This is one in a series of six articles on TAC’s Fall Technical Meetings that were held in Edmonton on October 1 and 2, 2022. Each article will profile one council and its committees.
TAC’s Safety, Design & Operations Council had 30 attendees at its first-ever face-to-face meeting.
Technical projects
The Council heard a presentation from Jeannette Montufar, MORR Transportation, on TAC’s Non-Standard Pavement Markings for Crosswalks project. That initiative is nearing completion and will produce a publication that will serve as a resource document to help practitioners apply of these types of markings.
Rebecca Peterniak, Chair of the Road Safety Committee, presented a proposed pooled-fund project on the design and operation of lower-speed collector and arterial roads that would synthesize current practice and provide case studies for consideration by practitioners. Jeff Crang, Chair of the Geometric Design Committee, also presented a proposed pooled-fund project. That initiative would conduct research and synthesize current practices related to cross section elements of Canadian roads, as the basis for future updates to TAC’s Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads. Council members approved both proposed projects which are now seeking funding. If your agency is interested in supporting these projects and joining their project steering committees, please contact Geoff Noxon.
Invited speakers
The Council received a presentation from Tazul Islam, City of Edmonton, on safe pedestrian crossing measures being implemented in that city. Council members discussed the lessons learned and shared experiences from their own jurisdictions.
Committee updates
The Safety, Design & Operations Council is supported by four committees that had met previously.
The Geometric Design Committee meeting attracted 76 attendees. It featured discussion on major agency projects, emerging design challenges and opportunities, research updates, and climate change considerations. The committee also heard updates from TAC’s Connected & Automated Vehicles (CAV) Integrated Committee and Active Transportation Integrated Committee on areas of overlapping interest.
The Road Safety Committee meeting involved 60 participants over two days. In addition to agency updates, the Committee heard several technical presentations: City of Edmonton’s Vision Zero Street Labs by Nabila Chatur, winter cycling and road safety by Anders Swanson, bicycle right hook conflicts by Craig Milligan, and pedestrian and cycling intersection safety by Nelson Costa. The Committee also heard about the TAC project on non-standard crosswalk pavement markings and held a roundtable discussion on truth and reconciliation as it pertains to road safety.
The Small Municipalities Integrated Committee met twice in the fall, with the in-person meeting in Edmonton preceded by an online event. The online portion was attended by 31 participants and focused on technical presentations: a forensic approach to traffic safety by Samantha Bennett, Dewan Karim, Harrison Griffiths and Rob Parkinson, a municipal perspective on the need for city-wide traffic models by Purvez Irani, and cycling initiatives in Penticton by Peter Truch. At the in-person meeting, eight participants discussed topics such as lower residential speeds in urban areas, school and playground harmonization, and pavement marking durability.
The Traffic Operations & Management Committee also met over two days and attracted 35 participants. It held discussions on numerous ongoing volunteer projects to further applications, practices and devices that feed into TAC’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada. The Committee also heard updates from other committees on items of mutual interest and held an agency roundtable. One notable exchange of information occurred on the increasing popularity of electric micromobility devices, and how different jurisdictions are approaching e-bikes given their dramatically different performance compared to regular bicycles.
Safety, Design & Operations Council Executive volunteers
- Chair – Ashley Curtis (City of Toronto)
- Chair, Geometric Design Committee – Jeff Crang (Tetra Tech Canada)
- Chair, Road Safety Committee – Rebecca Peterniak (City of Winnipeg)
- Chair, Small Municipalities Integrated Committee – Jim Mallett (Paradigm Transportation Solutions Limited)
- Chair, Traffic Operations & Management Committee – Winston Chou (City of Vancouver)
- Past Chair – Chris Brinkmann (City of Ottawa)
- Board Liaison – Kevin Volk (British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
Contact Craig Stackpole for more information on the Safety, Design & Operations Council and its committees. |
