Good news: The Pan Am Path in Toronto!

"Combining the power of culture and sport to create a living path across Toronto."

 Woot Woot! Smart cities take money from events such as the Olympics and Pan Am games, and use it to benefit and create long-lasting public infrastructure projects. I'm glad that Toronto has managed to secure this amazing path, which will unite Toronto with public space, art, sports, and nature! Landmark projects such as this help to push forward longer, more involved public infrastructure. The 2010 Olympics left Vancouver with the very well used, awesome Canada Sky Train line, which takes travellers to and from the Vancouver Downtown core in only 20 minutes for $3.75. At last year's VeloCity in Vancouver, I learned that the amazing and iconic Sea Wall was key in creating public interest and demand for better cycling infrastructure in the community. Looking forward to seeing the long-term benefits of the Pan Am Path!

Women Mean Business

photo of Deadly Nightshades by Miguel Jacob

The League of American Cyclists have a new free webinar series. The first one was a great talk on "How to Start and Sustain a Women's Bike Club", which featured a talk by our lovely friend Sarai at GIRL BIKE LOVE. This Wednesday, February 27th, anyone around the world can join in on the topic of Women Mean Business: The Economic Impact of Women Bicyclists.  

 "Though underrepresented in many aspects of the bicycle movement, there's growing evidence that women hold the purse strings when it comes to the future success of the bike industry."

Women Mean Business also happens to be the theme of the upcoming Woman's National Cycling Summit on March 4th in the 'Murican capital of Washington DC.

"The Forum will include keynote addresses from industry pioneer Georgena Terry (pictured), Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, as well as break-out sessions, lunch plenary, networking and so much more."

The cycling industry may be the last one in the world to get that women have money, like to spend money, and will spend money on cycling products when given the proper chance. Even the PGA, the grand-daddy of Golf (a sport also referred to as the second board room), just announced it is targeting women to ensure the fiscal sustainability of the sport. Time has painted the picture of the growing spending power of women. Lil Wayne can sit down. Ladies are the ones making it rain.


It's time we had that talk Cycling Industry. It's not us. It's you. We have money. We want to bike. So if we aren't biking and we aren't spending, you're doing it wrong. That means you're not giving us good products, good prices and good distribution. It's not just making pink bikes with flowers. Or putting a model on a bike to pose in your ads. Or making biking to women only about being"fashionable". (I understand the irony of a Deadly Nightshade writing this.) Marketing lifestyle choices and marketing fashion apparel are different things at the end of the day.

Maybe some of you bike companies could take a hint from Elen DeGeneres.


But before products, women cycling is about advocacy and government lobbying. The car industry does that right. At Velo-City 2012,  I got to learn the hard data of getting more women cycling. It's all about safety, or perceived safety. Marisa Espinosa- Senior Manager of Service Planning, Translink BC, pointed out that their data shows that the cycling "gender gap" is also due to women being the primary child care providers in Vancouver, which means transporting young children. It means curating families and raising the next generation of citizens, and shaping the transportation choices they make in the future. Without proper cycling infrastructure like separated bike lanes, reduced car traffic speed and laws, few women are willing to look past the dangers of cycling on our car-ruled roads.

Let's take a minute to remember the late Jenna Morrison, her son, her husband, and her unborn child. Our traffic system, transport truck laws and justice system completely failed this family. How can we expect to get more families cycling when we don't address this? Ironically, cars kill more children via collisions and lifestyle diseases caused by sedentary lifestyle. (That's not even getting into environmental factors like local air pollution causing childhood asthma, or catastrophic climate change.) In the long run, we are hurting ourselves and children more by sticking to cars thinking they are "safe."

So it is a combination of solid safety infrastructure creation, and addressing the issue of the perceived safety issue. Throw in some pretty girls on bikes to make people smile, sure! I'm all for it. Let's be real for a minute; biking can be dangerous. We can fix that. Car culture, grid lock, and auto emissions are killing us everyday. Bikes can fix that.

Watch this speech by the Queen Elizabeth II - Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient Gil Panalosa. He is the executive director of 8-80 Cities, based out of Toronto. Wouldn't it be swell if our city actually took his advice? To bring it back, he talks about sustainable cities, children, the need for "complete street systems", proper road design, and the incredible force that is NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.



Let's do this ladies. xo

Ontario Cyclists- Speak up for your streets! One day to go!

Natalie Boustead, from the About Face Collective

Hey, Rob Ford may still be at Toronto City Hall, but in remembering he is only one man in a large democracy, lets all take the time to participate in this call to action by Cycle Toronto. If we can get the provincial government on board backing better cycling infrastructure, then the Fords anti-cycling slant gets CRUSHED. Let's do this- now! Deadline is Tuesday, January 29th, 2013!

On Nov 30, 2012, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) released its Draft Cycling Strategy. It's the first provincial bike policy update in 20 years! We're encouraged to see the provincial government taking action to improve cycling infrastructure and better educate all road users.

