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The News Cycle for Friday, Nov. 25, 2011

November 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bixi Toronto

Bike Union / MEC Member Appreciation Night [Toronto Cyclists Union] Join us for our Member Appreciation Night at Mountain Equipment Co-op on Thursday December 1st from 7:00 – 9:00.  Like last year, bike union members will receive 10% off everything in the store except boats.  New this year, MEC has extended their 10% discount to bikes as well! TCAT Turns Five and Gets a New Name [Toronto Centre for Active Transportation] Since becoming a project of Clean Air Partnership, a registered … [Read more...]

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On Sundays, Bike Pirates is Women and Trans Only

November 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
bikepirates

Great article from The Grid TO about Sundays being women and trans-only at Bike Pirates, a small remedy to the male-dominated cycling scene: For the last three years, Sunday access to this non-profit, do-it-yourself bike collective has been reserved for women and transgendered people. “Mechanics’ shops have not really been a welcoming environment for women and trans folks,” Gottfried said. The Pirates’ Sunday hours are intended to remedy that by offering a time and place where … [Read more...]

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Complete Streets Forum Early Registration is Open!

March 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Complete Streets Forum

For those of you interested in things from a policy and government standpoint, early registration is now open for TCAT's Complete Streets Forum. The goal of the 2011 Complete Streets Forum is to explore best practices, share ideas and success stories, and showcase research and technical solutions on how to better plan and design complete streets that will embrace and protect cyclists and pedestrians while accommodating all road users, including transit and cars. The Complete Streets Forum … [Read more...]

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How Cycling Will Save Your Wallet and the Economy

March 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
bikenomics

Theres is a fantastic article in Grist right now by Elly Blue (the managing editor of the excellent BikePortland.org website) that explains how embracing cycling can be an economic boom to an individual, an urban center, and a society: In the many North American cities where two-wheeled transportation is taking off, a new bicycle economy is emerging. It's amazing how much money can stay in your community when it isn't being pumped into the gas tank, big insurance, and the auto market. What … [Read more...]

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Introducing “Rate My Velo” – A Rating Site for Bicyclists

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
RateMyVelo3

James Schwartz, Toronto cyclist and founder of the Urban Country has a great new project on the go - Rate My Velo, a rating site for bicyclists. The site is set up so people can look at 2 photographs of regular people in regular clothes riding regular bikes, and vote on which photo they like the best.  It's a great way to get the point across that not every cyclist on the road is training for the Tour de France.  The vast majority of us are just getting around the city. I'll let James … [Read more...]

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SoDa Bikes Meeting at BikeSauce Tonight

January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
30

We missed this in our Weekly Events post yesterday! SoDa stands for "South Of DAnforth" and is the name of the Ward 30 cycling advocacy group. Here are the details if you are interested. We have a new mayor (love it or hate it folks, it’s true). We also have a bunch of new councillors! There is no better time than now to join us in our advocacy efforts to make Toronto a better place to live, work and play — particularly by bike! It’s as easy as coming to our next advocacy … [Read more...]

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Road Rule #1: Don’t Be A Jerk

November 22, 2010 By 2 Comments
dontbeajerk

There's a great article in the Wall Street Journal about the problems New York City is facing by having tons more cyclists on their streets (thanks to large amounts of new bikelanes and cycling infrastructure on their streets). Essentially, there are a lot more confrontations between cars, bikes and pedestrians... as they all have to share the same space, so NYC is starting a "behaviour campaign" aimed at fostering some on-street civility... basically telling people, no matter their mode of … [Read more...]

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The Star: Car Drivers on the “Gravy Train”

November 10, 2010 By 3 Comments
Cyclists doing good for all of us

A somewhat surprising article is appearing in the Toronto Star today.  It's called "Cyclists doing good for all of us" and is by Joe Fiorito, who has not been the biggest bicycling-advocate the city has seen by a long stretch...) and advocates that the city should pay more attention to cyclists: [Bikes are] good for the environment. Good for people with breathing problems. Good for the health care system, if you think fitness is a goal. Saves us money. All I’m saying is we ought to pay a … [Read more...]

