And the winner of the Walk30 2022 Burnaby/New West Challenge is....

New Westminster!

Congratulations to the City of New Westminster for being this year's Walk30 Challenge winner! New West participants walked an average of 36.9 minutes per day, and took home the coveted shoefy!

Burnaby came super close, walking an average of 34.3 minutes per day! What a fantastic effort. Both cities surpassed the goals of the Challenge to walk 30 minutes per day! Thank you to all participants for your enthusiasm and for the positive energy you brought to the Challenge.

Wrapping up a fun 5 weeks at Mary Avenue Park

Members of the Walk30 Committee, Mayors Mike Hurley and Jonathan Cote, and students from Lord Kelvin and Twelfth Avenue Elementary schools at the Walk30 wrap-up celebration at Mary Avenue Park on May 30, 2022.

Some of our most dedicated walkers this year were students from local elementary schools! We had a blast meeting dedicated students and teachers this morning at Mary Avenue Park as we announced the final Walk30 Challenge results with Mayor Mike Hurley (Burnaby) and Mayor Jonathan Cote (New Westminster).

Congratulations to the grade 3/4 class of Lyndhurst Elementary(Burnaby) for being the class who walked the most to school, and to Lord Kelvin Elementary (New West) for recording the most walking minutes together as a school during the Challenge - a whopping 2,852! And to Twelfth Avenue Elementary (Burnaby), congratulations for being the school with the most registered students, with a total of 295 students taking part in the Walk30 Challenge!

From left to right: BEST's Executive Director Pablo Zacarias, New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote, Walkers' Caucus member Mary Wilson, and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley with the golden shoefy at Mary Avenue Park on May 30, 2022.

We hope that participating in the Walk30 Challenge this year was insightful and helped you consider adapting your transportation habits in the long term, and most importantly, we hope that you had fun!

The Walk30 Challenge aims to grow walking as an important mode of transportation that connects people to their communities, increases health and wellness, and supports climate action. Even though the Challenge may be over for another year, the Cities of Burnaby and New Westminster are working hard to continue promoting walking and other active transportation modes in our communities!

The Cities of Burnaby and New Westminster have set their sights on a climate-friendly future of transportation.

Both Burnaby and New Westminster have a zero emissions by 2050 target, and a mode split target as part of their climate action initiatives. Burnaby aims for 75% of trips to be taken by public transit or active transportation by 2050, and New West aims to achieve 60% of all trips to be taken by a sustainable transportation mode by 2030.

Have any Walk30 Challenge photos you'd like to share with us? Want to tell us how your relationship with your community changed as you began walking more? Let's stay in touch! Keep up with the Walk30 Challenge to see what we're up to over the year by following us on Twitter and Instagram, and let's keep walking!

Media release - The City of New Westminster Wins the 2022 Burnaby/New Westminster WALK30 Challenge!

MEDIA RELEASE 

The City of New Westminster Wins the 2022 Burnaby/New Westminster WALK30 Challenge!

Burnaby and New Westminster – The annual Burnaby/New Westminster WALK30 Challenge has come to a close, with New Westminster coming in first place to break last year’s tie! Registered New Westminster residents logged an incredible average of 36.9 walking minutes per day, surpassing the goal of the Challenge to walk for 30 minutes per day. The City of Burnaby came in close behind, with registered residents walking an average of 34.3 minutes per day. 

The WALK30 Challenge is an annual friendly competition between Burnaby and New Westminster that encourages residents to walk more in their communities and rethink how they get around. WALK30 inspires participants to choose walking as a mode of transportation for exercise and health, leisure and enjoyment, and for completing daily tasks and errands. Participants log their daily walking minutes online over the course of five weeks, exploring new places and making community connections along the way. 

The winner was announced at Mary Avenue Park on May 30, 2022, where Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley and New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote were joined by students from Twelfth Avenue and Lord Kelvin elementary school students for the presentation of the Golden Shoephy award. Elementary school students were among the most dedicated WALK30 participants this year, walking to school and walking with their teachers and classmates, while they learned about the importance of walking together. 

“Burnaby went above and beyond in the Walk30 Challenge, and we exceeded our goal by walking an average of 34.3 minutes a day,” said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley. “I’m especially pleased with participation from Burnaby schools. Walking to school is a great way to start a lifelong habit of exploring our community on foot and using active transportation to get to our destinations. When we walk more, we improve our health and the health of the planet.”

“It is year 5 of the annual WALK30 Burnaby/New Westminster Walking Challenge and this year New Westminster residents logged an average of 36.9 walking minutes per day, surpassing the goal of the Challenge to walk for 30 minutes per day once again,” said Mayor Jonathan Coté. “I am optimistic that the community will continue walking to work, school and to run errands, because we can all walk, wheel or roll to reduce the number of trips made by car, in line with our sustainable transportation goals. We ALL win when we walk more every day.”

Although the WALK30 Challenge may be over for another year, Burnaby and New Westminster continue to support sustainable transportation initiatives. Both Burnaby and New Westminster have a zero emissions by 2050 target, and a mode split target as part of their climate action goals. Burnaby aims for 75% of trips to be taken by public transit or active transportation by 2050, and New Westminster aims to have 60% of all trips to be taken by a sustainable transportation mode by 2030.

The 2022 WALK30 Burnaby/New Westminster Challenge was developed by the City of New Westminster and the City of Burnaby Healthier Community Partnership Committees. BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation) ran the event with support from the volunteer-led New Westminster Walkers’ Caucus. 

