Bike Party July 2025

Advocating for complete streets can be a drag sometimes whether it’s Doug Ford’s anti bike lane Bill 212 or the astroturf groups that recently emerged against RapidTO. To counter this negativity, it’s always good to have rave rides consisting of cool lights, music, and dance moves! Toronto Cruisers hosts smaller scale rave rides on Wednesday nights while Neon Riders typically hosts theirs on Thursday nights. The annual Bike Rave usually happens in August, but a similar ride called “Bike Party” has emerged in recent years. Last night, I joined almost 500 riders for the July 2025 edition of Bike Party!

May 2025 Critical Mass

Yesterday, more than 100 people took part in the May Critical Mass ride. While a couple of recent Critical Mass rides were controversial with Dave Shellnutt getting ticketed in March and someone getting arrested at the April one (which I didn’t attend due to the Hot Docs festival), this one fortunately didn’t see any ticketing despite the police presence. Let’s look back at how the ride went!

A good-sized crowd filled Glendolyn MacEwen Parkette by the time I got there.

The Year #BikeTO Got Flip Turned Upside Down

While trying to describe 2024 from a Toronto cycling perspective, the phrase "flip turned upside down" from Will Smith’s “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” song had come to mind. Especially considering the record number of cyclists killed and the Ford government’s passing of their anti-bike lane Bill 212 (which also calls for accelerating Highway 413 construction). Let’s recap 2024 to see why that was the case.

Winter conditions along the Sherbourne cycle track this afternoon

Targeting Ridings to Vote Ford Out

With the passing of Bill 212 last week, it’s time to shift focus to getting rid of the Ford government at the polls while still pursuing direct actions such as last Friday’s well attended Critical Mass ride. MPP Joel Harden’s latest e-newsletter indicated the Ford government will be retaining their own contractors to remove 500 metres of the most western section of the Bloor Street bike lane – most likely within The Kingsway where opposition is strongest – and 400 metres of the Yonge Street bike lane by the end of this year. If we are to achieve electoral success, it’s worth identifying which ridings to target.

This November 2024 Critical Mass video by @hope2hope.bsky.social went viral on Bluesky

What’s Next After Bill 212 Passed?

Yesterday was a sad day for cyclists in Toronto, Ottawa, and across Ontario with the Ford government having passed the Third Reading of Bill 212. This bill would not only restrict where new bike lanes would be built, but also remove existing bike lanes on Bloor, Danforth, and University while preventing people from suing the government. This is despite over 24,000 signatures for Cycle Toronto’s petition and a broad base of opposition from planners to engineers, doctors, universities, organized labour, and several city councils including Toronto’s. Despite this major setback, the fight is not over and it’s time to put things into perspective.

Fight for Bikes at Queen’s Park and Yonge Street

Yesterday, over 1000 people gathered at Queen’s Park for the second “Fight for Bikes” protest two weeks after their highly successful début. It marked the third protest in a week against Bill 212 including Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance and Thursday’s delivery of two ghost bikes. Unlike other events which had feeder rides meet at a central location, this rally split into three rides along University, Bloor, and Yonge Streets.

Ford’s War on Bikes Gets Scarier

Happy Halloween, everybody! With Halloween and this Sunday’s daylight savings time change being among the most dangerous times of the year for vulnerable road users, Doug Ford’s war on bikes has taken an even scarier turn. When Bill 212 was originally announced on Monday, October 21, Schedule 4 only stated it would require municipalities to get provincial approval to build bike lanes which remove traffic lanes, as well as conduct reviews of existing bike lanes. Today, the Ford government confirmed Bill 212 would be amended to require the removal of bike lanes along parts of Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street while the Environmental Registry has been updated accordingly. It’s beyond disgusting how the Ford government would throw almost fifty years of calls for bike lanes on Bloor out the window and it’s worth providing an update on where things stand.

Rally and Ride for Road Safety

Queen’s Park was back in session on Monday after an extended holiday and the first order of business was Bill 212 called “The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act”. This bill would require municipalities to get provincial approval for bike lanes that remove traffic lanes – except for those tendered and started construction once the bill takes effect – as well as review existing bike lanes. To make matters worse, Premier Doug Ford mentioned he plans to remove existing bike lanes on Bloor, University, and Yonge. Hundreds of people came out yesterday in response to this irresponsible (and unprecedented) legislation which you can submit comments on until Wednesday, November 20.

Rage Against the (Ford) Machine

All right, folks! The worst-case scenario for Toronto's cycling community has come upon us! On Tuesday, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced cities will be required to get provincial approval to put in bike lanes which remove traffic lanes. Cities would also need to provide data about bike lanes installed over the past five years which could put large parts of Bloor-Danforth, University, and Yonge at risk. On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said, "We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill”. This has been motivated in part to his own distaste for the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke which was the subject of last night's town hall hosted by Councillor Amber Morley. You can read Jun's report here.

Premier Doug Ford calling for the removal of the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke on October 31, 2023 (CPAC)

Bill 40 at Queen’s Park

Today marked the first time I visited Queen’s Park in more than 20 years to witness the debate for MPP Joel Harden’s Bill 40 (a.k.a. Moving Ontarians Safely Act). This is the latest attempt in a decade to enact legislation to hold drivers accountable when they kill or seriously injure vulnerable road users such as pedestrians or cyclists. Ahead of this bill, MPP Harden biked from Ottawa to Toronto to hear about road safety concerns from residents along the way. You can read Jun’s blog post about the Safety Ride here, while I wrote a previous piece about the bill and other measures we need to fight for at Queen’s Park.