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On Saturday February 21 2010, Scott Torrance, the landscape architect behind the design and implementation of the West Toronto Railpath led a walking tour of this wonderful new public space. The walking tour was hosted by the Lost Rivers Committee, Toronto Field Naturalists and the Toronto Green Community.

During this walking tour, Scott Torrance described various aspects of the history, design, and implementation of the Railpath. He provided a great insight into some of the choices made about how the path was landscaped, the materials used, the plant life, and more. I didn't attend this walk, but fortunately someone brought a video camera!

The first video posted here (above) is the short 3-minute summary. If you want to see the whole thing, it's broken up into 3 parts below.

There's more info about Scott Torrance's work on his website, and you can also watch these video on his Youtube channel.

Interested in another walking tour of the Railpath? This Saturday, May 1, there will be a Jane's Walk on the Railpath. It's not hosted by Scott Torrence, but rather by some knowledgeable locals. Check it out if you want to learn more about the current state of the Railpath, and plans for future south/east expansion.

Another video from riconroy, this one a helpful guide for drivers, aiding them in "surviving" city driving and avoiding nasty cyclists and pedestrians.

Driving in the city is a treacherous endeavour, full of difficulty and inconvenience. For anyone who hasn't driven in the city before the rules of the road must seem a bit confusing. Here are some tips to help you survive your drive.

Title: Driver Survival Guide

Need to pop into a store, buy a coffee, mail a letter, deliver a package? Use the handy bike lanes located on many of our streets. Perfect for a quick errand and it keeps the real lanes clear for traffic.

Pedestrians often get in the way when you least expect them. If you see one trying to cross the road it's best to speed up so you can quickly get out of their way.

Stop signs waste valuable time on your journey and reportedly increase pollution. We recommend rolling right through them as fast as the road conditions will allow.

Speed limits are guidelines only. Even the police will accept you going twenty clicks over the limit. Why do they cars so darn fast and then ask you to stick to fifty kilometres per hour?

If you don't drive assertively when there are cyclists on the road there will be confusion as to who has the right to be there. Pass a cyclist as close as possible to claim your space and reduce collisions with other cars.

With these tips in mind driving in the city will make much more sense, economically and emotionally.

Riconroy, in this video, shows us the daily conflict between drivers and cyclists in Toronto bike lanes.

There is conflict between cyclists and drivers in the city; one of the ways it shows itself is in sharing space, especially bike lanes. Are they exclusively for cyclists, or can cars and trucks use them to get a coffee, or make a delivery? Cyclists maintain that having to swerve out of the bike lane to get around a stopped vehicle is more dangerous than having no bike lane at all. Enforcement of no-stopping by-laws is at best lax.

Calvin Lau from Dear Toronto emailed to tell us that his video of this year's Toronto Bike Awards is now online.

The video features interviews with Rick and Yvonne from the Toronto Cyclists Union and councillor Adam Giambrone, plus footage of various awards recipients, the gold sprints, Clay and Paper Theatre, and much more.

And yes, of course, the highly praised "reverse strip tease" gets good coverage too (pun intended).

Check it out.

We've still got a long way to go, baby. A video about the Irish transportation system that is almost as relevant to us (except that we have nowhere to swim to). Written and directed by Jason Tammemägi. A spoof on Irish Rail's advertising.

Note: Do not watch if you don't like seeing stick people get maimed and killed.

Check today's Toronto Star for a video about winter cycling. Online edition, not print, of course!

The video features brief commentary from three cyclists: It starts on a bit of a low note with a cyclist who just sticks to the indoor trainer for the winter because "the risks outweigh the pleasure" and it's "awfully cold".

The second is a messenger who enjoys the winter riding because the roads and sidewalks are less crowded, and that "with the proper gear it's never too cold".

The third is a year-round cyclist who says he gets too cold waiting for the streetcar so he would rather cycle. "I've gotten rid of both my cars."

Check it out here. Not sure why they attached that video to an article about seasonal crime statistics though.

Thanks to Jun for submitting the link.

Happy Halloween everyone! This video really captures some cyclists' Halloween spirit! Anne got some pumpkin-headed friends together to help her move, and they caught it all on tape. Hilarious and inspirational.

Trailers came from the Community Bicycle Network (761 Queen Street West, 416-504-2918) and Cycle Therapy (1114 Queen Street East, 416-778-6473)

VideoJug: How To Replace Brake Blocks Video by Bikefix in London (UK). Click on the Bikefix link for more videos.