Raise the Hammer

Obviously school closures aren't helping the matter. Kids are picking up habbits that will affect them their whole life. If getting in Mom's car or catching the school bus to go across town is part of everyday life, kids won't make the same connections with their neighbourhood environment compared to kids that walk to school. Walking 1 or 2 kms isn't that big a deal if you're used to it. If you're not used to it, that kind of distance seems insurmountable.

More than a preference, doing everything we can to stop CO2 emisssions is a matter of human survival on this planet. It may already be too late, but we have to try. The next decade is going to be even more dangerous in terms of weather, rising food prices, etc. We need to wake up, people.

Interesting. So Hamilton's share of the 850 deaths is 93 people poisoned and killed by car drivers each year. Profoundly disturbing.

If we assume the same ratio of deaths to injuries as in Toronto this means that every year in Hamilton car drivers poison 395 people and injure them so seriously that they have to be hospitalized.

I see from the same Medical Officer of Health data that children are particularly vulnerable to being poisoned by car drivers. Every year in Hamilton, 279 children suffer acute bronchitis episodes due to being poisoned by car drivers. Also, children in Hamilton suffer 15,810 asthma symptom days every year because they were poisoned by car drivers.

Finally, the health care costs of all these deaths and injuries due to people being poisoned by car drivers in Hamilton is $511.5 million every year. Wow. No wonder that cycling infrastructure frequently pays for itself by reductions in health-care costs.

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2014-05-17 00:46:34

Cycling to and from work has been a critical part of well being for me, what with working on computer at an office desk all day. Gets the heart rate up, lifts mood, can stop to watch the sunrise or geese by the lake, a few dollars saved on no car supports a good diet, many positives to be thankful for.

I have heard friends and coworkers ask questions, say they would love the option, but they have families and can't risk being killed in the streets. That is sad, but it also shows how latent and held back demand for active lifestyle is.

The exposure to exhaust is terrifying. Especially the diesel buses and trucks. It's the only thing I get crazy allergies from. Don't even know what to do about it. It's not a fair world :)

Agreed! Even on tough days, rain pouring or snow falling, the shift in perspective of getting on my bike is a welcome and core component in my well-being. When I'm away from Hamilton and my bike for a few days, it always feels so good to get back on it again.

Couldn't agree more with the article. And the harm caused by the school board amalgamating neighbourhood schools.

It makes sense that respiratory problems are caused by air pollution, but if you study this what actually happens is that cardiovascular effects are stronger yet (strokes, heart attacks etc)

Obesity related health costs are just one side of a many edged sword. Obesity and associated diseases strongly predict unemployment and 'disability'. So these folks, through 1) poor urban design (government's fault), 2) empty calories (capitalism's fault) and 3) laziness/inactivity (patient's fault) both contribute no taxes and seriously drain resources in everything from health care to income support to mobility buses.

You can prove just about anything with stats if you monkey about with the assumptions.

It could be argued that cars actually have increased life expectancy. Post industrial society, largely driven by automobile production in the last 70 years, coincides with massive increases in life expectancy not seen in human history.

Yup. You're right. RTH has a tendency to use the stats that are favourable to their argument, but not tell you the "why" or "how" behind the numbers (eg. over-include or over-exclude to make a point). One of the huge things that is annoying with this site - it sorely needs a "stats area" where we can see, at a glance, where the numbers come from so we can do our own math, or come to our own conclusions.

But hey, it's their prerogative, they pay to run the site however they want, and I don't believe they have a mission statement anywhere that says they aim to provide fair, balanced, and unbiased information anywhere.

Oh bullshit. This site points to it's sources all the time. This is an article about a study by medical officers of health that links right to the study! Either you're really bad at paying attention or, far more likely, you just don't like the message and want to smear the messengers.

Bullshit nothing. If you bothered to read, I didn't say that sources weren't quoted, I said that stats are skewed. Perception's a funny thing, isn't it?

I also didn't say it was related to this article, more in general (see: most of the LRT articles posted as of late).

I have no agenda, don't really care to smear anyone. I'm glad you're so good at jumping to conclusions and how brutish your response is. Thanks for trolling though. This site has enough.

What's your evidence that "the stats are skewed"?

You wrote that this site "sorely needs a "stats area" where we can see, at a glance, where the numbers come from so we can do our own math, or come to our own conclusions." If you want to see where the numbers come from and do your own math, just READ THE ORIGINAL REPORTS AND STUDIES that are linked from this site.

This site has more than enough trolling thanks to drive-by smears like your's. Either post something constructive or go somewhere else to spew your garbahe.

