Technical Tours
The following Technical Tours will be available to select on the registration form. Register early as there is limited capacity. Tour itineraries are subject to change. Thank you to our generous Silver Sponsors for your support of the technical tours.
Exchange District Walking Tour
Tour 1A: Mon PM | Jun 5, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Tour 3C: Tue PM | Jun 6, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Presenters: HTFC Planning & Design (James Hudson) & WSP (Mark Vogt)
Capacity: 15 participants each slot
Mode of Travel: Walking
Winnipeg’s North East Exchange District is home to a forward-looking public realm underpinned by the rich warehouse commerce story of the city. The people-first accessible public spaces including woonerfs, green lanes, plazas, parklets and public art buzz with activity all year round. Completed in 2018, this 6-year-long collaborative urban renewal project has transformed the East Exchange into a cohesive, fun, safe, and engaging urban district that supports the modern live-work-play expectations of Winnipeggers seeking an increasingly urban lifestyle while exposing and celebrating the unique culture and history of one of Canada’s oldest intact Warehouse Districts.
Tour participants should be prepared to walk approximately 5 km in any weather.
Southwest Rapid Transitway Tour
Tour 1B: Mon PM | Jun 5, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
Tour 2C: Tue AM | Jun 6, 10:40–noon
Presenter: Winnipeg Transit
Capacity: 35 participants
Mode of Travel: Bus
The Southwest Transitway, made up of Stage 1 completed in 2012 and Stage 2 opened in April 2020, propelled Winnipeg Transit into the Rapid Transit service for the City of Winnipeg. The 11-kilometre Southwest Transitway now operates from Downtown to the neighbourhoods of Southwest Winnipeg, including the University of Manitoba on a dedicated high-speed roadway for buses, physically separated from the regular street system. Buses operate at speeds up to 80 km/h, free of any other traffic, providing very fast, reliable service. The tour will start from the Conference downtown and whisk you along the entirety of the transitway where you will see the full stations including real time passenger displays, adjacent transit oriented development, Winnipeg Transit’s main garage and operations facility, and parallel, separated active transportation paths that connect into the neighbourhoods. At the south end of the Transitway is Stadium Station, at the home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the gateway to the University of Manitoba.
The guided tour will take place on one of Winnipeg Transit’s modern buses, and delegates will have the chance to disembark at various locations to see the heated stations, bike lockers, unique public art installations and park-and-ride/kiss-and-ride facilities.
Cycling Tour
Tour 2A: Tue AM | Jun 6, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
Tour 3A: Tue PM | Jun 6, 1:30–4:30 p.m.
Rain Backup: Wed AM | Jun 7, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
Presenters: City of Winnipeg (Chris Baker & Erik Dickson) & Urban Systems (Greg Propp & Jamie Hilland)
Capacity: 20 participants each slot
Mode of Travel: Cycling
Join us on this cycling tour through Winnipeg’s core area that includes The Forks, the Exchange District, Downtown, and some of Winnipeg’s charming core neighbourhoods. A variety of cycling facilities will be visited, including multiuse pathways, protected bike lanes, traffic calmed neighbourhood greenways, and enhanced summer bike routes (developed to encourage cycling during the pandemic).
Participants should be comfortable cycling in an urban setting. Although three hours are scheduled for the tour, it will involve about an hour of actual riding. Bicycles and helmets will be provided by The Wrench, a community bike shop, at a short distance from the hotel.
All cycling tour participants will be required to provide a signed waiver.
New Flyer Bus Production Facility Tour
Tour 2B: Tue AM | Jun 6, 8:30–11:00 a.m.
Presenter: New Flyer
Capacity: 30 participants (2 groups of 15 simultaneously)
Mode of Travel: Shuttle bus
New Flyer is the largest transit bus manufacturer in North America, and it all starts in Winnipeg! Come see raw materials and components come together on an assembly line like no other that spans three city blocks. You might just see the next electric bus for your home city coming down the line! Also included in the tour is a visit across the street to New Flyer’s New Product Development group. Here you will witness behind the scenes “skunkworks” of the latest innovations of electric and hydrogen fuel cell technology, charging systems, and autonomous buses and components. Please note New Flyer has a no picture policy during the tour.
CN Training Centre Tour
Tour 3B: Tue PM | Jun 6, 1:30–4:30 p.m.
Tour 4A: Wed AM | Jun 7, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
Presenters: CN (David Radford)
Capacity: 50 participants each tour
Mode of Travel: Shuttle bus
Visit CN’s state of the art Claude Mongeau National Training Centre! This 100,000 sq. foot facility, which opened in 2014 at a cost of $35 million, hosts more than 350 CN students a week from across Canada, providing hands-on training for jobs such as conductors, car mechanics, track supervisors and signal maintainers. Features of the tour include locomotive simulators, dispatch stations, crossing control equipment, detection equipment, and a pedestrian fall simulator. The facility also includes outdoor labs with dedicated rolling stock and other equipment for field training.
Downtown Walking Tour
Tour 4B: Wed AM | Jun 7, 10:40–noon
Presenters: Urban Systems (Greg Propp)
Capacity: 15 participants
Mode of Travel: Walking
Over the last decade, Winnipeg’s Downtown has seen some major redevelopment that has evolved the Downtown and presented opportunities and challenges for the future, as well as the need for a cohesive and comprehensive approach to urban design and streetscape design to foster dynamic street life for visitors and to increase the quality of life for residents and workers in Winnipeg’s Downtown. To support this, the City of Winnipeg is undertaking the creation of a Downtown Plan that will identify and prioritize appropriate infrastructure upgrades and improvements to facilitate growth, provide urban design policies to enhance different districts downtown, support and promote the use of alternative transportation modes with a focus on a pedestrian-oriented downtown that is the heart of the city. To support the Downtown Plan, Perkins + Will, Urban Systems, and Nelson/Nygaard are working with the City of Winnipeg to develop Urban Design Guidelines, Streetscape Design Guidelines, and functional designs of protected bike lanes on several downtown streets.
Tour participants should be prepared to walk approximately 5 km in any weather.
