Is Uber Coming To Peterborough?

There has been buzz in the community lately about the possiblilty of Uber coming to town.

Uber—which connects riders and drivers using their own vehicles through a smartphone app—has been expanding aggressively around the world (it is now available in 68 countries). That expansion includes here in Canada, where it is already available in cities like Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Calgary, Kingston and more.

@Uber is coming to @Ptbo_Canada i heard. Confirm?

— jeffrey macklin (@jacksoncreek) December 18, 2015

The service is not yet available in Peterborough, and when PTBOCanada asked Uber Support whether it will be coming here, they responded: "We're expanding quickly. So stay tuned for any changes! You can keep up to date with our cities on uber.com/cities."

Picture via Uber.com

What do you think of the possibility of the Uber service coming to Peterborough at some point? Tell us on our Facebook page.

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Free New Year's Eve Transit Service In Peterborough!

The City of Peterborough is pleased to be offering late night transit service on New Year’s Eve this year for free.

Service will be provided on all 12 regular routes, and buses will run free of charge between 7:20 p.m. December 31st, 2015 and 3:20 a.m. January 1, 2016, with the last run leaving the terminal at 2:40 am. Handi-van service will also run during the same hours, with 2 vans in service until 3:20 am.

The City of Peterborough invites residents to drink responsibly and to make their New Year’s Eve transportation plans ahead of time. The introduction of Free Transit Service on New Year’s Eve provides an additional transportation option for those who need a ride home so that we can all arrive alive.

Today is a great day for transit in @Ptbo_Canada. Free bus service on New Years Eve from 7:20pm to 3:20am. This New Years Eve #getonthebus

— Don Vassiliadis (@donvptbo) December 10, 2015

Monagan Ward Councillor Don Vassiliadis, Chair of Transportation on City Council says, "Thanks to the work of the City, transit workers and the passion of Peterborough citizens, we are offering full service City Transit on New Year’s Eve. Having New Year's Eve bus service is something that I have been working on all year. What an easy way to get to your party and home safely within our great City of Peterborough. This New Year’s Eve, get on the bus!"
 
The estimated cost for the evening of service is $15,000 and funding for this new service is being sponsored by Wolfe Personal Injury Lawyers, which has opened an office in Peterborough.
 

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Brealey Drive Is Now Open

Good news: After months of detours, construction has been completed on Brealey Dr., and the road is now open between Lansdowne St. and the Fleming Parkway.

Photo via @FlemingCollege

There are new turning lanes and traffic lights at the entrance to the college, along with new signalized pedestrian crosswalks and new sidewalks/walking paths.

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These Retro Peterborough Police Car Pictures Are Pure Awesome

Thanks to Lauren Gilchrist, Media Relations and Communications Coordinator from Peterborough Police Service, for digging these gems from the police archives for us.

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A Day In A Wheelchair In Downtown Peterborough

Peterborough DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel calls it a "big, eye-opening experience" to see things at this level in the downtown core.

Dave Tuck, Terry Guiel and Andrea Dodsworth

Guiel was referring to his experience spending a day in a electric wheelchair—along with Peterborough Huskies General Manager Dave Tuck—in downtown Peterborough with local accessibility advocate Andrea Dodsworth, who lead the guys on the tour to show them what it's like to navigate stores and sidewalks.

Guiels spoke to 12 different business owners during the day about what they can do to make themselves more accessible, and met with Mayor Bennett to talk about the challenges and offer suggestions as to how to make the downtown more accessible. They also visited the Accessibility office at City Hall to discuss how they can work closer together on future accessibility projects.

After his experience, Guiel says it's important to be more pro-active when it comes to accessibility in the city. "It's the right thing to do to make yourself as accessible as possible," he says. "Our business community really wants to be accessible."

Guiels and Dodsworth realize there are a lot of costs associated with making older buildings and their architecture more accessible, but say there are smaller things that can be done right away—whether it's a ramp, the way that a door opens, the weight of a door. 

Guiel and Dodsworth with Mayor Bennett

"Small changes turn into big ones," says Dodsworth. 

