How can the City help residents use their cars less?

As the City's look at active transportation draws to a close, I have to admit being somewhat shocked to see their goal of doubling active transportation:walking — 7% to 15%. Sounds good, except it's over the next 25 years!!! Stay tuned.

So I though I'd best start looking at how to do a little better than that. First step is to look at what this website offered and wgat the consultants incorporated.

Active transportation has two components: people using cars less to reduce need for infrastructure, lessen pollution; and encouraging people to replace vehicles by physical activity for obvious physical and mental health reasons.

This site will focus on encouraging people to walk more, partly by encouraging the city to look at walking infrastructure needed to make people want to walk more.

Summary of my submisson to TDMP process

Each bus stop should be well marked with a schedule and route map.
We need an internal walking champion — monitor city activities with a mission to ensure any possibility of a better walking experience is considered; ensure zoning doesn't cause future blockages of walking opportunities.
Planning initiatives have to address city growth.
From Canada Walks (Case Study: City of Whitehorse): Integrate walking policy into key documents and plans.
There needs to be a more realistic budget allocation for trails
How about making 'free' employee parking with governments a cost to them.
Fix traffic lights so we don't need to press the walk button to get the walk sign at busy pedestrian times.
The goal should be to make walking appealing, ie, walking by the side of busy roads is not attractive, nor is sharing a trail or path with motorized vehicles like snowmobiles and ATVs.
We need alternatives to paving trails.
Consolidate efforts of the city's active transportation and trails departments. The city's trail committee needs to have a walker as a permanent stakeholder position.
Make all public walkways clear and inviting.
"Walking Culture" should be integral to this plan
Walking for pleasure needs to be an important city goal.
Create more recreational walkers who will be more easily converted to Active Transportation walkers.
Emphasize that even if you take a bus, or get a ride, you can still be an Active Transportation walker by walking part of your route.
Create route via south end of airport and Millennium Bridge to offer variety to Above-the-airport walkers.
Roadways such as the Alaska Highway, Mountainview Drive, Hamilton Blvd. should not have precedence over walking residents. Styles of safe pedestrian crossings need to be considered.
We need community/neighbourhood maps showing destinations, trails and public right-of-ways.
There needs to be some penalty taxation rate for the large amount of real estate downtown that is undeveloped. It is a waste of valuable space, it forces the city to look at spreading out into greenspaces, and most of all, makes a lot of downtown look like a wasteland. These properties are eyesores!
Rather than design the city to have ever-larger arterial roads pumping traffic into the downtown, some sort of shuttle system with parking lots outside the downtown area needs to be looked at.
The general scarcity of corner stores means that people often need to drive for even the most simple of grocery items.

even more points

Tank Farm should be as much residential as possible. Firts plan was almost 50% commercial industrial.
with Tank Farm renewal, highway crossing needs fixing for pedestrians
with Alaska Highway proposed widening, crossing at Tank farm needs renewing.
Hamilton Blvd needs crossing at Tank Farm Corner.

Encouraging walking

City interests in walking

Engineering: paved trails (priority routes between neighbourhoods + downtown?)
Zoning: designating what's allowable on each piece of land; also right-of-ways
Environmental Sustainability: active transportation as in Transportation Demand Management's 25-year plan
Parks and Recreation: wilderness trails
Parks and Recreation: Trails and greenways committee chaired by Events and promotions person
Parks and Recreation: Events and promotion for such as walking tourism, walking events
Parks and Recreation: By-law
Business and technology systems: GIS mapping

Needed by the city

one voice for walking within all parts of the city, preferably senior that can cordinate all the above groups to ensure walking as a focus can happen
mark public right of ways
A voice for walking for health reasons