Glenn Kubish

An 83-year-old woman was killed while walking in a crosswalk in west Edmonton last week. For her efforts, she was rewarded with a couple of curious streeters in a first online  Edmonton Journal story.  Streeters, in the reporting industry parlance, are quotes from people who don't know what they're talking about. Okay, that's the critics' view. But the truth is the critics are often the very same reporters assigned to get streeters to fill out their stories with quotes that can add colour and personality—and length—to their news accounts. Streeters can be entertaining and they can be informative and they can be startlingly out of context.  Startlingly happened in the account of the woman's death. Here was the first reported fact in the story:  An additional fact came next. The woman was not in the wrong place, according to police. After the officials were interviewed for the facts known at the time, ...

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...

There is a proposal afoot to build what city hall transportation poets call the minimum grid for physically separated bike lane infrastructure. In translation, it's a vision for a humane way for bicycle riders to move safely in the downtown core. And a more rational way for automobile drivers to experience bicycle riders. My friend Sandra suggested that I speak at the committee meeting yesterday where city councillors took a first crack at it. This is what I said.  I'm Glenn Kubish. I'm a lifelong Edmontonian. I learned to ride a bicycle in Delwood in the proud northeast end. I'm now a taxpayer in Parkview in west Edmonton. I still ride my bike. I commute downtown by bicycle through four seasons of Edmonton weather. That makes me a bit of a diehard, according to some critics who would have you believe that because we get some snow, we all have to go inside. But that's an issue for another day.  Stix and Mo behind me in the River Valley Room I reject tha...

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. 

Here is a double shot of the ongoing Edmonton Vision Zero Quiz. Spoiler: the answers are no, and no. Date : Edmonton, July 4, 2016 Encounter : I have gotten off my bicycle, triggered the crosswalk light, looked both ways, and have set out across 142 St at 91 Ave this morning.   Your VisionZero Quiz Question : Does the left-turing vehicle yield to the pedestrian in the crosswalk? As always, no wagering, please. And here is your answer:                                                                                                                                                         ...

The intersection at 97 St and 132 Ave is big. If vehicles with the advance light don't stop advancing, they eat into the time that walking citizens have in the crosswalk. This is routinely dangerous. Date : Edmonton, July 2, 2016 Encounter :  I am looking back at the intersection to see three pedestrians waiting for the walk light to indicate they have the right of way. Your VisionZero question: How many vehicles don't stop advancing, forcing the pedestrians to dutifully wait, decreasing the already short time they have under cover of the walk signal? As always, no wagering please. Here is your answer: To my untrained eye, three vehicles move from outside the crosswalk to inside the crosswalk while the pedestrian signal shows walk. The east-to-west moving pedestrians are forced to wait, meaning they don't get even halfway across the intersection before the flashing hand appears, Forced is the word. Enough of this might is right. Thanks, as alway...

The rudest intersection I encounter as a pedestrian is on 103 Ave and 124 St in Edmonton. Hands down. It is typically choked with angry traffic. Vans don't yield. SUVs don't yield. Bus drivers and a dude in a military jacket with the Canadian flag on the shoulder don't yield. But this morning felt different. It was Canada Day and the intersection was virtually empty. There was just me, walking my bicycle in the intersection while flashing yellow lights flashed. And only one vehicle anywhere else to be seen. Date : Edmonton, July 1, 2016 Encounter :  I have pushed the crosswalk lights and gotten about half way across the street, moving east to west. Your VisionZero question:  Does the motorcycle driver yield to the pedestrian as required by law? As always, no wagering please. Here is your answer:  Yes, I didn't have to break stride. And, yes, I didn't have to jump out of the way. Nothing dramatic happened. And that is the point. Not yielding...

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, June 21, 2016 Encounter : I am approaching the pedestrian-triggered crosswalk lights on 103 Ave at 124 St. A pedestrian looking to cross east to west hits the light and starts crossing. Your VisionZero Quiz Question : The citizen hits the light, but does this driver in the SUV stop? As always, no wagering, please. And here is your answer: Thanks for playing along.

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...

It is horrible—when you actually stop to think about it—that someone dies crossing the road in this city. This is where an 81-year-old woman was killed On Thursday, an 81-year-old woman was hit and run over by a man driving a pickup at 111 Avenue and Groat Road. She is dead. She died the death of a rag doll, according to witnesses. And it then all settled into a kind of routine. The outrage was routine. The descriptions of what happened were routine. The close-call accounts of others were routine. The conventional media reporting was so routine. The routine, now so familiar, is part of the horrible. And the Oilers lost a close one in overtime. So far this young year, there have been two people killed by people driving automobiles in Edmonton. In none of the accounts that I have seen was there a mention that Edmonton has formally declared itself a Vision Zero city. Vision Zero commits municipalities to the goal of zero fatalities and zero major injuries on roadways. Edmon...