July 13, 2010

10 Jul 2010

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Recent TCAT activities and news items:

  1. Changes to Front Street at Union Station to Accommodate Pedestrians – Public Comments Being Accepted Until July 27, 2010
  2. BIXI Toronto Needs You!
  3. Bike Boxes and More Pedestrian Scrambles ... Approved!
  4. Toronto Environmental Alliance Releases Mid-Campaign Mayoral Candidate Report Card
  5. Good News Toronto Launches Kindness Campaign Aimed at Cyclists and Motorists

1. Changes to Front Street at Union Station to Accommodate Pedestrians – Public Comments Being Accepted Until July 27, 2010

The City of Toronto is currently considering reconfiguring Front Street West from Bay Street to York Street to accommodate anticipated increased pedestrian traffic resulting from GO Transit’s expansion.

Ideas coming from the city include:

  • Designing a grand civic plaza
  • Creating a mid-block pedestrian crossing
  •  Improving the intersections and widening sidewalks 
  • Considering changes to traffic lanes and the layout of taxi stands and pick-up/drop off areas

In accordance with a Schedule “C” Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, the project includes a public consultation process. The first public meeting took place on July 5, 2010, but you can still provide input. Comments provided by July 27, 2010 will be included this phase’s consultation report. To provide a comment, use the public comment form.

The changes to Front St at Union Station information materials presented at the July 5th Public Information Centre are now available for download from the project web page.

To get involved, join the facebook page and/or subscribe to the e-mail list.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Jason Diceman - Tel: 416-338-2848 - FrontStUnion@toronto.ca 

2. BIXI Toronto Needs You!

Last May, Toronto City Council approved a public bike share program for Toronto. Great news BUT City Council imposed several important conditions that need to be fulfilled by Nov 30th in order for the program to move forward. One of these is that 1000 membership pledges are required by Nov 30th.

The Toronto BIXI team has prepared the attached Q&A. Please have a look and get ready to sign up for BIXI Toronto as soon as memberships become available!

BIXI is setting up a Toronto website (Toronto.BIXI.com) that will be live soon. It will have all the details, plus the ability to purchase memberships. General information about the BIXI program can be found here.

3. Bike Boxes and More Pedestrian Scrambles ... Approved!

Last week, City Council approved the installation of “No Right Turn on Red” regulations at 5 downtown intersections. Prohibiting right turns on red at these intersections is required in order to install bike boxes and pedestrian scrambles, similar to those already in place at Yonge-Bloor and Yonge-Dundas.

The installation of bike boxes and the pedestrian scramble operation will increase pedestrian and cyclist safety and decrease potential collisions with right turning vehicles.

It's the first time box boxes have been tried in Toronto. They are used broadly in several other cities and have proven to work very well. It's exciting to see both improvements for cyclists and pedestrians moving forward.

4. Toronto Environmental Alliance Releases Mid-Campaign Mayoral Candidate Report Card

The Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) released their Mid-Campaign Mayoral Candidate Report Card last week. The organization ranked five of the mayoral candidates based on their commitment to the following six categories:

  1. Build Transit City and Fund it; 
  2. 70% Waste Diversion;
  3. Buy Local Green Products;
  4. Complete Streets;
  5. Sustainable Energy Strategy; and
  6. Provide Tools to Prevent Pollution 

The scoring was based “on remarks and statements made publicly at debates, in the media and on their websites, as well as on-the-record to TEA.”

The majority of the candidates received low scores in the transportation categories. While the Report Card does not provide a ranking of candidates, the Toronto Star reports that executive director of TEA, Franz Hartmann, said “that [ranking] won’t happen until closer to the Oct. 25 civic election because he wants to encourage the hopefuls, in a positive way, to green their platforms. The full article is available here.

John Lorinc criticized the Report Card on Spacing Toronto for focusing too much on campaign statements and not enough on candidates’ performance while in office.

5. Good News Toronto Launches Kindness Campaign Aimed at Cyclists and Motorists

Each month Good News Toronto features a suggested act of kindness in their ongoing Kindness Campaign. This month's campaign is aimed at improving the relationship between cyclists and motorists. Readers are invited to perform a suggested random act of kindness (or one of their choosing) and leave behind the “Kindness Card” provided in the newspaper. The card explains the campaign and encourages the kindness recipient to ‘pay-it-forward’ in the form of another act of kindness to a stranger.

For more information contact Stephen D’Amico at (647) 885-7048 or via email at info@stephendamico.com.

Cycling events:

Walking events:

If you know of other cycling or pedestrian related calendars to include, please let us know by e-mailing info@tcat.ca

TCAT News - Help spread the word!

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.tcat.ca, e-mail info@tcat.ca or call 416.392.0290

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