19,000 bike downtown daily: Toronto study



College Street and other streets that cross Spadina among busiest


CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/topstories/2010/12/22/bike-toronto-4704790-cp.jpg
Toronto's first bicycle count finds that most cyclists downtown are men. College Street and other downtown streets that cross Spadina Avenue were among the busiest for cyclists. (J.P. Moczulski/Canadian Press)

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/12/22/bicycle-study-toronto.html#socialcomments#ixzz18sDn0p3Y

More than 19,000 people ride bicycles to get downtown every day, according to Toronto's first study of cyclist numbers.

The city conducted the bicycle count in September with the goal of better traffic tracking.

The analysis found 60 per cent of riders are male, and that College Street and other downtown streets that cross Spadina Avenue were among the busiest routes.

Daniel Egan, manager of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure for the City of Toronto, expected the data to be useful for planning.

"One of the fascinating things is College Street," Egan said, noting that 14 per cent of all bikes coming in and out of downtown are on that street.

"One street alone — that's huge," he added.

Egan said the survey suggests that Toronto should focus more on improving busier routes such as College, rather than trying to spread resources out more broadly.

The results of the study also found nearly half of cyclists wear helmets.

Toronto has more cyclists than similar-sized North American cities, but fewer than European cities of the same size, according to the study.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/12/22/bicycle-study-toronto.html#socialcomments#ixzz18sDdO4NW

Project not part of the "War on Cars": More bike lanes being added and no road space was taken away from cars. InsideToronto.com article:

Work on Bike Path Through Scarborough Hydro Corridors Nears Completion

Path part of Infrastructure Canada program

DANIELLE MILLEY
Dec 23, 2010 - 8:11 AM

Work is almost complete on a bike path that will help make Scarborough more cyclist friendly.

As part of a Recreation Infrastructure Canada program, the City of Toronto is completing work on the Gatineau Hydro Corridor and part of the Finch Hydro Corridor.

In total 30 kilometres of new and four kilometres of upgraded multi-use trails are being added to the city's bikeway network with the bulk of the work being done in Scarborough.

The Gatineau Hydro Corridor runs northeast from Victoria Park Avenue to Ellesmere Road, east of Scarborough Golf Club.

"It will be a fantastic bike route diagonally across Scarborough," said Daniel Egan, manager of cycling infrastructure and programs with the city.

Crews have been busy working for months on the 3.5 metre wide multi-use trail that will be able to be used for cycling, walking, running, roller blading and other recreation activities.

Work is also almost complete on a section of the Finch Hydro Corridor from around Birchmount Road east to Middlefield Road. The Finch corridor runs nearly the entire length of the city and work is also being completed in a section that runs through North York.

The network of bike paths through the city's hydro corridors has been a goal for the city for a number of years, but it lacked the money to do the work until the infrastructure program came along and funding was awarded in July 2009.

The city received $13 million in total from the federal and provincial governments for the project and it earmarked $10 million in its own budget for the work, though Egan said the project should come in under budget.

"It's something that was identified as part of the bike plan in 2001," Egan said.

"It will open the doors to finishing the rest of the hydro corridors."

The pathways through the corridor will make cycling a little easier and safer in the city as they link up with other established trails in Scarborough and the rest of Toronto.

"You can pretty much cross Scarborough without interacting with cars," Egan said.

The bulk of the work is nearly complete, as the plan was to get it done before the worst of winter set in, but the project won't be officially complete until the spring.

The RInC project also includes trails in the CN Leaside Rail Corridor and the Scarborough Pit Spur.

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/920787--work-on-bike-path-through-scarborough-hydro-corridors-nears-completion

Excellent news.

I'd love to see the following counts:

bicycle use in Toronto on a month by month basis

bike rack use per TTC bus.

I'm sure they could find a way to build a counter into the bike rack to rotate every time the rack had a bike placed in it.

Cheers, m

ps. I wonder how many people will be riding their bikes to New Year's tonight - what with the 11 degrees temperatures expected. m

Toronto Star article:

City to Build Curbs for Separate Bike Lanes Downtown

Robyn Doolittle
January 07, 2011

Mayor Rob Ford may not come off as a friend of the cycling community, but it will likely be on his watch that Toronto’s first protected bike lanes get built on city streets.

