{"id":17362,"date":"2017-05-24T16:17:19","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T20:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=17362"},"modified":"2017-05-24T16:17:19","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T20:17:19","slug":"activate-aurora-active-transportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/activate-aurora-active-transportation\/","title":{"rendered":"ACTIVATE AURORA: Active Transportation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ron Weese<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of those phrases that has become popular for all the wrong reasons.
\n\u201cActive Transportation\u201d was never discussed; wasn\u2019t even a phrase 50 years ago. It just happened because people walked or rode their bicycles out of necessity. Cars weren\u2019t the preferred form of transportation, so human-power was the only way to get around. Streets were considered safe for walkers and cyclists.
\nA lot has changed.
\nOne glaring example is that in one generation walking to school is almost extinct. With it goes 2,000 steps on average per day lost to every child. According to the Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, children (6 to 11 years) should be walking between 12,000 and 16,000 steps per day. Recent data regarding school-aged children during school days, suggest that there is a 2,000 step deficit daily.
\nLost then are the calories and the cardiovascular benefits of walking, but also gone are the social and emotional benefits that come from spending twenty minutes with friends before school. Remember the fun you had walking to school with your friends?
\nBut parents should also understand that when the same data is collected over the weekend, a further 3,000 step deficit is reported. What is evident is that walking to school and physical activity on the weekend is in decline as we prefer \u201cpassive transportation\u201d over active. Kids aren\u2019t as active, parents aren\u2019t as active and health and social benefits are lost.
\nCreating a community where active transportation is valued, supported and enabled is important if we want to be considered a \u201cHealthy Place\u201d. The \u201cHealthy Places\u201d concept is one that is global in scope and, in each one, there is a theme called \u201cActive Transportation\u201d.
\nHere are some suggestions about building a community that supports active transportation and building Aurora as a healthy place. I am proud to say we have a few of these in place. The rest need some work.
\nEncourage Safe Routes to School programs to enable children to walk and bike to school safely.
\nConstruct a connected network of multi-use trails.
\nAccommodate all roadway users with comprehensive street design measures such as \u201ccomplete streets,\u201d including sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and share-the-road signs that provide safe and convenient travel for all users of the roadway.
\nSeparate motor-vehicle traffic from non-motorized traffic with physical barriers, such as the construction of bicycle boulevards.
\nPrioritize infrastructure improvements near transit stops and public transportation stations.
\nProvide safe and convenient bicycle and pedestrian connections to public parks and recreation areas.
\nPromote safe roadway crossing through use of small block sizes, pedestrian refuge islands, and cross-walks.
\nProvide streetscape amenities such as benches, landscaping, lighting, and public art.
\nEncourage way-finding with signs, maps, and landscape cues to direct pedestrians and bicyclists to the most direct route.
\nEncourage bicycle parking at workplaces and transit stops.
\nEncourage the development of street-level shopping and restaurants along pedestrian and bicycle routes.
\nEducate bicyclists and pedestrians on local laws, as well as on safe practices.
\nSome good news! Our Trails Committee is working now, among other things, on the development of trails-use strategies. This includes a Bike Aurora Event on June 24 that will encourage bike-use on our extensive trails system.
\nLikewise, Activate Aurora and their partners are implementing \u201cOpen Streets Aurora\u201d on June 4, designed to encourage walking in the Cultural Precinct and more Open Street Aurora events are being planned. An \u201cOpen Trails\u201d event has been suggested to bring people to our trails system. Three new Activate Aurora Schools are coming on-stream in September and Travel Plans are being developed.
\nBut let\u2019s all start by leaving the car at home.
\nIt is a big paradigm shift but is needed to boost active transportation. Consider taking some time to engage in activities that explore our Town as a pedestrian, not just for recreational purposes but as a part of every-day life.
\nJoin us on June 4 at Open Streets Aurora and walk our Cultural Precinct and join in activities at Town Park. Find one of our trails at goo.gl\/GbQeYN and take the family for a walk. Consider joining Bike Aurora on June 24 for a trails bike experience.
\nAs the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu once stated, \u201cthe journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.\u201d Let\u2019s take that first important step.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ron Weese This is one of those phrases that has become popular for all the wrong reasons. \u201cActive Transportation\u201d was never discussed; wasn\u2019t even a phrase 50 years ago. It just happened because people walked or rode their bicycles out of necessity. Cars weren\u2019t the preferred form of transportation, so human-power was the only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4w2","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 04:12:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}