[Policy] Reminder of Upcoming Policy Committee Meeting and Draft of Diamond Lane Position Statement for Review

Mark Cohoe mark.e.cohoe at gmail.com
Thu Jan 5 12:24:21 PST 2017 

Hi Laura,

Sorry that this is so late in getting to you, and thanks to you and the
committee for taking this on as I've definitely neglected it.
Some of my thoughts on the subject are below:

I have definite concerns about safety and comfort levels should this plan
move ahead. Important questions for me include:

   - How will cab drivers react to a bike taking the lane (as recommended
   by MPI and others)?
   - How will increased traffic affect comfort levels for people biking in
   the lanes?
   - How will safety be affected by the addition of more vehicles merging
   in and out of the diamond lanes?

See below for some submissions from others that I have been copied on:

Thanks again for the opportunity to provide input – here is a summary of
Green Action Centre's position.

Why taxis should not be allowed on diamond lanes in Winnipeg:

   1. *The argument to include taxis on diamond lanes in Winnipeg appears
   to be based on the experience of HOV (carpool) lanes in other cities.
   However, diamond lanes in Winnipeg are different from a HOV lane – they are
   essentially dedicated bus lanes that also allow cyclists.* HOV lanes do
   not exist here, as they are best suited for large centres (>1 million
   people in the metropolitan area) and on corridors that lead to large
   employment centres (>100,000 workers) as a major transportation
   destination, and work better on highways than arterial corridors where the
   space is shared with buses and bikes (source
   <http://data.tc.gc.ca/archive/eng/programs/environment-utsp-hovlanescanada-886.htm>).
   Winnipeg's diamond lanes are intended to make transit more attractive and
   competitive (give an advantage to) while also providing space for people
   on bikes on the curbside lane during peak travel times. In other
   jurisdictions in Canada, HOV lanes are considered more as carpool lanes.
   Accordingly, some other Canadian cities have allowed taxis on arterial HOV
   lanes because they meet their definition of high-occupancy vehicle, e.g.
   Calgary
   <http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation/TP/Pages/Getting-Around-Calgary/Commuting/High-Occupancy-Vehicles-%28HOV%29.aspx>
defines
   HOV as 2 or more occupants including the taxi driver while Toronto
   <http://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebase/64/101000040264.html> requires
   3 or more occupants.
   2. *Adding taxis would reduce the effectiveness of diamond lanes by
   reducing transit speeds and reliability of trip times for passengers and
   would create an additional safety hazard for people on bikes in the diamond
   lane. *Dedicated bus curb lanes can roughly double transit speeds in
   typical urban congestion (source <http://www.vtpi.org/blw.pdf>, p4),
   which attracts more riders. Bus lanes have also been shown to provide
   safety benefits, with statistically significant reductions in collisions (
   source <http://www.vtpi.org/blw.pdf>, p6). Diamond lanes should continue
   to be used as a TDM measure in Winnipeg to promote and encourage the use of
   transit and cycling.
   3. *While taxis with 3 or more occupants (including the taxi driver)
   technically qualify as carpooling, this is outweighed by the potential
   negative impacts on transit and cycling.* We believe that a taxi trip
   consisting of the driver and one passenger is the equivalent of driving
   alone.
   4. *Furthermore, non-compliance is highly likely and and would be costly
   to monitor. *Enforcement would be more challenging as it would require
   assessing how many passengers are in the taxi. This could set up the
   scenario of taxi drivers using the lanes when they are alone or have one
   passenger only.
   5. *If inclusion of taxis on a diamond lane is based on the carpooling
   argument, it opens up the discussion that any vehicle with 2-3 or more
   passengers should be** able to use the lane (similar to a HOV lane).* This
   is clearly undesirable on an arterial diamond lane as it would result in
   the same congestion issues as adjacent lanes. It once again underscores the
   difference between an arterial diamond lane (bus/bike lane) vs. a HOV
   (carpool) lane.
   6. If anything, we need more bus/bike diamond lanes in Winnipeg to
   create a continuous network, as sections where the diamond lane continue to
   pose a challenge for buses and bikes, and reduce the effectiveness of
   existing diamond lanes.

