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Ottawa Bike Lane Video: City Pays $21,000 For Instructional Video On Using Short Stretch

First Posted: 10/04/11 04:41 PM ET Updated: 12/04/11 05:12 AM ET

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Bike Lane
A five-minute video showing cyclists how to use Ottawa's segregated bike lane cost taxpayers $21,000.

OTTAWA - A five-minute video showing cyclists how to use Ottawa's segregated bike lane cost taxpayers $21,000.

Documents show Ottawa awarded the contract to Predator Communications of Vancouver in the spring for the instructional video.

The video posted on the city's website is narrated by the bike lane project manager and includes a statement from Mayor Jim Watson.

The instructional video includes graphics to show how to use the lanes and the rules for cyclists and motorists.

Ottawa also spent $13,000 for 25,000 pocket maps to inform people about the eight-block bike lane along Laurier Avenue between Bronson Avenue and City Hall.

(CFRA)

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OTTAWA - A five-minute video showing cyclists how to use Ottawa's segregated bike lane cost taxpayers $21,000.Documents show Ottawa awarded the contract to Predator Communications of Vancouver in the ...
OTTAWA - A five-minute video showing cyclists how to use Ottawa's segregated bike lane cost taxpayers $21,000.Documents show Ottawa awarded the contract to Predator Communications of Vancouver in the ...
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bragladish
44 Fans
08:10 PM on 10/04/2011
a 30 second commercial cost anywhere from 30 to 120 thousand and people are supposed to be outraged because a city spent 21 thousand on a 5 MINUET video? This writer is stretching it!
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jdeforest
14 Fans
 
01:18 PM on 10/05/2011
Agreed. I would give this one a big "who cares?" if I weren't trying to figure out why the author cares.
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Add In Canadia
Egotism is a weakness
436 Fans
07:19 PM on 10/04/2011
If you're curious about the video here's a link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVQsqGVWswI&

$21,000 for the instructional video seems pretty reasonable, considering that it has a CGI reconstruction of parts of the city, and isn't simplistic screen wipe graphics and transitions. I wonder if the innate reflex of most people will be "that's reasonable" or "OMG, what a waste of money, I could have done that with FIVE dollars!"
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jdeforest
14 Fans
 
01:24 PM on 10/05/2011
Thanks for the link. It looks like a well-produced and much needed video. Compare to costs related to motor vehicle infrastructure/information, it's a bargain.
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PortlandZoo
Wait... what?
2287 Fans
05:32 PM on 10/04/2011
$21K for a five minute video isn't bad, actually. But why is the city of Ottawa giving contracts to BC firms? Ottawa has a lot of production companies and qualified personnel who service the feds and the city. They got some splainin to do... and why doesn't this Vancouver company, Predator, have a website?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
All Seeing Guy
Center of the storm
437 Fans
05:23 PM on 10/04/2011
Subsidized transit, subsidized bike lanes, subsidized this, subsidized that...I'm all for the environment, but certain advocates of anti-car green living need to find themselves a sustainable business model that doesn't involve duct taping a vacuum hose to the public trough.
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Brian Huntley
Neither Liberal nor Conservative
10 Fans
08:58 PM on 10/04/2011
Yeah, thank heaven CAR roads aren't subsidized, eh? I don't know what we'd do without the Queensway Fairy.
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