November 07, 2018

North York's Cycling Black Hole

When looking at Toronto’s cycling map, there appears to be a large black hole in North York bounded by the Don trail system, the Finch hydro corridor, the Humber River Trail, and the Beltline Trail (or Eglinton). It is a reality I face whenever I bike to work near Dufferin and Lawrence via the West Toronto Railpath and Caledonia. Bike lanes do exist on Marlee – which I used often when heading to certain downtown destinations after work – but they don’t connect to anything north of the Beltline. It is a shame, given the large amount of employment lands along Caledonia and near Downsview Park. Last month, I checked out the proposed York University and Downsview connections while doing some municipal election volunteering with Progress Toronto to better understand how to fill this hole.
Toronto's cycling map - note the large gap in North York

October 24, 2018

An Undeniably Important Female Cycling Pioneer

For many people within the cycling community, the name Nora Young (1917 – 2016) may not sound familiar. Five decades before female cyclists were allowed to compete in the Olympics in the 1980’s, Nora was one of Toronto’s original female cycling pioneers who also excelled in multiple sports. Director Julia Morgan is currently working on a film called “Undeniably Young: Nora Young and the Six-Day Race” to raise awareness about Nora and the importance of women’s cycling history in general. She is raising funds to finish the film through an IndieGoGo campaign which runs until November 6. I spoke with Julia to get a better understanding of the film and Nora’s impact on women’s cycling.

October 12, 2018

Completing the East End Grid

Last month, the City of Toronto installed new bike lanes in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park. When I had a chance to briefly check them out recently, I found them to be a promising start. However, there are several key gaps which need to be filled in order to truly give a boost to cycling in those neighbourhoods and Toronto’s east end as a whole.
Recently installed bike lanes on Thorncliffe Park Drive

October 01, 2018

Trail Gaps Along the Don

While Toronto’s bikeway network has lots of gaps to fill, east-west connectivity is arguably much better than north-south. Especially north of St. Clair where continuous routes are limited to the Don River and Humber River trails, as well as the bike lanes on Royal York which go to Dixon Road. Back in August, I biked the Don River trail system to Sheppard Avenue to identify trail gaps and better understand how the trail system fits with the Lake to Lake Route.
Wayfinding signage used on the Lower Don Trail

July 26, 2018

Your 2018 Bloor Street Check-up

Bloor bike lanes at St. George where Dalia Chako was killed
Earlier this month, I posted about the Bloor bike lanes from Sherbourne to Church being delayed yet again. With the municipal election only three months away and the need to build support for extending the Bloor bike lanes east and west, I rode along Bloor from Renforth Road (1.7 kilometres east of the Mississauga border) to Parliament Street to document the conditions along the way; similar to what I did on Yonge. Consider this your 2018 Bloor Street check-up.

July 11, 2018

Forwards (and Backwards) on Bloor-Danforth

Last week, the Toronto and East York Community Council approved the recommendations of a planning study done for Danforth Avenue from Coxwell to Victoria Park Avenues, as well as supported expanding the study to cover the section from Broadview to Coxwell Avenues. The Danforth planning study was widely consulted which saw strong support for 7-8 storey mid-rise buildings, heritage conservation, and complete streets including wider sidewalks and protected bike lanes. All four speakers present expressed support for improved cycling facilities and the motion will go to City Council on July 23; the last meeting before October’s election. If approved, we will be one step closer to getting bike lanes on “The Danny”.
2018 Bells on Danforth

July 04, 2018

Cycling Connections at St. Clair and Old Weston

A lot of the Toronto cycling community’s attention on Monday, June 25 was focused on the public meeting debating whether to move the Adelaide protected bike lanes to the left (north) side. However, there was another meeting the same day which has significant potential outside of downtown; that being the St. Clair West Transportation Master Plan (TMP). I had a chance to stop by that meeting on my way home from work to learn more about the transportation issues in that area.

June 11, 2018

Toronto to Brampton (via Eglinton and Etobicoke Creek)

The first time I biked in Brampton was during last year’s “Bike the Creek” event. Since both Mississauga and Brampton have their own trails along Etobicoke Creek, I was curious to find out how cyclists from Toronto could get to Brampton. With Friday being a day off and a need to lose some steam from Thursday’s Fordian slip of an election, I found out by biking the Humber River, Eglinton West, and Etobicoke Creek Trails; a roughly 90-kilometre round trip!

May 15, 2018

Your 2018 Ontario Election Cycling Primer

With the Ontario election 23 days away, transportation has once again become an election issue for many voters. While political party platforms are increasingly featuring cycling and other forms of active transportation, it remains overshadowed by public transit and other issues. Let’s look at what Ontario’s political parties have in store for people who bike.

