Karen Whitney, Director, Community Planning and Development, Planning and Economic Development Branch, Corporate Services, York Region
Oct 16th, 2019
Comments Regarding Transportation Safety in Public Areas:
- Pedestrian and cyclist safety is very important
- Suggested that when it comes to transportation, the old mentality of “how do we get cars moving”
should change to “how do we get people moving” would include people getting to where they need to go,
by other means such as walking, cycling, public transit etc.
- Stated that one of the problems with safety on the road is distracted driving
- New planning focus for cities is to design safer cities by providing more open and welcoming areas in the city
Ideas Karen Whitney Listed for the Future:
- Waste will go to energy power plants, not to landfills
- Providing affordable housing
- Ways to move people not cars
- Stormwater management
- Safety to design
How Karen Whitney’s comments are related to our solution:
- Ensuring accessible parking for those who need it promotes safety for those individuals because they can park
and have less distance to travel, rather than parking further away and risking injury
Craig Lane, Architect, HCMA Architecture and Design in Vancouver, Canada
Nov 1st, 2019
Problems with public spaces:
- Craig Lane got us thinking about whether people care about public spaces these days given everything is
accessible through technology
- He suggested the questions we should be asking ourselves “Is there something different about public spaces
than online and how do we create a public space accessible for everyone?”
- He said it was important to encourage people to use public spaces
- Buildings and public spaces should be fully accessible
- Why is it more effective when people see each other face-to-face?
- Higher quality meetings when people interact in person
- Mr. Lane thinks that we must make public spaces more accessible and inclusive because this may be a
reason that people are not using public spaces as frequently as before
- We must think about placemaking (management of public spaces) and inclusivity
- Big question: “How do we get people to come to public spaces?”
How Craig Lane's Feedback Related to our Solution:
- Based on what Mr. Lane said about making public spaces more accessible, it will encourage people in the
community to get out of the house and be active
- Our accessible parking solution achieves this goal by ensuring that people with disabilities have access to
close parking in public spaces
John Zelek, Associate Professor and Co-Director of the VIP (Vision Image Processing) Lab, Ontario, Canada
Nov 7th, 2019
Issues that occur within public spaces to look into:
- Pedestrians unaware of bikers coming
- People getting stuck in their car during snowstorms
- Snowbanks on side of road taking up space that could be used for parking
- High amount of energy use when heating and cooling buildings
- Housing for most people is expensive
- Air pollution at major intersections left in the air
Ideas that John Zelek listed for the future:
- Vertical green walls on building
- Collecting crime data from 311 service
- Sound emitting sensor for bikers to detect pedestrians crossing the road
- App that locates where homeless people are
How John Zelek’s comments are related to our solution:
- Encouraged us to potentially use the data collection to allow property owners to optimize number of
accessibility stalls in parking lots
Kim Huntley, Manager of North York Central Library
Nov 11th, 2019
Topics discussed:
- Ms. Huntley discussed the topic of how libraries can stay relevant
- She told us that something might be relevant right now, but in the near future, it could not be relevant,
due to the quick advancements made in technology
Importance of libraries in communities:
- “How to keep libraries relevant?”
- Libraries are part of the Social Structure
- Depending on the libraries’ locations, different book collections and programs are offered to that relate to
the community’s needs. For example, newcomers to Canada go to the library as one of the first stops to learn
about the community services
- Libraries are offering more STEM activities such as 3D Printing
How Kim Huntley’s comments are related to our solution:
- Told us that the library provides services to people with disabilities who are unable to leave their homes
Eda Conte-Pitcher, Library Service Manager of North York Central Library
Nov 11th, 2019
Eda Conte-Pitchers’s thoughts on the importance of libraries in communities:
- Everyone’s needs should be balanced
- A library is considered a “third space” (First space, your home. Second space, your school/work)
- The main point of libraries is to support people to make them successful
- Gives people access to certain equipment for activities that are not available at their homes
- One of the most important issues in libraries are not enough seats to account for the number of people using
the space
How Eda Conte-Pitcher’s comments are related to our solution:
- She talked about there needs to be more accessibility for families with young children in strollers
- Ensuring better accessibility for parking solutions at the public library will encourage people with
disabilities to leave their homes and visit the library
Brenda Vrkljan, Professor, Occupational Therapy, McMaster University
Nov 14th, 2019
Importance of driving for the disabled and seniors:
- Provides independence for those with disabilities and seniors to keeps them active and active members of the
community
- Driving is important, especially for people with disabilities because they cannot walk or cycle and access
public transit
- Seniors that stay home will suffer from mental health issues and have shorter lifespans
Ideas that Brenda Vrkljan listed for the future:
- Solution that allows accessible parking to be available for people in need
- Creating something that encourages seniors to do something
- Avoid shaming people with a buzzer
- Potentially scare people nearby
William Wiles, Parking Operations Supervisor at York University
Nov 17th, 2019
Things William Wiles pointed out:
- Province gives accessibility parking permit that can be issued by a number of professions
- Seniors sometimes forget to display their permit
- People who park illegally don't go to court
- Permits are issued based on mobility
- Seniors are eligible for permits but choose not to get them because they let people who have disabilities get
them
- 10% of parking spaces have to be for priority parking in Toronto
- People forget to renew the permit
- P/D = Passenger and driver
- People take advantage of their permit, as in some places they can get free parking
- Each city all have zoning bylaw
Ideas from William that he listed for the future:
- Seniors would go out more if they had good parking close to the entrance of the place
- Some people park on fire routes
- Make sure people don't take the permit for advantage
Adamo Donatucci, Regional Vice-President of Park Indigo Canada
Nov 18th, 2019
Some things Adamo Donatucci pointed out:
- Cameras take pictures of the license
- Easy to put up display screen for spots
- His company would be willing to test out our project
- Permits allow free street parking
- He likes the warning system
- No other solution than a gate that raises and lowers which is highly ineffective
- This is a big issue at hospitals
- Might stress seniors to get permit out quickly
- Identifying plate that doesn't have a permit to fine the person
Ideas Adamo listed for the future:
- We need to make something if someone backs into the spot
- Try to make sure repeat offenders are very common