Capital Budget 2007
Write your Councillor - it does make a difference!
Councillors respond to letters -- even a small number of letters can change how a Committee votes.
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•ALL the Councillors on the Budget Committee pledged to support additional funding for cycling on urban streets and park trails.
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•All the councillors also supported budget initiatives to improve pedestrian safety and infrastructure.
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It's time now to remind Councillors of their election commitments. Take a second to modify this letter or just add your name to the bottom and send it along.
It's simple: just select the text below with your mouse and cut and paste the letter into the body of your email.
Be sure to send your email to all Budget Committee Councillors and also be sure to send it to your Ward Councillor as well.
The names of all the Councillors on the Budget Committee, with their e-mail addresses, are listed below.
Budget Committee
Subject: Build Active Transportation in the 2007 Capital Budget
Dear Councillor _________
During the 2006 municipal election you completed the Toronto Coalition
for Active Transportation (TCAT) election survey. In your response you
supported the following investments in Active Transportation – walking and
cycling – in the 2007 City of Toronto Capital Budget:
1) $6.0 million to the Transportation Services cycling infrastructure
budget for the implementation of the Bikeway Network on urban streets
2) $1.5 million in the Parks Forestry and Recreation budget for Bikeway
Network expansion on parks and trails.
3) $3.63 million for the Crosswalk Improvement Program to improve the
safety of crosswalks on major arterial roads.
4) Increasing the budget of the "Missing Sidewalk" program to account for
inflation over the period since the date the program was initiated..
It is now time for the 2007 budget deliberations and I am asking you to
follow through on your commitment. Many of your fellow Councillors have
also supported the increased funding for active transportation, but as
a member of the Budget Committee you have special responsibility to
ensure that the projects that support cycling and walking are not
overlooked nor underfunded in the 2007 budget.
As a cyclist and citizen I have not forgotten that in 2005 over 29
kilometres of bike lanes were planned in Toronto, but that only 1 km
got built. I have also not forgotten that the Toronto Bike Plan has
been consistently underfunded since it was adopted in 2001. It is time
to turn words into action by providing adequate funding for cycling as
recommended by City staff in the Toronto Bike Plan 3-year implementation
strategy released in August 2005.
As pedestrian and citizen I constantly experience the need to improve crosswalks
and add sidewalks on roads with heavy traffic. Unsafe crosswalks and missing
sidewalks are not just an issue of aesthetics – they reduce accessibility, are a
danger to public health, and discourage walking as a form of transportation.
The city needs follow through on its commitment to improving crosswalk safety
and to providing sidewalks on all major roads.
There is simply no excuse for the neglect of cycling and walking in Toronto's
budgets -- the cost of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure is a tiny fraction of the
total capital budget. By failing to see the benefit of this small but
significant investment, past City Councils have contributed to making
unsafe streets, increasing congestion and worsening air pollution.
It is time to reverse this neglect - a small investment in cycling and pedestrian
infrastructure today will keep paying benefits for generations to come in safer
streets, a healthier environment and a better transportation system for Toronto.
I trust I can count on you to make the 2007 City of Toronto Capital
Budget a pedestrian and cycling supportive budget.
Sincerely,
________________
Budget 2007
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