Drivers and cyclists – negotiating the mean streets of Toronto

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There is a lot of anger on the streets of Toronto right now. Drivers are mad at cyclists and pedestrians, cyclists are mad at drivers, and it seems everyone is downright irate at the TTC! While there has always been a reluctant sharing of the road, matters between cyclists and drivers increased significantly last fall with the death of Darcy Allan Sheppard, a cyclist who was killed after an altercation with a car being driven by ex-Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant.

Much has been written and speculated about whether Sheppard had been drinking and what part his alleged road rage played in the accident, the incident certainly sparked some long-dormant anger and frustration felt by the many cyclists of the city.

Like many large cities, Toronto has a large number of cyclists who use the bike as their main form of transportation as opposed to solely recreational use. Although the number of cyclist fatalities is relatively low, the number of traffic-related cycling accidents involving cars is staggering (there were 1068 in 2008). With well over 90,000 cyclists on the road, many feel that the City of Toronto is not doing enough to accommodate them, often giving preference to drivers and not following through on their promises of improving cycling conditions. Given the fact that cycling means less traffic congestion and is a much more environmentally friendly and healthy way to commute (and much encouraged by our local government), the rate in which the City is implementing the initiatives laid out by the Toronto Bike Plan, is frustratingly slow.

While there are some excellent recreational bike paths around the city, the lanes that exist on the major roads, those being travelled by commuters, are badly overlooked. Not only are they inconsistent, but there also seems to be a lack of respect on the part of drivers who frequently abuse them. With the first bike lanes appearing in 1993, there are still only 112 km, making the City’s goal of reaching 1000km by 2012 (recently pushed back from 2011) wishful thinking.

In fact, many of the 42 recommendations laid out by the City’s Toronto Bike Plan of 2001, such as the “creation of a safe, comfortable, bike-friendly environment’ and that all residents be ‘within a 5 minute ride to a cycling path network”, are simply not coming to fruition. That is not to say that the City has been completely idle and there has been a good amount of effort on their part to educate the public on cycling safety (through the CAN-BIKE program), organise city-wide events such as Bike Month and make easier for cyclists to take their bikes on the TTC when necessary (for example, the installation of bike racks on the front of buses).

With so many cyclists (and ‘would-be’ cyclists if it were safer), cycling advocacy groups have surfaced, most notably the Toronto Cyclists Union. Probably the most well-organised and media-friendly group with over 700 members to date, they formed in 2008 and immediately starting lobbying local government for improvements to the system while at the same time, making their own recommendations and trying to give Toronto cyclists a ‘unifying voice’.

According to the group’s mission statement, one of their main goals is to hold government accountable to their promises of creating, enforcing and maintaining infrastructure that, in the words of the union, “supports cyclists needs” and that “treats cycling as an important part of the transportation network”. The Executive Director, Yvonne Bambrick, is the public face of the union and can be often seen in the media, not only to comment on the political side of the cycling issue but more frequently encouraging fellow citizen to embrace all-year cycling and make it a serious alternative to commuting by car.

In fact, unlike some cycling groups who seem to welcome anti-car anger, the Toronto Bike Union works towards ways for helping cars and cyclists co-exist in the city, focussing on the positive through initiatives such as last fall’s program, ‘Cyclists Paving the Way’, whereby cyclists made a point of thanking bike-friendly, courteous drivers. And although Bambrick is strong in her conviction that roads should not be “solely for automobiles”, pointing out that cyclists pay taxes too, she hopes the group’s actions will make drivers aware that cyclists do share the road and “reinforce the idea that (cyclists) are there year-round.”

• For information about the City of Toronto’s Bike Plan, visit their website at www.toronto.ca. You can also find advice and tips on safe winter cycling in the city, upcoming events and downloadable maps of the existing Toronto bike paths.
• A membership to the Toronto Bike Union starts at just $2.00 per month and entitles members to bike store discounts, newsletters and voting rights. For more information on membership options, links to community cycling groups and Toronto-specific cycling blogs, visit their website at www.bikeunion.to.

Photo credit: Toronto Bike Union Thank You Program, Switchvertising

- Fiona Bramzell -