On Thursday, April 25, University of Manchester PhD candidate Thomas Van Laake hosted a cycling research meetup at the University of Toronto to showcase not only his findings while studying cycling in Manchester, Toronto, and Mexico City, but also presentations from three other researchers. These were done by Sarah Giacomantonio, Alec Khacatryan, and Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher. Let’s dive into this research and see how the findings are relevant to Toronto’s cycling community.
Recently, there have been photos circulating on social media about food courier bikes crowding GO trains along the Kitchener GO line, including on dedicated bike cars used on the Niagara trains during the summer months. This has unfortunately been the latest round of criticism towards food couriers with last year seeing accusations of them hogging Bike Share Toronto’s e-bikes prior to the pricing changes and Councillor Dianne Saxe’s motion calling for e-bikes and e-scooters used by couriers to have “unique identifiers”. These incidents of blaming food couriers are unacceptable and must be called out. Instead, we road safety advocates need to work with the couriers and groups like Gig Workers United to come up with some solutions to remedy the situation. Especially since we should be encouraging deliveries by bike over those done by motor vehicles in order to pursue meaningful climate action.
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| A crowded GO train bike car on February 2, 2024 (via Janice Jim) |
Since 2008, Cycle Toronto has become Toronto’s main active transportation advocacy group. You may have seen them speaking at a recent press conference about Yonge Street, handing out lights during the October “Get Lit” campaign, hosting “Bike Valet” parking at special events, or organizing group rides such as the “Coldest Day of the Year” Ride happening on Saturday, February 10. I spoke with Alison Stewart – their Director of Advocacy and Public Policy – on Sunday, December 17 to learn more about what the group accomplished over the past year and her perspective on cycling in this city.
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| Alison at a 2025-27 Bike Plan consultation in November 2023 |
For almost 30 years, Nancy Smith Lea has been a pioneering road safety advocate focused on academic research and has covered topics such as economic impact studies, complete streets, and suburban bike hubs. Before becoming Director of The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) in 2008, she helped found Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) and worked on one of Toronto’s now-defunct City Cycling Committee’s sub-committees. I spoke with Nancy about this experience on August 22, 2023.
While this year’s budget doesn’t have much new to offer from a cycling perspective, it is overall the biggest disappointment since Mayor John Tory took office in 2015 and one every Torontonian needs to raise hell about. Especially when we look at the budget’s impact on marginalized communities. Let's look at Toronto’s budget shortfalls, the police budget increase, TTC service cuts, and how you can get involved.
On March 2 (6:30 - 8:30 PM) and March 3 (12:30 - 2:30 PM), residents of Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park will have an opportunity to participate in public consultations regarding the renewal of Overlea Boulevard including the reconstruction of the bridge crossing the Don Valley. This proposal will improve safety for those who walk, bike, and take transit to access these neighbourhoods. To get a local perspective on why such residents should support the project, I spoke with Hafeez Alavi; a Grade 12 student at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute located at Don Mills and Overlea.
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| Rendering of Overlea bridge (via City of Toronto) |
On Thursday, January 14, the City of Toronto released their 2021 tax supported capital and operating budgets. With budgets forming the basis of where Toronto’s priorities lie, it’s time to investigate what this budget has in store from a cycling perspective notwithstanding potential shortfalls exceeding $1 billion triggered by COVID-19. For this purpose, I will consult the Transportation Services budget notes.
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| The 2021 budget presentation can be viewed here |
