Last night, hundreds of cyclists and other supporters gathered on Bloor Street in Etobicoke to protest the bike lane removals. While I plan to have a blog post put up soon and you can read Jun’s take here, I have a call to action for the cycling community.
It is important we name and shame the firms associated with the Bloor bike lane removals. Construction trucks from ATS Traffic were spotted on site while the City of Toronto’s website identified Verdi Alliance Civil as the main contractor responsible. As Cycle Toronto encouraged when Stantec was identified for doing related design work last year, we have the obligation to flood the inboxes of these two firms to remind them of the reputational damage they are risking by undertaking this work.
I included the letter I sent to ATS Traffic and their CEO Bobby Cantera below.
With regard to Verdi Alliance Civil, you can use a similar template, but I would suggest replacing the first sentence in the second paragraph to reference the following:
"It has been brought to my attention after last night's Bloor bike lane protest in Etobicoke that Verdi Alliance Civil is the contractor associated with the Bloor bike lane removal project from Clissold to Royal York."
The e-mail addresses for Verdi are svieira@verdialliance.com, jagostini@verdialliance.com, lrigatti@verdialliance.com, and prandazzo@verdialliance.com.
In addition to ATS and Verdi, I e-mailed Sam Pappas at The Crooked Cue to ask about the allegations of throwing tacks onto the Bloor bike lanes in front of the establishment. To Mr. Pappas’ credit, he promptly reached out to me explaining that The Crooked Cue was not involved with the tack throwing and that he found last night’s protesters to be organized and respectful. Even though we may disagree on the bike lanes - and his concerns are only from Jane to Islington - I would suggest we take a different approach when engaging The Crooked Cue and other businesses in The Kingsway that may not be so keen about them. Cycle Toronto and Albert Koehl’s Bells on Bloor encouraged positive actions in the past with a love-in at Harbord Bakery and the Tour de Bloor Passport in 2017 to remind businesses that cyclists shop too. If you choose to reach out to The Crooked Cue, please keep a respectful tone and let them know what the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke mean to you.
Mr. Pappas also encouraged people to let him know what time the tacks were thrown around (and where) given this happened in multiple places across the protest area. Perhaps it could be useful to ask for assistance from The Kingsway BIA?
Finally, there have been reports of the contractors returning to do the bike lane removal work this morning outside of the 8 PM to 6 AM permit hours. I encourage you to fill out this Action Network form to be notified of further bike lane defence actions, as well as check /r/TorontoBiking, the Toronto Critical Mass Facebook group (which has over 5000 members), and the #BikeTO hashtag on other social media networks.
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TO: info@atstraffic.ca, bobbyc@atstraffic.ca
CC: communitybikeways@gmail.com, info@cycleto.ca, advocacy@ffsafestreets.ca, info@walktoronto.ca
Subject: Your Trucks Involved with Bloor Bike Lane Removals
Dear Bobby Cantera and the ATS Traffic team,
CC: Community Bikeways, Cycle Toronto, FFSS, Walk Toronto
I am Robert Zaichkowski; a longtime road safety advocate author of the Two Wheeled Politics blog. (replace with your personal introduction)
While attending last night’s Bloor bike lane protest in Etobicoke, I noticed a couple of trucks owned by ATS Traffic parked at Green Lanes and Bloor. I wish to express my deep disappointment regarding your firm's involvement with the bike lane removal which will put the lives of all road users – not just cyclists – at risk and not improve gridlock as the Ford government would like to claim. Not to mention, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers issued multiple statements condemning the removals.
The Bloor bike lanes mean a lot to me personally. Not only have I worked on multiple campaigns including Community Bikeways’ “We Belong on Bloor” campaign which led to the latest extension from Runnymede to Kipling, but I ride the downtown stretches of Bloor frequently. Sometime, my partner and I will take our dog Mozzie in our cargo bike which we would not feel safe doing without the bike lanes in place. (replace with your own reasons on why the Bloor bike lanes matter)
I encourage your firm to reconsider your involvement with this bike lane removal project, as well as refrain from bidding on future construction contracts which put vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians at risk. Especially considering your firm’s statement about keeping Canadians safe.
I thank you for your consideration and feel free to contact me should you have any questions.
Sincerely yours,
Robert
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Further to this note, I already received this reply from ATS Traffic, but still encourage people to continue flooding their inboxes and those of Verdi.
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Dear Robert,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us and share your concerns regarding the work taking place on Bloor Street West.
At ATS Traffic, safety is at the core of everything we do. Our mission for 60 years has been to help get people home safely every day, and we are committed to supporting the safe movement of all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and workers.
As a traffic services contractor, ATS Traffic's role is to safely implement and manage traffic control measures and infrastructure work as directed by our clients. Decisions regarding the planning, design, installation, modification, or removal of transportation infrastructure, including bike lanes, are made by the responsible municipal or government authorities through their own planning and decision-making processes.
While we understand and respect the concerns being raised about the Bloor Street bike lanes, ATS Traffic is not involved in determining transportation policy or infrastructure priorities. Our responsibility is to ensure that any work we are contracted to perform is carried out safely, professionally, and in accordance with project requirements and applicable standards.
Thank you again for reaching out and sharing your perspective. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify our role.
Sincerely,
The ATS Traffic Team
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