Blogs

800 Bloor Street West, NW corner of Bloor and Crawford

The Bike Clinic

Drop by and visit in his much bigger space.

The City is coming close to a deal for a bikesharing program. I heard through the grapevine that it might even launch by July (though it would be tough). There are two main hurdles with get this up and running: financing and station locations. The program is supposedly going to operate year-round, which would be great, but which increases the difficulty of finding appropriate locations. I imagine the staff are having a hard time finding any unclaimed space, and would have to pay the Toronto Parking Authority for lost car parking revenue.

The City, I've been told, is close to figuring out the financing. Bixi will have to put forward a big chunk, which they'll recoup in usage fees. The CIty is making deals with some mysterious interests who are probably providing some cash in exchange for exposure. It's all made more difficult that the deal has to be at no cost. It's rare for a public service to have such demands on it, so it's commendable that the staff have been able to get this far. It also says something to how bikesharing has progressed and how cycling infrastructure is such a good deal: no digging, no gas bills, no ticket collectors, no operators. Cheap.

So, anyway, I'd like to bring your attention to the styling of the bikes (hence the image of the yellow bike). Maybe we could come up with a great look for the bikes and present our ideas to the City (I haven't thought it all through).

City staff revealed a politically ambitious bikeway plan for downtown to a very packed house, Monday evening at Metro Hall. Even though the plan includes a number of items which don't require council approval, including bike boxes on Harbord and bike sharrows along streetcar routes, the most politically controversial may be such items as bike lanes on University (as the Post predicts as well). See the whole plan on the City's website (pdf) [this links only to the announcement and not the plan. oops!].

Councillor Joe Mihevc commended the staff for their ambition (even if it may still be just a stepping stone since some activists pointed out that it was still a fractured network). Then Mihevc explained how it was a really politically tough year; if cyclists present a strong, single voice to politicians, we may have a chance of getting this program implemented.

Cyclists seemed to be divided on whether this represented a turning point or not, but it is apparent that even if some cyclists see this as too little, there is a certain segment of voters and certain mayoral candidates (Rossi, and possibly, Smitherman) who see this is way too much "coddling" of cyclists.

Councillor Adrian Heaps talks to press: Credit: Brian Betsworth

Did you fail to get your "bodily oils" flowing with a nice winter bike ride? Well, you missed out on the pleasure of cold weather rolling, as well as the opportunity of hearing Councillor Heaps talk about fluids, oils and pleasure as he trumpeted winter cycling. If you were more likely to be at your favorite brunch spot instead, here is a recap.

After leaving High Park at noon we rode approximately 1/2 km before stopping for hot chocolate, a view of the snow plows that clear the Martin Goodman Trail, and listen to Heaps' press conference on the benefits of cycling and plowing the trail, both worthy causes.

Snow clearers: Credit: Brian Betsworth

We stood around drinking hot chocolate, looking at the distinct lack of snow. The plow guys were probably feeling under-appreciated.

Crowd stopped for hot chocolate and plows: Credit: Brian Betsworth

There was a distinct over-representation of "sporty" cyclists. I'm not sure where all these cyclists came from. I see a lot of winter cyclists but rarely see them decked out in waterproof booties, jackets, helmet covers and tights. Apparently such cyclists do exist, but they are a rare breed downtown. TBN must have recruited a sizable portion of their membership.

Looking for a bike related activity for this cold Saturday? You could try the Coldest Day of the Year Ride, starting at the Grenadier Cafe in High Park at noon. Or you could go to the Live Auction of 5 of the legendary yellow BikeShare bikes starting at 3pm at the Community Bicycle Network at Queen and Euclid.

The info is posted below:

CBN Open House and Auction

Join us on Saturday, January 30th, from 12 to 6pm, when we will hold an all-afternoon Open House!

We will be holding a Live Auction for five of the legendary yellow Bikeshare bikes at 3pm. Get them while the getting's good!

Also, throughout the day (and ending at 5pm) there will be a Silent Auction for high-end and unique vintage parts.

And if you don't want to hang around till that happens, just drop by and get used parts at astonishing prices - we will be slashing our always-low prices on used parts. (All used parts just $2.00 -- One Day Only.)

Plus, hot cocoa and snacks to keep you warm on a wintery bike day.

(If you're planning to go to the Coldest Day of the Year Ride, there should still be time to get to CBN's auction afterward, so you can do it all!)

See you then!

Coldest Day of the Year Ride

Saturday, January 30, 2010 - 12:00

What: Come out for a group ride on the statistically coldest day of the year.

Rocco Rossi came out swinging today in his anti-bike rant: "(Rossi) promises to ban future bike lanes from all arterial roads plus review those which already have been built on major roads." (Globe)

"Jarvis has to be stopped." he told reporters.

So, we're talking Bloor and Jarvis, etc. Nice.

On January 8, George Smitherman made a similar statement:

"And on the so-called "war on the car", Smitherman said while he supported cycling, he didn't want to see Toronto's continued implementation of the Bike Plan impact on other forms of transportation.

"What I've noticed is that there are quite a few divisions around here," he said.

"This notion of the conflict between the car and the bike - I think the obligation we have is to understand that the inefficiency associated with gridlock is a serious climate challenge. I'm interested to be a leader of a city that makes it easier to use bikes. At the same time, it's my obligation to try and build a greater consensus around an integrated transit plan, without fostering the idea that one form of transportation is being played off against the other."

Two wheels good. Four wheels bad. Got it?

Last night at the Gladstone the Bike Awards for 2009 was a good night crammed full of cool people, awards, politicians and beer. It was an interesting extreme of the City presenting it's official Bicycle-friendly Business Awards (which seems to often have non-profits get the awards for some reason) all the way to the Bike Pirates giving an award to possible-mayoral candidate Adam Giambrone who gamely accepted the nice looking bike statuette and gave a stump speech about how he was late because he was pushing for the Scarborough LRT and bike lanes.

The I Bike T.O. award was given to Ajith Aluthwatta of CultureLink. Ajith helped to spur a great project starting up to do bike outreach to newcomers. Ajith was typically humble and wanted to share it with the committee of CultureLink and bike union members that helped to bring it to fruition.

The I Bike TO judges (along with James Schwartz of The Urban Country) gave it some deep thought, and in the end decided that Ajith and the newcomer project represented a large missing piece in Toronto's cycling "scene". If we want to break out of the scene and be taken seriously in Toronto, cycling must be seen as viable by newcomers as well as established Torontonians as well as the small groups of mostly white folks who are actively involved. The award shows that other people are interested as well and want to push for better cycling for all.

See below for Tino's photo set:

Us cyclists have been saying for awhile: "Doesn't it look like there are more cyclists out there?" Well it's true. Cycling in Toronto is up 13% over the last decade - from 48% to 54%. The number of utilitarian cyclists - those who use their bikes to get to work, school, visit, or run errands - rose an astounding 45%: from 20% in 1999 to 29% in 2009. How do we know this? The City of Toronto has released their 2009 Cycling survey and all the numbers are up.

Will we have to wait another 10 years for an update? The plan now, says Dan Egan of Transportation Services, is to do the survey every 3 years, timed to coincide with municipal elections. Get the numbers out just before an election and you've got some good fodder for pushing politicians.

Some other interesting finds: motorists and cyclists feel that there is more respect for each other, despite the proverbial "War on Cars"; the largest increases in utilitarian cyclists is in the burbs: up about an average of 83%!