Day 1 Workshops

The School Neighbourhood Activation Playbook (SNAP) provides a cross-sector framework for planning and implementing active school travel (AST) for anyone who advocates for, promotes, and advances active transportation in school neighbourhoods across BC, including local government staff, school administrators and staff, public health professionals, and local champions.

Drawing on the SNAP framework, this workshop is designed to equip participants from various backgrounds in understanding the impact and opportunities of AST, planning a coordinated AST Plan for a real school, and preparing an implementation plan for an AST program. 

This workshop will be delivered collaboratively by TransLink, Society for Children and Youth of BC, HUB Cycling, Green Communities Canada, and Capital Bike, partners with on-the-ground experience in designing and delivering children’s active travel programming across Canada.

By participating in this workshop, you will:

• Understand the SNAP framework and how this resource can help advance AST, from planning to implementation to monitoring. 

• Learn directly from four non-profit organizations about AST programs and how they are delivered.

• Practice applying the SNAP in real case studies in BC school neighbourhoods.  

• Leave with a draft implementation plan for launching an AST program at a school.

Lead facilitator: Molly Barkowsky, (TransLink)

Co-facilitators: Joanne Kautz-Allard (SCY), Ildiko Kovacs (SCY), Ashley Parsons (SCY), Xuedan Xu (GCC), Maya Goldstein (HUB), Aliya Khan (Capital Bike)

Launching and sustaining active transportation or road safety movements comes with unique hurdles, from limited grassroots resources to navigating distinct regional politics. This interactive workshop provides a step-by-step roadmap for shifting isolated local efforts into structured, high-impact Community Advocacy Groups and networks.

HUB Cycling and Evolve, created by BCAA, are hosting this session to introduce practical tools that help communities build support for active transportation, strengthen local leadership, and advance initiatives that encourage more people to choose cycling and other sustainable transportation options. Participants will actively audit a draft of the new Community Advocacy Digital Resource Hub, identifying how resources (such as advocacy templates and volunteer retention tools) can be customized to solve their specific barriers.

Moving from theory to action, attendees will work together in this interactive session to come together and discuss how grassroots groups can successfully partner with a wider provincial structure without losing their unique local voice. Attendees will leave with a practical action plan to help increase participation, improve community awareness of safe active transportation, and support active transportation growth in their home community.

This session directly advances active transportation in BC by sharing knowledge, deepening understanding and connections to form a truly province-wide network of AT and micromobility advocates. By equipping community advocates with structured organizational tools, we reduce volunteer burnout and accelerate local infrastructure, policy and programming wins.

True equity in active transportation means ensuring equity-denied and marginalized communities have the capacity to advocate for their own infrastructure and programming needs. This workshop explicitly integrates equity into the group-building process, teaching advocates how to build diverse, intersectional local coalitions from day one.

Furthermore, the framework guides local groups on how to establish early, respectful dialogue with neighbouring First Nations. By teaching advocates to align their local infrastructure asks with Indigenous rights, land-use interests, and the principles of UNDRIP/DRIPA, we ensure new community advocacy groups support systemic reconciliation rather than operating in isolation.

• Explore how local advocacy groups can effectively work with municipalities, Indigenous communities, transportation providers, and others to identify local mobility challenges and play a role in advancing solutions such as infrastructure improvements, road safety initiatives, transit connections, and emerging mobility options such as shared micromobility.

• Access to a digital resource hub for kickstarting, structuring, or scaling a localized advocacy group utilizing proven resources for provincial infrastructure, shared mobility adoption, and road safety education.

• Proven methods for building your advocacy group including attracting and retaining volunteers.

• Strategies to balance local independence with the collective power of a provincial coalition.

Rose Gardner (HUB Cycling), Leanne Buhler (BCAA/Evolve)

Join staff from the Ministry of Transportation and Transit and Urban Systems for a workshop exploring the recent update to the BC Active Transportation Planning and Design Guide, BC’s premier resource for planning and designing high-quality active transportation infrastructure. 