MEDIA CONTACTS: 

City of Burnaby contact: Margaret Manifold, Senior Social Planner 

604 294 7407 margaret.manifold@burnaby.ca 

City of New Westminster contact: Antonia Reynolds, Active Transportation Coordinator 604 515 3811 areynolds@newwestcity.ca 

BEST contact: Isabel Garcia, WALK30 Coordinator and Living Streets Manager

778 580 9037 isabel.garcia@best.bc.ca 

The WALK30 Challenge is a program of Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST). BEST is a non-profit charity focused on walking, cycling, public transit and alternatives to privately-owned cars.

Thank you to our sponsors City of Burnaby, City of New Westminster, TransLink, and Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, and to our partner Fraser Health.

Walk30 Week 5 Theme: Walking for Errands and Shopping Locally

Week 5 Theme: Walking for Errands and Shopping Locally

Welcome to week 5, the final week of the Walk30 Burnaby/New West Challenge! Last week, we talked about walking for the environment. We hope you’ve had a chance to track your carbon footprint and see first-hand how beneficial it is to the environment to switch to walking and other active transportation modes! This week, we’re talking about walking for errands and shopping locally.

Why shop locally?

Small Business BC lists 5 reasons why you should do your shopping closer to home:

1. Support the character of your community: Small local businesses, and the people who frequent them, add a unique character and life to our communities. They employ our neighbours and friends, and they provide jobs within our neighbourhoods. Without them, we’d be unable to find many unique products and services that can’t be found at bigger outlets, such as locally-made artisan crafts and delicious homestyle foods!

2. Keep money in the community: LOCO BC’s evidence highlights that a small 10% shift in BC consumer spending towards independent businesses would create 14,150 jobs, while keeping $4.3 billion within the BC economy each year.

3. Keep people in our communities: Approximately 60% of our population lives in the Lower Mainland and Victoria metropolitan area, while the remaining 40% is distributed across the rest of the province. As traditional rural industries decline, and we move toward a more integrated global economy, these rural areas have faced challenges retaining their population and supporting local jobs. Supporting businesses in these communities is a great way to conserve these towns’ economies and keep people living there.

4. Community building: Local businesses are owned by local people. These people are your neighbours, friends, and family, or maybe even you! When you shop at local stores you might bump into people you know or even meet new friends. Recall our week 2 theme about walking for community connectedness and how important it is for our mental health to have good connections in our neighbourhoods.

5. Help the environment: When you shop locally, you reduce your carbon footprint and help to cut down on pollution. Local businesses often source their products from local manufacturers and growers. This helps to reduce long distance logistics, fossil fuel usage, and even helps to ensure local farms and agriculture thrive. If you’re buying locally produced food, chances are it’s also going to be fresher and tastier!

Like Small Business BC explains, there are many great reasons why we should shop locally, from community building to reducing our carbon footprint. As we’ve talked about in our previous weekly themes, walking to strengthen our neighbourly connections and walking for the environment are super important - so let’s walk when we shop locally!

Most people walk for leisure and exercise (which is fantastic!) but opt to drive when running errands and shopping. It is understandable that using a car is sometimes convenient if you’re picking up large items or going on a big shopping spree and need to bring a lot of things home, but there are ways to reduce or stop driving for errands, or make more environmentally-friendly choices when going shopping!

Shop locally to drive less and take shorter trips by car

Driving for errands allows you travel farther away from home, increasing your carbon footprint and causing you to shop locally less. If you must drive to pick up a large amount of goods, consider shopping closer to home to reduce the distance you need to drive. Some ways you can reduce your carbon footprint if you need to use a car are switching to an electric vehicle, using car-sharing services, or carpooling with friends and family. Organize a “shopping day” with your friends and family where you all get your larger purchases done together and take only one vehicle, rather than everyone going separately with their own cars.

Walk when you don’t have to purchase a lot of things

If you know you don’t have to make a large purchase and can easily carry your goods home, or are running errands that don’t require you to bring anything home (such as attending a salon appointment, a routine visit to the dentist, or going to a coffee shop or restaurant), consider walking there! If you walk for errands, you will be motivated to shop locally, use more small businesses, and get some exercise and fresh air while you’re at it.

Go multi-modal

Multi-modal transportation means you get around with different transportation modes. If it’s too far for you to walk somewhere and you usually reach for the car keys to save yourself time or energy - consider taking transit or cycling half the way! You can walk to your nearest bus stop or SkyTrain station, take transit as close to your destination as you please, and walk the rest of the way. You can do the same with your bike or electric scooter! TransLink has excellent safe bike parking facilities at select transit stations you can use to park your bike while you walk for the rest of your journey or complete your errands.

The bottom line

Shopping locally is great for the community and environment, and so is walking! If we simply reduce some of our errands-related journeys by car and opt to walk, cycle, or transit to our destinations (or use a combination of transportation modes!) we can make a huge difference in how we treat the earth, our neighbourhoods, and our health.

This week, we encourage you to walk to get your errands done and choose local businesses for your shopping and dining needs. If you’re travelling farther than you can to walk the whole way, consider using multi-modal transportation and take transit, a bike, a scooter, or carpool a portion of the way. Any small effort can make a huge difference and can positively impact our habits and relationships with our communities in the long-term.

Let us know on Twitter or Instagram how you plan to walk to get your errands done this week and what your favourite local businesses are!

Walk30 Week 4 Theme: Walking for Environment and Climate Action

Walk30 Week 4 Theme: Walking for Environment and Climate Action

Welcome to week 4 of the Walk30 Challenge! Last week, we talked about inclusion and accessibility and how to be more mindful of access barriers when we go out for our walks. We hope you’ve had a chance to explore accessibility and what it means to you and the people in your community! This week, we’re talking about walking for climate change and environmental action.