The Draft Cycling Strategy is a response in large part to the Coroner's Review of Provincial Cycling Deaths released in June 2012. The MTO is reviewing the Coroner's recommendations and we need you to tell them how important a provincial Complete Streets policy and lowered speed limits are to you. We need a specific funding commitment with realistic and achievable timelines. We also want the MTO to focus on helmet promotion rather than mandatory helmets, create a new definition for e-bikes, adopt the one-metre rule and make sideguards mandatory for heavy trucks.

Action Alert: Tell the MTO that you want safer streets! We encourage you to:

1) Read our 22 recommendations
2) Submit feedback directly to the MTO before this Tues Jan 29

The Strategy signals a growing recognition by the Province of the role cycling plays in easing congestion, achieving daily requirements for physical activity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing economic development opportunities. This is our opportunity to influence its development. Submit your comments before Tuesday!

Cycle Toronto’s on-going advocacy efforts aren't possible without you. Renew your membership or make a donation today to support our work.

Ride safely,

Jared Kolb

Director of Campaigns & Membership
jared.kolb@cycleto.ca

Also, if you missed it, Ontario Physicians are calling for more bike lanes, STAT. Last year I attended the Ontario Cycling Summit in Toronto, which was sponsored by many levels of government, including Health Canada. In a presentation, I was stunned as I watched a presentation on Ontario's projected healthcare costs due to sedentary lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and stroke, which are set to explode within 15 years. In a cartoon the upward red line would have broken through the page and shattered the ceiling. It's going to be not only a lifestyle epidemic, but a health care crisis due to straining of funds. So if you are trying to convince people to support cycling infrastructure, tell them Doctors and Economists are calling for this due to the very real possibility that car-culture is going to bankrupt this province by 2030. So Mr. Ford, since you claim to want to run this city like a business, I suggest you act like a CFO and do something about the fiscal future of your Province and City- now.

The #1 Rule

The Deadly Nightshades have only one rule: Don't Die.

Basically any other suggestions we have stem from Rule #1. These Biking Rules Street Code from NYC's Transportation Alternatives are all about leading by example. Leading by example is pretty much the best system to help create a pleasant cycling culture in any city, AND help anyone adhere to Rule #1.



There are a few things in there that could be argued- going against traffic on small one way streets can be much safer then riding with traffic on very busy streets. While helmets are awesome and DNS is in full support of protecting your central processing system with a brain bucket, helmet laws can actually prevent people from riding, and that's lame. Everything else is pretty much spot on.

Since being back in Toronto I've actually been shocked at the lack of bike lights in this city. Vancouver can get so dark you end up needing lights just to see where you are going. In Toronto we have so much light pollution visibility isn't as dire, but lights in traffic are a great way to follow DNS Rule #1. You may not realize how vulnerable you actually are until you yourself are in a car or bus and are surprised by a cyclist without a light. Check out Cycle Toronto's Get Lit! program for more info.

Cyclists have a bad rep for causing bike accidents. (If you have Linkedin you can read this bizarre thread on Ghost Bikes and the odd turn it takes.) This is basically a BS perception based on... I'm not too sure. A few bad bike eggs? Car drivers not wanting to take responsibility? It's well known that when you demonize a group of people it makes it easier for someone to justify suppressing or hurting that group, as they become the dangerous "others". Old-as-time tactic in warfare. Gross, right?


don't tell me what to do

When campaigning for change, it's important to not take on the tactics of what you are trying to change. Albert Einsteing put it best: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." There is definitely a demonetization of drivers in the cycling world. In return all individual cyclists can also be lumped into one big cyclist category. So let's drop it. It won't get us anywhere. Dave Meslin did a great piece of advocacy campaign called Drivers for Jarvis based on the misconception that in the streets it's "drivers" vs. "cyclists".

I digress. Leading by example is awesome. So is changing misconceptions, and breaking down walls. Let's make this city work for everyone so we can get down to more pressing issues like the latest nail art trends, feasting with friends and dance parties.

London Time's #CycleSafe Campaign

I am glad that since our political leaders have been so soft on the issue of cycle safety, The London Times has stepped up and demanding that citizens who choose cycling as a form of transportation be as protected as citizens in cars. I would love to see the Star or the Globe do the same for Canadians.

Click here to read "Cities Fit For Cycling" by the London Times.

Here is their 8-point manifesto.

-Trucks entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible truck-turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels.
-The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side.
-A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety.
-Two per cent of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for next generation cycle routes, providing £100 million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision.
-The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
-20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes.
-Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling super-highways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London.
-Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.

Their first one made me choke up and think of Jenna Morrison. Lets do this, shall we?

1<3

Watch this great video from Andrew Rooke on biking in Toronto.

Bike City from Andrew Rooke on Vimeo.

Yesterday and today is the Vancouver Cities Summit, where cycling infrastructure was a topic of conversation. You can follow what happened/is happening on the Twitter with this thing: #citiessummit2012