During In Motion Week (Oct. 8 – 12) the Township of Centre Wellington challenged other municipal councils to an Active Transportation Challenge. The challenge was to see which council could accumulate the highest average of minutes walked and/or biked on trails or cycle lanes/roads to destinations (e.g., work, grocery store, and library) over a five-day period.
The challenge was accepted by nine in motion communities: Guelph, Guelph-Eramosa, Minto, Mapleton, Puslinch, Wellington North, Orangeville, Mono; with Centre Wellington leading the challenge.
The purpose of the challenge was to increase understanding of the benefits and challenges faced by cyclists and walkers of active transportation routes and to increase momentum for active transportation and physical activity by lead individuals in our communities.
Mapleton Township rose to the challenge in a rural area. One of the councillors said this, “…I can replace a farm vehicle with walking for many little jobs.”
Another councillor in Guelph said “…I was struck by the trees and green space in the urban environment…Even small touches like flower planters along sidewalks make an impact. Making the effort to do everything on foot I met more local people and experienced the smells and sounds of the city.”
The challenge was raised to a higher level with an incentive: the winning municipality would provide their municipal shirts/mugs to the municipality with the least minutes of walking or cycling and the losing municipality will wear the winning municipalities’ shirts or use their mugs at a council meeting, with media taking photos.
The winning municipality is The Town of Minto, where council averaged 373 minutes of active transportation over the five-day challenge period. The City of Guelph followed with a very close second, averaging 368 minutes per person. The Township of Puslinch came in third with 365 minutes.
“Adults should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity per week. Congratulations to our councillors for their accomplishments,” said Karen Armstrong, of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
The municipality that must wear the Town of Minto shirts at a future council meeting is the Township of Guelph-Eramosa.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph In Motion is a regional collaborative with an advisory table, a partnership Network & a full-time Coordinator, led by WDG Public Health.
