Bixi Toronto had a demo station set up at the Brickworks yesterday, and mayoral candidate (and possible Rob Ford killer, depending on how anti-Ford sentiment coalesces) George Smitherman decided to stop by, try it out, and sign up. Smitherman has been a little bit all over the map on the bike issue during this campaign. [...]
Today saw mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson release her bicycle transportation policy, dubbed Bike City. Sarah and/or her team has done their homework on this to attract people who love biking… proposing a good chunk of new cycling infrastructure features (ie. bike boxes, bicycle boulevardes, etc) and physically separate bikelanes on University Ave, Richmond Street and [...]
Mayoral candidate (and current frontrunner) Rob Ford has released his “transportation plan” (PDF). The contents of the plan can be summed up as follows: Streetcars are bad. TransitCity should not be built because an efficient wide-ranging Light Rail Transit system costs 1/10 as much as an equivalent subway system… but subway promises get votes. Not [...]
UPDATE: Thomson has announced her Bike City Platform. Click here for details. Mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson is set to announce a “Bike City” policy tomorrow, Sept 1st: You are cordially invited to the launch of Mayoral Candidate, Sarah Thomson’s Bike Policy, Bike City. Come an listen to the details of Bike City, a smarter way [...]
Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman has released his transportation plan for the future. Full details are on his website… but here is the bike-related stuff for you: CYCLING—INTEGRATED WITH THE GRID FOR SAFETY Cycling in Toronto is important. Torontonians often choose from day to day whether to walk, drive, take transit or cycle to get [...]
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 [...]
A little bit of breaking news for you…there were rumours about this floating around yesterday, but I wanted to make sure things were “concrete”, so to speak, before blogging about it for you. Toronto’s plans to emulate the great success of bikesharing systems around the world, by using the Public Bike System company (the same [...]
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 [...]
(Cross-posted to the News discussion group) Globe and Mail: Rossi vows review of transit plan http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/rossi-vows-review-of-transit-plan/article1439298/ Wow… I’m not sure of Rossi’s chances… but who would really think that we need less transit and bikelanes in the city? Elect this guy if you want to see Toronto grind to a halt due to traffic congestion. [...]
Case Ootes, who has been city councillor for Ward 29 Toronto-Danforth since 1994, has decided to leave city politics. Links: Toronto Star: Case Ootes calls it quits Toronto Sun: Case closed: Ootes retires City Website: Case Ootes BikingToronto: Ward 29 Group Ward 29 Forum: Case Ootes Retires This is pretty significant news, as Ootes has [...]
Now, I’m not an expert in how the city allocates funds for cycling… I do know that of the whole cycling budget, some goes to the Parks & Rec department for trail upkeep, and some goes to the roads department for bikelanes… and some goes other places, but all the news stories about the 2010 [...]
From Rowena Santos, who you may remember ran for City Council in 2006 in Ward 14 Parkdale-High Park Fellow Cyclists, As many of you know, the proposed 8% Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will directly impact you and future cyclists. By the end of 2010, the HST will apply to all things bicycle: bikes, helmets, bells, [...]
Give some props to City Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong… after years of defending auto-centric planning and transportation initiatives, he is learning how to ride a bike after missing out on it in his youth: Denzil Minnan-Wong looks kind of sheepish. He has a confession to make. The 45-year-old Toronto councillor, and perhaps the most ardent defender [...]
On March 9, 11, and 23rd The provincial legislature will be having public hearings about proposed changes to the Highway Traffic Act, including the definition of “E-Bikes” or “power-assisted bicycles” (you can read some more details in this BikingToronto post). The Toronto Cyclists Union has released their position on the proposed definition of E-Bikes (which [...]
In March (March 9, 11, and 23rd, to be exact), Queen’s Park will reviewing amendments (in Bill 126 – PDF file) to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act in public hearings, including amendments concerning “E-Bikes” or “Power Assisted Bicycles”, including what they are: “power-assisted bicycle” means a bicycle that, (a) is a power-assisted bicycle as defined in [...]
