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The Bike Summit will be held on May 28, 2009 at the Novotel Toronto Centre. We've been working hard to produce an excellent program with an impressive line-up of speakers for our registrants. Recent additions to the program include Martijn J. te Lintelo, Senior Advisor of Mobility Policy in the City of Nijmegen, the Netherlands and two new sponsors: the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
It promises to be stimulating and inspiring day. Registration is going strong and numbers have already reached two-thirds capacity. Last year the Bike Summit sold out in advance. Avoid disappointment and register today.
Metrolinx is proposing a super-bridge going over the CN rail lines at Strachan Avenue. Strachan is a critical access point in the City's west end to Exhibition Place and the Martin Goodman Trail. Problems surrounding the proposal identified by a City of Toronto Oct 2008 staff report include closing important cross streets, concentrating all traffic on the King/Strachan intersection and creating an uninviting and undesirable environment for pedestrians and cyclists.
TCAT has already spoken out in support of Councillor Joe Pantalone's position that the rail tracks should be lowered with Strachan passing over the top instead. A community response has begun to mobilize support to stop the bridge. Now is the time to let your views on the bridge be heard. Metrolinx is accepting public comment here until July 30th.
Additionally, the trains that will run along this Union-Pearson railway corridor expansion are expected to run on diesel rather than cleaner and available alternatives. This plan has also triggered a strong community response. The Clean Train Coalition is calling for Metrolinx to use electric instead of diesel trains.
On May 6 TCAT's Program Director Nancy Smith Lea made two deputations at the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC). The first was in support of the City's new walking strategy. The overall visionary aspects of the strategy got lost in the committee debate and subsequent media reports that revolved around one minor recommendation.
Of the 50 action items, the one that received all the attention was the recommendation to ban right-turns on red lights at 10 new intersections. That this proposal received such attention is odd since there are currently 98 intersections in Toronto in which this restriction is already in place. The ban is typically introduced in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic to address pedestrian safety. On average there are approximately 104 right turning motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions per year in Toronto involving drivers turning right on red. At the end of a lengthy debate, we are pleased to report the walking strategy passed easily.
TCAT’s second deputation was on the plan to narrow Jarvis to improve the public realm but without including bicycle lanes. (see TCAT's position here.) This was also a contentious item. After several hours of debate, the committee voted unanimously to incorporate bike lanes into the design. There was a lot of media attention paid to this issue: Tess Kalinowski in the Toronto Star, Jeff Gray, John Barber and John Lorinc in the Globe and Mail, and Hamutal Dotan in Torontoist.
TCAT responded to media inquiries this week about Councillor Adam Vaughan's proposal to convert Richmond and Adelaide Streets from one-way to two-way streets. The proposal has the goal of improving both the livability and commercial function of these streets which is currently negatively impacted by the fast-moving traffic.
There is evidence to suggest that two-way streets are safer for pedestrians, especially children. According to a 2000 study conducted in Hamilton, Ontario and reported in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, the injury rate on one-way streets is 2.5 times higher than on two-way streets.
Toronto's downtown core currently has no east-west bike routes between College/Gerrard and the Martin Goodman Trail. For this reason, Richmond and Adelaide feature prominently in the Bike Plan as being good candidates for bike lanes. Councillor Vaughan's two-way conversion proposal would include bike lanes.
Nancy Smith Lea was quoted twice in the Toronto Star, first by Paul Moloney and then again by Christopher Hume. She was also interviewed on CIUT 89.5 FM on Thursday May 7th during their Take 5 Programming.
On May 2nd, TCAT Steering Committee member Neluka Leanage was interviewed on CBC's Fresh Air. Of over 90 Jane's Walks taking place in Toronto, host Mary Ito chose to feature TCAT's Edgy-ness in East Toronto. The walk was well attended and Neluka and Paul Young provided us with a fascinating look at the edges that define neighbourhoods in Toronto's east end.
The latest issue of World Transport Policy and Practice has two new excellent articles by Bike Summit Speaker Ralph Buehler and International Researcher John Pucher.
In the first paper, Sustainable Transport that Works: Lessons from Germany, Pucher and Buehler present a detailed case study of Freiburg, widely considered to be Germany's most sustainable city. Since the 1970s, German cities have supported alternatives to the car while restricting car use. Today, despite high levels of car ownership, Germans walk, bike and take public transport for 41% of their daily trips, compared to 11% in the USA.
In the second article, Cycling for a Few or Everyone: The Importance of Social Justice in Cycling Policies, Pucher and Buehler defend their position that in-school cycling training courses offered to children in several European countries are superior to the vehicular cycling courses taught primarily to adults in North America. In response to Bjorn Haake, a professional cycling trainer, who expressed criticism of their support of bike lanes and other special cycling facilities, Pucher and Buehler have this to say: "If bikeways and bike lanes are so dangerous, slow and inconvenient--as he claims--then why is cycling overall so safe and popular in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany? Conversely, if vehicular cycling is so much safer, faster, and more convenient, then why is cycling so unsafe and so unpopular in the USA?"
The article argues that vehicular cycling is taken up primarily by young men who find the challenge of riding in traffic stimulating while excluding children, elders, and many women. In countries with extensive cycling facilities there is roughly the same number of women as men cyclists and is fairly evenly distributed among all age groups. "By comparison, men account for 75%-80% of cyclists in countries such as the USA, Canada, and Australia, with far fewer and less integrated cycling facilities."
If you know of other cycling or pedestrian related calendars to include, please let us know by e-mailing info@torontocat.ca
TCAT is continually looking to increase its list of supporters. It helps to be able to say how many people and organizations support the work we do when we speak with City Councillors, City staff, and the media, or put out a publication. Please send this message to any groups or individuals you think would be interested in learning more about TCAT, receiving our weekly e-Bulletin, or volunteering with TCAT.
To learn more about TCAT, visit our web site at www.torontocat.ca, e-mail info@torontocat.ca or call 416.392.0290
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