Second Annual Willowdale Community Ride

Last year, fellow cyclist Peter Low organized the first Willowdale Community Ride with Councillor Lily Cheng. However, I couldn’t make it since Helen and I were on vacation in Uzbekistan at the time, though you can check this great recap from fellow bike blogger Lisa Stokes from Brampton. Today marked the second time Peter and Lily put together this ride which almost 100 people made it out for. A testament to show there indeed is demand for cycling in North York even with the lack of cycling infrastructure! 😉

TCBC 5th Anniversary Ride to the Brickworks

Last month marked five years since the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition was started by Albert Koehl, Janet Joy Wilson, and I; among others. To help mark the anniversary and Bike Month, Jessie Ye and Janet Joy organized a ride from AccessPoint on Danforth to the Evergreen Brickworks along with Marvin of Scarborough Cycles (and Access Alliance) and Regenesis. About thirty people took part.

RANT – Doug Ford’s Third PC Majority Win

As was widely expected, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party secured its third straight majority last night. This is despite him being the least liked premier in the country and all the trouble he caused including the RCMP Greenbelt investigation, the destruction of Ontario Place for a mega spa nobody wants, the crumbling of our health and education systems, and the ripping out of Toronto’s bike lanes. And of course, those $200 pre-election bribe cheques. However, there is a lot more to rant about aside from the outcome itself.

Editorial cartoon via Theo Moudakis

Fridays for Future & Cycling Good Cheer

This weekend saw two cycling events take place in Toronto and the two atmospheres couldn’t be any different with one being a protest ride and the other being a festive one. Let’s recap what happened during these two events.

June 2024 Bloor Site Check (+ Danforth-Kingston Consultation)

The last time I visited Bloor Street in Etobicoke was during a bike count with Community Bikeways (TCBC) which also happened to be the first day of bike lane construction from Aberfoyle to Resurrection. Construction has largely wrapped up since then including the installation of barriers, so I thought I would use my day off work to join TCBC’s “Koffee on the Kingsway” at Café de Flore and check out the newly installed bike lanes.

May 2024 Bloor Bike Lane Construction

Yesterday after work, I took my scooter – which city council unfortunately voted to continue banning that day – to Bloor Street in Etobicoke to check the progress of bike lane construction west of Aberfoyle Crescent which officially started. Here are a few photos I took from this latest site check.

Toronto's Bike Plan Recycling Act

Yesterday, the City of Toronto released their 2025-27 Bike Plan which will go to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee next Tuesday. Despite extensive consultation and the fact four cyclists were killed in 2024 so far, this plan is one that road safety advocates need to slam as a big disappointment. Let’s go through the bike plan documents to see what it has and what’s missing.

Map of 2025-27 Bike Plan (via City of Toronto)

Kingsway Koffee & Finch West LRT Spotting

While I was originally going to do a longer ride today for my day off work, the rain in this afternoon’s forecast prompted a change in plans. Even so, I got an almost 42-kilometre ride in this morning by The Kingsway and the Finch West LRT line which led to some unexpected surprises.

Making Noise about Noise with Ingrid Buday

Noise pollution in our cities is something we experience every day from traffic to construction to fireworks, yet it doesn’t get as much attention as other issues facing Torontonians. However, the noise bylaw review will come to the Economic and Community Development Committee on January 11, 2024. I spoke with Ingrid Buday on November 15, 2023 to learn about her advocacy story on noise and why Torontonians need to get involved with this noise bylaw review.

Bloor Bike Lanes Rally in Etobicoke

Back in September, the City of Toronto started installing the Bloor West Complete Street Extension from Runnymede to Aberfoyle, which will be further extended to Six Points next year. Community Bikeways (TCBC) hosted a celebration ride on Sunday, October 22 – you can read Jun N’s post here – which Councillor Amber Morley attended. However, there has been some backlash with over 10,000 people signing a petition opposing them and Ontario Premier Doug Ford calling for their removal; claiming only one cyclist bikes on them annually. Given this backlash, Community Bikeways, The Biking Lawyer, and other road safety advocates organized today’s Bloor Bike Lanes Rally which brought in 250 to 300 riders.

Photo from TCBC's Bloor West Celebration Ride

Etobicoke Site Check on Bloor

With the arrival of fall this weekend brings some good news. Today saw the Ford government finally reverse his decision to remove land from the Greenbelt which came after two cabinet ministers resigned. At the local level, the Bloor bike lanes have been painted in from Runnymede Road to Aberfoyle Crescent. I was able to scoot along this new extension after work today and have some first impressions to share.

2023 Bloor Recap (+ A Site Check)

This week saw two debates related to Bloor Street; those being Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee (IEC) on Monday and today’s General Committee in Mississauga. Toronto’s IEC approved their motion – which will now go to City Council on Wednesday, June 14 – while Mississauga’s General Committee offered a silver lining despite the motion being deferred. Let’s review what happened at both meetings, as well as a site visit I did on my way home from the IEC meeting on Monday.

