July IEC & City Council Update

On July 12, Cycle Toronto accompanied Mayor Olivia Chow on her first day in Office along with hundreds of cycling enthusiasts of all ages and abilities from all corners of the city. We look forward to working with her office to advance her priorities and help build a city where more women of colour are empowered to discover the efficiency, affordability and joy of biking.

In order to get more women and people of all ages and abilities on bikes, we need to prioritize the safety of people over the movement of vehicles, especially around construction zones. Unfortunately, maintaining safe conditions around construction zones remains a big barrier.

When Construction Zones Close Cycling Corridors

Just 4% of Toronto streets and roads have some form of cycling infrastructure, most of which is situated in the city’s core, so losing access to one of the city’s few cycle tracks is a significant loss to those who rely on them to travel safely across town. 

It remains incredibly dangerous and disappointing that the city is routinely failing to follow the provincial guidelines put in place to ensure the protection of vulnerable road users during temporary conditions such as construction zones. The province’s construction zone guidelines state that the safety of cyclists must be explicitly considered in all work zones (except where bicycles are legally prohibited). It is counter productive to set  standards that are not followed or enforced. Cyclists have the same right to safe passage as motor vehicles. We believe that the safe passage of vulnerable road users should be prioritized, especially when a bike route or sidewalk is compromised. 

Both Adelaide Street and Bloor Street are essential east-west cycling corridors that are major cycling routes. There is no legitimate reason why the city doesn’t prioritize the movement of people along these streets. The high volume of cyclists that rely on these bike lanes, paired with the city’s urgent need to reduce the number of single occupancy car trips and the proximity to major transit options, are reasons that leave many perplexed by the decision to prioritize vehicular traffic over all others. This is neither equitable nor safe. The current situation is inconvenient for drivers, but it is not safe for people walking, rolling, and biking.

When the city directs cyclists to ride with vehicular traffic or get off their bikes and walk, the city is contradicting their own policies and programs. It’s baffling.

Adelaide and Bloor are symptoms of a much larger problem. We are calling on the city to improve the safety of Adelaide and Bloor both east of Spadina Avenue and west of Lansdowne Avenue during construction, as well as across the city whenever there is construction. Sign and share our petition.

Construction zone safety is one of our top priorities. If you haven’t already, please sign up for our action alerts so that you are kept up to date with our efforts to make our streets safer.

Police continue to target cyclists 

It wasn’t long after Mayor Chow’s arrival at City Hall that police began targeting food delivery couriers as well as cyclists crossing with the advanced pedestrian signal and in the pedestrian scramble at Yonge and Dundas. 

Last summer at this time, we were alarmed by the Toronto Police’s campaign targeting cyclists in High Park, despite the number of fatalities and injuries caused by motor vehicles in and around the park. We remain resolute in our belief that the targeting and ticketing of cyclists is not an effective use of police resources; their targeting of a particularly vulnerable subset of people who bike: gig workers. We remain opposed to calls to license couriers, as this unnecessarily perpetuates a polarizing issue that contributes to not only making our roads more dangerous, but distracting people and policy makers from focusing on achieving the city’s Vision Zero Safety Plan and implementing sustainable solutions that benefit all road users.

Our laws need to change to better reflect the safety of cyclists. Under the Highway Traffic Act, cyclists are treated as vehicles despite the inequity and obvious differences between these forms of transportation. 

Toronto Parking Authority Presents an update on the City-wide Parking Strategy

On July 18 the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) presented an update on On-street parking review and the City-wide parking strategy. We were pleased to hear Scott Collier, the President of TPA, speak of the need to fix the current fragmented approach between their programs and that they are seeking to be a leader in mobility and congestion management, as well as the importance of being aligned with city policies. We have been advocating for this holistic approach that should prioritize active modes of transportation. We are calling on TPA to take a more equitable approach to how they cost Bike Share Toronto in conjunction with their on and off-street parking. With the city in dire financial straits, there is an opportunity for the city to revisit the incredibly low cost of car parking compared to the high cost of the corresponding infrastructure. It shouldn’t be cheaper to ride a Bike Share e-bike than drive and park if they are serious about supporting the city, alleviating traffic congestion and meeting climate action targets. 

We were very concerned about the absence of any mention about the city’s urgent need for more safe and secure bike parking and are now working with Transportation Services who is leading the City-Wide Parking Strategy. Cycle Toronto will be one of the community stakeholders and we look forward to being part of consultations in the fall. 

As the city moves forward with their planning and consultations we will be watching for the following initiatives:

• Increasing the revenue generated from on and off-street parking by increasing the cost of on and off-street parking to reflect the real cost
• Expanding access to safe and secure bike parking across the city
• Testing new forms of secure bike parking for Torontonians who have no safe place to store their bikes or e-bikes 
• Aligning with the city’s micro-mobility strategy
• Providing parking for different types of mobilities such as cargo bikes and e-scooters
• Ensuring on-street parking is enforced 
• Consolidating on and off-street parking as well as on-street permit parking
• Applying an equity assessment to determining parking rates

Sign up for action alerts today so you don’t miss a beat.

July 19 & 20 City Council Meeting:

On July 20, City Council debated whether the city should adopt a e-scooter sharing pilot program (IE5.5- Planning for an E Scooter Pilot). We were pleased that our recommendation was adopted. The city needs a comprehensive micro-mobility strategy before it can assess specific types of mobilities. Cycle Toronto will be an important community stakeholder and look forward to working on this issue as it develops. Make sure you sign up for our Action Alerts.

A Walk in the Park for Safe Suburban Cycling Connections 

On Sunday July 30 we joined The Centre for Active Transportation, Foodshare, Park People, Toronto Field Naturalists, WalkTO and TenBlock along with Councillor Pasternak and Becky Katz from the city of Toronto’s Transportation Services to enjoy the beautiful nature trail in Earl Bales Park. Our collective objective is to connect the park to York Mills subway station so people have a safe way to connect the subway. We aim to create a sustainable transportation option that promotes active living, reduces carbon emissions, and brings us closer to a harmonious coexistence between urban development and natural preservation of our green spaces. Cycle Toronto advocates for quality bike infrastructure, but creating quality connections between the city’s wonderful trail system to the city’s transportation network can be equally valuable. The group will be gathering for another walk in the park in winter when the golf course is closed. Sign up for our events.