Glenn Kubish

I saw some things on the streets today. I heard some things, too. That's Olga signalling a left turn above.  In her impromptu bike network master class, I learned about big green bike boxes and how to safely get across lanes of traffic on the 100 Ave portion of the downtown grid. What I heard: there is a safe place in the city's allocation of space for bicycle commuters. I saw this dude's shoulder bag and heard him say he thought the new bike lane on 100 Ave was pretty good. I saw no helmet on this bicycle rider. I saw her smile and heard her say hello as we passed. "Whoa!" this pedestrian said as he walked on green and watched the car driver turn across his path. A few blocks later, approaching the traffic signal on the Glenora multi-use path, I saw the green traffic light turn yellow and the yellow turn red, and, as I hummed some old April Wine as I always do when red and yellow seasons change in gear, oh yeah, I  heard the rev of a ca...

Here's a concept for a public service announcement that I started to think about this morning after seeing yet another automobile driver speaking on a phone driving by me, gambling that distracted driving is not a life-and-death gamble. This is just off the top of my head. The genders of the actors can be swapped in subsequent versions. There are a lot of people able to be killed. And saved.  I offer this to all who can make it better.                           PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO SCRIPT                                                                 (DRAFT) [Viewer sees a young girl walking along the sidewalk. She is walking to school. She is carrying a knapsack. She is happy. Light music.] [The point of view changes to inside the bac...

What a collection of short stories I rode through today as I pedalled downtown Edmonton. First, the very predictable blow-through-a-red-light move from the driver of a big shiny pickup. The prospect of obeying the law was simply too much: The encounter at Jasper and 101 St left me with a few thoughts and questions.  For those wondering what an Oregon Stop is, this was it—performed elegantly by a two-ton behemoth in front of a pedestrian.  Those who would make the story as car versus bike are blowing smoke. It has always been a story of the unexpected consequences of overprotected vehicle drivers versus the law.  Instead of a licence plate, or in addition to a licence plate, wouldn't it be neat if the postal code of the driver was visible? Does he live in the downtown neighbhourhood he's disobeying the law in? What, if anything, does Starbucks think about the infraction? They live right there. Do they live there? Would it be a good idea to have laws that pe...

Jasper and 101 St Today is the first anniversary of Edmonton city council's declaring us a Vision Zero city. Vision Zero commits its declarers to working towards a city that has zero traffic fatalities and zero serious injuries. To my ear, the year has been filled with the sound of nothing from politicians, with the exception of Councillor Scott McKeen. I see a lot of bus ads telling road users to respect each other and telling pedestrians to wear lit clothing. I am not a Vision Zero expert. I just thought we would see a little more creativity. Maybe year 2 will deliver that. Meanwhile, the lack of respect for pedestrians continues. Date : Edmonton, September 22, 2016 Encounter:  I am watching the pedestrian, slightly obscured behind the traffic barrier i the picture above,  standing on the corner of Jasper Ave and 101 St. The pedestrian is dutifully waiting for the green light before crossing east to west across 101 St. The light turns green.  Your VisionZero ...

Crosswalks are where might and right intersect. That's why they are so important to watch. It's real-life democracy work. Date : Edmonton, September 16, 2016 Encounter:  I am walking in the lit crosswalk on 95A St at Grierson Hill. A pedestrian is walking toward me in the same crosswalk. There is a car to my left.  Your VisionZero question : Does the  automobile driver in the picture above stop for the pedestrian or force the pedestrian to yield?  As always, no wagering please. Here is your answer.  As always, thanks for playing along.

It's a lottery win to get through crosswalks safely in Edmonton. Today's life-and-death game features a lit pedestrian walk light and two automobile drivers who have to figure out what a red light means in real time.  Date : Edmonton, August 22, 2016 Encounter:  I have pushed the crosswalk light on 135 St that stops traffic east and west along 102 Ave. The little lit man tells me I have the right of way. But a big man behind a revving engine tells me I should think twice about stepping out.  Your VisionZero question : Which automobile driver in the picture above obeys the traffic laws?  As always, no wagering please. Here is your answer: One more VisionZero question : Which insurance company has enough risk appetite to cover that driver?  Okay, one more : How do VisionZero ads on the back of buses stop this driver? Thanks for playing along.

While city leaders invite bicycle riders to sedate themselves by being part of the conversation about a safer future, basic laws that protect citizens on bicycles are routinely ignored. Please excuse me if I am more worried about pedalling on 102 Ave right now, with motorists right now, than imagining what autopia might look like. During afternoon rush hour, motorists in the curb lane of 102 Ave must turn onto 105 St, leaving the lane ahead safely free for other citizens, including those on bicycles. Please enforce the laws on 102 Ave. That is the minimum that Vision Zero should mean.

