| Candidates | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward 8 (map) |
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| Forum 1 Info | Wednesday, Sept. 29, 6:30pm - SUB Stage, Students Union Building, University of Alberta - 8900 114 St | |||||
| Forum 2 Webcast | Wednesday, Oct. 13, 7pm - McNally High School - 8440 105 Ave |
Information about Hana Razga
| Ward | Ward 8 |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.hanarazga.com |
| Platform | http://www.hanarazga.com/ |
| hana@hanarazga.com | |
 http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=669936578 | |
 http://twitter.com/HanaRazga |
| Inquiry (sent on September 22, 2010) | Cycling Issues in Edmonton Questionnaire |
|---|---|
| Response | 1. Do you ride a bicycle? For leisure? Exercise? Commuting? How often? – yes, used to for exercise, now just for leisure, usually about once or twice a week, little less during the election. In order to commute I would have to have the the bike commuter infrastructure in place.
… (show more)2. Similarly, do you walk or take transit? How often? I walk a lot, almost daily and take the transit all winter (do not drive my car in winter) 3. Do you feel comfortable/safe riding on the road with traffic? Absolutely not a) What about your family? If not, why? How would you change bicycle infrastructure to make cyclists feel more safe? The proposed BTP would probably solve a lot of the problems, but I think most important is to separate the bike traffic from car traffic. For example in Montreal, they have bike lanes bordered on one side by side walk and by concrete barriers on the other side, with car traffic on the other side of the concrete barrier. Ottawa shares some of their bike lanes with buses, not ideal, but in another part of Ottawa they have widened sidewalks, with dedicated, slightly elevated side for bike riders. 4. How do you celebrate Bike Month (June) in Edmonton? Took my bike on tour of the Ward 8, picture attached 5. The number of cyclists in this city grew over 150% between 1994 and 2005, with over 25,000 trips made daily by bicycle, and we’ve seen even more rapid growth since 2005. Last year, City Council moved to earmark 5% of the Transportation Capital Budget toward Active Transportation Projects. This falls short of the 10% required to complete the bicycle and sidewalk strategies, and delays their completion for 25-50 years. What are your spending priorities in relation to active transportation? I think we could speed it up considerably if we delayed a construction of a single overpass for couple of years, which could potentially free all the money required for building all of the bikeways infrastructure. 6. The 10-year Bicycle Transportation Plan calls for bikeways to be constructed across the city, making safe paths within neighbourhoods and connecting them to a City-wide network of bike corridors. Nearly 500 km of bikeways, covering the entire city, can be built for less than the cost of a single overpass. Given that cycling reduces the use of single-occupant vehicles, easing congestion and freeing parking spaces, and builds stronger, healthier communities, and is extremely cost-effective: would you commit to fully-funding the Bicycle Transportation Plan (BTP) if elected? Absolutely 7. Which specific departments and branches do you feel have a say in cycling issues? Who needs to be at the table to coordinate an effective strategy? Transportation, Community Services, Parks and Recreation, organization such Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society etc…. 8. Edmonton Zoning Bylaw #12800 includes requirements for bicycle parking. Unfortunately, this requirement is minimal, only applies to developments since 2001, and isn’t always enforced, leaving the city with inadequate bike parking. Secure parking facilities are critical for cyclists, as bicycles are easy targets for thieves. About 10 bicycles can be parked in the space of a single car-parking stall. What is your opinion on car & bicycle parking requirements, especially in the downtown and also in new, mid- and high-density redevelopments? As I am also a great proponent for expanding our public transit such as buses and LRT, the hope would be that as potentially many more people start using the public transportation system, particularly coming downtown, it would free up some of the parking spaces currently used by cars for bicycle users. I would also like to see in Edmonton a system of bike loaning stations as they have in Montreal (http://montreal.bixi.com/home) and number of North American and Europian cities. In the new mid and high density developments it should be a part of the design. 9. Most cities our size have a municipal education program to help residents, businesses and institutions choose healthy, active modes of transportation. Despite a visible increase in the number of cyclists in Edmonton, the City Transportation branch currently has no education programs for cyclists. How would you (or the administration) encourage more people to choose a bike over a private automobile? Probably similar campaign to entice people to take the ETS? And lead by example – city councillors should either get on their bikes or take the ETS whenever practical. 10. Do you have a recent photo of yourself riding your bicycle? Please send it to us digitally! |