Ford’s team has voiced “no opposition” to a comprehensive plan put forward by the newly minted public works and infrastructure committee chair, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, which would see an connected network of curbed cycling routes along busy roads such as Sherbourne, Wellesley and Richmond Sts.

“I think there’s a misconception that Mayor Ford has an opposition to bike lanes. He wants to create bike safety. He wants it where it makes sense,” said Minnan-Wong, adding that both the cycling community and local community groups support the plan.

“This shouldn’t be about ideology. It’s about making a pragmatic choice and recognizing that cyclists need solutions and those solutions don’t have to conflict with cars.”

The separated lanes will affect parking in some areas, but cars could be accommodated by constructing the bike route next to the sidewalk. Cars would be able to park next to the curbed bike lane, adding yet another layer of safety.

Minnan-Wong’s plan has two major north-south and east-west routes, and extends to the lake at Queens Quay. Smaller roads such as St. George, John and Beverley Sts. would be used to provide a seamless network.

Most of the streets affected already have bike lanes, with some minor additions needed to connect the existing patchwork. The one big exception is Richmond.

A two-way bike lane would need to be constructed along that one-way street, which would likely mean removing one of its four lanes, Minnan-Wong said. Not ideal, but necessary to connect the network.

It’s a perhaps ironic twist that Ford — who once argued to council that “roads are built for buses, cars and trucks” — and his administration are pressing forward with not just bike lanes, but protected ones, in the core.

When the then front-running candidate released his transportation plan in September, it was with a vow to end Toronto’s “war on cars.”

The plan concentrated on freeing up roads for drivers by scrapping cumbersome streetcars in favour of subways, and building 100 kilometres of off-road bike trails at a cost of $50 million. Some $5 million would be put toward on-road routes in areas where traffic would not be affected.

Bike lanes, specifically whether they belonged on downtown arterial roads, became the first major election issue. Controversial plans to replace one of Jarvis St.’s five lanes with a cycling path, as well as a proposed pilot project that would have put a divided, European-style lane along University Ave. hijacked the debate.

Conservative candidates such as Ford, Rocco Rossi and Giorgio Mammoliti argued the routes would worsen gridlock. The lone left-winger, then deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, countered that cyclists and cars must share city streets.

The battle over bike lanes was perhaps the first indicator of quiet culture war simmering across the city. The issue pitted left against right and the downtown against the inner suburbs, a theme that would continue throughout the long campaign.

The bike-car fight was further stoked at Ford’s inauguration, when his guest speaker, Don Cherry, opened his remarks with: “I’m wearing pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything.”

Ford’s critics have since taken to wearing “Bike Riding Pinko” pins.

But Andrea Garcia, director of advocacy and operations with the Toronto Cyclists Union, thinks the supposed divide between cyclists and drivers has been overblown.

“I think a lot of drivers ride bikes and a lot of people who ride bikes drive cars. We’re all citizens of the same city and people choose to get around differently on one day versus another day,” she said.

The cycling union is one of several groups, including the University of Toronto Graduate Students Union, the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association, the York Quay Neighbourhood Association, and the Toronto Island Community Association that have signed a petition in favour of Minnan-Wong’s proposal.

Cycling advocate Alan Heisey brought a petition with about 300 signatures to the public works committee in August, along with a proposal virtually identical to the one put forward by the new chair.

Minnan-Wong said staff will still need to determine the financial impact, but added “putting in curbs and getting out a bucket of paint doesn’t cost a lot of money.” He hopes to bring it to committee by the spring. If it passes, it will go on to council and, in an ideal world, construction could begin by end of year.

Under the previous regime, Minnan-Wong, a vocal right-wing councillor, did not support the Jarvis lane (which opened in July) or University route (which never passed council). But it wasn’t a political decision, he said. The difference is that the old administration wasn’t approaching the bike lane issue properly.

