The STAR Subcommittee

The Sustainable Transportation And Recreation Subcommittee was formed in June, 2009. It presently has one major project on the drawing board. This is to develop the Town of Riverview as a Bicycle-Friendly Community.

This enterprise has associated health and wellbeing benefits for our residents. The STAR subcommittee is currently seeking additional members who would like to support this initiative, to help develop other ideas, and to launch new projects within the STAR mandate.

Ideas for group projects are restricted only by the limits of the imagination. At present, our major project comprises 10 potential components, several of which are listed below:

• Teach safe on-road cycling through the “CAN-BIKE” Program
• Encourage businesses to become bicycle friendly destinations, with secure and convenient bicycle parking and incentives to attract cyclists
• Create a bicycle circumferential highway/aerobic corridor on major roads including the Riverview downtown, by widening roads when improvements are made.

The only active initiative at present is teaching safe cycling. It is in the very early stages of development. The CAN-BIKE cycling safety program provides a nationally standardized set of courses that can be taught through a variety of organizations which are interested in community education, safety and health, as is the Town of Riverview. CAN-BIKE is designed for the more than 14 million Canadians who ride bicycles and deals with all aspects of cycling safely, enjoying the experience on the road and having fun in the process. It is oriented toward recreational and utility cycling.

The latter includes commuting to work, shopping, appointments, socializing and other activities where pedal-power can be employed as an alternative to using the family vehicle.  As the cost of oil begins its' rise to prohibitive levels, more and more people will turn to cycling to reduce the cost of day-to-day living.  Some may go so far as to adopt utility cycling as a family lifestyle.

By the early spring of 2010, we expect that the Town of Riverview will have a CAN-BIKE Instructor, the only one in the Province of New Brunswick and that CAN-BIKE courses on safe cycling will be available to residents.

Join us and contribute your ideas and energies to the continuing development of our community.

STAR Contact:

Subcommittee Chair: Tim Lutzac
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