Riding the rails in a wheelchair: Rating O-Train for accessibility

By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, October 3, 2019

When the Confederation Line first opened, Max Brault was too scared to ride it.

“That seems funny for a grown man to say he was too scared to take the LRT, but if something were to happen I’d be stuck in there,” said Brault, 49, who has used a wheelchair since his 20s because of his degenerative spinal muscular atrophy.

But after a close friend who was an eye for potential barriers gave the train the thumbs up, Brault went all in.

“It gets a good A+ from me,” Brault said after an unofficial and informal audit with this newspaper of the LRT’s accessibility. “They nailed the really good things — it’s fully accessible, it’s spacious, it’s very well-lit and it has good demarcation on the floor for the visually impaired.

Three Ottawa election debates focus on environment

By Jason White, 1310 News, October 3, 2019

Three candidates' debates in Ottawa will focus on the environment, which organizers say has been historically undervalued in election cycles.

While the debates in Kanata-Carleton, Orléans and Ottawa Centre will focus on the environment, organizers say that topic actually covers a lot of ground.

"There are definitely connections between the environment and so many other issues," said Robb Barnes, executive director, Ecology Ottawa. "So we might end up talking about the connection between climate action at the city level and social housing, for example, or about congestion and easing our commutes while tackling emissions from vehicles."

Pellerin: Ottawa's bike-friendly but – federal candidates take note – it could be better

By Brigitte Pellerin, Ottawa Citizen, October 3, 2019

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit that it’s taken a visit from a U.S.-based German professor, as well as a Dutch tour guide, to make me appreciate how bicycle-friendly Ottawa really is. But it’s the truth.

You might think that with cooler temperatures and people focusing on the election, concerns over cycling in our fair town would take a break until spring, but no.

First of all, this early autumn weather is great for cycling. Second of all, some of us believe federal electoral candidates should care a great deal about active transportation. Local voters say the environment is one of their top concerns, and given that transportation is one of the biggest sources of CO2 emissions, finding ways to use the car less often and get around using transit, two wheels or feet would go a long way towards reducing our impact on the environment.

Scientists go through garbage to assess food waste

By the Canadian Press, InsideOttawaValley, September 26, 2019

Scientists spent weeks up to their elbows in coffee grounds and banana peels to come up with what they say is the most accurate measure yet of how much food is wasted in Canadian kitchens.

"To be honest, it's not something you'd want to do forever," said Michael von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph.

Ottawa schools to accommodate students' Global Climate Strike participation

By Luke Carroll, Ottawa Citizen, September 26, 2019

Institutions across Ottawa are preparing for a large number of absences on Friday as young activists participate in the Global Climate Strike.

The protests are part of a global initiative organized by students in more than 150 countries to demand action on the climate crisis.

The Ottawa rally begins in Confederation Park at 11:30 a.m. before moving to Parliament Hill around 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m.

The Ottawa Facebook event said 2,000 people are going and another nearly 3,000 are interested in attending.

Trees cover nearly half of our region, survey shows

By CBC News Ottawa, September 26, 2019

Nearly half of the National Capital Region is under the cover of trees, according to a new aerial survey of the area.

The survey, billed by the National Capital Commission as the first of its kind, was carried out in the fall of 2018 and winter of 2019 by the University of Vermont in partnership with the NCC and the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau.

Researchers used laser sensor technology to detect every tree at least two metres in height.

The survey showed that overall, 46 per cent of the region is covered in trees. Seventy-six per cent of NCC lands, including Gatineau Park, is under tree cover, while 45 per cent of Gatineau and just 31 per cent of Ottawa is green. The figures for Ottawa and Gatineau exclude NCC lands.

Stormy weather for city budgets

By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2019

Governments across the capital region are increasingly grappling with an expensive problem that farmers and tourism businesses have faced for generations — the damage done by extreme weather.

(...)Now city planners are warning that our infrastructure is at risk from a warming climate. And protecting that infrastructure comes at great cost.

(...)Ottawa prepared a document this March (shortly before the latest flood) summarizing the threat of a changing climate to its $42 billion worth of infrastructure:

“Most existing infrastructure was not designed to withstand future climate conditions and extremes,” it says. “Older stormwater systems, for example, were not built to handle the volume of runoff resulting from extreme rainstorms, especially given the impermeability of urban development, and the lack of overland flow routes designed for flows exceeding sewer capacity.

Toyota Prius goes solar

By Brian Turner, InsideOttawaValley, September 24, 2019

This summer Toyota started testing a solar-powered Prius that holds the promise of an electric vehicle (EV) that doesn’t require plugging into an external power source.

In partnership with the Japanese government, Toyota fitted ultra-thin solar panels to the hood, roof, rear glass, and spoiler of the planet’s most popular hybrid to see if it could meet the demands of daily driving. The panels were hard-wired directly to the drive battery for recharging while parked or in motion.

Mayors rule out Prince of Wales Bridge for transit link

By CBC News Ottawa, September 24, 2019

The Prince of Wales Bridge will never carry trains again, the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau declared Tuesday, asking the next federal government to help them turn it into a cycling connection instead.

Mayor Jim Watson said Tuesday afternoon the bridge is not the right choice for a light rail transit connection.

"It would congest too much Bayview station and secondly Gatineau has been pursuing their LRT project and they too have ruled it out as a bridge that would be used for transit," he said.

Boddy: Why Carlington Park (like other Ottawa public spaces) is under threat

By Sharon Boddy, Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2019

While the world grapples with a tragedy of the commons writ large – in the form of climate change – you don’t need to look far to see other, smaller tragedies unfolding.

Public parks are a shared resource; we all pay for them and we all benefit. Parks with urban forests are particularly important because they provide stormwater, erosion, pollution and temperature control, promote biodiversity, and give us places to chill out.

Parks are insurance policies against some climate change impacts. Whether or not we “see” these services in action, they work for all of us and at far less cost than engineered solutions.

No charges for Ottawa officer after e-bike rider injured in Overbrook area

By Mike Vlasveld, 1310 News, September 23, 2019

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit will not be laying charges against an Ottawa police officer after an e-bike rider suffered serious injuries in a crash in the Overbrook area.

A 75-year-old man suffered serious injuries when the e-bike he was riding was hit by a vehicle on St. Laurent Boulevard at Donald Street on September 17, 2018.

A police officer was directing traffic at the intersection that day.

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