BEST is proud to support climate action initiatives. Earlier this year we joined the West Coast Climate Action Network as a partner organization to work together with other climate-driven organizations and groups in BC! We strongly believe that active and sustainable transportation modes such as walking, cycling, and transit are some of the most impactful ways individuals can take action against climate change. The Walk30 Challenge seeks to not only encourage participants to walk more during the Challenge itself, but strives to equip people with the knowledge and experience they need to be able to create better lifelong transportation habits and permanently reduce the amount of time they spend driving. 

Our carbon footprint

We need to rethink how we move around and how we interact with the planet to maintain sustainable growth for us and generations to come.

A recent study led by the University of Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit found that meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets requires a move away from motorized transportation. Ditching your car for walking or cycling just one day per week can significantly cut your carbon footprint. The team found that shifting to active transportation (walking, cycling, rolling — any way that you get around with your own power) could save as much as a quarter of personal carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions! If just 10% of the population were to change their travel behaviour, the emissions savings would be around 4% of lifecycle CO2 emissions from all car travel.

The team found that the largest benefits from shifts from car to active travel were for business travel, followed by social and leisure trips, and commuting to work or place of study.

Doing more of a good thing combined with doing less of a bad thing – and doing it now – is much more compliant with a ‘net zero’ pathway and preserving our planet’s and our own futures.

Dr. Christian Brand

Do you know what your personal carbon footprint is? Or how much carbon you're emitting while performing quick errand runs with a car? There are a ton of great apps you can download to your phone if you’re interested in tracking your carbon footprint! Check out this list of apps.

Using active transportation modes to get around while reducing driving is not only good for the environment, but also for reducing social inequalities and improving public health and quality of urban life in a post-COVID-19 world.

To improve active travel take-up, cities across the world will need to increase investment in high-quality infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists and incorporate policy and planning concepts that require a fairly radical rethink of our cities.

Dr. De Nazelle

Rethinking mobility in our cities

Connecting Burnaby is Burnaby's latest transportation plan, which sets out the City's long-term vision for transportation and decision-making over the next 30 years. The plan envisions a sustainable, safe, and accessible transportation system that supports a vibrant economy and responds to climate change. By 2050, Burnaby aims to achieve:

• Vision Zero - reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 100%.

• Mode Split - have ¾ of all trips made by public transit and active transportation.

• Zero Emissions - reduce vehicle emissions by 100%.

The City of New Westminster is taking 7 bold steps towards climate action and seeks to become a “car light community”. New West is accelerating their Master Transportation Plan targets for mode split, aiming to have its residents take 60% of all trips within the City by sustainable modes of transportation (walking, transit, cycling, and multi-occupant shared) by 2030!

How do you envision yourself getting around in the future once the Walk30 Challenge has ended? Has participating in the Challenge been an eye-opening experience for you, through which you have been able to develop new transportation habits?

Let us know on Twitter or Instagram how you plan to walk more for the climate!

Walk30 Week 3 Theme: Inclusion and Accessibility

Walk30 Week 3 Theme: Inclusion and Accessibility

Welcome to week 3 of the Walk30 Challenge! We hope you enjoyed walking with your friends, family, neighbours, or colleagues last week. This week’s theme is all about inclusion and accessibility. 

What is accessibility, and what does it have to do with inclusion?

Universal accessibility can be defined as the conditions for easy access that would allow any individual (even those whose mobility, communicative ability, or understanding is reduced) to access and enjoy a place, product, or service, and to do so freely and independently. Accessibility involves social transformation; a reconfiguration of an environment eagerly seeking change, as well as new actions and strategies.

Accessibility in cities can take many forms, such as: sidewalk curb ramps, audible street crossing signals, wheelchair ramps, automatic doors, and much, much more. 

Accessibility is independence! Every citizen has the right to be an active member of society and participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and that includes getting around. Accessibility ensures that everyone is included and prevents discrimination; without it, people with disabilities are at a disadvantage with respect to those without. 

Why is this important?

Because one in five (22%) of the Canadian population aged 15 years and over – or about 6.2 million individuals – has one or more disabilities. The prevalence of disabilities (whether it be physical, sensory, cognitive, or mental health-related) among Canadians is more common than we may realize. Whether you have a disability that limits your mobility or not, chances are you may know someone who does. 

Canada is also experiencing an aging population with 25% of those in BC being 65+ in less than 10 years, and many of us will need and want alternatives to driving to be able to get around once we can no longer safely drive ourselves. Building our cities and transportation infrastructure in a way that ensures everyone can get to where they need to go regardless of their ability is key to inclusion.

Should accessibility only matter if you have a disability?

Absolutely not! We can all benefit from better accessibility, even if we are able-bodied. Ensuring that spaces are accessible to everyone opens up new avenues for friendships and connections with people of all abilities and backgrounds. Recall our Week 2 theme of community connectedness and mental health - establishing and maintaining connections to others is so important for our wellbeing. When we connect with others, we build stronger and happier communities! Accessibility makes it possible for everyone to take part in society and make those important connections. 

We will all age some day and may require modifications to our mobility habits. We might have to give up driving with age, or begin to struggle going up stairs, or have a hard time walking on sidewalks without curb cuts. Maybe we’ll break a foot and require crutches temporarily. We don’t always have to wait until we age or have a physical disability to use accessibility features, though! People with small children using strollers can also benefit, for example. Ensuring that our cities are accessible to everyone, regardless of ability, age, and what mobility aids they may use, means everyone can continue to get around independently and safely. 

