New initiative challenges commuters to change

By Shelby Wye

Forget parking tickets, traffic jams and perfect parking spaces for a week.

A nationwide movement, called the Commuter Challenge, is being hosted in Belleville from June 2-8. It is an event sponsored by the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Centre (HPECHU), and supported by Belleville on Bikes, a local biking group who strives for a safer town for bikers.

The challenge invites people to participate in some environmentally friendly travelling, such as bikes, buses and carpooling, in order to win prizes. People can join as an individual, or with their workplace.

“We brought the commuter challenge into Quinte because there is significant population that works in town that can use their commute time to incorporate physical activity in their daily life, and also help the environment,” said Joanna Mestre, health promoter for HPECHU.

She is also an active biker of Belleville, and while she isn’t a member of Belleville on Bikes, Mestre supports their cause.

“My daughter just learned how to bike, so I would love to see some safer trails, so that I can feel more confident letting her ride on her own,” said Mestre.

The group strives to add in traveling trails throughout Belleville, so that there will be safe biking and walking trails for people to take throughout town. ‘

“The ones we have right now are nice, but they’re destination trails, you go there to bike and come back. We need a way to get places in town, without putting [the bikers] in danger,” said Robert Jakes, one of the leaders of Belleville on Bikes.

Mestre and Jakes both agree that programs like the Commuter Challenge is great for the person that wants to bike, but has no motivation to do so. It’s the same reason Jakes is so invested in getting Belleville safer for bikers, so that people can take up biking without having to deal with cars and road-rules.

Many Loyalist students participate in environmentally friendly commuting to their college already. However, as most Bellevillians know, Dundas Street West, Moira Road and Wallbridge Loyalist Road are all high-speed roads, without sidewalks. On the Moira, there aren’t even streetlights, which is an unpleasant situation for anyone with late night traveling.

Jakes, a former student of Loyalist, understands these concerns. The group has been working with the City of Belleville to plan out a ‘master transportation plan.”

“This plan has all the roads, sidewalks, trails, planned out,” he said, “But, it took us 20 years to get the trails we have now. I can only expect it’ll probably be a long process to get more.”

Jakes is more concerned about education.

“Last year, we got bike racks on the buses for students. Now, we want ‘share the road’ signs posted up, so that the cars are reminded that we are here, and deserve respect on the road,” said Jakes.

He also notes that some bikers have no respect for using hand signals and following road signs.

“The biggest challenge of the Commuter Challenge, is the lack of a safe feeling on the road when biking,” said Jakes. He hopes later this summer to bring people to a public consultation, which will be announced via their twitter account @Bellevillebikes or on their website, so people can learn more about what they can do to join the biking community.

Even if you aren’t a biker, Mestre and Jakes encourage people to ask themselves: can I walk to work? Can I carpool? Can I take the bus?

“When people really look into it, it’s just logical to commute differently to work. It’s exercise, or it’s more social, and it’s more environmentally friendly,” said Mestre.

For more information on the commuter challenge, check here.