than having to juggle our schedules and those of our two kids, Mia, 9, and Alex, 6, all year round.

I simply throw my work clothes in a backpack and head out for the 12-km trek every morning. It takes a little longer but it's cheaper than buying a second car. And I get an hour's worth of "free" cardio every day.

Some people pat me on the back for doing what's right for the environment, too. I don't tell them I used to love throwing Styrofoam into my parents' woodstove at Victoria Beach when I was a kid. (It burned such cool colours!)

Every cyclist on the road has his or her own reasons for being there. But the foundation of those reasons has no doubt been shaken over the past week as a half-dozen of our comrades-on-wheels have been felled, including one who was killed.

Just as with drivers, there are good and bad cyclists on the road. Most of us, though, have a very healthy fear of getting up close and personal with several thousand pounds of metal travelling 60 km -- and usually more -- per hour. We're well aware of the potential consequences of a wrong move. If you, car driver, make a mistake, you're probably booking an appointment with the body shop. If we make one, we're probably being rushed to the hospital. Or the morgue.

We do our best to hug the right-hand side of the road and we cringe when we feel the whoosh of wind as you whip by us. I believe technically we're entitled to an entire lane but we scooch over and recite the rosary under our breath rather than incite a riot of angry leadfoots behind us.

Most of us are unfailingly polite to drivers, too. We wave when you give us the right of way, motion us through or back off to keep us from having to jump up temporarily on to the sidewalk. But you forget all of us when one guy flips you the bird after a near-miss.

Sure, we're camouflaged by helmets, sunglasses and gear but everybody knows a cyclist. It could be a family member, friend, co-worker or neighbour -- or one of their kids. Think about them every time you rev up to pass a cyclist to save a few nanoseconds on your way to or from work.

And if time really is your motivation for throwing the fear of God into us, do a quick risk-reward evaluation. Sure, you might save a couple of steps once you get to your destination, but what if you hit one of us? What then? You've got to pull over, get out of your car and maybe even interrupt your important cellphone conversation to call 911 so we can get some medical attention.

What if some of our blood gets on your shirt as you peel us off your grill? That's two trips to the dry cleaner. And when the cops show up you'll have to give a statement, maybe even go to court.

All it takes is one accident to wipe out all the time you've saved from speeding by cyclists. So please slow down and we won't let our injuries keep you from getting where you want to go.

If the jam-packed bike racks at school this year are any indication, more and more people are choosing the bicycle as their preferred mode of transportation, yet Winnipeg still lacks any commuter-oriented cycling infrastructure.

A local advocacy group hopes all that is about to change.

Next Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7:00-9:30 p.m. Bike to the Future (BTTF) hosts its second annual forum in the Bulman Centre at the University of Winnipeg. This year's forum, "From Imagination to Creation: The Future of Cycling in Winnipeg," will include speakers, videos, information tables and discussion groups, and will once again be a venue for cyclists to have their voices heard.

"We see the annual forum as a way to hear from Winnipeg cyclists, to find out what they want," says Kevin Miller, BTTF's co-chair. "We need their feedback to help us develop goals and objectives for the coming year."

"They're our pulse," he adds.

This year's forum is made even more relevant by the city's recent cycling accidents. In the week leading up to the Uniter's press time, the W nnipeg Free Press reported at least three cyclists hit.

Winnipeg's cyclist accommodations have been trailing behind those of other Canadian cities. Ottawa, Edmonton and Montreal all boast a variety of on and off-road bike lanes and paths designed to facilitate year-round commuting, and Saskatoon's municipal government has been implementing its Comprehensive Bicycle Plan for five years now.

In fact, cities large and small all over North America have been including bikes in their transportation plans for years.

In Winnipeg, recreational trails along riverbanks that often don't take cyclists where they need to go present the bicycle largely as a toy.

Bike to the Future was formed to address this problem. In the summer of 2006, a small, dedicated group of people realized that the growing number of cyclists in Winnipeg lacked a collective voice.

In August of 2006 they organized the Bike to the Future forum to determine the needs of Winnipeg cyclists. The well-attended event was a chance for cyclists of all persuasions to voice their concerns and make suggestions on how to make Winnipeg more bike-friendly.

The forum produced a 20-page document outlining a vision for cycling in Winnipeg. It called for the inclusion of cyclists in future planning decisions and for the implementation of meaningful infrastructure such as on-road bike lanes.

As a result of the 2006 forum, BTTF was established as a year-round advocacy group, with monthly meetings open to anyone.

For the past year the organization has been busy lobbying all three levels of government to address the needs of cyclists. Creative approaches such as questionnaires for candidates in the recent provincial and municipal elections have put cycling issues in the media spotlight.

The group's website (www.biketothefuture.org) indicates that encouraging progress has already been made in a number of areas.

As a result of BTTF pressure, the city has adopted the Active Transportation Plan (developed in 2005) as official policy, and has hired a full-time ATP coordinator. The first stages of the federally-funded WinSmart path from the Forks to the U of M will begin construction this spring; and this month the city is experimenting with three shared bike lanes called Sharrows.

