Miscellaneous

Slow Streets is a Vancouver based urban planning and design group. Their website features the biography of Darren Proulx who describes himself as a plangineer of places, active transportation and tactical urbanism to create great cities for people. The group's position is that "A street is more than simply about moving automobiles. Reconsidering the use of streets can achieve significant and positive impacts for cities."

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has updated their list of pilot projects in BC municipalities that allow the use of electric kick scooters on streets. Designed to assess the safety of e-mobility as safe modes of personal transportation these projects must be enabled by municipal bylaws.

Are the drivers going through your neighbourhood going too fast? Do you want to do something about it? Your first reaction might be to approach authorities to install a stop sign or speed bumps. This may or may not be the appropriate way to deal with the situation.

PlugShare is a database that currently offers information on over 200,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Canada and the US. It even lists the personal home charging stations of EV drivers who will share their them with others. Until charging stations become as ubiquitous as service stations selling fossil fuels, being a member of plugshare can help you avoid becoming stuck with no charge when you travel in unfamiliar areas.

Curb space. This can be a very valuable commodity in urban areas due to the increasing competition among different road users for that space. During COVID it was even valuable for unrelated uses such as outdoor dining for restaurants. How should this be managed by officials, planners and engineers in the future?

Would you write about selling a vehicle? I have friends who sold a car and months later they received information that the car was in an impound lot. The purchaser had failed to register the car in his name and since the car was still registered to them they were legally liable. How does one insure that the new owner re-registers the vehicle?

In this 30-minute online presentation and question and answer session, author Philippe Crist presents the new ITF report “Streets That Fit: Re-allocating Space for Better Cities”. Street space in cities is a rare resource. Much of it is currently allocated to highly space-consuming transport modes without taking into account that demands for that space vary over time.

Just mention the words "truck ride" and our dog becomes your shadow. Like most dogs, she refuses to be left behind when someone is going for a drive. Being a lap dog, she rides inside and thinks that the right front seat is hers, although she will happily let people sit underneath her.

Do you ever wonder why some aspect of the highway that you are driving on has been designed that way?  It starts with the Transportation Association of Canada's Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads, is supplemented by the Geometric Design Guidelines for B.C. Roads, may require compromise due to local conditions and ends up being what you see through your windshield.

Our provincial driving guide, Learn to Drive Smart, says the following about using your high beam headlights: "Use the high beam setting only on unlit roads at night when there aren’t any vehicles approaching or in front of you." The companion Tuning Up For Drivers adds "Your high beams help you see further, but remember to dim them when another vehicle approaches (before the other driver’s high beams start to bother you)."