“If they were going to put the lane in the middle of University Ave., how are you going to get there? It’s not connected to anything. And when you come to the end, where do you go? This hooks the city together.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/917749--city-to-build-curbs-for-separate-bike-lanes-downtown

This is great news. It's also not surprising that Ford and his Goons don't speak out against it becuse I'm sure after elections they realized how hated he is in the core.

I saw this and thought of Rob Ford.

http://valdodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/statesman-letter-06624s.jpg

Are they serious about handing out tickets for being on sidewalks?

Amy Dempsey
Staff Reporter
In downtown Toronto, cyclists caught zipping down sidewalks can get slapped with a $90 fine.

The same offence elsewhere will only cost you lunch money: In Scarborough and North York, a ticket for riding on the sidewalk is $3.75.

That odd gap, which has remained since the city’s amalgamation, highlights a problem with the bylaws that govern how we share our streets. The rules are antiquated.

“These are decade-old bylaws that were enacted when bicycles were just pedal bikes,” said Const. Hugh Smith, of Toronto police traffic services. “We need some clarification,” said the avid cyclist, who founded the Toronto police bicycle units in 1989.

The public works and infrastructure committee recommended Wednesday that council work on an enforcement strategy to get cyclists off the sidewalks, including a single fine for cyclists who venture into pedestrian territory.

But Smith said problems with existing laws go deeper than that. They haven’t caught up to changes in technology over the past decade.

For a photo gallery showing how the current rules apply, click here

The province decided two years ago that electric bikes should be governed by the same rules as regular bicycles. That decision changed the implications of at least one bylaw. Bicycles with a wheel diameter of more than 61 centimetres cannot go on Toronto sidewalks, but smaller ones can.

Since Vespa-style electric bikes or scooters are built with smaller wheels, the outdated bylaw allows some e-bikers to legally use sidewalks.

“So we have these people whipping along the sidewalks at 32 km/h on a vehicle that can weigh a couple hundred pounds, with a rider,” Smith said. “This is what’s causing us concern.”

The 61-centimetre rule was meant to allow children to cycle on sidewalks. Smith said it would make much more sense to rewrite the bylaw to consider age instead.

Clarifying the rules, he said, will make it easier to educate the public and enforce the bylaws.

“For laws to work they have to be as simple as possible to be understandable,” said Daniel Egan, manager of cycling infrastructure and programs for the city. He agreed the rule book needs updating.

“It’s a bit arcane. I’m sure if they started from scratch it would be a much clearer document.”

Councillor Karen Stintz raised the issue, saying there’s a problem around the Yonge and Eglinton area she represents.

“What we’re trying to do is just promote public awareness and public safety. Sidewalks are not the right place for bicycles to be,” she said. “If we need to make changes to our bylaws, we certainly can.”

Since they’re not that common yet, e-bikes are not a pressing issue. But Smith is concerned about future run-ins between pedestrians and motorized bicycles. “Some of these vehicles now, you can’t hear them coming up behind you whatsoever,” he said.

“To turn around and have a few hundred pounds of vehicle and person travelling at 30 km/h — you’re going to get some broken bones or serious injury.”

THE RULES NOW

Bicycles: Drivers are expected to use bike lanes or roads. Only bicycles with tires less than 61 cm in diameter are legally allowed to use the sidewalk. Cyclists have the right to take up a whole lane if it is not wide enough to share.

Electric bicycles: The province has deemed them bicycles, not motorized vehicles. Drivers are expected to follow the same rules as a cyclist.

Motorized wheelchairs: Drivers are expected to follow the same rules as pedestrians and travel at a walking pace. Drivers are not permitted to travel on roads unless the sidewalk is unsafe, due to snow or some other obstruction. If they must use the road, they are expected to keep to the side. Drivers are not permitted to use bike lanes.

Mopeds: Drivers are expected to follow the same rules as cars. Mopeds are not allowed on sidewalks or in bike lanes.

Segways: In pilot-test phase until October 2011. They are allowed on sidewalks and roads when driven by Canada Post workers, police officers and those aged 14 or older with mobility issues.