As more Canadians shift to public transport or alternative methods of traveling caused by high fuel cost, transportation-related policies have taken center stage in the city halls of major cities.

At Ottawa, the city's Transit Committee rejected a proposal to allow pets on public buses during a six-month pilot test period. The proposal came from Capital Coun. Clive Doucet. After two hours of debate his proposal was thumbed down.

A driver was injured by a group of cyclists Friday after several from the group became violent when he attempted to drive his vehicle through the mass of bicycle riders.

The group of bikers came together, as they do every last Friday in Seattle, to ride in a "Critical Mass Ride," which one web site says is an event "to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists' right to the road."

Police in Toronto have seized up to 2,000 stolen bicycles from a theft ring they busted last week but the huge find has prompted authorities to look for a temporary impound area.

The police garage is not big enough to store and display some 1,000 recovered bikes so the search for a bigger space where owners can go and claim their bicycles is on, according to Superintendent Ruth White as cited by CBC.ca Tuesday.

Five young people have been killed by lightning in five different states in less than a week.

On July 3, Landon Dillard, 16, of Macon, Ga., was struck while riding a bicycle at a summer camp in Colorado.

Hundreds of bike riders shed their clothing and rode through the capital of Spain Saturday protesting the overuse of automobiles, and celebrating the simplicity of bicycles and the human body.

According to the World Naked Bike Ride Website, the annual ride is held in cities all over the world "to celebrate cycling and the human body. The ride demonstrates the vulnerability of cyclists on the road and is a protest against oil dependency."