The Trials and Tribulations of Urban Transport

In last week's post, I blogged about the sad state of some rural Canadian roads - the shoulders being too narrow and covered in rumble strips, with no option for a cyclist to safely enjoy a day on the road.  This week, allow me to rant about the problems that plague urban North America, making it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get around on our own steam!

For the first time since I started working at my current clinic location (and that's a year and a half!), I decided to brave the roads and cycle to work one day last week.  I live 5km from my office, so it would seem on the surface that it would actually be very convenient to cycle there.  Well, let me tell you... I am not sure how many lives I'm going to get, but I think I used up about a dozen of them during that 10 km round-trip adventure.  Although Calgary is known as a city with one of the best cycling path systems in Canada, this system is only useful for daily transport if you are so lucky to both live and work somewhere along its length.  Most of us are not so geographically lucky to have both work and home on the system, so we're exposed to the elements of regular traffic if we want to ride.

 Obstacles/health hazards encountered on my adventure to and from work included:

• no cycling lanes 
• drivers who did not show any interest in yielding to, or even minding, the cyclist; 
• sidewalks did not have graded curbs on the corners (making these areas highly inaccessible to people in wheelchairs, never mind bikes)
• many through roads were blocked off by industrial companies with fences around their properties, necessitating back tracking and finding curcuitous routes
• random hubcaps, broken glass
• the same train track had to be crossed three times before reaching my destination

So for me, some big changes would have to be made before I would consider riding my bike to work again.  Our new mayor has made it a priority to improve cycling access and safety, so let's see what happens.  Contrast this with the year I spent working at the University of Copenhagen, where the society is so geared towards bike travel that it actually dissuades one from wanting a car.  Coincidentally, I lived the exact same distance from work in Denmark that I do here in Calgary (5km), and when I calculated the calorie burn over a year of cycling to work - it equated to 18 pounds of body fat!  This focus on self powered transport is one contributor to the lower obesity rates seen in Denmark (11%, compared to 25% in Canada, and 34% in USA).

This week's biggest hats off goes to the people of the Netherlands, who are turning to cycle powered school buses to help their children stay active and safe (pictured above)!  I love it.  It appears that the company that makes these buses, De Caferacer, also makes these buses for adults (if there are any Dutch speakers out there who can help me out with the website, please feel free to comment on this post - my Danish is not saving me here!). 

For those of us back in North America - we'd sure love to incorporate these self powered buses as transport, but the reality is that our entire society will require an infrastructural overhaul before that would even be possible.  Fair enough to say that our climate is not as permissive of this form of travel, but for half the year, it would still be a blessing!



Thanks to my friend Brian at marketinghits.ca for the heads' up on the great photo!


Dr Sue


www.drsue.ca © 2011 drsuetalks@gmail.com


Follow me on Twitter for daily tips! @drsuepedersen

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Ready to RUMBLE??

North America suffers some of the highest rates of overweight in the world, with 66% of American adults and 59% of Canadian adults affected. Although the list of contributing factors is long and complex, there is no doubt that an infrastructure and attitude that promotes sedentary living is clearly a major issue.

I took the above photo at last year's meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Orlando, FL, USA. This is one of the largest gatherings of health care providers interested in the treatment and prevention of diabetes on earth, and yet, when offered the option, the escalator was usually preferred to the stairs. Part of the problem here was the construction of the conference centre: while an escalator is certainly important for accessibility for people unable to take the stairs, are two sets side by side really necessary?

For people who try to engage in more healthy leisure activity, golf has really taken off as a popular activity. Golf can provide fantastic exercise; within the space of an afternoon, several kilometres can be walked and enjoyed with friends or colleagues. Sadly, many golf courses now don't allow patrons to walk the course, insisting that they use a buggy so that more players can be moved through! While golf courses were previously built to walk, many are now developed with the goal of maximizing real estate property on the course, which results in an enormous golf course which may not even be practical to walk.

The tipping point which stimulated me to write this blog on this particular week was a recent experience I had on the rural highways in Southern Alberta. I was out for a fantastic ride on my road bike on a fairly quiet highway, with beautiful views and great weather to accompany me on my journey. The shoulder was narrow, but I felt comfortable.... until I came upon a long stretch of rumble strips that had been planted in the middle of it! Unfortunately, there was no cycle path alongside for cyclists to move to; the choices were to brave the traffic, or turn around. This is in stark contrast to many other countries around the world, where there is a priority on accessible and safe self-powered transport, which not only helps to keep people active, but also saves on CO2 emissions and keeps road traffic more manageable. I certainly understand the need to alert drivers with rumble strips if they get distracted and are edging towards the side of the road, but this should not be at the sacrifice of others who are trying to enjoy the road under their own steam.

As North Americans, it is upon each of us to work exceptionally hard to find ways to stay active in our environment. Maybe it's time to rumble with policy makers to make our infrastructure more conducive to physical activity.

Dr Sue Pedersen www.drsue.ca © 2011 drsuetalks@gmail.com

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