Bulletin from the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation, November 23 2007:
November 23 Urgent Action Needed: Write to the City's Executive Committee
The push to increase funding for cycling infrastructure continues!
During last week's Budget Committee deliberations, Councillor Gord Perks' motion to add $17.9 million to the Parks budget was not approved. You can see the briefing note which describes the 31 projects this money would fund by clicking here.
Instead, this is the motion that Councillor Shelley Carroll got approved:
"The General Managers of Parks, Forestry and Recreation and Transportation, in consultation with the Deputy City Managers, work together to develop an implementation plan that would ensure the completion of the Toronto Bike Plan by 2012, as per Council's direction; and further, the Deputy City Managers consider opportunities to share and reallocate staff and financial resources to facilitate the completion of the plan and report to Budget Committee in June 2008."
While the call for this report is a good step, which TCAT supports, and outlines a plan that will allow the City to keep its commitment to implement the Bikeway Network by 2012, it does not prevent the city from making the financial commitments outlined below now.
TCAT continues to call on City Council to take immediate action to get the Bike Plan implementation back on track by:
- Committing a minimum of $6.2 million to the 2008 Transportation Services cycling infrastructure budget
- Ensuring that the $200,000 Parks, Forestry & Recreation 'bikeway network expansion' funding that was cut in 2007 as a cost containment measure be reinstated to that budget
- Providing a minimum of $4 million in the 2008 Parks, Forestry & Recreation budget for repairing multi-use pathways in Toronto's Parks, to begin addressing the $20 million back-log
- Moving forward the Parks Forestry & Recreation funding for bikeway network paths from the 2013 to 2017 into the current 5 year plan
- Establishing a staff position in Parks, Forestry & Recreation that is dedicated to ensuring the integrity and connectivity of the pathway network
To read TCAT's letter to the Executive Committee click here.
Please take a few minutes this weekend to write to Mayor Miller, members of the Executive Committee, and your local councillor, and tell them you support TCAT's budget recommendations for implementing the Toronto Bike Plan by 2012.
Write to:
- Executive Committee secretary - pmorris@toronto.ca
- Executive Committee Chair, Mayor David Miller - mayor_miller@toronto.ca
Executive Committee Members:
- Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone - councillor_pantalone@toronto.ca
- Shelley Carroll - councillor_carroll@toronto.ca
- Glenn De Baeremaeker - councillor_debaeremaeker@toronto.ca
- Paula Fletcher - councillor_fletcher@toronto.ca
- Norm Kelly - councillor_kelly@toronto.ca
- Gloria Lindsay Luby - councillor_lindsay_luby@toronto.ca
- Giorgio Mammoliti - councillor_mammoliti@toronto.ca
- Pam McConnell - councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca
- Joe Mihevc - councillor_mihevc@toronto.ca
- Howard Moscoe - councillor_moscoe@toronto.ca
- Kyle Rae - councillor_rae@toronto.ca
Please also copy TCAT (info@torontocat.ca) on any letters or e-mails you write.
Recent comments