How are streets becoming more accessible to pedestrians?

A complete and accessible sidewalk network is crucial to ensuring that people are able to safely get around the city without a vehicle. In addition to connecting people to their neighbourhoods, the transit system, and to businesses, sidewalks promote and facilitate active transportation which supports public health and climate action. The City of Burnaby is building dozens of new sidewalks as part of the New Sidewalks Program (2021-2022) in recognition of the important role of sidewalks! The plan aims to build more than 20 kilometres of new and improved sidewalks each year to encourage Burnaby residents of all ages and abilities to increase their daily walking and rolling, and to make it safe to do so. Priority for sidewalk construction was given to streets near transit, schools, parks, and seniors’ housing and community centres. 

Noticing accessibility in your neighbourhood

Next time you go for a walk, take note of the accessibility features you may come across, or the lack of. 

Take note of things that may make mobility challenging:

• Sidewalks - are they “incomplete,” meaning they stop and start along the street, causing pedestrians to have to share the road with cars?

• Rocks and pebbles - would you be able to use a rolling mobility aid on a bumpy road?

• Cracks in the sidewalk - could they be dangerous if using a mobility aid or having limited mobility?

• Crosswalks - are the crossing buttons audible? Are there clear markings for pedestrians?

• Foliage - are plants and trees spilling onto the sidewalk, making it difficult to pass by without having to walk on the street?

Take note of things that make mobility easier:

• Podotactile sidewalks - do you notice any raised sidewalks with “bumpy” surfaces while out walking?

• Wide sidewalks - can they be used comfortably with a mobility device?

• Street lighting - can you see where you are going at night?

• Ramps - are there ramps where there are stairs, ensuring those who cannot use stairs can still access a space?

• Public benches and resting places - do you have somewhere to comfortably rest if you need it?

Once you start thinking about accessibility, you will start noticing it (or its absence) everywhere! This week, we encourage you to be mindful when you go for your daily walks and pay attention to how you, or others who may get around differently than you, may access the space.

What do you think makes transportation infrastructure accessible? What do you think makes it difficult to get around, especially for those who have mobility challenges? Let us know on Twitter or Instagram, and send us your photos!

Walk30 Week 2 Theme: Walking for Community Connectedness and Mental Health

Walk30 Week 2 Theme: Walking For Community Connectedness And Mental Health

Welcome to Walk30 Week 2! We hope you’ve enjoyed the first week of the Challenge and have had a chance to think about how walking more has made you feel. This week’s theme is all about walking for community connectedness and mental wellness.

Why is this important? Many people have experienced increased loneliness and isolation during the pandemic. Staying home, limiting our contacts, and working and studying remotely for two years has made it difficult to stay connected to our communities and has put strain on our mental health and wellness. Walking outdoors is an excellent way to start building back those connections and lift your spirits! 

• Walking helps to promote social interaction by getting people outdoors together. Walking with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbours is a great way to remain connected and socialize while taking part in low-intensity exercise.

• Walking can help to prevent cognitive decline, meaning it helps increase memory, learning, and thinking abilities. 

• Walking for 30 minutes per day 3-5 times a week can help to boost your mood and energy by releasing endorphins. 

What do we mean by feeling connected to our community? First of all, “community” can take on different meanings and doesn’t just refer to the neighbourhood you live in. You can also be part of multiple communities at once! A community you are part of can be your workplace and the area around it, your school’s campus, your gym, or any place you spend time in, either living, playing, working, studying, or exploring. Community can mean being close to your neighbours, taking good care of the land and nature, doing good deeds with others, fostering an open and safe space for everyone, being aware of what’s going on around you, supporting newcomers, and much more.

When we walk, we are able to see so much more in our communities that we miss while driving. We might drive past a house every day and never realize who lives there, or notice that they have beautiful flowers in their yard, or that they have a playful cat that likes to say hi to passersby! Walking allows us to experience new things about the places we spend our time in and learn more about the people who make these places special.

If it’s been a while since you walked in your own neighbourhood, consider it an adventure! Go for a stroll around your block and make a mental note of the things you come across that you never noticed before. We love to encourage students taking part in the Walk30 Challenge to turn their observations into an art project, but you don’t have to be a kid to have fun! Take photos of what you see for a new scrapbook project or start a journal! Be creative and design something beautiful around the idea of community and what it means to you.

If you’re feeling up for conversation, try saying hi to a neighbour, classmate, or someone in your office building you haven’t met and introduce yourself! Chances are that many people in your community may be feeling isolated and disconnected since the pandemic, and reaching out just might make someone’s day. Perhaps they would like to join you on a walk!

How to walk more in your community:

• Have you been stuck on Zoom all day and feeling lonely? Ask your coworkers to go for a walking meeting together instead of sitting at your desks.

• Study breaks are important! If you’ve been sitting for a prolonged period of time or start feeling strained from staring at your computer for hours, consider taking a walk to clear your mind and come back to your studies feeling refreshed. Ask your classmates to join you for a walk around campus together!

• Take a walk on your lunch break. Whether you work from home or the office, make sure you get some fresh air during your break and take the time to explore the area on foot if you’re used to driving. If you’re working outside of home, pack yourself a portable lunch and take it with you on a walk!

• Be creative! Take turns with your friends and family walking in each other’s neighbourhoods and have someone in your group play “tour guide” and show you around!

