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Ride with Candidates: Jen Vasic, Waterloo (Ward 5)

Posted on October 9, 2018October 16, 2018 by Emily Slofstra
Posted in: I bike I vote, Rides with Candidates 2018

In the months before the 2018 municipal election, CycleWR volunteers have been taking municipal electoral candidates for bike rides to show off the best and worst of the cycling infrastructure in their ward/city/region. For a full list of completed rides, click here. CycleWR is a non-partisan organization that does not support any particular party or candidate. Summaries are written by volunteers or candidates and may not reflect the mandate or views of CycleWR. For more information, contact us at hello@cyclewr.ca.

CycleWR volunteer Tamas and his family took Jen Vasic, candidate for Ward 5, Waterloo, out for a bike ride. Here’s what Jen had to say about the ride on her blog and on Twitter:

I support active transportation and infrastructure that will support it. I believe active transportation is a fun and convenient way to get around town that promotes healthy communities and protects the environment. In addition, biking has also been noted to support a healthy economy.

I’d love to see a bold and resourceful solution to transportation. I can’t tell you how excited I got watching this video about the cycling infrastructure that Seville, Spain built quickly. On the route towards bold changes, though, smaller improvements are also necessary (e.g., signage, education, protecting existing bike lanes with bollards, or posts).

My family and I got out last night with @Cycle_WR volunteer Tamas and his family. We talked about reasons for biking, pain points in the city, and possible solutions! Thank you for this service to this community! #ward5waterloo #wrpoli #activetransportation pic.twitter.com/fYblnLfMFV

— Jen Vasic (@jenvasic) August 8, 2018

And here’s Tamas’ take on the ride and cycling in Waterloo:

The route: I would like show how difficult it is to cross University Avenue (section where it turns north, after Bridge St) and the highway (I usually cross it on University Ave and Northfield Dr). Other thing is that cars and especially buses and trucks don’t keep the 1m distance.

The problems: I’m forced to cross the above mentioned roads but don’t feel very safe and would not recommend for everyone and not taking my kids that way. I do cross University Ave with my kids because their school and daycare are on the other side but take extreme caution and sometimes need to wait minutes till the cars pass by.

The lack of biking infrastructure is an obstacle to me biking more. When there is snow, the bike lane is used as a convenient place to store the snow. Excessive salt everywhere makes my bike rust, this is the main reason I’m not using my bike during winter too much.

What Tamas would like to see happen:

  • Underground tunnels and bridges over major roads (see Boulder, Colorado, for example—a similar sized city, with similar income levels, we should be able to do at least similar).
  • Connected bike lanes to be able to get everywhere in the region. Continuous trail along the river (connecting parts of Walter Bean trail).
  • Equipping cyclist with technology that helps detect drivers that pass too close.
  • Subsidize companies that support bike to work.
  • An answer to the following question: If Ontario pay drivers up to $15,000 to buy electric cars, how come I get nothing to buy a bike?

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Are you heading out to the belmontvillagebestival Are you heading out to the belmontvillagebestival this Friday and Saturday? It's the cityofkitchener's last #BikeCheck of the year!
Cycle safely to Belmont Village with the #CyclingGuide App and know your bike is secure while you enjoy the festivities!
Sunday turned out to be great ride day for our soc Sunday turned out to be great ride day for our social and the GroundUpWR Ride!Thanks to everyone who came out to our picnic social and bike ride. Our last event was in March 2020 so it was nice to get back out there! And congrats to the winners of some cool bike accessories courtesy of #BlackArrowCycles!Let's continue to advocate and let the residents and city councillors know that our streets need to be safe for everyone! 😊
Join us on Sunday, August 27th at 12pm by the cloc Join us on Sunday, August 27th at 12pm by the clock tower in Victoria Park for a picnic social and ride! We encourage you to bring a lunch/snack! There will be some prizes  to celebrate the relaunch of CycleWR in-person social events (our last one was in early 2020!). At 2pm we'll head over to Kitchener City Hall for a bike ride with GroundUpWR. We look forward to seeing you!
Have you seen this bicycle infrastructure before? Have you seen this bicycle infrastructure before?
This was newly installed on Water Street in dtkitchener.This is a great convenience for people who use bicycles to get around, while they sit at a red light.PC: pbilk
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