Watch the highly educational video below to see the day through Terry's eyes...

DBIA Executive Director Terry Guiel spends a day in a wheel chair to experience downtown Peterborough from an accessibility standpoint. Local accessibility advocate Andrea Dodsworth lead the downtown tour with Peterborough Huskies General Manager Dave Tuck.

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Amazing Late 1940s Footage Of Chemong Lake "Floating Causeway"

Before the Causeway was completed in 1949, there was a floating bridge—aka "Floating Causeway"—connecting Bridgenorth to Ennismore for many years.

It must have been like driving on water, or car surfing, or driving on a dock—especially when waves would come crashing over it.

Watch this amazing footage below from Roy Studios in the late '40s from a promotional film called Call of the Kawarthas showing the Chemong Lake floating bridge in use...

Here is a short bit of film from 'Call of the Kawarthas', a promotional film made by Roy Studios in the late 1940's. It shows the Chemong Lake floating bridge in use.

Posted by Vintage Peterborough, Lindsay and the Kawartha Region on Thursday, March 7, 2013

So let's just never complain about the Causeway again.

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14 Things You Might Want To Know About E-Bike Safety

Peterborough Police receive many questions from the public regarding the rules of the road when it comes to e-bikes. For everyone’s safety on our roads, they ask that you please help share the following information on your social media channels...

1. All e-bike operators and passengers must be at least 16 years of age.
2. You can carry passengers on your e-bike ONLY if it was designed for more than one person. You should check the manufacturer's information to see if your e-bike was designed to carry passengers.
3. All operators and passengers must wear an approved bicycle or motorcycle helmet.
4. It is illegal to modify your e-bike's motor to make it more powerful or to increase the speed of your e-bike.
5. Under the Criminal Code of Canada the definition of a “motor vehicle” includes an e-bike. Anyone operating an e-bike intoxicated could be charged for impaired driving.
6. Under the Highway Traffic Act, an e-bike is not classified as a motor vehicle, so penalties for impaired driving under the Act would not apply.
7. Municipalities have the ability to prohibit where e-bikes may travel on roads, paths, trails and other property under their jurisdiction.
8. You don't need a driver's licence, vehicle permit or licence plate to ride an e-bike, but you do need to:
-> be 16 or older
-> wear an approved bicycle or motorcycle helmet
-> keep your e-bike in good working order
9. Under the City’s Active Transportation By-law, a bicycle-style e-bike can travel on the multi-use trails only when it’s being pedaled. Scooter-style e-bikes are no longer permitted on the multi-use trails.
10. E-bikes (either bicycle-style or scooter-style) ARE NOT allowed on sidewalks either in the downtown or outside of the downtown.
11. E-bikes (either style) are allowed in bicycle lanes
12. E-bikes (either style) are allowed on roads.
13. E-bike operators are expected to follow the rules of the road and be respectful and courteous to pedestrians and cyclists.
14. Applicable Fines (From the City of Peterborough’s Active Transportation By-law 14-096)
-> Riding an e-bike on the sidewalk $110
-> Riding a scooter-style e-bike on a multi-use trail $110
-> Failing to yield to a pedestrian $180

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Turning Left Onto the Causeway Will Be A Little Trickier For A While

According to a County release, due to technical difficulties with the traffic signal controls located at the intersection of Ward Street and James A. Gifford Causeway in Bridgenorth, drivers will experience longer than usual delays when turning left from Ward Street onto the Causeway for the next week.

The County Of Peterborough Public Works department says it is aware of the problem and is working to resolve it.

For now, left turns won't be easy. But life will return to normal eventually.

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The Train At Riverview Park & Zoo Is Now Running

The extra work on the tracks at the Riverview Park & Zoo has been completed and they have passed their spring inspection!

So the train is now running...

Toot toot -> Whoot Whoot! :) pic.twitter.com/DIAnhPhU8M

— Riverview Park & Zoo (@RiverviewZoo) May 26, 2015

It's Hump Day—and the train is now operating. This makes Gobi happy.

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