Since the first edition of the Guide in 2019, there have been significant changes in legislation, policy, and research impacting the transportation landscape, which have been included in this year’s update. The update Guide also represents a major step forward in professional practice from the first edition—it introduces a new approach to facility selection, expanded accessibility guidance, more detailed intersection design, and other improvements. 

Through practical exercises based on real-world challenges, you’ll learn how the updated Guide can be applied and build confidence using the Guide in your day-to-day work. Key updates include:

• Consideration of emerging mobility options, including e-bikes and micromobility devices;

• Greater emphasis on multimodal integration and context-sensitive design.

• Updated approaches to safety, comfort, and facility selection;

• Enhanced accessibility guidance and integration of Accessible BC Act principles;

• New guidance for rural and small communities, school neighbourhoods, and roundabouts, and;

• Expanded guidance for active transportation within Ministry rights-of-way.Description text goes here

The Guide receiving this thorough training on the updated edition will bring participants up to date in the field of active transportation infrastructure planning and design, including:

• Applying the updated Guide in a wide range of scenarios.

• Active transportation implementation in rural and small communities

• Designing for accessibility

The workshop will be highly interactive and will equip practitioners with hands-on learnings about that is consistent across the province. Many case studies featured in the Guide are from BC Indigenous communities and can serve as a model for both First Nations and local governments alike.

By the end of the session, you’ll have the tools and foundation to start applying the Guide on your next project.

Adam Krupper (BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit),  Brian Patterson (Urban Systems)

A working session by and for advocacy organizations working on bicycle and AT-related programs and causes, including:

• Member-based associations, clubs and societies

• Social enterprises and co-ops

• Community groups and other NGOs

In this collaborative, discussion-driven session, advocates from across the province will share local success stories and lessons learned about approaches, programs and new opportunities to help your community’s AT advocacy move from good to great.

Programs to be showcased in this workshop include: 

• Community Transportation Education: Strategic, practical framework for implementing inclusive, safe, and developmentally appropriate cycling education for pre-school-aged children, through school-aged youth, and including the general population, including pathways for implementation and adaptations for specific local contexts, and considerations for equity and inclusion, e-bikes, and rules of the road. 

• Community bike shops & pop-up repair clinics: an exploration of how community-based repair services can function as essential “soft infrastructure”, and how community access to repair and mobility supports can empower individuals facing barriers to transportation, improve independence, and strengthen resilience. 

• AT advocacy in rural & remote communities: How community leadership and regional collaboration can help advance active transportation in rural and island contexts, particularly for unincorporated communities, and how small communities can contribute to larger regional mobility systems.

• Community-led road maintenance: the story of a successful grassroots initiative that used community crowdfunding and a locally-designed bike lane sweeper to sweep local bike lanes, and an exploration of how community-funded action can help improve transportation safety when governments are too slow.

This session workshops support the work of organizations to align with local and provincial AT goals, to reduce barriers to active transportation for all ages and abilities in communities across BC, and to strengthen advocacy partnerships across the education sector, for small and local businesses, for community-serving bodies and groups, and and lobby organizations. 

By attending this workshop, advocates will get practical takeaways to apply immediately towards:

• a curriculum, support, and partnership strategies for cycling education programs in schools and communities

• a replicable model for creating AT programs focused on equity and accessibility

• a scalable, cost-effective model that increases access to bicycles and mobility devices for people experiencing barriers to transportation

• practical lessons for organizations seeking equitable approaches to mobility.

• ways to use storytelling, events, and community engagement to help build public support for active transportation

• a replicable crowdfunding blueprint for setting up a community-funded road maintenance support

• a strategy for understanding government maintenance contracts

Lead facilitators: Dr. Kay Teschke (UBC), Ashley Wright & Colin Stein (BC Cycling Coalition)

Co-facilitator(s): Selena Davis, Brooke Jones, Andrew Murray (Nelson & Area Community Transportation), Cedric Eveleigh (Bike Lane Sweeper), Steve New (Island Pathways), Quentin Randall (GoByBike BC Society), Sarah Thomas (Our Community Bikes)

This three-part session focuses on BC’s evolving transportation landscape, including the emergence of new forms of personal mobility like e-bikes and electric kick scooters. Ministry staff will overview how devices are classified and regulated under the Motor Vehicle Act and the process for authorizing new types for highway use. The important role of pilot projects will be discussed and how they enable the development and testing of new regulatory frameworks.

