TCBC Spring 2025 Newsletter

for health, safety, equity, and climate action

Spring 2025

Spring is here. For many people it’s a time to take their bicycles out of storage and hit the road. But read on in this newsletter about our bike count in February 2025. Many Toronto cyclists don’t actually put their bikes away in the winter.

Photo: Martin Reis

Overview

In this newsletter we put to rest tired old claims that no one cycles in the winter. The numbers prove quite the opposite. Our wintertime advocacy projects also confirm that Community Bikeways, among other road safety advocacy groups, was as busy as ever. And while Premier Ford continues to claim that he has an electoral mandate to remove bike lanes, the Conservative MPP in Etobicoke-Lakeshore recently joined a long list of bike lane opponents in the city who were rejected at the ballot box.

Who Cycles During the Toronto Winter?

A food courier cycles along Bloor Street near Palmerston Avenue during a late February snow storm in Toronto. Our bike count at nearby Bloor and Brunswick Avenue documented as many as 2,500 cyclists per day during a seven-day period in early February.

Who cycles in the wintertime? Thousands of people. During a seven-day count in the dead of winter (February 5 to 12), we carried out what is likely the city’s most comprehensive-ever winter bike count. We were (a tiny bit) surprised by the large number of cyclists.

Thanks to the cooperation of Curbside Cycle, we were able to set up a video camera that recorded the flurry of cyclists who use the Bloor bike lane for commuting, shopping, food delivery, and other purposes.

During our count, temperatures rarely exceeded zero degrees Celsius, while the windchill-adjusted temperature fell to as low as -19C.

Daily ridership --- as documented in our report --- peaked at just over 2,500 on Tuesday, February 11, and surpassed 2,000 on every day of the week, except Sunday. The highest average hourly count (225 cyclists) was recorded during the 6-7pm hour. Food delivery was especially popular in the evening hours when the bike lanes provide a safe route for gig workers who not only face difficult road conditions but toil for meagre wages.

Ford’s petty fixation with bike lanes meets the Toronto voter (again)

Road safety and climate advocates, including volunteers from Community Bikeways, Etobicoke Climate Action, and Walk Toronto were among the many supporters of Liberal candidate Lee Fairclough (right). She handily defeated PC incumbent and bike lane-hater Christine Hogarth in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore during the February 2025 provincial election.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s negotiation-by-turmoil approach is too often reflected in Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s own tactics, including his arbitrary plan to remove some of Toronto’s most popular bike lanes. While Ford claims with Trump-like zeal that he has an electoral mandate to remove bike lanes, he eagerly ignores the fact that his local incumbent, MPP Christine Hogarth was soundly defeated by her Liberal challenger, now MPP, Lee Fairclough. In fact, Hogarth had trumpeted bike lane removal in her re-election campaign in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, the epicentre for debate about the bike lane/Complete Street Extension.

Ford recently suffered another set-back to his bike lane removal plan. On April 22, 2025 a judge of the Superior Court of Justice granted an injunction against removal until the release of his decision on Cycle Toronto’s Charter challenge. At issue in the case is whether removing bike lanes on University, Yonge, and Bloor Streets in Toronto is a deprivation of the Section 7 right, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to life and security of the person. Ford subsequently went on a tirade against judges who don’t support his government’s decisions, earning a strong rebuke from the judiciary, among many others.

Jane’s Walks

At a May 4 Jane’s Walk event entitled “Bikes, Bikes, and E-Bikes” our Steering Committee member Lance Le Roux, flanked by Albert Koehl (L) and Eric Kamphof (far R) of Pedaal Bikes + Coffee, explain issues with --- and solutions for --- e-bikes.

Each year in Toronto, and hundreds of cities around the world, the legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs is celebrated with myriad walks and bike rides aimed at educating and engaging city residents about their surroundings. This year we co-hosted two events. The first was on Danforth Avenue with Walk Toronto to discuss the benefits of bike lanes to pedestrians. The following day we co-hosted an event with Eric Kamphof of Pedaal Bikes + Coffee to talk about the potential that e-bikes offer to further increase cycling on our streets. We also discussed the need for better government regulation to limit e-bike size and power -- as well as making food courier delivery companies accountable to the public.

Au Revoir and Welcome: A Steering Committee Update

In January, our Steering Committee said “fair well” to Jonathan Schmidt (far left in purple shirt) who has moved to Montreal after many years championing the cause of Scarborough cyclists

We say au revoir to Jonathan Schmidt who has been on our Steering Committee almost from its inception. He was also a founder and driving force behind Toronto East Cyclists (TEC) since its creation over a decade ago after bike lanes were eliminated on Pharmacy Ave. and Birchmount Rd. Jonathan has accepted a position as the pastor of Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Montreal’s west island.

We welcome Bilal Khan and Lance Le Roux. Bilal, a data analyst by day, and Lance, a network architect and futurist, have already proven their passion and value to the group. Bilal directed our recent winter bike count on Bloor, while Lance is carefully following developments at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels on e-bike and electric battery regulation – both matters of significant importance to ensure the continuing growth of cycling in our city.

Vélo Odds and Ends

North York Earth Day Ride

This year our Earth Day ride was held in North York to explore the new bike lanes on Sheppard Avenue. We also used the opportunity to review the plan to convert the motor chaos of Yonge Street into a people-and climate-friendly streetscape that is in tune with the new residential character of this iconic street.

Externship Program Student

The opportunity to mentor another University of Windsor student from the Faculty of Law’s Externship Program has again proved invaluable, especially for our group’s C.R.A.S.H. initiative. In the second semester we worked with law student Luis Lara Palacios, who has now turned to completing his Bar Exams. Luis worked on several projects including the need for safety warnings on the ubiquitous marketing ads for pickup trucks, the problem of free parking (including exemptions from declaring free parking as a taxable benefit), and the importance of law reform at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels to curtail the proliferation of dangerous pickups and large SUVs to pedestrians and cyclists.

Strategic Planning

Our annual strategic planning session was held this year at the Deer Park Public Library under the expert guidance of our Communications Coordinator Roger Morier. Our lively discussions allowed us to chart a way forward, while confirming our main advocacy priorities:

hold government to account for cycling, road safety, and climate plans;
support cycling advocacy in underserved areas of the city;
undertake law reform to promote walking, cycling, and transit;
advance (legacy) projects such as the Bloor bike lane extension to Mississauga; and
build a healthy, efficient, affordable transportation system based on walking, cycling, and mass transit.

Wheels of Change Award for Community Bikeways

We were honoured and proud to accept a “Wheels of Change” award from fellow advocacy group Share the Road. The award will be presented in late May at the Ontario Bike Summit in Windsor, Ontario.

Support Community Bikeways

We are a fiercely independent group that shuns government and corporate donations. This approach allows us to carry out, without restraint, our mission of holding City Hall and other levels of government to account for their road safety, climate, and cycling plans.

We nonetheless gratefully accept individual donations that help us carry out our mission and to hold fun events that lift spirits. If you are in a position to donate you can do so by making a direct deposit (via electronic transfer) to Community.Bikeways.Toronto@gmail.com.

Wishing you safe rides and Happy Holidays!

The Community Bikeways Steering Committee: Jessie, Bilal, Ersan, Michael B, Michael H, Bob, Janet Joy, Jennifer, Robert, Roger, Lance, Mark Fernando, and Albert.

Webmaster: Ian Mills