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Lakeshore and UWindsor announce partnership aimed at solving wastewater, housing challenges
Lakeshore and UWindsor announce partnership aimed at solving wastewater, housing challenges

CBC

time21-05-2025

  • Business
  • CBC

Lakeshore and UWindsor announce partnership aimed at solving wastewater, housing challenges

The mayor of Lakeshore says she hopes a new partnership with the University of Windsor will lead to innovative solutions for the municipality's beleaguered wastewater system and other challenges, such as meeting Lakeshore's housing needs. The municipality signed a memorandum of understanding with the university on Tuesday. "Lakeshore's reached a critical juncture in our 26-year history, and we know we've got some real challenges ahead of us," Mayor Tracey Bailey said. "So we have a great opportunity to marry the expertise of our staff here at the Municipality of Lakeshore with the University of Windsor ... to begin looking at innovative and creative solutions for us." The partnership is broad in scope and includes research partnerships supported by national funding programs, community-based projects, student placements and initiatives through the University's Centre for Cities. While nothing has prevented such collaborations in the past, the signing of the memorandum demonstrates a new level of intentionality, said Judy Bornais, the university's associate vice-president external. Pooling resources to access more funding "We already have, now, students that are going to be intentionally hired," she said. "The number of meetings that are happening obviously increases, and that's really exciting because then in each of those sessions you start thinking of other opportunities that you can engage [in] and potential opportunities that can happen in the future as well." The university and the municipality each also have access to funding sources that the other does not, so pooling their resources gives them access to more grants and loans, Bornais said. The memorandum of understanding does not involve any financial commitments, Bailey said, but Lakeshore struck a separate partnership with the Centre for Cities in March, using $2 million in federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) dollars. That initiative will see the centre complete a series of projects aimed at helping Lakeshore achieve the milestones in its HAF plan. "Far too often municipalities go outside and seek consultants and external individuals to do the work," Bailey said. "We have a whole team of professional talented people at the University of Windsor to help us come up with solutions for our problems. So we've chosen to go that road. I think it's a brilliant one. I think that we're going to be setting the stage as the municipality for others to really watch what we're doing." Lakeshore is facing significant costs to update both its water and wastewater systems. They have been chronically underfunded for the past 20 years, Bailey said in a news release in October, when councillors approved a new water and wastewater master plan. And they need significant investment to respond to environmental and regulatory concerns and higher than expected population growth. Implementing the plan is expected to cost approximately $465 million over 20 years when adjusted for inflation and other financial factors, the release said. Apart from helping the municipality address challenges such as those with its water system, the partnership with the university will also provide students with opportunities to do co-op and internship placements in the area, making them more likely to stay in southwestern Ontario, Bornais said — and that helps contribute to the talent pool for the municipality and the region as a whole. The MOU is the second such memorandum between the university and a municipality. It signed one with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent in the fall and is planning to announce another one shortly, Bornais said.

Around 20 per cent of drivers distracted in local school zones: study
Around 20 per cent of drivers distracted in local school zones: study

CBC

time15-05-2025

  • Automotive
  • CBC

Around 20 per cent of drivers distracted in local school zones: study

When it comes to distracted driving, it's no longer just cell phones and food tearing motorists' eyes off the road. Now, the hazard could be coming from the car itself. That's according to researchers at the University of Windsor, who say they found that nearly 20 per cent — or one in five — of local drivers were distracted while travelling through local school zones. Texting and cell phone use behind the wheel — which is banned in Ontario — was still the most common behaviour the team observed over the past academic year. But they also saw drivers distracted by the cars themselves — the large touchscreens and digital displays that have become ubiquitous in modern vehicles. "We have more and more technology in our cars," said associate professor of kinesiology Francesco Biondi, who led the study. "Just because a touch screen, a voice interaction system comes available in the car, it doesn't mean that it's safe." Biondi's research also revealed that drivers in larger vehicles, such as pickup trucks and SUVs, were more likely to take part in risky or even illegal activities. Biondi, an expert in human-machine interaction, said he believes it comes down to a "dangerous misconception." "When you drive a bigger car, you have a sense that if you end up in a crash, the occupants of your car and yourself are likely not the ones to suffer injuries because you're sort of more protected," he said. "As a result of that, there is a sense of sort of enhanced sense of security." But larger vehicles can inflict more damage to those around them, whether it be pedestrians, cyclists, or motorists in smaller vehicles, he said. Cars have gotten consistently larger, a phenomenon referred to as "car bloat." Biondi said the study's findings about the volume of distracted drivers were worrisome in and of themselves, but what was "even more concerning" were the areas in which they "observed all of these distracted drivers." Teams of three to four observers stationed themselves in seven school zones, "selected in consultation with Windsor Police Service," at drop-off and pickup times, per the study. They observed nearly 5,000 vehicles and found that roughly 20 per cent of drivers exhibited distracting behaviours in the fall. The figure dropped to just over 16 per cent in the winter. "Handheld texting was the most prominent behaviour across all locations, with approximately 8% of all drivers holding a phone for messaging or similar purposes," says the study, which is under review for journal publication, per the university. "When combining this data with that observed for handheld calling (approximately 1% of all drivers), close to one in every ten drivers was observed conducting behaviours that are punishable under Ontario's comprehensive cellphone ban." The list of distracted behaviours the researchers used was wide-ranging. It included lawful behaviours that the researchers argued were a risk to safety, such as using the vehicle's touchscreen, wearing headphones to have a phone conversation, grooming, eating or drinking, smoking, and reaching for objects within the car. They also looked for "aggressive behaviours," which included yelling and tailgating, but also honking — which can be used for safety reasons as well. Fewer than 1 per cent of drivers exhibited aggressive behaviour, the study says. "Distracting and aggressive behaviours were coded only when observers were completely certain," the study notes. Biondi, who received $25,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the project, said his findings align with those of previous studies on the subject. "And the most concerning thing is that although there [are] more and more education campaigns, enforcement campaigns, the percentage of drivers [...] who drive distracted doesn't seem really to go down over time," he said. The study's conclusions weren't surprising to Michael Stewart, spokesperson for CAA South Central Ontario. His company conducted a survey last year that found that more than 60 per cent of drivers had witnessed a traffic violation or near-collision due to distracted driving. "It's definitely a serious road safety issue and it's one that's very easily preventable," he said. He said the study also asked about in-car touchscreens specifically, finding that Ontario drivers are increasingly using them and consider them a distraction — but don't necessarily want to be rid of them. "So it's really important that as much as that temptation is there, that you are not interacting with that screen, setting everything up before you drive," he said. Biondi said it's not all bad, though. Some newer cars have sensors and features that help keep drivers focused and alert. "Technology can also be part of the solution," he said. Car crash-related injuries and deaths have also dropped significantly in the past 20 years. The data his team collected will now be used by Windsor police as part of its education and enforcement efforts, Biondi said. Windsor Police Service said in a statement that it "sees great value in [its] partnership with the University of Windsor to carry out this important study." "The study's results offer a more detailed lens into behaviours of drivers on our roadways that impact the safety and well-being of everyone and will be helpful in further guiding us in how we will continue to address this important issue," said Barry Horrobin, director of planning and physical resources at WPS.

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