If you have one of these devices, all you need to do is navigate to BikingToronto.com with your smartphone, and you’ll see the new, simple, optimized layout.   If you prefer to see the normal layout on the site, there’s an option at the bottom of the page to turn the mobile layout on or off.

I hope you all like the mobile layout.  Now you can easily keep up with BikingToronto, no matter where you are.

Oh… I almost forgot!  This mobile layout is site-wide… so you can keep up with your favourite member blogs on your smart phone as well.

The graphic to the right (designed by Cristina Matei) is appearing all over facebook today… encouraging people to sign up for Bixi Toronto and bring economical public bike rentals to Toronto.  You can click it for a full-size version.

It’s working in London, Paris, Lyon, Brussels, Copenhagen, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Montreal… and it’ll work in Toronto.

Current annual sign-up numbers are sitting at just over 750, according to Bixi’s facebook page.

Have you signed up yet?  It’s $95 (+HST = $107.35) for an entire year!  That gives you unlimited free rides for an entire year (as long as your trip is less than 30 minutes).

There will be 1,000 Bixi bikes sprinkled all over the downtown core (click for map) at 80 Bixi stations… all between Bloor, Jarvis, Lake Ontario and Spadina.  The perfect transportation option for downtown zipping around.

Check out our Bixi Toronto Information Page for more info!

We’ve updated the design for you – to help organize the loads of information on the site so that you can find it better…. but we’ve also added some sections and are working on some crazy-cool features to put in place this fall and over the winter.

Main Page

• New “magazine” style layout – with links and photos to all the newest stuff on the blog.
• A great menu along the top of the page (with drop-down menus in that) to let you get to all the different sections of the site.

Sidebar Login

• The login form on the right side of the front page (and every other page) let’s you log in (or join) to use all the great features on BikingToronto.

Activity Tab

• The activity page keeps you up to date on everything that is happening on the site, whether it’s someone updating their profile, writing a blog post, commenting on a blog, or participating in a forum discussion.

Blogs Tab

• Keeps up with all the blogs on the site.  We’ve got a lot of cool people writing on BikingToronto.

Forums Tab

• Keeps up with all forum discussions on the site.

Groups Tab

• Discussions and news are grouped into subject areas, etc.  Find groups that deal with what *you* are interested in.

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Have questions?  Check out the BikingToronto Help Group to ask questions, or Contact Us directly.

While I was late getting there… the finalist models were still set up, so I took some photos of the great designs for you (also viewable on flickr):

Once I got home, I checked around online to see if I could find which design won the competition, and the information is already on the Mt. Pleasant website:

“What we particularly liked about the winning design is its practicality and playfulness. It’s immediately pleasing to the eye – and fun to engage with – and at the same time, it fits perfectly into the existing landscape. Indeed, the boldness of this design makes it a symbol of the ongoing re-design of the urban environment.”

The winning design team

A proud member of the winning design team

The jury hard at work

The design chosen for production and winners of $3,000: Katy Alter and Jeff Cogliati

Runners up and winners of $2,000: Shiwa Tseng, Kenneth Lee, and Michael Goriup

Runners up and winners of $1,000: Michael Shafir and Tommy Tso

I rather like the winning design… it was one of my favourites when I was looking at the models.  My other favourite was the design that placed 2nd, which is the one that looks like a series of ramps in the slideshow above.

What do you think?  Did the jury make a good decision?  Do you like one of the other designs better?

The Massey Family Crypt

Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries has asked Ryerson’s School of Interior Design students to create specially-designed bicycle racks that will enhance the unique and bicycle-friendly environment that exists within the Mount Pleasant grounds.

• What: Judging and Winners announced
• When: 3:00 p.m., Thursday, January 21, 2010
• Where: Room SID 106, School of Interior Design, 302 Church Street (google map), Ryerson University

Each design team will work on one site designated as a possible future bicycle rack in locations throughout the cemetery. As Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a working cemetery and a well-established arboretum, the designs must respect and enhance the use of the cemetery for all users and consider road allowances, drainage and the mature plant forms. Due to the sensitivity of the environment in which they will be placing their bicycle rack, special care will need to be paid to the appropriate use of colour and shape to enhance, not detract, from the current cemetery setting.

For anyone who’s been to Mount Pleasant Cemetary (yes, it’s a great place to bike!), you’ll know that it’s an old and very stately cemetary, with high profile grave sites of people like former Prime Minister William Lyon-MacKenzie King and the Massey family.

It’ll be interesting to see what the design students come up with.