Winter Walking and Cycling

[danbrotherston]

I may just be repeating some of what others said but a couple of my thoughts were:

There really seems to be a sense on this issue from council that there is some group (I assume they think it's Tri-TAG, but I don't know) that is skewing the results of the survey. This was mentioned when this went to council last year and it seems suggested in the staff report when it refers to the responses not being statistically representative. I find this extremely frustrating as it feels that my own thoughts and responses are being tossed away because they mirror an advocacy group (To be clear, this is not the fault of any of the advocacy groups, but rather council/staff's reaction to the responses).

Yes, I, as someone who has no relationship with TriTAG beyond subscribing to a mailing list, was, frankly, offended by the dismissal of my many hours of time spent at council waiting to speak on this issue....shame on that councillor, who now denies saying that, despite being on video, READING a prepared response. It was no misstatement.

If they proceed with a survey this year, I really hope it is done well. I worry that people who rarely walk/cycle will be surveyed and feel that sidewalk clearing is just fine. I know there was a #lovemyhood survey done a few years back that suggested that people who rarely cycled believed that our cycling infrastructure was good to excellent. Whereas folks who cycled often...had other thoughts. I worry the same could happen here.

I'd love to know how/when it's decided if this goes to full council. If it's only presented at committee (with a meeting in the middle of the day, making it challenging for many people to attend) that's unfortunate.

I'm going to do my best to attend Monday's committee meeting but will be late due to work. Anyone else attending? Speaking?

I will be going to committee to speak on this issue, and I will try to be only moderately blunt and angry about it. I have spoken to councillors who say that it will go to full council but one suggested now was the best time...hope you can make it, but for those who cannot, still worth calling/emailing councillors.