What does community mean to you, and how do you connect with your community when you walk? Tweet us or tag us on Instagram to share your story!

Happy walking!

Kicking off the 2022 Walk30 Challenge in Burnaby and New West!

The Annual WALK30 Challenge Returns to Burnaby and New Westminster!

The annual WALK30 Burnaby/New West Challenge starts on April 11, with the goal of inspiring residents to walk more for health, community connectedness, and to rethink how we get around. The five-week Challenge will end on May 15, when the winning municipality whose residents walked the most will be announced.

Last year, a total of 1.96 million walking minutes were recorded by 1492 WALK30 participants! Walk to school, work, shop, or to play - every minute will count. Both the City of Burnaby and the City of New Westminster are committed to promoting walking as a convenient form of transportation that anyone can participate in. 

“Walking is a great way to stay healthy and connect with your community at the same time,” said Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley. “Every bit of physical activity helps, so I encourage everyone to get out and explore the incredible parks, trails and tracks throughout Burnaby and New Westminster.”

Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley encouraging students from Twelfth Avenue and Lord Kelvin elementary schools to participate in the Walk30 Challenge with their classes, at the Walk30 Launch on April 5th in Moody Park.

“In 2020, I made a resolution for the decade ahead to walk the same number of steps as it would take to go around the world, for my own health and that of the planet. During the pandemic, it has been great to get around by walking and it is a sustainable way to travel,” said New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote. “WALK30 is a chance for everyone to walk more, so let’s get out and enjoy it this spring.”

The Walk30 team and students with Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley (left) and New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote (right) at the Walk30 Launch on April 5th in Moody Park.

Every year, the WALK30 Challenge promotes weekly “walking themes” to keep participants motivated and engaged by highlighting the benefits of walking, active transportation, and being outdoors. This year’s Challenge will focus on shopping local, “blending” your walks with public transportation, walking for mental health, and more. 

Taking a walk outdoors, even if it is brief, can be beneficial to break the monotony and ease the stress of virtual meetings and classes, all while adding a dose of physical fitness to your daily routine. Now that we are heading into spring, days will become longer and brighter, and with that, more time to fit a sunny walk into your day! WALK30 participants can track their daily walking minutes using a watch, phone, or fitness device. Schools are invited to form classroom or staff teams. Companies and organizations can encourage their employees to walk more by challenging other companies or departments to see who can walk more during the Challenge. You can even get creative and have outdoor “walking meetings” with your team!

“Walking just 10 minutes at a time has many physical and mental health benefits. I’m going to use WALK30 as an opportunity to increase my daily walking minutes and connect more mindfully to my neighbourhood, and I hope you will, too,” said Dr. Aamir Bharmal, Medical Health Officer for Burnaby and New Westminster. 

From April 11 - May 15, registered participants will track and share daily walking minutes online. Register here.

The WALK30 Challenge is a program of Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST). BEST is a non-profit charity focused on walking, cycling, public transit and alternatives to privately-owned cars.

Thank you to our sponsors City of Burnaby, City of New Westminster, TransLink, and Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, and to our partner Fraser Health.

Sakura days in Vancouver 🌸

As we enter cherry blossom season in Vancouver, Janette McIntosh, our Seniors’ Transportation Programming Lead, shared her story with us about growing up in Japan!

“It is so wonderful to be able to walk under the cherry blossoms (sakura) throughout Vancouver!” says Janette, “They start blooming with the lighter pinks in late March and early April, and the darker pinks bloom by mid-April. Born and raised in Japan, I used to visit the Osaka Mint every year during cherry blossom season to enjoy ‘ohana-mi’ (flower viewing) picnics among the crowds. Osaka Castle park was another great place for ohana-mi picnics. I’ll never forget my first spring in Vancouver - cherry blossoms abloom, so colourful and beautiful, and in public spaces everywhere for everyone to enjoy!” 

Sakura in bloom at Osaka Castle Park, Japan.

“I learned that many of the cherry trees were received as gifts between the 1930s and 1950s. In the 1930s, the cities of Kobe and Yokohama, Japan, gave the City of Vancouver 500 cherry trees to plant at the Japanese cenotaph in Stanley Park to honour the Japanese Canadians who served in World War I. And, in 1958, the Japanese Consul, Muneo Tanabe, donated 300 more in friendship between the two nations. These were planted along Cambie boulevard between 33rd and 49th Ave. Cherry tree giving -  a wonderful gift! Both my sister and I were born in April and we each have a beautiful cherry tree in our yards too!”

Sakura in bloom in Vancouver.

The City of Vancouver’s Cherry Blossom Festival is happening now. We are excited to launch our first-ever Sakura Walks program on April 7, as part of our Four Seasons Walks initiative through Living Streets! Join us for 3 free, fun group walks to enjoy the sakura trees together this spring! The Sakura Walks are open to all ages and abilities and are meant to be casual and conversational. Simply come out and enjoy. Register here!

Sakura in bloom in Vancouver.

Learn more about the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. And, you may want to check out Van Dusen Gardens’ Sakura Days on April 9 and 10!

Oh yes, and if you want to taste a delicious sakura treat, try some sakura mochi! Enjoy this beautiful time of year, and happy spring!

Celebrating Women in Active Transportation

This Women's History Month we're honouring women doing great things in active transportation right here in BC! Our Bicycle Valet, Seniors on the Move, and Living Streets programs are all led by fantastic and creative women who care deeply about what they do here at BEST. Thank you Molly, Janette, and Isabel for all the wonderful work you do in promoting active transportation to our communities, coming up with engaging and thoughtful events centred around cycling, seniors' transportation, and walking, and being the welcoming faces behind our programs!

