Conference on active transportation pushes walking, cycling
Canadian caucus calls on federal government to develop national plan
Monday September 27, 2004 - Roderick Benns
An international conference that promotes walking and cycling was recently held in Victoria, British Columbia, with the Canadian delegates of the group calling on the federal government and provinces to get active with their own national plan.

Known as the 13th Annual International Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference, the active transportation-minded group heard from a number of presenters about the crisis facing Canadians’ health because of physical inactivity.

Bjorn Nielsen, a Peterborough-based consultant with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation, is also the national chair of Go For Green. Go For Green is a Canadian non-profit organization with a mission to encourage outdoor physical activity that protects, enhances or restores the environment. The group was a major contributor to the event in Victoria.

Bjorn says the Canadian caucus’ recommendation was to develop a national active transportation action plan with dedicated funding and specific measurable milestones, to double before 2010 the number of people walking and cycling in their daily lives.

While noting Peterborough has taken real steps in promoting active transportation, including the City hiring a transportation demand management planner, he says there are many trends pushing this along across the nation.

"There are a number of converging trends that are occurring," says Nielsen, which reflects the growing interest across the continent in getting people to be more active.

"Our overuse of the automobile is one such fact, as it creates gridlock in metropolitan centres. We’ve engineered ourselves away from physical activity" by taking up a great deal of desirable room that could be used for cycling and walking, he explains.

Nielsen points out from 1975 to 1995, adult Canadians took 42 per cent less trips on foot. Over the same period of time, there was a 37 per cent decrease in the number of trips children took on foot. Today, only 10 per cent of children walk to school.

"We also spend 90 per cent of our time indoors and five per cent in our cars. That only leaves five per cent of our time to be active," Nielsen points out.

The national chair says another disturbing statistic is that 64 per cent of Canadians live within a 30 minute walk of their routine destinations. "What used to be an ordinary trip (on foot or by bicycle) we now get in our car for," he says.

For more information on Go For Green and to hear more about its other initiatives, visit www.goforgreen.ca

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