I wanted a car; I got a bike

When I turned 16, I wanted a driver's licence and a car. What I got instead was a bike and a suggestion that I find a job. To the surprise of everyone, myself included, I actually rode that bike—admittedly not often, since my high school was 12 kilometres away. 


Sadly, regular physical activity has become increasingly difficult to achieve for adults and children alike. According to the World Health Organization, physical activity is now the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality (WHO, 2010). 


Governments, politicians, and health officials around the world are struggling to find ways to combat this trend. For example, in Melbourne Australia, 55.3% of young people walked to school or higher education in 1970, compared with 22.2% in 1994. Parents' fear about road safety is one of the contributing factors.  


Interestingly, when we moved to Oak Bay, our son decided that he wasn't ready to change schools. We gave him a bike and told him he had to get himself to school—we were not driving. The most dangerous part of his daily commute? Riding past the local school, which was clogged every morning with cars dropping off children. 


Active lifestyles can start at any age but it sure helps to start off young. I credit my parents active use of the word "no" ("we are not driving") to my walking and cycling habits today. 

Oak Bay adopts Complete Streets

Oak Bay Committee of the Whole was unanimous on June 18th in approving the Complete Streets policy put forward by the Active Transportation Advisory Committee. The policy now goes to Council for final approval. 


Complete streets are streets, trails, and multiple use paths that work for everybody from 8 to 98. 


Oak Bay now joins a number of other municipalities in the region—Saanich, Esquimalt, Victoria, Colwood, View Royal, and Langford, as well as hundreds of cities across Canada and the USA—in taking a progressive approach to active transportation planning. 


Here is the link to the presentation that the ATAC made to Council.

Secret Passageways of Oak Bay

Did you know there are a couple of dozen unmarked, mostly paved pathways throughout Oak Bay? These pathways link to destination areas such as Mt. Tolmie (3), Camosun College, UVic, the Uplands, beaches and neighbouring streets. 

Secrets of the city: Brighton passageway

Unlike the Oak Bay Trails map, which mainly suggests walking routes on typical streets, the Secret Passageways of Oak Bay are for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users and other non-vehicular travelers looking for real trails and paths – ones that take you on rambles and shortcuts and provide additional views of our community. 

The passageways are located throughout Oak Bay—from the north Henderson area, the Uplands, Estevan area, around the Oak Bay High School and Rec Centres, and throughout south Oak Bay.   

But do they really need to be so secret? Some of these public accesses even look like private driveways. Do you support adding signage to mark these public passageways?

Know of any that we’ve missed? If you have photos of additional secret trails in Oak Bay, email activeoakbay@gmail.com and we’ll update the photo gallery.

- Lesley Ewing

Urban bushwhacking not required

There is more to our built environment than streets. There are also sidewalks and pathways—both highly important in the efforts to making our urban areas accessible and inclusive. (Vancouver comes to mind in their efforts to reduce barriers to walking as part of their overall strategy of creating alternate transportation options.)

Take a look at this view of Elgin Street in Oak Bay. Between the overgrown bushes and telephone poles, half the sidewalk is missing. Pedestrians and anyone pushing a stroller or using a walker or scooter would have a hard time here. Two people couldn't walk comfortably together; if one was pushing a stroller and the other wasn't, someone would have to step out into the street to pass through this area. 

Machete needed to walk on Elgin Street

Removing barriers that get in the way of people of all ages and mobility is not only important, it is part of making active transportation choices (such as walking) feel safe, convenient, and comfortable. Bushwhacking is not!

Is being active also economic?

The other day, I walked to the bank. On my return home, I decided to try a different route. I ended up going past a little neighbourhood store I hadn't previously seen. I had a lovely conversation with the owner, bought some food I hadn't been planning to buy, took his card, and sent a note around to friends in the area telling them about my find. 

So was my experience part of the economic benefits of active transportation? Have a look at the website for the Population Health Improvement Research Network based at the University of Ottawa. CHNET hosts free weekly fireside chats—aka "webinars". 

Coming up on July 6th is a discussion on the economic benefits of active transportation, described as an important part of the toolbox used to make communities healthy and liveable. 

By the way, part of encouraging active transportation is having a "complete streets" policy that says, in effect, that decisions regarding streets must be inclusive. That means inverting the pyramid and thinking about street usage first from the perspective of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation.


Okay, here in Oak Bay, we may not be the first to think about this stuff. Turns out that most of the other municipalities in the region—such as Langford, View Royal, Esquimalt, and Saanich—already have a complete streets policy. But we may be able to catch up, if citizens make their voices heard. 

