On April 6th, TransLink launched the R2 Marine Drive RapidBus service connecting Park Royal in West Vancouver to Phibbs Exchange in North Vancouver. The R2 is one of 11 RapidBus lines in the Lower Mainland aimed at delivering faster, more frequent and reliable bus service to some of the busiest transit corridors in the region. Access is working with TransLink on planning and designing the first 5 of those lines.
The City of North Vancouver is doing amazing work at investing in public institutions and amenities, densifying sensitively and with quality, and pursuing a progressive agenda for mobility. Access is walking the path with the City and our consulting partners to create a new Mobility Plan that helps the City be 'the healthiest small city in Canada.'
Recently, Access Planning’s Senior Associate, Thomas Straatemeier, was invited to speak at the AQTr Conference in Montréal on the future of mobility in small and low-density communities in Québec. He shared his experience working as a transportation planner in the Netherlands for 20 years before moving to Canada and joining Access Planning.
Getting people on bikes for transportation has a variety of benefits: it can help bridge the gap to rapid transit, enable lower income residents to make more trips without needing to pay transit fares, or provide a few minutes of exercise. Providing safe, separated cycling infrastructure helps remove barriers to cycling, opening the door to more people of different ages, abilities and backgrounds to cycle for transportation. Build it, and they will come.
Over the course of the last year, Access Planning has seen tremendous growth and evolution. And, it’s been important to us to root this growth squarely in our values as a company and a team of committed colleagues. This process has included developing a company Corporate Social Responsibility Policy and Diversity Policy as an expression of our values and a foundational document for all we do.
Rail~Volution celebrated its 25th anniversary in September 2019 and for the first time in its history came north of the border to beautiful Vancouver, Canada. Access Planning teamed up with the Rail~Volution program to co-host and facilitate multiple mobile workshops, sharing our intimate knowledge of Greater Vancouver’s transportation system and development realities.
Access Planning is growing in size, with employees and clients across Canada. Addressing our carbon footprint is one of the priorities of our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. Access Planning is proud to announce our status as a Climate Friendly company working in partnership with Offsetters, Canada’s leading carbon management solutions provider.
Access Planning is pleased to have collaborated as a strategic advisor to WSP and Metrolinx on this important study to develop resilient regional building strategies for Metrolinx's Regional Transportation Plan update. In this project we used scenario planning practice to create a unique resilience framework to guide long-range Metrolinx policy, as a key element to its long range plan and policy framework.
Have fun exploring and sharing this new resource that Access Planning helped to build working with TNC Canada (and many wise advisors and practitioners!). The Indigenous Guardians Toolkit is designed as both a resource and a hub to bring together and share information about Indigenous Guardian programs and initiatives across Canada.
Access Planning Principal, Tamim Raad, was invited to speak to the public as part of the City of Calgary's Green Line LRT Lecture Series. The Green Line speaker series was developed to provide insight into key principles that are shaping the way Calgary plans and designs its city for the new Green Line LRT.
The significant impact of Indigenous Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) and the important role they play in achieving durable conservation outcomes is often overlooked. This report summarizes case study research based on three INGOs in Canada having a transformative impact in their communities—Qqs Projects Society, Storytellers’ Foundation, and Ilisaqsivik Society.
