Communities Going Active: Addressing Barriers to Active Transportation

The BC Alliance for Healthy Living is holding a webinar on June 27 to address active transportation barriers and how those barriers can be reduced effectively in different communities. The webinar will run from 9-10:30 am PST. Register here

Active transportation has many benefits: it can reduce traffic congestion, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage communities to be physically active, which in turn helps prevent chronic diseases and fosters mental wellness.

We are fortunate to live in a beautiful province with many natural trails and built environments that foster active transportation in our communities. However, many people who live in British Columbia experience real and perceived barriers that prevent them from using active transportation infrastructure: this is why, if we want to encourage and support residents in using active transportation, we must help them overcome those barriers.

Programs designed to improve confidence, competence, motivation, knowledge and awareness are proven to address barriers that prevent people from using active transportation.

Join us on June 27 to hear from three B.C. communities that launched projects that helped motivate and support their communities to move more and use active transportation, and how other organizations and local governments can launch similar projects to support active transportation uptake in their communities. 

Speakers:

Brendon James is the Transportation Demand Management Coordinator at the District of North Vancouver, where he works on programs and tools to help reduce single-occupancy vehicle use in the community and instead, choose other transportation modes, such as active transportation, public transit, and car-sharing.

Danica Burwash is the Project Manager with Doctors and Nurses for Planetary Health, which has members throughout the Kootenay-Boundary region. The organization advocates for policies, practices, and projects that protect and restore planetary health, while also benefitting human well-being.

Glen Cheetham is the Climate and Sustainability Manager at the City of Kamloops, where his team focuses on working with the city’s residents and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, around buildings, transportation and waste, including supporting community members as they start using active transportation modes.