For more information about the upcoming forum, or to become a member of Bike to the Future, go to www.biketothefuture.org or visit them in person on the 3rd floor of 303 Portage Ave (above MEC).

As Winnipeggers, we like to think that we are completely dependent on our cars to get around. Sure, we'll occasionally take the bus (if the car is in the shop) or a cab (if we've had one too many Fort Garry Darks), but using any other transportation, especially in the downtown area, is a ludicrous thought. Heck, not driving from your office on Portage to a lunch rendezvous on Ellice is preposterous. Or is it?

There are an increasing number of urban dwellers and downtown office workers who are choosing an alternate transportation module - the bicycle. Not only healthier for you (you can't drink a double-double while cycling), bikes are also easier on the wallet, saving you money on gas and parking.

There's one problem that cyclists face, however, when they try to navigate the downtown streets. While designated bike paths exist in suburbia, they are harder to find in Winnipeg's business centre, wherea concrete jungle - chock full of screeching tires and honking horns - can be downright scary on a two-wheeler.

A new group of concerned citizens is trying to change all that. Bike to the Future (BTTF), as noted on their website (www.biketothefuture.org), is "a voluntary, inclusive group of concerned cyclists working to make cycling in Winnipeg a safe, enjoyable, accessible and convenient transportation choice year-round."

In describing the current situation for downtown cyclists, there are two main areas of focus, says BTTF co-chair Kevin Miller. First are the paths that run along riverbanks and streets like Assiniboine Avenue. Here, Miller sees that improvements can be made by making the smaller paths more connected to one another, giving cyclists a more linear route.

Second are inner streets like Kennedy, which can be problematic, as space to build a bikepath is at an undeniable premium, when you consider just how busy the streets and sidewalks already are with cares, buses, cabs, pedestrian and the inevitable daycare group.

But Miller and BTTF see a solution to the downtown biking dilemma: wider curb lanes and bike-specific lanes downtown.

These changes aren't really a stretch, says Miller, who points to cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver as examples of how proper planning can accommodate bike-only and bike-safe areas, even in high-traffic areas.

In campaigning for its cause, Bike to the Future has used the two-pronged method of approaching both the municipal and provincial governments to discuss changes to downtown roads. While the reaction to a survey given to all four provincial political parties did not meet expectations (the grades for each party can be seen on BTTF's website), the response from City Hall, says Miller, has been positive.

"The City of Winnipeg has been exceptional to work with, both at the political level and at the administrative level," Miller reports. "Our city committee has been very pleased with the number of meetings and other representation we've had with the City. Their attitude has been excellent and a lot of what they're doing is working. We can see that we're making great progress at the civic level."

It is quite possible, thanks to the efforts of active groups like BTTF, that Winnipeg's downtown will soon be a friendlier terrain for cyclists. The only question is, will our car culture adapt?

A provincial election is the perfect time to put politicians in the hot seat.

Especially the one normally occupied by bicycle riders.

I mean, given cyclists in this city built for green-house-gas belching motor vehicles are risking their lives every time they take to major arteries.

So it was that Bike to The Future -- "an advocacy group for cycling as everyday transportation" -- created a series of questions they've asked the provincial parties to answer.

Mark Cohoe, of Bike to the Future, forwarded them to me after reading last week's column (Slow lane is what city needs, and fast, April 26) about Ainsley Hutchings, the 22-year-old cyclist who was literally tossed to the curb by a Transit bus earlier this spring.

Cohoe's e-mail was one of many generated by Hutchings' story. They came from cyclists and bus drivers alike.

They complained, not surprisingly, about each other's lack of care and courtesy on the road and in the curb lanes they are forced to share with each other.

All the more reason to separate big buses in a hurry from vulnerable cyclists by creating a slow lane for bikes.

Anyway, here for starters is what Bike to the Future wants the NDP, Tories and Liberals to answer:

"Do you agree that increased use of bicycles as everyday transportation for work, shopping or other travel is desirable for environmental, health and/or economic reasons, and that the province should develop a provincial policy and support the use of bicycles as transportation?"

In other words, "Do you believe in motherhood? OK, How about David Suzuki?"

But how do we convince a civic government to create a network of bike lanes when it can't even afford to keep up with maintaining the crumbling, pothole-pitted roads we do have?

The answer is, we make it a budget priority for a province that -- according to Premier Gary Doer's promise -- is going to make going green the law of the land if he's re-elected.

It doesn't even have to be all that costly. If you don't believe me, how about an expert. Lindsay Gauld is the former Olympic cyclist turned bike courier who bikes around the city for a living.

"I have some short term solutions," he wrote, "which would involve little capital expenditures as that seems to be a major sticking point.

"1. Extend the Diamond lanes during rush hour on the major arteries.

"2. Paint white bike lanes about three-feet out from the curb on major arteries. Our lanes are at least 12-feet wide and this came about during the era of the big boats that Detroit produced. With the exception of the proliferation of Hummers and similar other SUVs, cars are much smaller now."

And then there was a suggestion from a reader named Delaney Earthwalker. He wants to put politicians to try the real hot seat.

"I challenge Winnipeg's councillors and the mayor to ride a bike on the city streets -- alone and unescorted -- for the equivalent of one day. I expect their inaction concerning bike lanes would change dramatically."