Regulating Personal Mobility Devices 

What makes a motorized device legal (or illegal) for use on public roads? Why are some things like e-bikes legal, while others like electric unicycles are not? This presentation will overview how BC regulates personal mobility devices under the Motor Vehicle Act. Ministry staff will explain how BC’s framework works and what rules apply to different types of personal mobility devices. Safety considerations will be discussed and what it takes for new types of devices to become street legal.

Electric Kick Scooter Pilot Project Update 

This spring marked the halfway point of the four-year Electric Kick Scooter Pilot Project. Data has been collected for the first two years of the pilot project, which currently has 37 participating communities. Ministry staff will overview the pilot project, methods of data collection and analysis, and results from years one and two. Plans for years three and four of the pilot will also be discussed, along with a future decision on whether to permanently regulate these devices when the pilot project ends in April 2028.

Future Motor Vehicle Act Pilot Projects

Pilot projects provide opportunity for controlled testing of new transportation-related matters and experimental regulatory frameworks. They also enable the collection and analysis of data to help inform key decisions on transportation-related topics. Ministry staff will explain the process for establishing new pilot projects, including application requirements, assessment criteria and decision-making processes. Potential future pilot projects will be discussed and how they are critical to shaping BC’s future transportation landscape.

The target audience for this workshop includes:

• active transportation advocacy groups

• law enforcement organizations

• municipal transportation staff and elected officials

• shared mobility, transit and transportation service providers

• transportation planners

Attendees of this workshop will have the opportunity to engage with Ministry staff and learn about a range of regulatory matters, including:

• What types of devices are legal for highway use in BC

• What rules apply to certain categories of devices and why

• The role of evidence-based pilot projects in shaping the future of transportation in BC

• Interim results from BC’s Electric Kick Scooter Pilot Project and next steps

• The process for establishing new pilot projects and legal, safety, and policy considerations

Facilitators: Katia Gauvin, Bradley Gerhart (Ministry of Transportation and Transit)

We don't decide to cycle, scoot, or ride once. We decide it every single trip. And one of the quietest factors shaping that decision happens at the very end of the ride: will my e-bike be safe here? Is there somewhere to park my cargo bike easily? Is it worth the hassle of making this trip with my e-bike/cargo bike/e-scooter?

BC has invested heavily in getting people moving - cycling infrastructure, active transportation networks, and a fast-growing fleet of e-bikes, cargo bikes, and scooters. But when it comes to what happens when the ride ends or at stopovers, that gap is quietly shaping rider behaviour in ways most planning conversations miss. Uncertainty about parking and security doesn't just cause frustration, it changes what trips people are willing to take, which modes they trust for everyday use, and whether they stick with micromobility long enough for it to become a habit.

This interactive workshop explores that connection directly: how end-of-trip infrastructure shapes rider confidence, decision-making, and ultimately, mode shift. Drawing on real examples from municipalities, campuses, transit hubs, and shared mobility systems across North America and Europe, you'll examine what actually changes rider behaviour, and what looks good on paper but doesn't move the needle. The session includes a hands-on look at real-world parking solutions, giving you a concrete reference point for the ideas discussed.

• Insight into how parking and end-of-trip experience shape rider confidence, decision-making, and long-term mode shift

• A working knowledge of how leading communities are approaching storage and end-of-trip infrastructure, and the outcomes they're seeing

• A deeper understanding of the parking and storage challenges specific to e-bikes, cargo bikes, scooters, and shared micromobility

• Frameworks and ideas you can bring back to your own municipality, campus, or organization to support real behaviour change

Venkatesh Gopal (movmi), Kosta Chatzi Spiros (Urban Racks)