Canada's biggest city votes to make cyclists a priority

Thursday, June 18, 2015, 3:59 PM - Toronto has 856 km of bicycle paths - painted bicycle lanes, shared roadway routes and multi-use trails - to help the daily commuter and leisure rider pedal to their destination. While it’s possible to get almost everywhere on two-wheels, some roads remain less travelled by cyclists when motor vehicles are in the mix.

But according to a recent evaluation by the City, overall cycling volumes on Richmond, Adelaide and Simcoe Streets in the downtown core have tripled since the demo cycle tracks (separated bike lanes) were added on those streets in 2014.

Here’s a peek from the City’s Chief Planner & Executive Director at one of these lanes during rush hour last month.

This spring the City launched its 2015 Cycling Network Plan and received 9,750 completed responses, predominantly from cyclists, on how to improve the overall system. The feedback showed that among those who started biking downtown in 2014, 43% of them did so because of the new cycle tracks. And when asked about safety and comfort on these streets, the score went from 3.6/10 to 8.3/10 after the cycle tracks were fully installed.

This week the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee unanimously adopted the recommendations to continue the pilot project and to extend the Richmond and Adelaide Streets Cycle Tracks to Parliament Street. An additional motion was also adopted for staff to review opportunities to upgrade connections to the Waterfront on Lower Simcoe and connections easterly on River Street and Shuter Street. The recommendations will be considered by City Council for approval in July.

Outside of laneways (and City Hall), the wheels have been turning on another way to achieve the safest and most comfortable ride. The Toronto company Vanhawks is looking to reshape the urban commute by creating the “smartest commuter bike.”

“We realize that there are quite a number of pain points that an urban cyclist will experience,” explains Alexander Choi, Marketing Manager at Vanhawks. “Whether that’s crazy cab drivers, bad road conditions or poor navigation skills.”

A year into development, the Vanhawks’ Valour, a carbon fibre bicycle equipped with latest bike tech - sensors, GPS navigation, wifi connectivity and security features – aims to reduce the stresses of urban cycling.

GPS navigation, for example, is relayed to the handlebars, sonars set near the rear hub alert cyclists if a car or an object comes into a blind spot, and sensors collect information on potholes, elevation and sudden turns to allow the system to suggest better or unconventional routes not generally available on maps.

And then Valour calls home.

“In the case that your bike is stolen or lost, you can send a notification saying it is,” explains Choi. “The entire network then will look for your bike, telling you the location and time it was last located.”

Starting at $1249 USD, the price tag is not for every commuter but the company says its features may one day be available for all bikes. The Valour is scheduled to hit Toronto streets later this summer. More casual cyclists looking to improve their commute can search for the most “direct, safe or safer routes” via the Ride the City App or log in local cycling trouble spots (cycling crashes, near-misses, hazards and thefts) via BikeMaps.org (app for Android.) Torontonians can continue to help inform the City on most-used bike routes through the Toronto Bike App.

Need a refresher on the rules of the road? This information shows how cyclists and motorists can safely - and without fines - share the streets.