Go ride in the traffic, Mr. Mayor.

I kinda like the sound of that.

No PST on bikes, promised Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen Sunday. Starting in April, 2008 - assuming the Tories form government - McFadyen will make all new bicycles PST-free in an effort to improve the environment and promote active lifestyles.

That will cost the government an estimated $2.4 million a year. Meanwhile, the Tories will boost bike path funding to the city of Winnipeg by another $3 million to help build more commuter paths and recreational trails.

A PST break has been a theme throughout the Tory campaign so far. First McFadyen pledged to cut the PST from 7 per cent to 6 per cent. Then he offered an additional three points off the PST for fuel efficient cars and SUVs. Now he's added bikes to the mix.

"We thought, if we're offering a PST rebate on fuel-efficient cars, we should go a step further and extend that to bicycles," said McFadyen at a campaign announcement Sunday at Gord's Ski and Cycle shop on Kenaston Boulevard.

Several years ago, when McFadyen was senior advisor to Mayor Sam Katz, the city abandoned a long-planned rapid transit line to the University of Winnipeg that would have included a commuter bike path connecting downtown and the campus.

McFadyen, who biked to the event, said he'd bike to work if there were showers at the Manitoba legislature, but he tries to cycle for fun when he can.

Adding it Up

PC - April 29 - $5.4 million - To build bike paths in the city and exempt new bikes from the PST.

It's been over a month now since a 22-year-old Osborne Village resident sat down one Saturday morning and dashed off an e-mail describing how she and her bike were almost run over by a bus.

"Hit and Run Transit driver," the subject line read.

The letter from Ainsley Hutchings went on to explain that at about 3:45 p.m. on Friday, March 16, she had been cycling south on Osborne when she stopped at Broadway for a red light.

Ainsley was in the diamond lane that's reserved for transit buses.

And, yes, bicycles.

In fact there was a big orange bus stopped right behind her.

Ainsley picks up this story from here.

"When the light turned green, I proceeded across the intersection. The bus came very close to me; I was less than a foot from the curb. Because of the lack of space, I couldn't even turn my handlebars to get up on the curb.

"I was trapped."

Then she felt the passing bus make contact.

And she fell, screaming.

Instinctively, Ainsley tucked her head in to protect it. She could see the bus's back wheels coming toward her.

"I remember thinking, 'This is the worst way to die, I won't see my family or friends anymore.' "

The next thing she saw was the bus driving off up Osborne. "I was expecting the driver to stop, but he didn't."

She struggled to her feet and screamed for help.

There were witnesses who managed to help her and to get the number of the bus. Ainsley wound up in hospital where her wounds were cleaned and she was released.

"Luckily," she wrote, "I had no life-threatening injuries. However, if the bus had been an inch or two closer to me, my parents could have been planning my funeral today."

Ainsley went on to say the experience reminded her that not everyone is accepting of cyclists sharing the road.

"There is an enormous power differential between a cyclist and a bus driver," she wrote. "In this situation, the driver's lack of respect for my vulnerability could have cost me my life."

At last report, police hadn't completed their investigation.

Meanwhile, a transit official informed her they had taken "action" against the driver. They wouldn't say what.

Transit did tell her this: The driver acknowledged seeing someone on the bike, but lost track of the cyclist while passing. Of course, what happened to Ainsley points to the larger issue, which she addressed in her own way:

"With all of the controversy regarding climate change and the emphasis on reducing emissions, people need to feel that choosing cycling is a positive option, not a dangerous one."

That reminds me. It's all very family friendly to build suburban bike paths to, through and around parks. But as the green age dawns, it's time for Winnipeg to start planning and building networks of bicycles lanes. Emission-free, exercise-inviting, safe passage on our major arteries.

Last summer, Free Press editor Bob Cox wrote from personal cycling experience about riding his bike to work in Ottawa, Toronto and even Edmonton, which all have central arteries designated for bikes and pedestrians.

Cox concluded: "Many of our wide streets could easily accommodate bike-only paths, if we sacrifice some room now devoted to motor vehicles."

All we need, I submit, is a mayor to steer us into the urban transit future.

That would be the slow lane.

For bikes only.

Mind you, that last city councillor to champion bike lanes was Donald Benham. And you know what happened to him during the last election. The mayor borrowed a Big Blue bus from the provincial Tory machine shop.

And ran him over.

CYCLING activists pedalled away from city hall with smiles on their sunburned faces after city councillors approved $1.7 million worth of trail construction projects and agreed to dedicate a city staffer to create even more trails.

But one of the new projects has infuriated the city's top trail-builder, who accused Charleswood Coun. Bill Clement of abusing his power as chairman of council's public works subcommittee by funnelling trail-creation funds into his own ward.

On Tuesday, the four-member committee approved the flow of funds for three new bike and pedestrian paths: the first phase of the Marconi Line in northeast Winnipeg, an extension of the Bishop Grandin Freeway and a new separated sidewalk along McGillivray Boulevard in Whyte Ridge.

