Mainstream and active motion as it pertains to transportation. That’s on the menu for Climate Momentum’s second conversation between municipal leaders and community stakeholders when all sides gather at Stratford city hall on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Dubbed ‘Motion Pollution Solutions’, this conversation will examine the city’s transportation alternatives through a variety of lenses. And based on the success of the first conversation held in September, Sheila Clarke of Climate Momentum is looking forward to continued forward progress.
“Continued growth of community engagement in steering our way through the ongoing increase in pollution blanketing our planet,” was Clarke’s answer to what she is hoping can be achieved with this second event in the series. “We may feel that we are not affected in our community, but extreme weather swings, extreme heat and effects beyond our borders will affect us as well. By looking after our own community, we also can help to lessen what is happening in the world beyond our borders.”
Clarke brought it down to as basic a level as she could – humans talking with other humans about the environment around them and their impact on it. It takes a collective effort to impact real change, and that means buy-in on proposals from both sides.
“Talking with other community members speaks to who we are as humans, and we like to share ideas, we like to learn from each other, and we like to laugh together on a face-to-face basis,” she said. “There is research that tells us we react very differently to screen communication, so by talking together we can influence our own actions and those of our community to lessen the effects of climate change. We also hope to expand community involvement in the actions that will emerge from the CCAP (Community Climate Action Plan) by raising awareness of our own immediate areas – our neighbourhoods, our own actions, and how we engage with city initiatives.”
Among those on the agenda to speak this Thursday are Mike Mousley, Stratford’s transit manager, and Nathan Bottema, a city project engineer. Mousley has been working on his biggest project – electrification of the city’s bus fleet – for a while now, and the 20-year project to transition the buses from fossil fuels to electric power is scheduled to come in at around $25 million. He points out that’s more than just replacing the 15-unit fleet, as it includes the necessary infrastructure to support the new units.
“That’s the direction this department is going, and people have been very positive about the moves we’ve been making,” he said. “We’ve applied for funding, as most of the $25 million will be supplied by the federal government, but it’s a long and cautious process.”
Mousley has been keeping an eye on other municipalities that have been making this same switch with their bus fleets, noting the details he’s seeing in how they make their approaches work.
“I’m watching and learning some ideas and some best practices going forward because with these buses, it’s version 1.0,” he said. “This technology is always evolving, so what’s new today will be different tomorrow.”
Currently, Mousley said Stratford Transit sees about 650,000 rides per year, something he calls “a good chunk” for a city of just over 33,000 people.
“Those numbers came down because of the stay-at-home orders during COVID, but we pretty much bounced back fairly quickly,” he said. “I’ve always been a big fan of this industry and a big advocate. If you have a short trip in town, why not leave your car at home and use transit? The more we get on buses, the better it will be for the environment.”
That’s part of the greener goals the CCAP has helped lay out for the city, with active transportation being another. Pete McDonnell of Cycle Stratford (who will also be at Thursday’s conversation) talked about CCAP and Stratford’s green goals, calling it an important detail to review all actions available to help reduce energy usage and emissions.
“The (CCAP) leverages the strengths of the Transportation Master Plan (T<MP) and with the Compete Streets approach, provides a solid roadmap to bring about multiple viable transportation options,” he said. “Focusing on cycling, transit, electric and low-emission vehicles makes great sense in working towards our climate goals.”
He heartily approves of the moves Mousley and the transportation department are making to modernize the transit fleet, but added there are other things Cycle Stratford would like to see included.
“Cycle Stratford supports the initiatives and plans laid out in the TMP, specifically where they include new or enhanced cycling infrastructure such as dedicated or shared bike lanes,” he said. “The priority cycling network will provide excellent cycling opportunities to travel anywhere in the city.”
It’s one thing to preach to the already converted, but McDonnell said getting others to convert to thinking along the same lines in this area means starting small and working up to the bigger and tougher decisions.
“Start with an easy trip to the grocery store for a few small items on a warm day,” he said. “That would be a gentle introduction to cycling in everyday activities. We are also fortunate that many core businesses are located on both sides of town (hardware stores, grocery stores, pharmacies) so they’re an easy walk or bike ride for many residents.”
Getting that community-wide buy-in might not be as difficult as it seems, since Clarke said they were getting some high-quality feedback out of the first conversation.
“For our topics in the future, we’re roughly paralleling the CCAP – we have taken transportation first at her (climate change program manager Sadaf Ghalib) request because transportation is our largest contributor to pollution emissions in our community,” Clarke said. “I’m excited to hear perceptions around what can be done on a municipal basis from our speakers, and what solutions community members can come up with – especially regarding individual responses to this challenge. Having a specific topic encourages a more creative response.”
Clarke also referenced the ‘Complete Streets’ concept, saying the items contained within it will work together to lessen transportation pollution.
“There are a couple of aspects that maybe would be key to supporting the rest of the efforts: having an efficient and low-polluting public transit system is one,” she said. “Many cities I’ve visited have major engagement with public transportation – in some places, residents don’t even have cars, preferring to share or rent when a car is absolutely necessary. That’s a tall order for Stratford, especially with our tourist industry, but here, tourists might prefer to park once they arrive and use public transportation. A second priority would be support for cycling and walking, but that means pedestrians and people on bikes need to feel safe, so concepts that engage public safety campaigns and sidewalks and cycling infrastructure would be reasonable priorities.”
The event gets underway at the city hall auditorium at 7 p.m. Thursday night. Check www.climatemomentum.ca for updates to future conversation events.
