Do our municipal candidates support the Active Communities Pledge?

The Active Communities Pledge ( http://www.activecommunitiespledge.ca/ ) a is a province-wide initiative being organized by the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, asking municipal candidates to support measures that would improve access to active transportation infrastructure, provide more opportunities for residents to learn how to ride a bike safely and legally and support programs designed to encourage more residents to walk or bike more often.

All across Ontario, communities are seeing the benefits of investing in active transportation. Communities that are more walkable and bikeable have higher retail spends, higher land values, stronger talent retention and healthier, more active residents. Additionally, communities that are investing in active transportation are becoming tourism destinations, garnering a piece of Ontario’s $291 Million per year cycle tourism industry.

We also know that support for investments in active transportation infrastructure is very high. In a 2014 survey, 68% of Ontario residents agreed that government should invest more in creating active transportation infrastructure. 66% agreed that getting more people on bikes helps everyone in the province, not just those who ride themselves.

So GCAT has requested that municipal candidates submit their pledge at http://www.activecommunitiespledge.ca/pledge-candidate.php and commit to making Guelph a safer, more comfortable place to walk and bike, and to help create a healthier, more prosperous community for the next four years. 

We will publish the names of those candidates who have taken the Active Communities Pledge in another blog post in a few weeks. Stay tuned!