Latest news with #ecologicaltransition
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Sherbrooke, Que., faces growing pains as it looks to expand its cycling network
On her daily rides through Sherbrooke, Que., Laurence Williams often finds herself cruising along a bike path — until it suddenly comes to an end. A self-described "utilitarian cyclist," who uses her bicycle for all her transportation needs, Williams says it's possible to get around the city by bike. But it's not always easy. "Sometimes you have a beginning of a bike path and then it just stops," Williams says, adding that this kind of interruption is common on the cycling network in the city, located 150 kilometres east of Montreal. Aside from being inconvenient to someone who is looking for the fastest route to a given destination, Williams feels that the variability in what kinds of infrastructure exist for cyclists also makes her commutes more dangerous, because it is harder to know what is coming up around the next corner. "When you use your bike on a day-to-day basis, you want your route to be quick, to be safe and predictable," she says. Williams argues that in a city like Sherbrooke where there appears to be political will for bike and environmentally friendly initiatives, she expects it to be easier to make progress. "In a context where ecological transition has been mentioned as a priority for the City of Sherbrooke and a context where more than 50 per cent of our citywide greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to transportation, we really need to go faster." 'A big challenge' for the city In May, Sherbrooke highlighted 16 areas where expansions to the cycling network have been planned. Over the next three years, the hope is to bridge a number of significant gaps in the existing system. According to Anne-Sophie Demers, a division chief for sustainable and integrated mobility with Sherbrooke's Strategic Territorial Development Service, the goal of these priority areas is to improve the connectivity between different parts of the network. "It is a big challenge for our team because the context and situation is never the same," Demers says. Demers and her team have been charged with trying to determine how best to implement safe and functional bike paths on existing roads without disrupting the needs of existing traffic. It is an urban planning puzzle, she said, because some roads are simply not large enough to accommodate both drivers and cyclists on fully protected bike lanes. Despite those difficulties, Demers says that the city has been in conversation with local cycling groups to try to find the best options available in the hopes that a more secure cycling network will open the door to more cyclists. The city is also trying to improve access to bikes in other ways. Demers notes that there is currently work underway for the installation of Bixi bike-sharing stations similar to the system that has been in place in Montreal for more than a decade "We think it has the potential to transform mobility in Sherbrooke." The initial Bixi system in Sherbrooke is expected to have 250 bicycles at 25 stations, with 80 per cent of the fleet being e-bikes. Although no official start date has yet been announced, Demers says the system should be operational by July. A city with a lot of potential "The arrival of e-bikes has literally changed the landscape of who's able to cycle," says Magali Bebronne, director of programs at Vélo Québec. The cycling advocacy group is one of the parties Demers's team has turned to for support and data in its planning process. Vélo Québec conducts regular research into the state of bicycle adoption in several different Quebec cities, including Sherbrooke. For a city as hilly as Sherbrooke, Bebronne says bikes equipped with an electric motor are a game changer for cycling accessibility. That, combined with the known benefits of public-access bicycle programs like Bixi, creates an interesting opportunity for increased adoption of cycling as a way of getting around in the city. Vélo Québec also publishes a portrait of cycling in the province every five years and, although the 2020 report was carried out in unusual circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, research showed that just over half of all Quebecers were using a bicycle and 2.1 million people were using one as a regular mode of transportation. Bebronne says the group is currently in the process of preparing the 2025 edition. Bebronne also challenges the idea that using bikes in this way is uniquely a "big city" phenomenon. "In smaller cities, people actually live closer to where they work," Bebronne explains, noting that Vélo Québec's last study of Sherbrooke showed that about 44 per cent of the population live within five kilometres of their work.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Italy's Meloni warns EU green policies risk 'industrial desertification'
ROME (Reuters) -Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned on Saturday that rigid green policies could devastate Europe's industrial base, and called for a more cautious approach to the ecological transition that protects economic and social stability. Speaking after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Meloni said the European Union's push towards electrification, particularly in the automotive sector, risked undermining the continent's manufacturing strength. "I have often said that in a desert there is nothing green," Meloni told reporters in Rome. "Before anything else, we must fight the desertification of European industry." She said that alternative fuels such as biofuels and hydrogen must play a central role in Europe's green strategy. Meloni criticised the EU's past regulatory approach as too inflexible, saying it had "crushed" sectors like the automotive industry. She also expressed concern that Europe was depending on electric vehicle supply chains dominated by non-European countries, calling this a strategic vulnerability. "I continue to believe it is counterproductive to focus solely on the electric transition, where the supply chains are not controlled by Europe, but by other actors," she said. Meloni urged the European Commission to go further in revising key aspects of the so-called Green Deal, including new emissions calculations that account for the entire production cycle of a vehicle, not just tailpipe emissions. The European Parliament earlier this month voted to soften rules for European automakers, meaning they will not have to comply with EU CO2 emissions targets for cars and vans that could have led to fines of up to 15 billion euros ($17 billion). Following heavy lobbying, the European Commission proposed allowing automakers to meet the targets based on their average emissions over the period 2025-2027, rather than just this year. Italy and Germany — Europe's two largest manufacturing economies — should lead efforts to restore competitiveness, Meloni said, adding that the automotive sector was one area where bilateral cooperation could make a decisive impact.
Reuters
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Italy's Meloni warns EU green policies risk 'industrial desertification'
ROME, May 17 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned on Saturday that rigid green policies could devastate Europe's industrial base, and called for a more cautious approach to the ecological transition that protects economic and social stability. Speaking after meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Meloni said the European Union's push towards electrification, particularly in the automotive sector, risked undermining the continent's manufacturing strength. "I have often said that in a desert there is nothing green," Meloni told reporters in Rome. "Before anything else, we must fight the desertification of European industry." She said that alternative fuels such as biofuels and hydrogen must play a central role in Europe's green strategy. Meloni criticised the EU's past regulatory approach as too inflexible, saying it had "crushed" sectors like the automotive industry. She also expressed concern that Europe was depending on electric vehicle supply chains dominated by non-European countries, calling this a strategic vulnerability. "I continue to believe it is counterproductive to focus solely on the electric transition, where the supply chains are not controlled by Europe, but by other actors," she said. Meloni urged the European Commission to go further in revising key aspects of the so-called Green Deal, including new emissions calculations that account for the entire production cycle of a vehicle, not just tailpipe emissions. The European Parliament earlier this month voted to soften rules for European automakers, meaning they will not have to comply with EU CO2 emissions targets for cars and vans that could have led to fines of up to 15 billion euros ($17 billion). Following heavy lobbying, the European Commission proposed allowing automakers to meet the targets based on their average emissions over the period 2025-2027, rather than just this year. Italy and Germany — Europe's two largest manufacturing economies — should lead efforts to restore competitiveness, Meloni said, adding that the automotive sector was one area where bilateral cooperation could make a decisive impact.