In a related move, the committee also agreed to implement several key recommendations from the Active Transportation Study, a trail-building blueprint adopted by city council as policy 15 months ago.

The recommendations include hiring a full-time trail co-ordinator to plan new trails and assemble a committee of experts to serve as trail advisers.

After years of relative city inaction, the sudden movement at city hall -- facilitated in part by boosting the city's annual trail creation budget from about $200,000 to $1.7 million -- left long-time cycling activists such as Kevin Miller praising both politicians and city staff, "Things are happening. They weren't happening before. Five years ago, we were dismissed as a small minority," said Miller, who visited city hall on Tuesday to observe pro-bike trail presentations made by cycling organizations, the Manitoba Medical Association and the Winnipeg Trails Association.

Trails Association director Janice Lukes was also happy with the new trail measures, except for the plan to spend $380,000 on new separated sidewalk along McGillivray Boulevard in Whyte Ridge.

She said the $380,000 would be better spent on a trail in a higher-population corridor on the east side of the Red River -- and accused committee chairman Bill Clement of directing the project into his own ward, which encompasses Whyte Ridge.

"I wish everyone lived in Charleswood. I wish Charleswood encompassed the whole city," said Lukes, noting Clement has successfully encircled his ward with five trails costing a total of at least $1.6 million over the past four years.

"I know this (McGillivray Boulevard sidewalk) is being slipped in now, because when a bike-trail co-ordinator comes in, they wouldn't go for it."

Clement shot back that there would be no new trail-creation money if he didn't insist the funding increase from $200,000 to $1.7 million during the capital budget process.

"I'm really sorry we're not living up to (Janice Lukes') expectations, but nobody made her queen of the trails. And I'm not going to apologize to anybody for building bicycle trails and linking my entire community," he said.

Happy trails

Bike path/walking-trail construction projects approved by council's public works subcommittee on Tuesday:

Marconi Line (East and North Kildonan): $1.2 million to begin construction of the first leg of what will be the city's longest bike path and walking trail, Phase One will involve paving a 3.5-metre-wide asphalt trail along the former CPR Marconi Line, from Talbot Avenue to Springfield Road.

Bishop Grandin Greenway (St. Vital): $100,000 to extend an asphalt pedestrian/bike path on the south side of Bishop Grandin, from the Seine River to Shorehill Drive.

McGillivray Boulevard (Whyte Ridge): $380,000 to create separated bike and walking lanes on a new sidewalk alongside McGillivray Boulevard, from Columbia Drive to Brady Road.

WINNIPEG is poised to buy a 6.7-kilometre stretch of unused railway in the northeast quadrant of the city to build a bike path -- and future rapid-transit corridor -- all the way from the inner city to East St. Paul.

DESPITE a drastic increase in proposed city spending on bike and pedestrian paths, almost all the money set aside this year to create new trails will be spent on a single project.

The 2007 capital budget calls for the city to spend $1.5 million on new recreational trails, up 750 per cent from slightly less than $200,000 in 2006.

But most of the new cash will be consumed by plans to build a 6.7-kilometre path along the former Marconi rail line through East and North Kildonan, which the city is purchasing from the Canadian Pacific Railway in a $1.7-million deal brokered by businessman John Buhler.

"Marconi is a fairly long path and that will consume a big chunk of the budget," said Bill Larkin, director of the city's public works department.

He said it's possible some funds will be reserved to build a trail alongside McGillivray Boulevard, which the city plans to widen at a cost of $11.5 million.

But the city won't know for certain what Winnipeg trails will be built this year until it becomes clear how much of the $1.5-million trail-creation kitty will be devoted to the Marconi Line.

Winnipeg cycling activists, whose representatives appeared before Mayor Sam Katz's cabinet on Jan. 17, are praising the increased trail funding, which comes close to the $1.7-million target they had requested.

That figure is supposed to represent a proportion of annual city roadwork spending that's equal to the proportion of Winnipeggers who commute to work by bike versus all commuters.

Now, the cycling activists would like to see the city develop a framework for future trail creation so the new money can be spent wisely and efficiently.

"We have $1.5 million, but we don't have a plan," said Rob Cosco, a spokesman for activist group Bike to the Future.

During the summer of 2006, three cycling-activism groups -- Bike to the Future, SPIN and the more radical Critical Mass -- all drew attention to the inadequate state of city bike trails, stressing it is not safe for cyclists to share major commuter routes with motorists.

Bike to the Future also appealed to council's public works subcommittee to ensure there are bike lanes on the Disraeli Freeway, once $91 million worth of repairs slated for 2008 and 2009 is completed.

Katz's finance-policy adviser said the cyclists will likely get their wish, at least in the short term.

Tentative repair plans for the Disraeli Freeway will see the 1.1-kilometre bridge and overpass widened from four to six lanes, with the outside space reserved for cyclists and pedestrians, the adviser said.

If traffic demands increase, those lanes will be converted into vehicle lanes, while cyclists and pedestrians will be diverted elsewhere, he said.

One way northeast-Winnipeg bike commuters could reach downtown without using the Disraeli Freeway would be a future trail connection between the south end of the Marconi Lane and a new trail slated for Old St. Boniface.