This thread is about a medical officer's report that active transportation is a low hanging fruit to build activity into people daily routine, and the health benefits that will ensue. If you want to whine about our LRT stats, at least go over to that thread. I'm genuinely interested in what people have to say about active transportation and its benefits and challenges. Leave the war outside please.

So,god says it is true! And so it is. Logic be damned

So you're saying that the various medical officers of health were divinely inspired when they wrote the report? Oookaay.

Exercise is always good for you. So is healthy living. But so was the industrial revolution. I think we should continue to study and investigate cleaner and more efficient means of private transportation (and public for that matter.) People should not smoke, or drink to excess; Or take non-medically prescribed drugs; Or beat their partners or children. and they should be kind to one another.

I agree with OMG. I would need to know what evidence and science is involved in making such a blanket statement as is made by the Medical Officers of Health. A healthy life is probably the goal of living. If life expectancy truly has co-undecided with, and has been caused by post-industrial society, then I am all for industrialization. That does not excuse waste or excess. But as they say, maybe the proof of the stats is in the tasting of the pudding.

" I would need to know what evidence and science is involved in making such a blanket statement as is made by the Medical Officers of Health. "

You could click the link in the article above to find the info you seek.

Of course I clicked both the CBC link and the link to the propaganda sheet. They contain conclusions only.

There is a documentary called "Homo Sapiens 1900" that traces the rise and the fall of the eugenics movement. The "science" at the time suggested that, amongst other things, humanity was disintegrating because of lack of physical activity, movement away from the farm, too many articles of convenience, too easy modes of transportation, the automobile, etc. etc. The Eugenicists argued that by manipulating birth through selection and changing the environment we could quickly and significantly alter human evolution. We know where that led.

There are studies in Baltimore from ten years ago about how failure to spend money on road infrastructure caused health problems.

My agreement with OMG is that statistics can be manipulated very easily to support almost any hypothesis. You need to look deeply into the statistics and not some colorful brochure, to critically analyze the data that supports the conclusion.

Traffic congestion increases pollution. Pollution is bad. Why not reduce congestion by allowing traffic to move more freely - not less freely? Because "that will "encourage" more traffic which will cause more pollution" say some. Chicken and egg.

I would start with parents controlling video games and school re-implementing mandatory physical education. You can't ban cigarettes or alcohol or pot, but you can set a good example for your children and not use the stuff. I suspect fast food, carbonated drinks, lack of balanced diets, poor education and parenting, are as much if not more to be blamed for obesity and diabetes than automobile transportation. The brochure is devoid of this information. Where are the blind studies?

Comment edited by notlloyd on 2014-05-21 07:38:38

As with everything on this planet, resources and technologies are good if used responsibly, bad if used irresponsibly (including to excess). We're really lucky at this point in time, some long awaited technologies are arriving.

Private travel is undergoing revolution, in fact has been for a while, just starting to go mainstream now. Electrification of cars is beginning. And even in the meantime, more and more new cars stop their motors when at a stop. The light turns green and I hear motors kicking back on. That is so cool and it really helps emissions a lot. The car saved its owner some gas, and I noticed it and was grateful while biking in mixed traffic briefly.

Speaking of biking, electrification of bikes is really getting good now, lithium battery tech is getting pretty good thanks to the e-car revolution underway. Basically I've got an electric motorcycle that is free of licensing overhead simply because it's speed governed. But the tech is so cool , and it's only breaking the ice.

Good things to private transport are totally happening, and they'll phase in over years and decades per replacement rate of vehicles, so not all that quickly, but at an accelerating rate; the tipping point looks like it's getting there!

The political apparatus seems to be lagging the innovation that exists, especially frightening are instances of places like even Canada or Australia going backwards on environmental regulation. When the masses start booing and jeering the genuine, intelligent, diligent and thorough scientists of our time, it is a signal that we're in real trouble.

Anyway, what new tech does not resolve, is the basic and obvious math of increasing population versus congestion. The more private space you take up during a rush hour commute, the more congested things will be as urban centers both intensify and expand their boundaries. So we have many cities and combinations of features to look to, for data and as examples. Why not get some people on two wheels, people who are dying to get more exercise each day, I guarantee it, because I've heard it - "I'd love to cycle more, but it's too dangerous". Thus, a network of bike lanes and safety features will help a lot as part of a balanced application of the fruits of human innovation.

A balanced approach of all the tools our human species has innovated are useful. New tech is doing it's part and advancing rapidly; cities have had time to gather modern and detailed data on what helps as far as public transit; cities have implemented active transportation policies with amazing results. The trick is the right balances, the right education campaigns, and the right people to make them happen. The GTHA is showing some symptoms of a leadership and ethics vacuum. Hope it works out.

Comment edited by mikeonthemountain on 2014-05-20 19:20:54

This is a good post.