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Yvonne Bambrick steps down from Bike Union

October 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Yvonne Bambrick

Breaking news from last night... Yvonne Bambrick, who has been Executive Director (and recently the Director of Communications and Events) of the Toronto Cyclists Union, is stepping down from her position: Dear friends and colleagues, It is with great excitement that I pass the full leadership of the Toronto Cyclists Union over to our Advocacy and Operations Director, Andrea Garcia. This may come as a surprise to you, but this is a transition that has been in the works for some time.  … [Read more...]

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Available in 17 Languages, The Toronto Cyclists Handbook

July 6, 2010 By 2 Comments
The Toronto Cyclists Handbook Cover

The Partnership for Integration and Sustainable Transportation (a joint initiative of CultureLink Settlement Services and the Toronto Cyclists Union) has launched The Toronto Cyclists Handbook. Read more... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: advocacy, commuting, news, photos, safety, stuff

“The city is a boneyard of broken cyclists, all hit by drivers…”

May 27, 2010 By 2 Comments
Screen shot 2010-05-27 at 11.26.25 AM

Article by Catherine Porter in the Toronto Star: Now, I drive a car too, and can list the reasons why I choose to bike most days: the smell of lilac bushes in the morning, the sense of freedom, the endorphins. But I can also tell you that I get frightened on my bike in a way I never am in a car. There’s no airbag protecting me. When you nudge too close, my heart races. And when you lean out of your window and tell me to go to hell, I don’t have a window to role up. If I was driving, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: advocacy, carnage, commuting, news

I BIKE T.O. T-Shirt at Queen’s Park on 24 Hours Toronto Edition Today

May 19, 2010 By 3 Comments

If I'm not mistaken, that's Donald Wiedman, founder of Bikes+Transit sporting a fantastic t-shirt you can get here -- IBikeTO.org. He's flanked by June MacDonald on the left and Olivia Chow on the right. Cyclists gathered at Queen's Park in Toronto to show their support for a bill tabled by Cheri DiNovo that would require motorists to give at least 3 feet of space when passing. You can learn more about the bill and how you can support its passing in the BikingToronto Forum. Screen shot via … [Read more...]

Filed Under: advocacy, bikingtoronto, charity, ibiketo, photos, politics, safety

How to Keep Cars from Parking in Bike Lanes

May 12, 2010 By 3 Comments
No Parking and Pylons via Bike Lane Diary

Toronto has a real problem with cars, trucks, police vehicles and everything in between parking in bike lanes. Need proof? Take a look at the new Simcoe Street underpass. Take a look at College Street through the all-seeing lens of Google. Harbord itself is no stranger to bike lane violators, including undercover police. Well, it seems enough is enough, if city staff and police are incapable (or unwilling) to help, then it's time to take a stand. And that's exactly what is happening on … [Read more...]

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Focus on Bikes and Complete Streets, Politicians Told

February 10, 2010 By 5 Comments
Build Transportation Infrastructure Everyone Can Use

The Toronto Environmental Alliance, along with various environmental and advocacy organizations, including TCAT and the Bike Union, have released priorities that municipal election candidates should pay attention to if we want, as a city, to be greener, healthier, and more efficient. "Below are 6 priority actions, in no particular order, that will build on 10 years of environmental success. Investments in each action won't just improve our environment, they will lead to better health and save … [Read more...]

Filed Under: advocacy, election, enviro, infrastructure, news, politics Tagged With: , , , ,

CultureLink / Bike Union Job Opportunity

December 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

A new job posting for a full time Newcomer Cycling Outreach Coordinator has been posted:[via the Bike Union]We are very excited to announce that the Partnership for Integration and Sustainable Transportation, a joint project of CultureLink and the Toronto Cyclists Union which was recently granted funding by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, is seeking just the right person to take on the full time role of Newcomer Cycling Outreach Coordinator.The Full job posting can be viewed here - … [Read more...]

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