Complete Streets Policy Proposal: Public Feedback

Oak Bay Municipal Council recently considered a request from the Active Transportation Advisory Committee (ATAC) to consider adopting a Complete Streets Policy.  This proposal will be considered further at the June 18, 2012, Committee of the Whole meeting.

Please click on, download (as a PDF) and read the ATAC report to Council here, and submit input via email at obcouncil@oakbay.ca, or by dropping off a letter at the Municipal Hall, 2167 Oak Bay Avenue. Any correspondence received will be placed on the public agenda for the Committee of the Whole meeting when this subject is next considered.

Will You Still Need Me When I'm 64?

 This past week saw a celebration of the 45^th anniversary of the release of the Beatles seminal album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  The reminiscences took me back to suburban Toronto, where I grew up, and rushing to Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street to buy the album, for, I think $3.98. 

Now that age 64 isn’t that far off, the contrast between being 64 in 1967 and today couldn’t be more pronounced.  Today, people in their 60s are active walkers, cyclists, skiers, hikers, sailors, swimmers, canoers, kayakers—all activities that I doubt many of our grandparents lived long enough to enjoy.  And unlike our parents and grandparents’ generations, there are fewer smokers or heavy drinkers in our midst.

Physical exercise of any kind benefits the individual in many ways.  Even a walk on the rainiest, cool day can result in a feeling of well-being.  And what makes a walk or bike ride more pleasant than enjoying the neighbourhoods that have been designed with the walker or cyclist in mind—such as plenty of crosswalks and protection from busy vehicle traffic?

Growing up in my neighbourhood in the 1950s and 60s, every street had a grass verge of about 8 feet separating the sidewalk from the roadway.  It was a good design for  suburban streets.  More challenging are older neighbourhoods, designed without reference to the motor vehicle that had not yet achieved supreme dominance in society.  Often these sidewalks abut busy arterial roads, making it intimidating, noisy and unpleasant for the pedestrian.

Changing expectations of the community are also changing the way that forward-thinking transportation engineers view their raison d'être—from mainly moving vehicle traffic to ensuring that streets are places for everyone on foot, bicycle, pushing a baby pram, walker or wheelchair.

We want to ensure that there is room for the 64, 74, 84, 94 and 104 year-olds to enjoy our neighbourhoods and commercial hubs. Everyone benefits when our community spaces are inclusive, welcoming and accessible.

—Lesley Ewing

What if we could do better?

The common perception is that Oak Bay is great the way it is—and therefore has relatively little need for improvement. After all it is a comfortable community to live in, with beaches, parks, pathways, shops, schools and public spaces all within easy reach. Generally speaking, this perception is hard to argue against.

But what if we could improve? What if we could make it so that moving around, across, and through Oak Bay was possible for people of all ages—from eight to 80 years—and of all abilities? What if for example, it were possible to  walk, bike, or push a stroller, all the way from Oak Bay Ave. to UVic along pathways that did not require accessing busy streets? What if the new Oak Bay High School was a hub for north-south and east-west pathways that were wide enough to accommodate a stroller, walker, scooter, or bicycle + trailer? And, what if seniors were able to walk along sidewalks that were wide enough to allow a walker and a pedestrian to pass without one person having to step into the street (a reality in several spots along Foul Bay Road and Oak Bay Ave).

These are some of the ideas that the Active Transportation Advisory Committee has recommended to Oak Bay councillors; ways to make Oak Bay an even better place in which to live—for everyone.

Liveable cities

I recall reading an article several years ago that people living in urban centres tend to walk more than those living in newer urban areas because of the integration of residential and commercial spaces, meaning that residents can easily get to and from living, working, shopping, and recreating spaces without having to get in their car. Civic engagement and social and physical health are all enhanced by the mere act of moving about our urban environment by means other than a car. 


These days there is a strong international movement around the notion of making our built environments more liveable by creating a "city of short distances" where balanced transportation planning makes possible commuting via pedestrian networks, bicycle networks, traffic quietened streets and public transportation.


Oak Bay is blessed in already being a city of short distances. We have the "village" as well as small neighbourhood shopping/business areas that are integrated into neighbourhoods (think Estevan village, Casey's and Demi-Tasse in south Oak Bay, and Cadboro Bay Road shops). But, we can do better. 


That is why we now have the Active Transportation Advisory Committee - a group of 11 residents appointed by municipal council and mandated to provide advice and recommendations supporting active transportation options for our community.  


We look forward to lots of lively discussion around ideas and ways that Oak Bay can be made even better - through infrastructure improvements that will enable all residents regardless of age or mobility, to move easily through and across our municipality.