Scheduled repairs to the Disraeli Freeway would be an excellent opportunity to make the bridges accessible to avid cyclists, a Transcona resident has told local councillors.

"The bridge is extremely unsafe and inconvenient for cyclists," Kevin Miller told councillors Lillian Thomas (Elmwood-East Kildonan), Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) and Russ Wyatt (Transcona) during the Nov. 21 East Kildonan-Transcona Community Committee meeting.

ìThe Disraeli for cycling is absolutely atrocious.î Miller said he cycles to work every day, but prefers to take the newer Provencher Bridge, which was built with specific lanes for cyclists.

The Disraeli, he said, is one of the most narrow-laned bridges in the city, with no room for cyclists and the only one that does not have a barrier to protect pedestrians from traffic.

ìWhat I would like to learn today is a little bit more about the scope of the work (to be done) on the Disraeli bridge,î said Miller, who was also the cycling consultant during the planning of the new Provencher and offered his expertise for the Disraeli planning.

Coun. Thomas said she agreed with Miller, adding that her husband, who is an avid cyclist, prefers to take a longer route from their East Kildonan home to go over the Louise Bridge than try the ìkamikazeî route over the Disraeli.

Thomas said the Cityís 2007 capital budget includes just under $2 million towards the Disraeli refurbishing project, with more funding expected in the 2008 capital budget.

As part of this project, community consultations will take place to get feedback from residents as to what changes they would like to see, added Thomas, who is also a member of the Cityís public works committee.

Carl Sitarz, a traffic analyst in the Cityís public works department, said there is limited opportunity to expand the laneways without dramatically increasing the cost of the rehabilitation project, but bridge designers are looking at that possibility and will likely take into account a number of options in consultation with the public.

During this meeting, councillors Thomas, Wyatt and Browaty also passed a motion stating that rehabilitation plans for the Disraeli should include community consultations and be in keeping with the 2005 Active Transportation Study, which encourages cycling in the city.

THE city has cobbled together $13 million to build a new bike path, install high-tech gadgets on city buses and even curb truck traffic.

The cash has been in limbo for three years, but a deal was finally announced Friday. It will help the city buy two new hybrid electric buses and install new GPS tracking devices on all city buses so riders know exactly when their connections will arrive.

And it will fund a new bike trail from The Forks to the Jubilee underpass -- the first step toward a commuter path to the University of Manitoba, which is the single biggest demand of the city's vocal cyclists.

The cash will also kickstart pilot projects to shrink truck congestion and boost the use of environmentally friendly biodiesel in city fleet vehicles.

The deal was announced by politicians from all three levels of government, including Minister of Justice Vic Toews and provincial Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross.

The shopping list of projects, called WinSmart, are all meant to curb the city's greenhouse gas emissions.

"WinSmart will make transit, cycling and walking more competitive and more attractive," said Mayor Sam Katz. "We're now trying to catch up with other cities."

Ottawa chipped in about $3.5 million but Winnipeg is spending the most at about $8.7 million. The province is spending $847,000, mostly earmarked to improve trucking routes.

The fix-ups should start to appear next year and must be completed by the fall of 2008.

Three years ago, when the city began working on the WinSmart funding deal, the projects were originally meant to compliment a bus rapid transit system, including a bike path that ran beside the planned bus corridor down Pembina Highway. The BRT plan was postponed when Katz redirected the funding to community clubs.

Katz rejected the suggestion that WinSmart funding is an excuse to delay the big ticket item -- the first leg of BRT connecting the U of M to the downtown. Instead, said Katz, the new cash helps remedy years of neglect of the transit system.

Cycling advocate Kevin Miller, one of the leaders of Bike to the Future, said he's impressed by WinSmart's signature element -- the first leg of the bike path to the University of Manitoba.

"This is a very good start," said Miller. "What has been achieve in the last four, six months has been great."

Politicians jumped on the bike path bandwagon during last month's civic election after some high-profile cycling protest in the spring catapulted the issue onto city hall's agenda.

There's new plans to build a bike path through East Kildonan along the old Marconi rail line, and advocates of recreational trails are making steady progress connecting isolated sections of paths.

City parks and paths planner Kevin Nixon said the exact route between The Forks and Jubilee is still up for debate. It's slated to cut through Lord Roberts, but cyclists like Miller would rather see it bypass neighbourhoods and traffic lights by hugging the CN Rail line through Confusion Corner as much as possible.

Nixon said he's open to that idea, and any others cyclists may have. He's hoping to launch public consultations as soon as possible. What is WinSmart?

It's the moniker given to a collection of eight major projects meant to help improve air quality, boost transit ridership and build bike paths.

It's worth $13 million, most of that city cash. It's been in the works for three years as city hall dithered with the federal government over which projects deserved cash and how much. What are The Projects?

