The city of Coquitlam is launching a program aimed at encouraging more middle school students to walk and cycle to school.
Traffic congestion has become an issue around schools, which are often located in neighbourhoods that do not have the road infrastructure to handle the volume.
Catherine Mohoruk, the city's manager of transportation, said sidewalk improvements, new bike routes, paving and signage are some of the ways the city hopes to get more young people out of their parents' cars.
But education and outreach will be crucial to the program's success, she noted. "One of the [outreach opportunities] is through the students themselves," she said. "The education of students and having them take that message up to their parents is very beneficial."
A similar program was launched several years ago at Coquitlam's 27 elementary schools and Mohoruk said it was successful in getting more students to walk and bike to school.
Student leaders helped promote the idea and each week the schools held Walk to School Wednesday, which saw between 20% and 40% decreases in vehicle trips, she said.
"[The middle school program] will be done in a very similar way," she said. "There is a real potential to see mode shift."
But unlike elementary schools, middle schools have larger catchment areas. This means that students have longer distances between their homes and their schools, an issue Coun. Craig Hodge said the city will have to grapple with if the program is going to be successful.
Coun. Chris Wilson said he would like to see more baseline data collected so that staff can determine how effective the program has been.
The first phase will get underway this fall and parents and students at Hillcrest, Summit, Como Lake and Sir Frederick Banting middle schools will be engaged to help identify barriers to walking and cycling in their areas. Scott Creek, Maillard, Montgomery and Maple Creek will begin the program for 2015/'16.
Phase one of the program will cost $147,200, with TransLink covering 57% ($83,600) and the city paying 43% (61,600 or $7,700 per school), according to the city staff report.
WAYFINDING PLAN
The opening of the Evergreen Line in 2016 is expecting to bring an influx of visitors to Coquitlam and the city wants to make it easier for people to find their way around.
On Monday, council voted unanimously in favour of a wayfinding plan update that would identify and prioritize key locations in the municipality. It also authorizes staff to hire a consultant to help produce the plan, which will be presented to council once it is completed in the new year.
Jozsef Dioszeghy, Coquitlam's general manager of engineering, said the city has established an inter-departmental team that will work with outside experts, particularly when it comes to the design and construction of wayfinding signs.
"There is quite a bit of science in the design of the signs," he said. "The size of the sign, colour scheme, what is the speed of those driving or cycling - it really depends."
City staff have been in discussion with TransLink and the city of Burnaby, which established a similar wayfinding program following the opening of the Millennium Line.
They have also prioritized a list of destinations into four categories: regional city centre, neighbourhood centre, major attractions and local destinations.
An example of a regional city centre location would be Coquitlam Centre mall while a neighbourhood centre would be identified as Burquitlam or Maillardville. Some of the major attractions that will be identified in the wayfinding program include Douglas College, tourist attractions and hospitals, while local destinations are defined as places like the Glen Pine Pavilion or city hall.
Kevan Khoshons, Coquitlam's senior transportation engineer, said in a report to council that the city will look for partnerships with organizations such as TransLink to help pay for the implementation of the wayfinding plan.