Beth

David: attached are feedback and comments I have compiled from a subset of
the employees I canvassed at 360 Portage Avenue.



In summary, we support the points made by the Green Action Centre. A common
theme is cyclist safety: diamond lanes are well utilized already so adding
more users will affect efficiency and safety for current users; taxis are a
mismatch with current users with taxi drivers being more likely to be in a
rush; taxis are more likely to be a risk to cyclist safety than buses as
bus drivers are more likely to take a professional attitude to safety
which, as one cyclist observes, extends to bus drivers giving him a full
lane when they overtake him and because electric/hybrid taxis are more
likely to be relatively quiet and more of a risk to cyclists unaware of
their presence. Another common theme is that it is illogical to give taxis
an advantage over other multi-passenger vehicles and it is illogical to
disadvantage efficient public transit and carbon-free commuters to the
benefit of a special interest group that is less aligned with national
goals to reduce greenhouse gases. We also agree with the Green Action
Centre that diamond lane non-compliance will increase if additional users
are permitted in diamond lanes. Both the increased difficulty of
enforcement and, in my opinion, the tendency of drivers to disregard rules
they consider illogical and unfair (such as letting taxis move in and out
of diamond lanes as it suits them while someone in a similar vehicle who is
late for work, late for a meeting or late for day care is not permitted to
do so) will contribute to non-compliance if taxis are permitted in diamond
lanes.



Regards,

Dan Prowse

360 Portage Ave
204-360-3712 <%28204%29%20360-3712>; cell 204-792-1288
<%28204%29%20792-1288>; home 204-453-6060 <%28204%29%20453-6060>


Cheers, \
Mark


On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>
>
> Happy New Year to all.
>
>
> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
> consideration and comments.  You can send me comments electronically or
> share your thoughts at our meeting.  You will note that the recently
> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
> this going before Council.
>
>
> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review prior
> to our meeting?
>
>
> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
> (129 Grove Street).  Hope all can make it.
>
>
> Cheers, Laura
>
> _______________________________________________
> Policy mailing list
> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>
>

On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>
>
> Happy New Year to all.
>
>
> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
> consideration and comments.  You can send me comments electronically or
> share your thoughts at our meeting.  You will note that the recently
> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
> this going before Council.
>
>
> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review prior
> to our meeting?
>
>
> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
> (129 Grove Street).  Hope all can make it.
>
>
> Cheers, Laura
>
> _______________________________________________
> Policy mailing list
> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>
>

On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>
>
> Happy New Year to all.
>
>
> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
> consideration and comments.  You can send me comments electronically or
> share your thoughts at our meeting.  You will note that the recently
> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
> this going before Council.
>
>
> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review prior
> to our meeting?
>
>
> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
> (129 Grove Street).  Hope all can make it.
>
>
> Cheers, Laura
>
> _______________________________________________
> Policy mailing list
> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>
>

On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Laura Donatelli <omojean98 at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Ian, Bill and Gord,
>
>
> Happy New Year to all.
>
>
> Here is the revised draft of the Diamond Lane position statement for your
> consideration and comments.  You can send me comments electronically or
> share your thoughts at our meeting.  You will note that the recently
> released (Dec. 20/16) Taxicab Review report is recommending that the
> majority of taxicabs be allowed to use diamond lanes, so we need to get a
> statement finalized and approved by the BW board quickly in anticipation of
> this going before Council.
>
>
> Ian, do you have a draft of the Bike Helmet statement for our review prior
> to our meeting?
>
>
> Reminder that we meet this *Thursday Jan. 5th at 1:00 p.m. *at my place
> (129 Grove Street).  Hope all can make it.
>
>
> Cheers, Laura
>
> _______________________________________________
> Policy mailing list
> Policy at lists.bikewinnipeg.ca
> http://lists.bikewinnipeg.ca/listinfo.cgi/policy-bikewinnipeg.ca
>
>
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