• A biodiesel fueling station to test how heavy duty city vehicles like sanders function in cold weather when they're powered partly by vegetable oil and animal fats. As many as 40 city vehicles will run on biodiesel when the station open in June. Cost: $558,000.
• Hybrid electric buses that run just like the Toyota Prius. Two will be on the streets in about a year on the 60, 61 and 62 routes to the University of Manitoba. They'll be the so-called "bendy buses" that can carry more passengers than the regular buses. Cost: $2.5 million.
• Park and Ride station at the Manitoba Hydro headquarters on Taylor Avenue. Cost: $366,000.
• Downtown street signs and sidewalk map kiosks to help tourists find attractions more easily and navigate traffic nightmares such as Confusion Corner. Cost: $465,000.
• GPS satellite bus locator system so Winnipeg Transit knows exactly where each bus is, which ones are late and which routes need more service. The GPS trackers will be installed on all 535 city buses starting next year. That's partnered with electronic signs at about 100 major stops so people can find out when their connection is due. Those signs will be installed in 2008 at shopping centres, the Graham Avenue transit mall, school and university stops and many others. The GPS system will also allow riders to get real-time schedules on their cell phones or blackberries to find how exactly when their bus will arrive. Cost: $1.6 million.
• A bike path from The Forks to the Jubilee underpass, hopefully paved instead of gravel. One possible route runs from The Forks along the Red River to Brandon Avenue, then cuts across Lord Roberts to the Fort Rouge rail yards and south to Jubilee. Cost: $940,000.
• Trucking efficiencies. The province will explore ways to improve freight and scheduling practices, such as scheduling deliveries on off-peak hours to prevent traffic jams, making delivery routes more efficient so trucks aren't driving around empty and finding the fastest routes through the city. It also means finding ways to boost e-commerce so people buy more online instead of driving from store to store. Cost: $225,000.
• A marketing campaign to find out why people don't take the bus or bike and promoting those options. Cost: $330,000
• Monitoring emissions reductions to see which projects work best at curbing pollution. Cost: $223,000

THE city, province and federal government are finally making good on a promise to build a bicycle and pedestrian path to connect downtown Winnipeg with the University of Manitoba.

About $900,000 in funding has been secured to pay for the first leg of a commuter trail that will loosely parallel Pembina Highway, a busy route bicycle commuters regard as the most dangerous in Winnipeg.

The first leg of the trail will connect The Forks to Jubilee Avenue, federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, senior Manitoba MP Vic Toews and Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz are expected to announce Friday morning at The Forks Market.

The trail funding will be part of a wider set of announcements about plans to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and make transportation more environmentally friendly in Winnipeg.

Officially known as WinSmart, this bundle of plans was first announced by Ottawa's former Liberal government, the province and the city in 2003.

It was originally slated to include $14.4 million worth of improvements to transit, incentives for energy-efficient car and truck use and an uninterrupted foot-and-bike path to parallel a Bus Rapid Transit corridor along Pembina Highway.

WinSmart has largely been in limbo since Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz cancelled the Pembina bus corridor months after he first took office in 2004. In 2005, Winnipeg was forced to return more than $2 million in funding for the program because the city could no longer meet the funding criteria.

Then this January, the election of a new federal government delayed implementation on most of the WinSmart projects. Now, the Conservatives in Ottawa are on board.

City hall sources say Friday's WinSmart announcement will include a variety of programs, the most notable being the first leg of the Pembina bike-and-pedestrian trail.

Cycling activists are pleased to see some real money backing up the long-delayed promise, but remain skeptical until they see the final route.

"I'm happy to see they're moving forward on WinSmart. It's been many years in the making. But until we know the exact route, whether it will be uninterrupted and what kind of public consultation there will be, I can't really comment," said Molly McCracken, a co-ordinator with cyclists' organization Bike To The Future.

McCracken said initial plans for a bike trail through East Kildonan along the former Marconi rail line called for cyclists to stop almost every block, which would not be popular.

She is also concerned the new Forks-to-Jubilee trail will veer too far to the east into Fort Rouge, providing an indirect route for commuters who ride between downtown and the University of Manitoba.

Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, whose ward contains the entire first leg of the trail, said she's pleased to see something come out of the long-dormant WinSmart plan.

But she would prefer to see the beginning of a Bus Rapid Transit corridor built at the same time as the bike and pedestrian trail.

"If we hadn't killed the Bus Rapid Transit plan, we would already have a trail in place (along Pembina Highway). But it's good they're doing something," Gerbasi said.

BILLIE-JO Strickland-Masson was a diminutive young woman with a big heart and the widest, brightest grin in the room, her grieving family said after she was struck by a car and died Friday night. The 20-year-old was crossing Fermor Avenue at the intersection of Autumnwood Drive while riding her bicycle. While police continue to investigate the tragic collision, it appears Strickland-Masson cycled through a red light. Her aunt, Patrol Sgt. Shelly Glover of the Winnipeg Police Service, said family members are in a state of shock.

"She was a beautiful child... just a wonderful person," Glover said. "There are so many things we are going to miss about her. She was such an important part of our family."

Though she was 20, Strickland-Masson could have easily passed for 14 because of her slight stature and a learning disability.

But her perseverance helped her get past some special needs challenges, as she graduated from Windsor Park Collegiate, held part-time jobs and recently moved out of Glover's home into her own suite in West Kildonan.

Strickland-Masson leaves to mourn her mother Shannon, stepfather Mark, two sisters and a brother and a large extended family.

