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Keep the OS/Regional Transport Discussion in Motion

September 11, 2008

transport planThis past Tuesday I (and a good number of other local residents) attended the Owen Sound in Motion Workshop. The workshop is “a public event hosted by the City to obtain your perspective on key transportation issues that affect us now and in the future.”
This is the first step towards the creation of a new city master Transit Plan (expected in the Spring of 09).

While I was there I had the opportunity to conduct a couple of short interviews about workshop and th future plan, the first with Loren Polonsky (one of the Workshop facilitators and a member of the consulting group who was tasked with gathering and interpreting our thoughts…leading to the “terms of reference” for our new Transportaion master plan). The second interview as a short discussion with Shane Jolley, a long time supporter and leading thinker reagarding a more sustainable local transportation system.

You can listen to the audio below, or download the Owen Sound Transit Plan audio (right click, save as)

The participation by the many people involved in this workshop was great to see. Many, many good ideas tossed into the ring for consideration as we move forward towards a transportation plan. Outside the box creativity however seemed to be lacking to some extent. That’s not to say there were not great and creative ideas (there were more than a few added to my notes), but with that in mind I was sort of hoping for a little more design outlaw sort of thinking.

So now that we have had a little time to let things sink in I would like to see us stretch the old imaginations just a little further. (and for those reading/listening about the whole deal for the first time you can play now too!)

So how do we go about it then?? Well you can always provide feedback via the city website (it’s not that difficult…but it isn’t all that participatory). What I would really like to see is a means by which a more public sharing of resources can take place. A different sort of a traffic jam if you will, were I toss an idea and you toss an idea and someone else contributes a great connection between them (or a case study, or a refrence or even a snide comment if you think that is reallyl beneficial to the process).

So before I get to far from the point here… I offer this page as a starting point for a different kind of discussion on this topic. First off you can use the comments section below to add your thoughts, links etc.

Or you can use the OS transit drop i have created. It is pretty simple and really quite cool.

an audio introduction to the transit drop concept…

How to play along

  1. follow this link OStransit drop
  2. once at the drop things are pretty straight forward. You can add links, images, files … which will be visible by anyone interested in checking out http://drop.io/ostransit
  3. if you like you could also call in a voicemail comment to 646-495-9201 x 52791 (regular rates apply…)
  4. there are a number of other cool things th drop can do and I will delve into them if we get some level of initial response….
  5. Finally while you are at the drop be sure to subscribe to it in some manner, via email or RSS so you can keep up with and keep contributing to the process

    6. .


Nearing completion on this post really… I am pretty excited about the opportunites for collaboration/contribution this idea provides for. Hopefully some of you will take a moment to add your thoughts to the drop and to be a part of an ongoing discussion about the future of tranportation for Owen Sound and the region.

I think I am on to something here and hopefully some of you will join me in the journey. This isn’t the first collborative sort of thing I have tried to instigate around here for sure, and I know previous attempts have had varied results. That said I am sure we are moving in the right direction for a more open and collaborative community here so I will continue to press on.

Check the video below as a little inspiration if you thnk you need it, and if anything about it really speaks to you (we should chat)

Lastly, if you think this is an important discussion, use the share button below to pass on a link to friends and family (enemies too I guess, we all got to move!)

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Written by Ryan · Filed Under Community, Podcast, Sustainability, theOwen Features, Features, Transportation, Audio, Participation, theOwen 

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