Albert Koehl getting ready to speak at Monday's Infrastructure & Environment Committee meeting

What a Difference Ten Years Makes

With my Two Wheeled Politics blog marking ten years next month, a reflection is warranted. Many of us Toronto road safety advocates like to claim our city is not doing enough for cycling – which underscores the need for us to vote in the June 26 mayoral by-election – but we have come a long way over the past decade. Let’s take a walk down memory lane to understand what has changed.

Front view of 2012 Toronto Cycling Map

My Highlights from 2022

Having tallied up this year’s numbers for Toronto’s bike lane installations, it’s time to reflect on some of the other highlights of 2022. With two elections, a return to the office and in person events, a new place, some long distance rides, and the first international trip since COVID-19, it’s been quite the crazy turn of events. Let’s dive in!

One of the Berber villages we hiked through in Morocco

Final Bikeway Tally for 2022

It’s hard to believe, but another year has just about come and gone. The City of Toronto’s Pedestrian and Cycling Unit recently tweeted that this year saw approximately 20 kilometres of new bikeways and upgrades to another 20 kilometres. When I crunched the numbers based on some information provided by the City, I determined the final number of new bikeways to be closer to 13 kilometres. A far cry from the 30 kilometres installed in 2020 and 20 kilometres in 2021, but there were some notable additions to highlight.

Danforth at Victoria Park Avenue in July 2022

My List of 2022 Toronto Candidate Endorsements

Over the past several weeks, I have been working with the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition (TCBC) to interview candidates for the purposes of endorsement, as well as ask them to sign onto our group’s three calls to action. Over 40 council candidates in 22 wards – plus two mayoral candidates – have signed on so far. We have since endorsed Gil Penalosa for Mayor and candidates in the following seven wards:

• Ward 2 (Etobicoke Centre) – Thomas Yanuziello
• Ward 3 (Etobicoke – Lakeshore) – Amber Morley
• Ward 5 (York South – Weston) – Chiara Padovani
• Ward 9 (Davenport) – Alejandra Bravo
• Ward 18 (Willowdale) – Markus O’Brien Fehr
• Ward 20 (Scarborough Southwest) – Kevin Rupasinghe
• Ward 23 (Scarborough North) – Jamaal Myers

In addition to these seven city council races, I would like to personally support candidates in additional wards, but will add a disclaimer they do not represent the views of TCBC.

Norm Di Pasquale's and Ausma Malik's joint campaign office in Kensington Market

2021 Gone to the Dogs

This past year ended as it began with COVID-19 cases surging thanks to the Omicron variant. Before then, it appeared the pandemic was being brought under control in Canada with millions rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated. Speaking of which, we got our booster shots last weekend. 2021 saw the threat of climate change brought to our doorstep with British Columbia experiencing record heat, wildfires, and floods, while democracy south of the border was under threat with the January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection. As I mark my 35th orbit around the sun tomorrow, it’s time to reflect of some significant personal changes that happened over the past year.

Mozzie when we first picked him up in Ottawa

June 2021 Bloor Update

Last summer was a game changer for Bloor-Danforth with the Bloor bike lanes permanently extended west from Shaw to Runnymede, as well as the temporary installation of ActiveTO corridors along Danforth (from Broadview to Dawes) and the Sherbourne to Avenue gap. However, a small gap remains under the West Toronto Railpath while Toronto City Council is expected to decide the fate of the temporary parts of Bloor-Danforth this fall. With this in mind, the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition is already pushing for a further western extension from Runnymede to Six Points and along Dundas to The East Mall.

Martin Reis (left) and volunteers from the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition preparing to deliver postcards calling for the extension of the Bloor bike lanes to Six Points

An Unprecedented Pandemic Year

When 2020 started, we had just returned from our vacation in Turkey and Spain. It was a vacation rich in history, good places to hike, delicious tapas, and even some cycling for good measure. At that time, we were keen to travel again and COVID-19 had yet to register on our radar. Once the pandemic ramped up in mid-March, it seemed everything we took for granted was thrown out the window.

Increasing Suburban Cycling in Toronto - Revisited

Back in late May, I wrote about the need to expand cycling in Scarborough, Etobicoke, and North York and suggested roughly 150 kilometres of routes that would be needed to build a robust cycling grid in Toronto. A lot has happened since then including the building of almost 40 kilometres of bike lanes – the largest expansion in Toronto’s history – and some new proposals issued by the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition (which I am part of). Here is a review of what has been built under ActiveTO, the TCBC proposals, and which gaps remain to be filled.

Bayview from Rosedale Valley to River was one of this year's ActiveTO installations