Earlier this week I was in Toronto for the NACTO Annual Conference, the National Association of City Transportation Officials. This is mostly an association of American cities, and it was the first time the conference was held outside the USA.
The Transportation Division at the City of Saskatoon has developed a vision, a strategy, and a series of projects to improve traffic in our city with the use of technology. This is done through creating an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), or a way to make the best use of the streets, sidewalks, traffic lights, and freeways that we already have by creating connectivity, making our systems adaptable, and making information as open and accessible to residents as we can about routes and options.
At October’s meeting of City Council, we moved forward with a decision to establish a city-wide curbside organics collection program.
This is a huge step forward for our city and it will have a significant impact on extending the life of the landfill—an estimated additional 23 years. The current (and optional) green cart program has been successful, but the City’s research has shown that 58% of what ends up in the black bin is organic material that could be diverted.
Council has been hearing questions about what will be happening at the June 20 Special Governance and Priorities meeting, in particular around the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes and the future of bike lanes in the downtown. Below is a quick overview of what to expect on June 20th.