"She was a typical naive girl who would give you the shirt off her back," Glover said. "She had a big heart. She always wanted to share things. She was driven by her faith."

Strickland-Masson was a dedicated member of House of the Rising Sun Ministries on Machray Avenue, often greeting people as they arrived Sunday mornings.

And she cycled everywhere.

"That was her thing. She cycled all over the city," Glover said. "That's what we don't understand... why she crossed when she did."

The collision occurred around 10 p.m. Friday.

Witnesses said the car was heading west on Fermor and proceeding through the intersection on a green light when the collision happened.

The victim was not wearing a helmet, witnesses said.

Her mangled bike lay near the boulevard, not far from a silver Oldsmobile Alero with a portion of its front windshield smashed.

An off-duty paramedic near the scene of the crash raced from his vehicle to help the victim, as did two other people who later told witnesses they were lifeguards.

Strickland-Masson died after being transferred to St. Boniface General Hospital.

Police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput said charges will likely not be laid against the driver, who remains distraught over what happened.

"We don't hold blame," Glover added. "My heart goes out to them... it was an accident."

Winnipeg police are reminding cyclists to take proper precautions crossing at intersections.

Strickland-Masson had just started a new job at the McDonald's restaurant on Fermor two weeks ago.

She didn't work Friday night, but had visited the restaurant and was heading home when the collision occurred.

A company employee said the chain is fundraising to pay for flowers for her funeral and will hold a memorial in her honour.

Strickland-Masson previously worked at the Tim Hortons on Beaverhill Boulevard.

They've knocked on doors, dropped pamphlets in the mail and hammered signs into the earth all over town. Fifty-two city council candidates have spent the past two months trying to get our attention, all in the (possibly vain) hope of raising awareness about Wednesday's city-wide vote.

With only three days to go before the big day, here's what's happened so far:

HOTTEST ISSUE BESIDES ROADS AND COPS

The environment. While green ideas usually come to the forefront between elections, all three serious mayoral candidates have painted their campaigns in tones of emerald and chartreuse. Green rooftops, natural lawns and energy-efficient city buildings are coming to Winnipeg, regardless of who wins the mayor's race, and council candidates have been put on notice, too.

MOST IGNORED ISSUE

Harnessing aboriginal growth. Although mayoral candidates Kaj Hasselriis and Marianne Cerilli have paid some lip service to the city's fastest-growing demographic, no council candidate has really embraced the aboriginal community -- or adequately addressed its concerns.

NEW CANDIDATES WHO'VE SHONE BRIGHTLY

Salter, De Groot and Zyla. They were largely unknowns before Labour Day, but they've sparkled since then -- confident and thoughtful Don Salter in Daniel McIntyre, professional and smart Kelly de Groot in St. Charles and hard-working Jennifer Zyla in River Heights.

NASTIEST WARD RACE

River Heights-Fort Garry. Most political junkies predicted St. Boniface would be the race to watch, given the contrast between flamboyant incumbent Franco Magnifico and far-less-chippy challenger Dan Vandal, who used to own the seat. But the polite veneer of upscale River Heights has crumbled away, thanks to incumbent Donald Benham's credit card woes and challenger Brenda Leipsic's endorsement by Benham's nemesis, Mayor Sam Katz.

BIGGEST RIVALRY BETWEEN TWO CHALLENGERS

Cerilli vs. Hasselriis. Mayoral candidates Marianne Cerilli and Kaj Hasselriis both dislike urban sprawl, Sam Katz -- and each other. Instead of ganging up on the incumbent mayor, these two have wasted valuable energy trying to establish themselves as the voice of progressive voters.

MOST OVERUSED PLATITUDE

"The children are our future." Oh, puh-lease -- as if any candidate doesn't like children. This vapid little homily has slithered out of the mouths of candidates across the political spectrum, from River Heights candidate Brenda Leipsic to Marianne Cerilli.

MOST EFFECTIVE LOBBY GROUP

Winnipeg cyclists. The city's pathetic bike-trail infrastructure is an unlikely election issue, but organized and disorganized cyclist groups have managed to pedal their displeasure onto the agenda. Even Katz is paying lip service to more bike trails.

MOST INEFFECTIVE LOBBY GROUP

OlyOpp. Back in April, the fledgling OlyOpp group promised to bring the hammer down on city councillors who voted in favour of the OlyWest hog plant deal. But the group didn't endorse any candidates until October -- and then declined to back up its entire slate with cash.

MOST IMPRESSIVE DISAPPEARING ACT

Katz's honourary campaign co-chairs -- rapper Fresh IE and curler Jennifer Jones: "Yo, yo, yo/We wuz supposed to stump for Katz/Hurry hard, hurry hard/Now we be tough to locates."

PRETTIEST CAMPAIGN SIGN

Re-elect Donald Benham. Employing gold, black and teal with homes and trees in silhouette, the embattled River Heights incumbent makes a great impression. Honourable mention to North Kildonan challenger James Viehweg's diamond-shaped markers.

UGLIEST CAMPAIGN SIGN

Re-elect Mike Pagtakhan. Purple text against a white background makes for a nice bake-sale banner, but doesn't do it for the Point Douglas incumbent.