The intersection at 99 St and Whyte Ave is a tense place. You can feel it.  Date : Edmonton, July 9, 2016 Encounter: I have started walking in the crosswalk on the green light as the advance light facing left-turning automobiles has switched from flashing green to green. Your Vision Zero question: Does the left-turning automobile behind the taxi yield to the crosswalk pedestrian? As always, no wagering please. Here is your answer: Thanks for playing along. 

Date : Edmonton, June 23, 2016 Encounter : I have gotten off my bicycle, triggered the crosswalk light, looked both ways, and have set out across 124 St at 103 Ave this morning.   Your VisionZero Quiz Question : Does the bus travelling south to north stop? As always, no wagering, please. And here is your answer:                                                                   ***** Date : Edmonton, June 23, 2016 Encounter : I am waking my bicycle across traffic stopped for the flashing crosswalk light on 124 St at 103 Ave this afternoon. Another pedestrian is in the crosswalk. Your VisionZero Quiz Question : Does the minivan dri...

Date: Edmonton, May 24, 2016 Situation: A left-turning bus has just cleared the intersection on an advance green light at Jasper Ave and 101 St, and pedestrians have begun to move east and west on a solid green in the crosswalk. A mother pushes a baby stroller. The VisionZero Quiz Question: Does the SUV turn left in front of the crosswalking pedestrians, or does the driver wait until the crosswalk is clear of pedestrians before making the left turn? And here is your answer: Thanks for playing!

Gianni Giordano memorial today, 95 St, Edmonton The political task, with the emphasis on the the, as in  The political task, might be in how we determine the range of creatures we will communicate with. That is the assessment of John Durham Peters, who effortlessly wheels these kinds of weighty aphorisms out of the cornfield deep of Iowa City, where he practises media scholarship at the public university. Indeed, those beings not admitted to a communication network—whether, at various times in history, the slaves or caged hens or the unborn or the dying or the Athabasca River or children or bees or jailed criminals or HIV patients or glaciers or women or undergraduates or immigrants—share in common this: either their volume has been adjusted to zero or the frequency of their voices conveniently escapes the receivers of the political power machinery of the time. And, so, the obverse of the JDP formulation can also be heard. Control the political game by controlling the tu...

Here are three of my favourite quotations from three of my favourite mayors on the status of flesh-and-blood human beings in the current iteration of the urban landscape. Thank you Rob Ford, Don Iveson, Enrique Peñalosa. What I compare bike lanes to is swimming with the sharks. Sooner or later you're going to get bitten. And every year we have dozens of people that get hit by cars or trucks. Well, no wonder: roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for people on bikes. My heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day. The [city's bicycle transportation] plan recognizes that Edmonton's transportation infrastructure is built and maintained primarily for automobiles, and describes the creation of a bicycle network using roads and shared-use paths that makes it easier, safer, and more comfortable for cyclists and motorists to co-exist. The essence of the conflict today, really, is cars versus people. We can ...

Desire line in action The story of the humble desire line is well documented. First, it is written by people. Then others read it and write about it in a kind of text on text. The desire line, or desire path, is typically the easiest way to get where you are going. In the picture above, the desire line through the grass on the left of the city sidewalk makes itself seen as person after person chooses not to navigate the metal barrier bars installed by the municipal authority for reasons that person after person visibly defy into the erosion that is a desire line.  People are drawn to the rich concept of desire lines for many reasons. They purportedly reveal the folly of blind bureaucracy. They underline the supposed wisdom of the crowd. People who say design is everything like to write about desire lines. People who celebrate individual creativity like to talk about desire lines. And so do people who are drawn to figurative language. Indeed, desire lines are like those...

My bicycle handlebar video will never make the wild and extreme Go Pro video of the week. It's not shot down the side of a volcano or beside a coral reef. And it will never rise to the level of the Russian Dashboard Masters whose fixed cameras cams routinely capture meteors and crashing planes. The scenes I am interested in recording are more mundane. The sun in the east as I roll up to 124 Street, for one. But the more I record my rides the more I have developed an almost actuarial sense of the dangers out there. Or the dangers in there. Like the scene that presented itself in slo-motion this morning as a young girl intent on getting to her school bus on time got to her school bus on time. She is alive tonight because the car driver hit the brakes. What didn't become a news story starts at about the seven-second mark as she runs out from the left part of the frame. That was too close. And then the morning went on.