The Toronto Cyclists Handbook
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.
Available in 17 languages, the handbook provides an excellent introduction to the rules of the road and how to join the more than 400,000 Torontonians who use bicycles to get to work and play.
The information within the handbook is to the point and accompanied by helpful illustrations.
The handbook is currently available from the Toronto Cyclists Union and CultureLink Settlement Services. The handbook will soon be available online as a PDF and will see greater distribution as part of CultureLink’s Newcomer Settlement Program.
Please note that the text in the handbook is not faded as appears above, this is due to an error in my photo taking.
Posted: July 6th, 2010
Author: duncan
Filed under: advocacy, commuting, CultureLink, photos, The Toronto Cyclists Handbook, Toronto Cyclists Union | 8 Comments »
Joe T.
duncan
‘Please note that the text in the handbook is not faded as appears above, this is due to an error in my photo taking’ – why didn’t you correct the error prior to publishing? It would have taken only a minute ….
Unfortunately, using my point and shoot camera these were the clearest shots I could get. I’ll update the post once PDFs are available.
Nice idea – most of it seems like common sense, but I guess it’s good to get the basics nailed if you’re a beginner. Anything to get more people cycling! Like the cover too :)
If I take the time to write a comment I usually try to bring something – like a link – so my criticism is helpful.
I think Mathew is talking about photo editing software like Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/). It free and open source – so we like it. :]
Big learning curve but something I have been meaning to get into for a while now.
On the booklet… I didn’t know everyone knew about driving in a straight line, I thought I was the only one doing that!
I guess that’s why it was a good thing the Cyclist’s Union was involved.
The information in the booklet is pretty basic, but certainly very useful.
Riding in a straight line is something no one really tells you to do. As a result, I see far too many people weaving in and out of empty parking spaces and when they do this drivers begin to expect this behaviour and prepare to “gun it” past you when empty spaces appear.
I like that they didn’t get overly specific with bylaws. “obey traffic laws You must stop at red lights and stops signs and always ride in the same direction as traffic.” Direct language, easy to understand rules and no mincing words.
Thanks for the photos of the pages Duncan. You’ve taken photos of 3… are those the only 3 in English, with reproductions of them in each of the other 17 languages?
The handbook version I have is completely in English. I chose these few pages just to give an idea of what’s inside. There’s more information and illustrations including what to wear for cycling year-round and a large 2-page spread labeling the parts of a bicycle.
Oh good. There are 17 different versions available then. :)