for health, safety, climate, equity & transportation

A first for the first (of January)

Welcome to our first newsletter!

(If you haven’t already signed up, you can subscribe to the newsletter here.)

The Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition (TCBC) was created by a group of community advocates who believe the bicycle can significantly benefit our city by addressing the urgent priorities of health, safety, climate, equity and transportation.

We took our inspiration from the 120 community groups who signed a letter calling on City Hall to urgently install 100 km of bikeways to address the needs of residents - especially essential workers along the busiest bus and subway lines - during the pandemic, and to build a resilient city.

In 2020, we saw 30 km of new bike lanes built. Toronto still has a lot of catching up to do.

Joy to the (Yonge) world

Riding a bicycle is fun, whether for getting to work, going to a local shop, or just riding around the block for some fresh air and exercise. So what better way to demonstrate this joy than with our Not a Santa Claus Parade?, which took place on Sunday, December 13, 2020. Santa, riding his cargo bike filled with presents and led by Rudolph and other cycling reindeer, was guided down Yonge Street on his JOYney from the Far North (Yonge and Finch) to the waterfront. Not only did pedestrians and other cyclists greet Santa and his reindeer with glee, but hundreds of motorists likewise expressed their delight with beeping horns and waving hands.

Mere days after Santa's ride down Yonge Street, city council voted to approve a project to put bike lanes on Yonge in North York when the street is reconstructed in 2025. Coincidence? (You can ask Santa.) Santa told us he wants a pilot bike lane installed the length of Yonge Street ASAP. "Kids can't wait," he said, “when it comes to presents under the tree or bike lanes on Yonge.”

Santa will be back on Yonge in 2021 cycling good cheer.

Raising Community Voices

We built relationships with community groups around the city to amplify their voices for safe cycling infrastructure. Capturing videos of people who live and ride bicycles in their neighbourhoods and beyond highlights the safety needs of residents - children, mothers, fathers, retailers, senior citizens, newcomers, transit-reliant residents, essential workers, and many others. This fight is not for “cyclists” or “cycling enthusiasts”, but for people who use (or could use) their bicycles as a means of transportation and exercise, and need protected and connected cycling infrastructure for themselves and their loved ones. Is that really too much to ask?

In the former town of Weston (and neighbouring Mount Dennis), bike lanes are sadly absent from local roads despite the community's proud cycling history, articulated with the words, "Home of the Bicycle" on its street signs. In November, our intrepid turtle (this will make sense when you watch the video linked below) called attention to the road safety deficiencies by challenging high-wheel (Penny Farthing) rider Darren Bedford to a one-on-one duel.

Predictably, the turtle, like everyday cyclists in the area, didn’t fare well. In fact, the high-wheeler literally ran circles around the turtle - which was of course our point.

If you live in the area, please sign the letter by local advocates to Councillor Nunziata, calling for bike lanes on Keele-Weston and for other road safety improvements, which are particularly vital to the many essential workers who travel these roads, often with no alternative but crowded TTC buses.

Charting our Routes

We spent much of the year since our coalition was formed pressuring City Hall to implement the community demand for 100 km of new bikeways. So far, only 30 km of new bikeways have been built on Bloor-Danforth, University Avenue, Willowdale and several other streets.

We know that the best routes are along arterial roads, but without bike lanes those routes are currently too dangerous for most people, including the many people who would switch from other modes if they felt safe. Our October 2020 letter to the mayor and city councillors calls for bikeways along the following roads, based on strong community support:

• Yonge (cross-town);

• Don Mills-Overlea Blvd-Donlands;

• Weston Road-Keele Street;

• Bloor-Danforth (extending lanes further east and west);

• Our Greenway project (Finch corridor); and

• Scarborough (north-south and east-west connections, including Kingston Road and segments of Victoria Park Avenue).

A chuckle

Some commentators criticize the powerful "bike lobby" as a pandemic opportunist. Sure, we have dedicated volunteers, but we are (not even) minnows compared to the monster auto lobby. The Canadian and U.S. auto industry spends $15,000,000,000 each year on advertising – or, to put the matter another way, as much as the TCBC annual budget of $500 in ONE SECOND.

Cycling into 2021

 We're working on several initiatives to be launched in 2021:

• yongeTOmorrow will be debated by the Infrastructure & Environment Committee on January 11, 2021. We support pedestrianization and a safe cycling route with no cars (see our letter here);

• Community awards for local advocates - watch for the opening of the nominations in January 2021;

• Scarborough goes to the polls on January 15, 2021 to fill the seat vacated by Jim Karygiannis in Ward 22/Scarborough-Agincourt. Check the survey results by Toronto East Cyclists, identifying the best road safety candidates. You may remember that Jim could be counted on only to vote against safe roads for cyclists. Now you can help elect a strong candidate - volunteer, donate, spread the word, then vote if you live in this ward;

• The budget boondoggle - how much money did the city commit to bike lanes from 2016 to 2019 when it installed a paltry 7.5 km per year instead of the promised 34km per year? You will be surprised - perhaps shocked - at the amount and how much was left on the table, especially considering that unsafe cycling conditions likely contributed to the tragic, preventable deaths of fellow residents (including four local residents since September 2020) and the serious injuries of many others on the roads this year; and

• Road safety accountability at City Hall? We think it would be a good idea. We will be pushing to establish the position of Road Safety Advocate at City Hall to address the obvious failures of the Bike Plan and Vision Zero.

We will continue to conduct bike counts, write letters, initiate outreach, and use good old-fashioned pedal power to reach and investigate roads in the city that are unsafe and to propose improvements.

Wishing you a very happy, healthy, safe new year!

Mary Ann, Janet Joy, Albert, Marc, Michael H, Michael B, Robert, Pamela, Gerry, Mark, Donna, Arthur, Jonathan, and Elizabeth