Molly Peters of Bicycle Valet

We started Bicycle Valet in 2006 to offer a free, safe way for people to park their bikes while attending events or hanging out. Molly Peters is a passionate urban cyclist who coordinates the Bicycle Valet program for BEST. With a background in interdisciplinary arts and athletics, she aims to foster a balance of health, accessibility, and creativity in her home city of Vancouver. Molly always has a smile on her face and warmly welcomes everyone! You can often see Molly having a blast at events and engaging with our awesome customers on Instagram!

Janette McIntosh of Seniors on the Move

We developed Seniors on the Move to activate better transportation options for seniors in BC through initiatives, collaboration, and leadership. Janette McIntosh, who leads our SOTM engagement and programming, is incredibly dedicated to improving seniors’ transportation in the province and is a wonderful collaborator. From outreach to climate action to giving presentations, you can always find Janette engaging with the community and promoting what she loves!

Isabel Garcia of Living Streets

Living Streets is home to our walking programs and is led by the super creative Isabel Garcia! Isabel is a transportation engineer and an advocate for walking and public transit as an accessible, healthy means of getting around without relying on personal automobile ownership. She loves coming up with fun and accessible new programs to get people walking and rolling more! Isabel is also leading the Walk30 program for BEST, an annual walking competition between Metro Vancouver municipalities!

Local organizations and businesses

In addition to the work we’re doing at BEST, we’d like to highlight some local female-led businesses making moves in active transportation, and organizations creating awesome programs for people who identify as women, non-binary, and queer!

Liv Vancouver

Liv Vancouver is Canada’s first female-focused cycling boutique dealing exclusively in Liv bicycles – the first cycling brand completely dedicated to women! Founded by Anne-Marie Gagnon, Liv Vancouver seeks to make cycling more accessible and enjoyable for women. They are dedicated to growing women’s participation in the sport by offering a hub for women’s cycling, group rides, educational clinics, and supporting events and riders.

WTQ Access Nights at Our Community Bikes

Our Community Bikes opens their doors after hours to women, trans, and queer identifying people twice per month for WTQ Access Nights to use the shop and have specific opportunities to further their mechanic skills! Although they strive to always make their shop a safe space for all people and genders, these special after-hours specifically welcome people who may have felt marginalized by the bike industry as a whole because of their gender or sexual orientation. WTQ Nights are staffed by women and gender variant mechanics.

Kickstand

Kickstand is open to the public for friendly, hands-off advice, bike sales, new and used parts, and limited DIY. Every Thursday evening, Kickstand opens their shop for WGQT Nights for free for people who identify as women, genderqueer, and trans. The Kickstand community is working towards being a radically inclusive space and hosts these evenings for individuals who have not traditionally been a dominant part of the bike industry. The nights will be facilitated by bike mechanics and volunteers who are also female or gender variant!

Side Saddle Bikes

Side Saddle Bikes is a women-focused bike shop who support the long tradition of women using bicycles to make their lives bigger and better! The bicycle was one of the most exciting inventions of the late 1800s, when it brought women unprecedented mobility and freedom. Women used bicycles to explore the world and build community. They fought for, and eventually won, important freedoms like the right to wear practical clothing such as pants instead of skirts, the right to own property, and the right to vote. With their shop colours - the purple, white, and green of the Suffragettes - Side Saddle Bikes celebrates a century of women riding bikes, voting, and wearing pants (legally)!

Chill Rides Vancouver

Chill Rides Vancouver is a community of non-binary, women, and queer identifying people who welcome cyclists of all skill levels to ride together. The group rides at a "Party Pace" which means a slower pace, making lots of pit stops, and getting to know one another on the way! They have a "No Drop Policy" which means nobody gets left behind on a ride, and have volunteers at the front, middle and rear of the group. Chill Rides is for folks who want to get out and ride, make new friends, challenge themselves, and most importantly, have fun!

If you or a business or organization that you know of is doing amazing things for women’s active transportation, reach out to us at communications@best.bc.ca. We’d love to feature more female-led action and initiatives all year long!

Our team biked for a week and saved 35kg of greenhouse gases!

In February the BEST team participated in GoByBike Week, a week-long cycling event (Feb 7 - 13) where participants sign up alone or with a team to track their kilometres biked to see how many kilograms of greenhouse gases one can save by cycling year round, and win some awesome prizes. We had a ton of fun taking part in GoByBike Week together and learned a lot about the positive impacts active transportation can have on our environment and wellbeing.

The BEST team logged 162 km together over 17 rides and saved a total of 35 kg of greenhouse gases!

BEST’s Molly, Steve, and Sara took turns “taking over” the Bicycle Valet Instagram account during GoByBike Week to share their cycling routes and take us along on their journeys.

Molly used a Mobi bike to cycle from Kitsilano to VCC-Clark SkyTrain station where our team was filming an upcoming documentary with TransLink on seniors' transportation called ROVING! ROVING, launching this spring, will focus on the personal experiences of seniors getting around in BC and will demonstrate how transportation options play a key role in giving lives meaning and purpose and how they contribute to health and wellbeing. She arrived to find filmmakers Nathan and Scott of Skillen and Co. hard at work filming on a TransLink bus with one of the key subjects in the documentary who was showing us how he gets around on transit as a senior.

Follow Molly on her bike route to the ROVING filming location at VCC-Clark, and check out the behind-the-scenes action!

