The purpose of our workshop is to provide decision-makers and community health advocates with an awareness of the benefits of Complete Street design from an economic, health and environmental perspective. The workshop participants will evaluate the current walking, cycling, transit and carpooling opportunities in their community and Sustainable Alberta Association will provide models of sustainable transportation design from municipalities with similar demographics and climates.

The Complete Street workshop will provide residents, community leaders, and municipal staff an opportunity to:

• Be acquainted with the concept of Complete Street design
• Assess the current conditions for sustainable transportation in their community and arrive at a common understanding of its strengths, weaknesses, and priorities
• Be exposed to sustainable transportation initiatives taking place in communities across Canada
• Be acquainted with the social marketing of sustainable transportation
• Provide input on next steps for the improvement of the walk ability, bike ability and transit friendliness in their community

A community’s participation will incorporate multiple components, including:

• A one-day workshop in the community facilitated by one to two representatives from Sustainable Alberta Association.
• A summary of the community’s evaluation of its current sustainable transportation infrastructure.
• A summary of the recommendations from the participants and Sustainable Alberta on next steps to move on Complete Street design.

Sustainable Alberta will work with the communities involved to encourage them to take part in existing sustainable transportation programs such as the Commuter Challenge and Active and Safe Routes to School. We will provide resources, such as the excellent VeloQuebec publication The Technical Handbook of Bikeway Design to each community during the planning session, and staff will be available for ongoing consultation and support.

Local organization is essential to the success of the Complete Street Workshop. It is the local organizers who can identify and invite the participants; they arrange for the meeting space, publicize the event and take care of the details. Sustainable Alberta’s role is to design the workshop, assist with the local organizer, provide expertise, facilitate the workshop, and follow up with a summary that will be relevant to the community.

To ensure the success of the event the local organizer should undertake the following actions:
Arrange a Time and Place with SAA: try to avoid staff time conflicts, pick a location with easy access by foot, bike or transit; of the appropriate size and that has the necessary facilities.
Invite the Target Audiences: particularly community leaders – elected officials, department heads, PTA presidents, school board members, Chambers of Commerce, leading public health professionals, advisory boards and service club members and people involved in Active Transportation. Sustainable Alberta has an invitation template that the community liaison can use.
Event Logistics: ensure that there is a working computer, data projector and screen, a number of flip charts with the necessary markers and tape or tacks. Set out a place for attendees to register and where lunches can be served. Also ensure that there are workshop agendas and other pieces of information available for attendees. It is helpful if there is a photocopy machine close by to take care of any last minute coping needs.
Promotions and Publicity: the local organizers are best positioned to arrange for local promotion and to contact the local media. Brochures, posters and press releases can all be used; SAA can assist with the creation of these items. The SAA Program Advisor will also be available to be interviewed by the local media before, during and after the workshop.
Sponsorship of Lunch and Coffee Break: Sustainable Alberta Association provides for transportation, hotel, workshop design and delivery and follow up. As a non- profit organization, SAA’s budget is limited, so we ask that the host community sponsor the lunch and coffee breaks.

What are Complete Streets?

A Complete Street is safe, comfortable, and convenient for travel by automobile, foot, bicycle, wheelchair, and transit. Complete Streets are designed, built, operated and maintained taking in consideration the needs of all users (pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, car drivers, the disabled, seniors and children).

Why is sustainable transportation so relevant today?

Economics: In simple terms, the cost of oil is only going to increase

Inactivity: Sustainable Transportation directly addresses one of the principal underlying societal conditions contributing to decreased physical activity and obesity: excessive and unnecessary use of the automobile. The existence of infrastructure that encourages reduced car use influences people in making healthy lifestyle choices when travelling to school, work, and elsewhere in their communities.*1

Climate Change: When we burn fossil fuels in our cars, we release carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide gases into the air. These are the “greenhouse gases,” which are primarily responsible for climate change. Emissions from transportation are the largest single source of greenhouse gases. The rate of global climate change is escalating rapidly.

Paving our green space: Up to 42% of the surface area of our region is dedicated to roads and parking. We are turning our wilderness and agricultural areas into blacktop and parking lots.

Automotive Waste: Only 18% of used tires are reused; 62% are simply discarded into landfills. Every year, in Canada,19.5 million tires are thrown into landfills. Non-metallic car components such as plastics, fluids, and rubber compose 25% of every vehicle; these are very difficult to recycle.

Air pollution: Air pollution escalates at a constantly increasing rate as more vehicles are put on the road. The result is smog: a toxic chemical mixture which irritates eyes, nose, and throat, and causes respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Children and elderly people are especially vulnerable to airborne emissions. Air pollution is a year-round threat to the heart health of Canadians yet only one in 10 people makes the connection between air pollution and cardiovascular disease, according to the 2008 Heart and Stroke Foundation Report Card on Canadians' Health. The report card said there are 6,000 additional deaths in Canada each year due to short- and long-term exposure to air pollution - with nearly 70 per cent of deaths coming in the form of cardio and cerebrovascular disease.

