Pat Bickerton

@pbickerton.bsky.social

I like hobbies, data, and hobbies that involve data. Opinions are my own. https://github.com/bickertonpa

This morning I participated in a bike ride with my community association. It was awesome. One person commented "Oh so this I how you get to the bike paths. I can bike to work now!" There was also ice cream🍦

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Councillor Kelly wants to know if this 10 year funding plan will address the backlog in road maintenance by asking a simple question, will the roads be in better or worse condition in 10 years. Staff with a complete non-answer:

The City of Ottawa posted the raw speed data from before and after Doug Ford banned speed cameras and the effect is so obvious it's not even necessary put a line marking when that happened. This chart shows the percentage of drivers going 15km/h or more over the posted limit.

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"I’m not a gambling man, but I would wager a hefty sum of money that the CFL doesn’t survive anywhere close to 2075, which is how long the city is projecting on receiving revenue from its deal with OSEG for Lansdowne 2.0" It's okay. The city is on your behalf 🫠

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Sean Devine@seandevine9.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"So here’s the $419 million question: why is the city investing hundreds of millions in a Lansdowne 2.0 project that is backing a dying league, and potentially evicting a winning one?" I know where I stood on this issue when Council debated this issue last Fall. 1/ ottawacitizen.com/news/local-n...

It has taken more than 4 years to get a 'pilot project' passed, which actually won't start until next year, and really all that 'pilot project' does is change some signs — we're supposed to be impressed that such a feat was even possible.

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The bus-ridership and travel-time charts from the Bank Street Active Transportation Study. I've highlighted the times proposed for bus lanes. They're weekday only and only in one direction at a time. See if you can spot periods with high ridership and long delays that could also use bus lanes.

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City staff recommend dedicated bus lanes through the Glebe in both directions, during peak and off-peak hours, and during more Lansdowne events. The same staff have also developed a bus-lane pilot study that does none of these things. The study is set to begin summer 2027.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa.ca · 5mo ago

It is unfortunate that even though the city staff running the study for Bank Street Bus Lanes agrees with us that bus lanes should be in effect longer, on weekends, should operate in both directions, and that they should be running on events is being stifled by a small minority of very loud voices.

Section of the city staff report for Bus Lanes on Bank Street that says "Ultimately, bus lane hours extending beyond these peak periods, and in the off-peak direction, are recommended, including during a greater number of Lansdowne events and on weekends."

An amazing member of ours put together this graphic that really encapsulates perfectly the situation on Bank Street. There is only so much space available, and we must use it as efficiently as possible. Parking isn't that. Please sign up to delegate on March 30th in favour of bus lanes!

An OC Transpo #6 bus in a bus lane. Inside of the bus there are multiple people, each with a text showing what they're going to be doing. They say "Grabbing a bite to eat", "Going to Lansdowne", "Getting a haircut", "Bought groceries", and "Can finally fit on the bus". The final one was a user in a wheelchair.

Beside the bus there is a single person in a truck in the regular travel lane. Pointing to him it says "Just driving through". They have a thought bubble coming out from their head saying "That bus lane is going to ruin local business!".

The city sends mixed messages about the values that inform the design of transportation projects. For each project design, city staff should rank the priority of: * Project cost * Vehicle speed (travel time) * Volume (how many people it moves) * Safety

Ecology Ottawa@ecologyottawa.bsky.social · 5mo ago

On RTOR: "The big debate here is evaluating the trade-offs--whether we prioritize safety at all expense or...traffic flow." @seandevine9.bsky.social On the difficulty of getting an ASE camera: "There's just not enough kids to hit." #Ottawa #OttCity #ONpoli

Needed infrastructure work is being deferred because of your low tax increases, with the backlog growing every year. There's a $2.6-billion backlog just in road resurfacing. At some point we will need to pay for it, and that ENORMOUS tax increase will be YOUR fault, not a future mayor's.

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And let's not forget about all the car vs. car collisions that happen because of right turn on red. I've personally seen 6 collisions at Bronson and Catherine in just the past few years, but not a single one since they added a no right on red sign. It's a really stupid maneuver to allow.

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Ariel Troster@arieltroster.com · 5mo ago

The chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee thinks it’s “wasting people’s time” for me to submit an inquiry to city staff about the pedestrian safety issues that impact Centretown residents. That’s the job, Tim. See you at committee tomorrow.

According to statistics from Gonthier, less than 20 percent of collisions involving cyclists and four percent of collisions involving pedestrians at intersections in Ottawa between 2019 and 2022 are later to right turns on reds. 

For Coun. Tierney, who is the chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, road safety is along his top priorities. He is glad the data is supporting what we already know.

“I’m glad we can turn the page on tis and focus on the other important issues in our city. If the councillor really feels that strong about it, table a motion about it, because you are wasting people’s time with this house.”

Imagine adding onto the cost of every apartment tower going up in the core millions of dollars in DCs to pay for new suburban roads, and then also admitting that those same roads have zero benefit to anybody else in the city except for those suburban growth areas. When are they going to fix this?

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One of the more disturbing sections of the city's report on right turns on reds : they say that banning right turns on reds will lead to worse safety because drivers will be impatient and kill/injure people due to being inconvenienced. We can't seriously be hiding behind this right?

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The agenda for February's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee is up and still no Bank Street bus lanes. It was supposed to be on the agenda for this meeting, but has been delayed yet again. This "pilot project" has been in the works for over 4 years, and is now over a year behind schedule.

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