Molly enjoys using Mobi bikes to get around Vancouver because they’re convenient, readily accessible at many popular destinations, and have stations near transit so you can simply park your bike and ride. Easily register with Mobi and choose your preferred plan, find your nearest Mobi bike station on their online map, and get cycling!

Molly cycled a total of 5.2 km and saved 1 kg of greenhouse gases by choosing to bike to the filming location!

Steve took us through the ABCs of good bike safety and maintenance: A for Air, B for Brakes, and C for Chain, before he cycled off to get errands done. Steve does these quick safety checks on his bike before using it every time:

A for Air: He checks the air in his tires to make sure they’re safe to go. Well-maintained and properly inflated tires are not only important for safety reasons, they're also essential for an enjoyable, worry-free ride. Sure enough, his tires needed a bit of air so he gave them a quick pump.

B for Brakes: Checking your brakes regularly to make sure they’re in good condition is super important for a safe ride and making sure you can stop quickly if you need to. If you hear squealing when you brake, they’ll need some TLC.

C for Chain: Inspect your chain for damage and wear. Wear causes the chain to hang loose on single-gear bikes and eventually causes slippage. If this is happening to you, it's time to replace your chain. If the chain is particularly grimy, clean it with a rag and solvent. If that's not enough, use a small brush, like an old toothbrush, and give the chain a good scrub. Finally, turn the crank backward to get the chain moving. If you've got sticking links, give them some individual cleaning attention. If the links are warped, you'll need to replace the chain.

Follow Steve on his route and learn the ABC’s of cycling!

For more bike safety tips and to learn how to complete regular safety checks, check out this great article on Spokester!

Steve cycled a total of 47 kilometres for GoByBike week, saving 10 kg of greenhouse gases by biking regularly!

Sara biked the Central Valley Greenway from Burnaby to Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station in Vancouver on a sunny Sunday to go study at the Vancouver Public Library downtown. The Central Valley Greenway (CVG) is a 24-kilometre path connecting Vancouver, Burnaby, and New Westminster. It follows a shallow valley, providing a scenic route that's relatively flat for an enjoyable bike ride or walk for people of all ages.

Sara’s favourite thing about the CVG is its connections to transit, making it an excellent cycling/walking route for commuters. She cycled past Renfrew and Rupert SkyTrain stations before arriving at Commercial where she safely stored her bike at one of TransLink’s new bike parkades, and showed us how to use one!

Here’s how easy it is to use a bike parkade:

1️⃣ Register your Compass Card online
2️⃣ Enroll in the bike parkade program
3️⃣ Add stored value
4️⃣ Simply tap in and the parkade for only $1/day!

Bike parkades are only accessible to TransLink customers with a Compass Card who are enrolled in the program, making them a safe and secure place to store your bikes.

Sara cycled for 7 km of the Central Valley Greenway and saved 2 kg of greenhouse gases!

Let’s bike more!

In total, 2732 riders participated in this year’s GoByBike Week and logged 98,644 kilometres between February 7 - 13! 6816 bike trips were taken by bike in BC, saving 21,386 kilograms of greenhouse gases! 

Initiatives like GoByBike Week are a great way to get both new and experienced cyclists to bike more for their every day activities, because they show us how easy it is to commit to cycling and the impact we can have on the environment if we choose active transportation daily. Safe and enjoyable cycling routes such as the Central Valley Greenway, Arbutus Greenway, and the Seawall are very central and well-connected to many important locations and places of interest in Metro Vancouver, and are serviced by transit along the way. Use the City of Vancouver Bike Route Planner to find the best and safest routes to cycle, and the TransLink Bike Parking Guide to find a transit station you can safely store your bike at while you commute.

This spring and summer, we want to keep the GoByBike momentum going and will continue to bike to work, for leisure, and to run errands as much as possible and hope you will join us in this commitment!

If you participated in GoByBike Week, use the hashtag #GoByBikeBC and post your photos on Instagram to inspire others to cycle more. Happy biking!

Welcome, 2022!

What a year it was! 2021 was full of changes and adaptations for BEST and our programs. We overcame pandemic challenges and bounced back from 2020 to offer the programs and services you all missed, and created many new programs too! Thanks to the continued support of our sponsors and loyal members, clientele, and volunteers, we are gearing up to make 2022 an even better year!

The Bicycle Valet

Since 2006, BEST’s Bicycle Valet has been providing professional, secure, coat-check style bicycle parking in and around Metro Vancouver.

In 2021, the Bicycle Valet was active at 122 event days, parking a total of 8,303 bikes and 9963 bags. In comparison with the previous 2020 season, this was a 52.3% improvement in bike parking, largely due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and the cancellation of many key festivals and events in 2020. We also increased our bag capacity with new hook equipment, ensuring that all bags were kept safe, dry, and off the ground. Offering a bag check supports those who do not drive their own vehicles to events by offering a free, secure place for them to leave their bags and gear while at an event. We often had at least one cargo bike with seats for children and/or stroller, and saw a significant increase in the number of e-bikes we parked. We regularly had repeat customers emphasize how important it was for us to offer a safe option for them to store their bike when enjoying a game or event.

We are expecting a significant increase in our event days and bike parking in the 2022 Bicycle Valet season starting in the spring! We have already begun preparing for the high volume of returning events with large capacities next season and can’t wait to start parking your bikes again!

Living Streets

The Living Streets program encourages British Columbians to walk for physical and mental health, and to seek creative solutions to active transportation barriers in their communities. We are interested where people walk, what they see and do along the way, what makes them feel safe and what encourages them to walk more often. Our 2022 plans for Living Streets include expanding our programs and walking and transit networks, partnering with more organizations, and expanding to more municipalities!

