Our Story
Community Bikeways - aka the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition (TCBC) - was established as a community-based campaign group advocating for 100 km of temporary bikeways to mirror the busiest TTC subway and bus routes. We came together as a group of volunteers who believed that Torontonians required safe alternative transportation options, particularly during the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our May 14, 2020 letter was signed by over 120 Toronto-area community groups who shared our call for 100km of temporary bikeways to be installed on an urgent basis, including bike lanes along Bloor-Danforth and Yonge Street as "spine" bikeways. We pushed for these installations for the benefit of essential workers and other city residents who were otherwise wary of --- or put at risk by --- the confined spaces of TTC vehicles. In 2020 the city installed a record amount of new cycling infrastructure, totalling 30km (net) of new bike lanes. There was clearly more work to be done.
In June 2020, we more formally constituted ourselves as a coalition, bringing together groups such as Bells on Bloor, The Reading Line, Toronto East Cyclists, and Bells on Danforth. These groups maintained more or less independence depending on their particular history, interests, and priorities.
Today our advocacy work has transitioned to the following areas, priorities, and approach:
1. Holding governments --- mainly, but not exclusively, Toronto City Hall --- to account for its climate, road safety, and cycling plans and policies. In the case of Toronto, our accountability priorities are the Vision Zero Road Safety, TransformTO Net Zero, and Cycling Network plans. Soon after the formation of our group, the city responded positively to our call for an annual progress report on cycling infrastructure in the city. This past spring the city released its fourth annual Year in Review Report. There was a time when city data required a great deal of careful investigation to distinguish between the types of bikeways that were actually completed in a given year. In addition to our own monitoring of city plans and policies, we collaborate with, or a member, of a range of coalitions such as the Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN).
2. Policy and Law Reform. Among the significant projects under this heading is our leadership of the Coalition to Reduce Auto Size Hazards (CRASH). This initiative seeks reforms at the federal, provincial, and municipal level to rein in the proliferation of pickups and large SUVs. These vehicles are 3.5 times more deadly than sedans in crashes with pedestrians and cyclists; they are also up to eight times as deadly in crashes involving children. CRASH, which was started by a number of Toronto-based groups, has grown to 24 groups nation-wide. The coalition has benefited from the guidance and contributions of several lawyers and law students on key legal and jurisdictional issues. We are also engaged in advocating for proper government regulation of e-bikes (and food delivery companies), so that the growth in city cycling is not stifled.
3. Building a healthy, efficient, climate friendly transportation system based on walking, cycling, and transit. Although “bikeways” is part of our name, we recognize that increasing the cycling mode share also means promoting walking and transit, while discouraging car use and its associated (massive) space demands. For example, we created Gardiner East Transparency (GET) with a large coalition of community groups. Our objective was to push the city to update its cost estimates --- including potential revenues from land sales --- for the Gardiner East teardown and rebuild at a location further north. This initiative garnered significant public attention until Mayor Olivia Chow and Premier Doug Ford worked out a deal to upload the expressway. Among other initiatives, during the 2022 election we promoted three Road Safety Calls to Action, which were endorsed by 12 successful candidates, and subsequently by mayor-elect Chow in June 2023. (We do not shy away from political campaigns. Indeed, we endorse and support candidates who are friendly to the cause of road safety, climate action, and public health.) We also advocate on matters such as new rules for construction projects that infringe on bike lanes/sidewalks, Transportation Demand Management, and new measures to reduce illegal parking in bike lanes.
4. Promoting cycling/road safety in areas of Toronto that are underserved by advocacy. Our work in this area has taken us to various parts of the city, supporting groups such as Toronto East Cyclists (a member of our coalition) or undertaking new initiatives, including events in Weston, Mount Dennis, Etobicoke, and North York. Under this heading we list bike repair events, International Parking Day, bike counts, Bike Days, special rides, and our annual Cycling Good Cheer ride. We pride ourselves on amplifying the voices of grassroots road safety groups that are being established or that seek advice. Our Steering Committee counts among its members individuals with many years of advocacy and related experience and expertise.
5. Legacy Advocacy Projects. While we play a supportive role for new bikeway projects across the city, we continue to take a leadership role in advocating for specific projects such as the Bloor West Complete Street Extension. Our We Belong on Bloor campaign was started in 2021, but was effectively a continuation of the work of Bells on Bloor, founded in 2007. Bells on Bloor is a member of TCBC. When Cycle Toronto and a number of other groups joined the advocacy effort for the Bloor bike lane pilot in 2014, Bells on Bloor welcomed their involvement and contribution.
Comprehensive surveys indicate that there are now over one million adult, utilitarian cyclists in the City of Toronto. Fortunately, there is also a growing number and diversity of community groups that advocate for these cyclists, or call for better cycling conditions to serve prospective cyclists. Groups such as Women’s Cycling Network, Cycle 55+, Yonge4All, and Hijabs and Helmets appeal to different audiences, while drawing on new volunteer bases.
Going back a bit farther in the city’s cycling advocacy history, some members of our group were personally involved in meetings leading up to the successful creation of Cycle Toronto in 2008. Dave Meslin, the founder of Cycle Toronto (originally known as the Toronto Cyclists Union) intended the new group to speak for city cyclists when a unified voice was needed on a particular issue. The new group was to fit within a specific place in the ecosystem of groups, including Bells on Bloor, that then existed.
Today, Toronto’s many cycling advocacy groups are a tribute to the popularity of cycling and the passion that a largely volunteer-driven movement brings to the fight for a safe, affordable, efficient, and climate-friendly transportation system.