April 27, 2018

Meet Toronto's Bike Riding Mayoral Candidate-To-Be

With Doug Ford focused on becoming Ontario’s Premier and no high-profile progressives planning to run for mayor (yet), it seems Mayor John Tory is unopposed for this October’s election. His record leaves much to be desired given he supported wasting billions on the one-stop Scarborough subway extension and rebuilding the Gardiner Expressway, as well as opposed Transform Yonge (deferral notwithstanding). Fortunately, road safety advocates and progressives will have at least one candidate they can support – Sarah Climenhaga – whom I spoke with about road safety and other issues.

April 11, 2018

A Pedal Powered Time Capsule

Back in July 2015, Bikes vs Cars launched in Toronto which highlighted the removal of the Jarvis bike lanes, memorial rides, and the late Rob Ford. However, it wasn’t the first film that discussed cycling in Toronto. During last month’s library book sale, I found a copy of Pedal Power from 2009 which served as a time capsule of cycling ten years ago.

March 26, 2018

Stopping Toronto's Kindermoord (Child Murder)

Toronto city council will be debating REimagining Yonge tomorrow and the latest turn of events has left me outraged. Mayor John Tory – along with the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) – have gone against staff which recommended the “Transform Yonge” option reducing Yonge Street in North York from six lanes to four while adding protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and an improved public realm. Instead, he is calling for bike lanes to be moved to Beecroft Road which would cost an additional $20 million and do nothing to improve the safety of Yonge Street which people will still use regardless of transportation mode. His main reason – of course – is his foolish refusal to accept anything that would make traffic congestion worse. A repeat of the Gardiner East fiasco?

March 13, 2018

Why I'm Running for Cycle Toronto's Board

Cycle Toronto’s Annual General Meeting is next Thursday, which also marks their 10th anniversary when they started as the Toronto Cyclists Union. This year’s AGM will give members the opportunity to elect four candidates to Cycle Toronto’s board of directors, reflect on the past year’s accomplishments (Hello, Bloor bike lanes!), and socialize (of course). I am pleased to announce I, Robert Zaichkowski, will be running for a board position along with nine other candidates (click here for bios). Not only would I like to explain why I am running, but also give you the chance to ask me questions on this blog, Twitter, or the Biking Toronto Facebook group.
Here's a brief profile I sent to Cycle Toronto.

March 05, 2018

A Taste of Vaughan

Back in mid-December, the TTC opened the Spadina subway extension with six additional stops including the first ones outside the (amalgamated) City of Toronto. While I biked on some backroads in York Region (Stouffville) in 2013 and 2014 to train for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, they were rural roads which had no cycling infrastructure except for some paved shoulders. Helen and I explored the new subway stops and did a brief bike ride in Vaughan last weekend to take care of both things at once.

January 31, 2018

Let's Talk Road Violence

Despite Toronto city council approving the “Vision Zero” road safety plan in 2016 aimed to eliminate traffic fatalities, road violence has gotten worse. 2017 saw a record number of vulnerable road user deaths at 46 and the first fifteen days of 2018 saw five pedestrians killed. To help humanize the road safety issue, I spoke with Jess Spieker who survived a collision when riding a bicycle in May 2015 and volunteers with Friends and Families for Safe Streets.

January 23, 2018

Bike Painting at Toronto Island

Until this past weekend, I never considered the idea of visiting Toronto Island during the winter. When Artscape Gibraltar Point organized a bicycle painting event called the Bike Island Mural Project, Helen and I felt we had to check it out. We set out on Saturday to Ward’s Island – the only destination open year-round – and were greeted by a vintage bus.

January 15, 2018

Budget Balancing Blues

This year’s Toronto budget is an opportunity for Mayor John Tory and City Council to set the stage for this fall’s election with $11 billion in operating expenditures and $25.7 billion in capital projects at stake. Unfortunately, the current plan fails to account for various council-approved initiatives such as low income passes and two-hour transfers for the TTC, as well as the TransformTO climate action plan. All this disappointment to satisfy the Mayor’s desire to limit property tax hikes to inflation. Social Planning Toronto has a good write up on some of the other unfunded priorities, though I will elaborate on the budget’s impact on cycling.

January 05, 2018

Ring the Post on Bike Parking

The first thing that comes to mind for many people regarding cycling advocacy is bike lanes. But what use would a connected bike lane network have if you don’t have a safe place near your work, school, or errands to lock your bike? The lack of bike parking is a challenge many Torontonians face, as do cities around the world. Let’s look at where Toronto stands with bike parking and what lessons can be learned from elsewhere.
Toronto's iconic ring-and-post bike parking

January 01, 2018

2017 … The Calm Before the Storm

A new year has started which will become pivotal for Toronto’s cycling community. Not only is there October’s municipal election with three new council seats up for grabs and a mayoral rematch between John Tory and Doug Ford, there is the June Ontario election which may see the end of fifteen years of Liberal rule. Before worrying about the coming political storm, let’s take a moment to reflect on 2017.