As we have found working with the Resort Municipality of Whistler and Richard Drdul, Community Transportation Planner on Whistler’s Active Transportation Plan, community engagement is essential to clearly understand localized barriers, solutions, and priorities. While it has confirmed some of what we already knew, it is providing the detail needed to recommend priority projects with more confidence and unearthing a few surprises.
One such surprise is that while most communities report ‘safety concerns’ as the top barrier to using active transportation modes, respondents to Whistler’s recent survey rated safety concerns as a secondary barrier (after weather) and on par with a number of other barriers that received similar response rates, including cargo, time constraints, bike storage, and route challenges.
Find out what the active transportation barriers and priority solutions are for your community; access the federal Transportation Infrastructure Fund with grants of up to $50,000 for planning and engagement.
Need help with the engagement process? If so, contact Shannon at sgordon [at] whistlercentre.ca.