What is the Sustainable Alberta Association?

Sustainable Alberta Association (SAA) is a Calgary-based, non-profit organization encouraging Canadians to reduce their car use. SAA’s goal is to promote sustainable commuting, for better health and a cleaner environment. We have evolved over the years from a grass roots organization to a society that founded the National Commuter Challenge during Environment Week. SAA also delivers year-round workplace trip reduction programs, as well as sustainable transportation workshops to workplaces, communities and institutions.

*1 Currently 6.6% of Canadians walk to work while 1.2% bicycle. Yet many countries around the world have significantly higher levels of sustainable transportation use In the Netherlands, walking accounts of 19% of trips while cycling accounts for 27% and in Sweden, walking accounts for 39% of trips while cycling accounts for 10%. Clearly there is room for growth, especially in cycling trips. A large majority of Canadians (82%) supports government spending to create dedicated bicycle lanes and paths. Such expenditures prove to be very popular.

Sources:
Go For Green
Heart and Stroke Foundation
The Centre For Sustainable Transportation, University of Winnipeg
Better Environmentally Sustainable Transportation
Sustainable Alberta Association
Complete Streets.org

Throughout 2007/8 Sustainable Alberta Association has successfully delivered nine sustainable transportation workshops to over twelve communities in Alberta, including Pincher Creek, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Okotoks, Grande Prairie, Cochrane, Banff and Canmore. The goal of the workshops is to gather information regarding the current cycling, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure in the specific municipality, and look at ideas that other Canadian communities (with similar climates and demographics) have initiated to improve this infrastructure, their challenges, as well as successes.

We are currently able to offer ONE FREE workshop to any regional community (population 10,000 to 100, 000) in Alberta from our Fall/Winter 2008/9 program, called Complete Streets. Typically, a municipal staff person within the Planning, Health Promotion, Engineering, or Communities in Bloom departments is designated as our contact person. An individual or committee with a specific interest in sustainability is ideal. The one-day workshops are relevant from an environment, health, planning, and community development perspective. The workshops are sponsored by Transport Canada, designed and delivered by SAA with the needs of your community in mind, and are free. The success of the workshops is dependent on the local partner’s ability to distribute the message of the workshop to local participants. As well, all the municipalities we work with provide a facility, and sponsor a lunch and coffee break for the event.

As many towns in Alberta are struggling to keep up with the pressures of rapid growth, and the impact this has on sustainability and quality of life, our workshops provide an effective tool with which to consider approaches to the transportation component of sustainable growth.

This is a great opportunity for your community to collaborate on sustainable transportation solutions, and we will be deciding on the community for the Fall workshop on a ‘ first come, first serve basis’. Call SAA at 403-294-0904 to book the workshop while there is still space! We plan to deliver the workshop before December at a date that is convenient for the community. Download a sample invitation by clicking this link.

This workshop will provide community leaders and municipal staff an opportunity to:

1. Become familiar with the concept of Complete Street Design and its critical importance to public health and environmental well-being;
2. Share information on Sustainable Alberta Association (SAA)'s successful social marketing strategies, including the Calgary Commuter Challenge event;
3. Assess the current conditions for sustainable transportation in Cochrane and arrive at a common understanding of its strengths, weaknesses, and priorities;
4. Learn best practices for the design of pedestrian, cycling and transit facilities and view examples from other Canadian communities;
5. Provide input on next steps for the improvement of the walkability, bikeability and transit options in Cochrane.

Rebecca O’Brien is the program Coordinator for the Sustainable Alberta Association (SAA).

Rebecca has been working in the sustainable transportation sector since 1999, when she initiated the TRAX (www.trax.ns.ca) program in Halifax, now one of the longest running sustainable transportation programs in Canada. Rebecca is committed to the principle that a healthy Canadian population requires vibrant, diverse communities that ensure quality of life and human dignity over automobile dependency. Rebecca currently serves on six committees and boards, and is the recipient of a number of awards for her work in implementing sustainable transportation infrastructure including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee  Medal and Saint Mary ‘s University’s Harold J. Beazely Award. Rebecca has presented at conferences across the country, has had over a hundred print, radio, and television appearances. Since moving to Calgary in 2005, Rebecca has worked collaboratively to improve the sustainability of her own community in Calgary, including initiating playground naturalizations, recycling programs, a pesticide-free Calgary coalition (healthycalgary.ca),  a school carpooling program (SchoolPool.ca) and anti-idling campaigns. With her energy and focus, SAA has expanded from its role from administrating the Calgary Commuter Challenge to year-round trip reduction and sustainable transportation workshops throughout Alberta.  Rebecca continues to increase awareness of the connection between health, education and environment. Rebecca walks, cycles and takes transit year-round in Calgary.