By Hillary Johnstone, CBC News Ottawa, November 3, 2016
Gary King pedalled thousands of kilometres around the world without a single mishap — until he was struck by a car Wednesday afternoon during his first spin along the new O'Connor Street bike lane, right here in his home town.
Adding to the irony, King, 56, was on his way home from a meeting on safe cycling networks when he collided with a car pulling out of the parking lot behind Mamma Teresa Ristorante at Somerset Street.
By Susana Mas, Ottawa Citizen, November 3, 2016
Ottawa police handed out a dozen fines to motorists during a safety blitz in downtown Ottawa Wednesday.
Seven motorists were fined for failing to keep a one-metre distance between their cars and cyclists on Somerset Street.
The infraction cost each motorist a $130 fine and 2 demerit points, Ottawa police Const. Marc Soucy told the Citizen in an email Thursday.
By Susana Mas, Ottawa Citizen, November 3, 2016
Residents living in the Carleton Place area are being advised to boil their water following a watermain break on Mississippi Road between Morris and Barker streets on Thursday.
Carleton Place officials are urging residents to follow the boil water advisory directions until the water has been deemed safe to consume — even if the water pressure in their homes appears to be normal.
By Ted Raymond, CFRA News, November 1, 2016
As the days get shorter, it naturally gets harder to see people crossing the street. That's something the people of Safer Roads Ottawa want to help alleviate.
A brief event at the corner of George Street and Dalhousie Street was about just that.
Dozens of items, from reflective scarves and tuques to clip on LEDs for your bag or your bicycle, were handed out to passersby Tuesday afternoon.
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun, November 1, 2016
Gobbledygook. Such a good word.
It’s what one resident yelled at a couple of city bureaucrats attempting to explain to reporters how major changes (minor, according to staff) had happened to the development at the old Bayview school near Mooney’s Bay.
According to an online version of the Oxford dictionary, gobbledygook is defined as “language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of technical terms.”
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, November 2, 2016
Thousands of years after humans first saw fall leaves change colour, the world’s top planet scientists still can’t agree on why it happens.
Sure, they know the steps that happen: Fading leaves lose their green chlorophyll, which lets yellow-orange chemicals (carotenoids) show through. Then some plants, but not all, manufacture red-purple chemicals (anthocyanins).
By Paula McCooey, Ottawa Citizen, November 2, 2016
An Ottawa cyclist collided with a vehicle on O’Connor Street Wednesday, just one week after another cyclist was injured near the same spot.
Ottawa police confirmed a male cyclist was in a collision at 3:43 p.m. with a vehicle on the corner of Somerset Street St. W. and O’Connor Street. Paramedics treated the 56-year-old for minor injuries to his knee and ankle. He was transported to the hospital in stable condition. Police are investigating the incident.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, November 2, 2016
The Presto deal between the City of Ottawa and Metrolinx was going to expire last Thursday, but the two sides have agreed to an extension of 30 days to continue negotiations.
We previously reported that the city filed paperwork in court earlier this year in case the talks with the provincial Crown agency go south. The city has wanted a multi-year extension of the current deal, while Metrolinx has indicated it wants new terms in an effort to put Presto on a more sustainable financial footing.
By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, October 31, 2016
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines five levels of automation in vehicles.
Level 0 — No automation: “The driver is in complete and sole control of the primary vehicle controls.” The car offers no assistance at all, not even cruise control. About 10 per cent of the cars on the road are in this category.
Level 1 —Function-specific automation: “Automation at this level involves one or more specific control functions.” More than half of all cars are at this level, which would include things like cruise control and electronic stabilization systems. The systems aren’t interconnected, however.
By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, October 31, 2016
Fleets of self-driving cars purring pollutionlessly along tree-lined city streets. A businesswoman fine-tuning her presentation as she’s whisked along to a corporate meeting. A disabled senior getting door-to-door service for the cost of a bus ticket.
And no more traffic deaths. The future of driverless cars looks bright — in fact the Conference Board of Canada predicts driverless cars could save the Canadian economy $65 billion a year because of fewer collisions, lower driving times and reduced congestion.
By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, October 31, 2016
City work crews were to inspect the new O’Connor Street bike lane Monday after a cyclist had her tired flattened by tacks strewn on the pavement over the weekend.
Cyclist Catherine Laska was riding home from a Halloween party at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when she ran over the tacks on O’Connor near Gilmour and Gloucester streets. Laska stopped when she heard her tire making clicking noises and found three tacks embedded in the tire.
By Andrea Kent, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, October 29, 2016
Biofuels successfully reduce greenhouse gases
Re: Canada’s biofuels program is too costly to keep, Oct. 24.
Suggesting the phase-out of biofuel mandates shows how little Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission understands about the fuel market and what it takes to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Recommending biofuel subsidies be cancelled is equally troubling given most subsidies ended 18 months ago, and the industry is not asking for new ones.