BIGGEST MYSTERIES

St. Boniface and River Heights. Will it be flamboyant Franco or detached Dan? Can Donald survive a double-Tory pile-on from Brenda and Jennifer? For answers to these questions and more, go to the polls on Oct. 25.

CITY police are investigating the death of a 20-year-old woman who was struck by a car while crossing Fermor Avenue at Autumnwood Drive on her bicycle on Friday night.

The collision occurred around 9:50 p.m. Witnesses said the car was heading west on Fermor and proceeding through the intersection on a green light when the collision happened.

The victim was not wearing a helmet, witnesses said.

Her mangled bike lay near the boulevard, not far from a silver Oldsmobile Alero with a portion of its front windshield smashed.

Alain Touchette, 18, was at the intersection, facing south on Autumnwood waiting for the light to change, when a terrible scene unfolded before his eyes.

"I saw a girl flying high through the air, followed by her bike," he said.

An off-duty paramedic also waiting at the intersection raced from his vehicle to help the victim, as did two other people who later told witnesses they were lifeguards, Touchette said.

Emergency crews quickly arrived at the scene and took over the lifesaving effort.

"The worst thing was watching the paramedic over top of her, giving her CPR," said Marc Bellavance, 17, a passenger in Touchette's car.

"I didn't hear a word from her... it was gut-wrenching."

The woman died after being transfered to the St. Boniface Hospital.

Police traffic collision analysts were expected to be at the intersection for several hours, and westbound traffic on Fermor was re-routed through Windsor Park.

The stretch of Fermor is marked as a 70-km/h zone.

DURING the waning days of a civic election, you can expect to see three things: mud-slinging, sign vandalism and much less obnoxiously, a bevy of candidate surveys.

On Thursday, the results of three such questionnaires were released by organizations campaigning for better bike trails, the re-establishment of a police commission and improving downtown Winnipeg.

Here's the Coles Notes version of their findings:

Bike trails

ONE of the big surprises in 2006 has been all the attention paid to Winnipeg's substandard bike-trail infrastructure. As a result, mayoral candidates Sam Katz, Marianne Cerilli and Kaj Hasselriis have all pledged to make improvements.

To gauge how serious Winnipeg's 52 mayoral and council candidates are about cycling, a group calling itself Bike To The Future sent them all a four-point survey about the likes of trail-creation funding and the implementation of the recommendations of Winnipeg's largely ignored Active Transportation Study.

Katz received a C grade, while Hasselriis and Cerilli both earned As. Nine council candidates also received top marks, including Fort Rouge incumbent Jenny Gerbasi, Daniel McIntyre incumbent Harvey Smith, Mynarski challenger Paul Emmer and all six Winnipeg Green Party candidates.

"We're excited to see so much support for cycling, but the specific (amount of) support varies from candidate to candidate," said Bike To The Future spokeswoman Molly McCracken.

But she was disappointed that two of Winnipeg's more bike-friendly city councillors -- River Heights Coun. Donald Benham and Point Douglas Coun. Mike Pagtakhan did not respond.

Police commission

ANOTHER low-key but significant issue this year is whether city hall should re-establish a civilian body to oversee the Winnipeg Police Service. Tom Simms, of the Community Education Development Association, has led a coalition of 29 inner-city groups in a push for a police commission. He sent a survey to all 52 candidates, asking them simply if they would like to see an inter-governmental committee issue a feasibility report about a police commission before April 2007.

Among the candidates who responded, only three were dead-set against the idea: mayoral hopeful Ron Pollock and St. James candidates Jae Eadie and Fred Morris.

"Overall, the candidates who responded are interested in pursuing the idea of a police commission," Simms said.

But seven candidates only expressed conditional support, while Katz said he would prefer to see the results of a report his cabinet has already requested.

Downtown Winnipeg

FINALLY, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ sent a seven-point questionnaire to Winnipeg's mayoral candidates and the five council hopefuls vying to represent the city's two downtown wards, Fort Rouge and Daniel McIntyre.

Given the open-ended nature of the questionnaire, most candidates took the opportunity to cut-and-paste previous campaign promises into their responses to queries about the likes of downtown housing and crime-reduction. Still, BIZ executive director Stefano Grande said he was satisfied with the survey.

Safe commuting by bicycle has increasingly been recognized as a major issue for Winnipeg cyclists, including U of M students. With the 2006 civic election coming up, political leaders are proposing ways to improve this method of transportation.

BIKE AT YOUR OWN RISK

On average, 175 cyclists are injured and two die each year, according to David Patten of Manitoba Public Insurance. The most common injuries are broken bones and head-related injuries. Moreover, 190 bicycles are damaged in motor vehicle collisions and the average cost of a bicycle claim is about $6,047.

The route from downtown to the U of M can be especially difficult. Mike McKee of the Manitoba Cycling Association described bikecommuting routes to the U of M as ìnon-existent.î

ìRight now the route that is designated to go up to the University of Manitoba from downtown is Pembina Highway,î said McKee. ìAnd you know as well as I do that anytime during rush hour it is absolutely ridiculous and itís not safe at all.î