Walk30 Challenge Burnaby/New Westminster

The Walk30 Challenge is a campaign organized by Living Streets that promotes healthy, active living, and walking as transportation. It is a fun and friendly competition between neighbouring municipalities to see which community can motivate their citizens to record the most walking minutes! In 2021’s Challenge, people in Burnaby and New Westminster were encouraged to walk 30 minutes per day over a five-week period spanning May 10 to June 13. For each week, we focused on a different theme: Social Connection and Mental Wellness; Inclusion and Accessibility; Active Transportation; Healthier Planet; Walking in Pandemic Times. 

Many previous participants returned to take part in the challenge again, and 1556 new people joined us in 2021. A total of 1.96 million walking minutes were recorded by 1492 active participants! Survey results showed the campaign was effective, reaching young and old in all parts of the two municipalities. A majority of survey respondents reported they were walking more during the Walk30 Challenge than they did before the challenge started! Great work, everyone!

Women4Climate

Women4Climate is an initiative launched by C40 Cities to empower and inspire women to lead the charge against climate change. The Living Streets program was selected to participate in this mentorship with Isabel Garcia, BEST’s Living Streets manager. She is an avid advocate for walking and public transit as an accessible, healthy means of getting around without relying on personal automobile ownership. The City of Vancouver was the eighth city to launch a Women4Climate Mentorship Program! Read more about Isabel’s work with Women4Climate here.

Isabel’s Walks

We created Isabel’s Walks as a pandemic-adapted response to promote walking and transit. When events and social gatherings were prohibited, we recorded individual walks and published them online. Living Streets manager Isabel Garcia took her child in a stroller to different locations around Metro Vancouver to explore the areas around SkyTrain stations! As a result, there is now a collection of recorded family-oriented and accessible walking routes in New Westminster, Burnaby, Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Vancouver and Surrey published on the Living Streets blog! All Surrey walks are part of the City of Surrey WALKit map.

Winter Festive Walks

We proudly partnered with the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House to launch our Winter Festive Walks to promote walking in the winter months. We created these events with the goal of encouraging people of all ages and abilities to enjoy a walk/roll in the darker hours of the winter season and to show how being outdoors any time of the year can be fun! Going for a walk in your own neighbourhood or a new area you aren’t familiar with is an excellent way to connect with the local community, become more familiar with the city, and develop more sustainable transportation habits.

We organized three Winter Festive Walks in different areas in Metro Vancouver: the Spirit Trail/Lonsdale Quay on the North Shore, Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam, and Mount Pleasant in Vancouver. TransLink kindly provided Compass Cards for participants when we used transit to get to our location, and we showed participants how to reload their cards for future use! The walks were wonderful and everyone enjoyed themselves. Read more about what we experienced on the walks here!

Seniors’ Transportation

BEST is committed to developing better transportation options for seniors through initiatives, collaboration, and leadership. BEST’s role is to conduct outreach to senior-serving agencies and seniors’ groups and help facilitate programs and workshop sessions. This includes coordination, marketing, reaching out, logistics, helping promote, facilitating in person, and liaising between partnering agencies - anything to help make the workshops a success for instructing and learning together. 

We are in the process of reaching out to more senior-serving agencies in the new year! In 2022, we are planning to offer more transit training and trip planning workshops with TransLink/CMBC and HandyDART. We also plan to work with ICBC Road Safety instructors on workshops focused on driving cessation, accessible and affordable public transit, and active transportation.

Our long-term goal is to have seniors become more familiar with and be comfortable with taking public transit again after the pandemic. Through transit training and trip planning skills teaching, it is our intention for older adults to learn to enjoy and have fun on transit, be social, and explore new destinations across Metro Vancouver. COVID-19 has been a major life disruption for everyone, including many seniors. Being able to have access to affordable and reliable public transportation again will be a great contributor to seniors’ health and community life. BEST looks forward to being able to help facilitate these planned initiatives with and for seniors, and with TransLink too.

Seniors on the Move

Seniors on the Move is a three-year joint project with United Way BC (2021-2024) led by seniors and funded by a Vancouver Foundation Systems Change Grant. It seeks to encourage individuals, communities, and institutions to plan better for age-related changes in transportation and make more options available for alternatives to driving, with a provincial scope. We have a Seniors’ Advisory Committee that meets monthly or bi-monthly to discuss current initiatives and to gain their insight.

Provincial Seniors’ Transportation Survey

The purpose of this survey, available online until January 12, 2022, is to collect information and opinions on how well the existing transportation system is working for adults 55 years of age and better in BC. Responses to the survey will provide BEST with the baseline data required to make the case with government and transportation providers to improve seniors' mobility in the province! The survey is offered in four languages: English, Punjabi, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. The results of the Seniors’ Transportation Survey will be available in the spring of 2022.

Upcoming initiatives

In 2022, Seniors on the Move plans to release a video focusing on the personal experiences of elders. The video will demonstrate how transportation options play a key role in giving lives meaning and purpose, and how it contributes to overall health and wellbeing.

BEST is also working to create a toolkit with prompts, questions, information, and guidelines to facilitating conversations about driving cessation and transportation with seniors in any community. This toolkit is currently in production and will be ready by spring 2022!

2022 will be a busy year for BEST as we expect programming to return to pre-pandemic levels, or above, as many reports indicate that active transportation for recreation has increased in the preceding two years. We look forward to seeing you out on a walk, parking your bike with us, or on transit!