Toronto's Cycling Strategy: A Road to Nowhere?

Will the City's plans for bikes leave cyclists out in the cold?

    Toronto’s plan to forge ahead with its official bike plan to encourage cycling has come at the cost of car lanes on several of the city’s arterial routes creating increasing tension between two and four wheel commuters.

      “There’s too much traffic wasting my time,” complains cabbie Rodger Sky, gathered with co workers at a taxi stand at Victoria Park and Danforth’s Shopper’s World. “These roads were designed 50 years ago for cars, bikes shouldn’t be on them, they don’t follow rules,” he said, his voice rising in frustration.

      Such is the lament of an honest working stiff whose time is money.

      Many commuters deem the city’s bike plan a ‘war on the car,’ while others see the city dragging its feet on the funding and promotion of a modern, workable cycling policy. In response to some public backlash to the program, Daniel Egan, the city’s manager of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, insists there is no hidden agenda:

      “We are just trying to make it more comfortable for cyclists,” he said. “We’re here to encourage cycling. We aren’t anti-car.”

      Building bicycle friendly street policies, expanding the existing bikeway network, improving safety, promoting cycling for everyday travel, providing secure bicycle parking and improving links between cycling and public transit have been the cities goals since it first introduced its bike plan in 1991. Thus far, improvements to over all bicycle infrastructure have been slow but noticeable. Beth Ford, who commutes daily through Toronto, East York and Scarborough, uses the new bike lanes along Dundas Street and Cosburn Avenue:

      “It’s more secure with the bike lanes, I’m not worried as much about cars cutting me off,” she said. “Cars don’t bully you and push you off the road, although (cars making) right-hand turns are still a problem.”

      In its clean air, climate and energy efficiency action plan, released in June 2007, the city sought to address the problem of cars turning right in front of bicycles by advocating the use of ‘bike boxes.’ These painted bike lane markings extend across the width of entire lanes of roadway at busy intersections allowing bicycle traffic to line up in front of cars at red lights. Bike boxes prevent cars from turning right in front of bicycle traffic, can accommodate higher volume and work well in cities such as Portland, Oregon. 

SAFETY MEASURES: Bike boxes, like this one in Portland, Ore., provide cyclists with a measure of safety by restricting vehicular right hand turns at busy intersections. The city plans to have them in place here for the spring of 2011 (Photo from Wikipedia)

      Other measures underway include pilot projects such as physically separated bike lanes, shared use lane markings (sharrows), time sensitive bike lanes and intersection markings.  Plans to install a permanent bike lane along the Bloor-Danforth corridor fell prey to residents and merchants’ concerns over parking interruptions. The city expects most of these projects to be in place for the spring of 2011 in targeted areas.

      The city’s initial bikeway network plan sought to provide all residents a maximum one-kilometre distance to a bikeway that in effect, would allow anyone to reach a designated bike lane or path within a five-minute ride from their home. 

     The city re-focused its priorities in 2007 to take into account the budgetary and geographical realities by focusing on expanding the bikeway networks where demand is highest. These areas include Toronto’s East York district where the Cosburn Avenue bike lane provides an easily accessible east-west route. The bike lanes on Dundas Street also became a priority.

      The city plans to spend $69.3 million between 2009 and 2013 on its five-year cycling infrastructure plan, including $28.8 million from outside sources, specifically to fund the proposed 49 kilometres of bikeway trails through the city’s hydro corridors. The two main hydro corridors proposed are the Finch passage, which runs just north of Finch Avenue through Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough, and the Gateneau corridor running diagonally through Scarborough. These two primary trails would form a ‘spine’ connecting existing bikeways in the areas. The city expects the outside capital to come primarily from the province, given it owns and oversees the land.

      One issue that remains salient to many potential bicycle commuters is the prospect of parking their bike at work or school only to return to an empty rack, leaving them stranded minus their significant investment. Bicycle theft remains one of the biggest deterrents cycling advocates, such as the Toronto Cyclists Union, have to overcome to convince people to take-up cycling as an alternate means of transportation. Many people simply refuse to risk the personal violation of becoming a victim of bicycle theft.

      The city’s response to people’s insecurity about bike theft is slow yet measured. One high-security bicycle parking facility currently exists at Toronto’s central transportation hub at union station. As part of the recent out-door renovations at city hall’s Nathan Phillip’s square, a second high-security bicycle parking facility will be in place by the spring of 2011. 

     In addition, under a potential partnership with the TTC, the city is studying the feasibility of installing high security bicycle parking at some subway stations, providing a link with public transit. Yet until such measures become reality, many will simply leave their bikes at home.

      “I recently had my bike stolen while I was in a coffee shop,” said Ford. “I replaced it with a much cheaper model. If I couldn’t bring my bike inside at work I probably wouldn’t risk riding anymore.”