"Please be advised that Councillor Ootes does not participate in election surveys." For someone who doesn't do surveys, Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth) sure doesn't mind asking his constituents to participate in them. At the last City Council meeting before the election, Ootes filed yet another motion -- seconded by Deputy Mayor Michael Feldman (Ward 10, York Centre) -- asking that area residents be polled as to whether they were in favour of, or opposed to, the bike lanes on Cosburn Avenue. Fortunately, Ootes did not get his way. (See page 187, item I(5).) Oote's previous attempts to ...

In a previous post about bike lanes on Bloor Street and how they may -- or may not -- fit into the Bloor Street Transformation project in Yorkville, we featured comments from some of the candidates for Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale. So, who else supports bikes on Bloor? Here are the rest of the candidates' comments whose wards are along Bloor-Danforth. I asked them if they supported the idea of a major east-west bikeway on Bloor Street, and whether or not they would be willing to give up parking for it. Ward 20 and 27 candidates were also ...

Before and after the Bloor Street Transformation: At the turn of the 19th century, bicycling was all the rage for the bourgeoisie. It would appear this is no longer the case; not in Toronto, anyway. A massive remodelling of Bloor Street is underway in Toronto’s tony Yorkville neighbourhood -- and the preliminary design does not include bike lanes. The Bloor Street Transformation -- spearheaded by the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area (BYBIA) -- will reconstruct Bloor Street from Avenue Road to Church Street. The initial plan includes the removal of all on-street parking on ...

Will the mayor pay penance? Mayor David Miller spoke with the Toronto Community News editorial board recently about his vision for the city. And, behold, miracle of miracles -- this vision included bike lanes. (Sound trumpets and queue shining rays of light on Bloor street, here.) As reported by insidetoronto.ca: Miller was contrite about the city's failure to significantly implement the ambitious Bike Plan. "I learned a lesson here. My approach was to say, the bike plan is underfunded, let's put money in the budget for it, which we did. We increased the funding I think by $1 million a year. And ...

...And, no to war in Afghanistan this Saturday. Take the Tooker rides again, Saturday October 28th, leaving from Kipling and Kennedy stations at 11:30 a.m. and ending on the steps of the ROM at 1pm. There are lots of pick-up points en route. Then, ride down to the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue to join the Canada out of Afghanistan rally and march. The connection? Why it's oil, of course, silly! Some people (like Linda McQuaig, for example) believe that our addiction to oil is fueling our foreign policy. So, act locally: ride your bike and ...

Everyone will be watching us. Ride our bikes, that is, as we commute in a group this Friday morning, on our BikeFriday Halloween ride. BikeFriday is an initiative to get people thinking about cycling once a month, instead of just once a week during the City's BikeWeek. It is also about safety in numbers. I will once again be leading a group commute from the corner of Sorauren Avenue and Queen Street West to City Hall. We will meet at 8:15 a.m. Last time was a lot of fun and three of the candidates from my ...

City Council is sorely lacking in leadership on cycling issues overall, and no one really deserves more than a shaky sideways thumb. But, we have compiled a shortlist of those who have at least made an effort, and those who have failed miserably. Glenn De Baeremaeker – Ward 38 (Scarborough Centre) Board member of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Works Committee member; well-known for his environmentalist ways, specifically his work to save the Rouge Valley. De Baeremaeker has been instrumental in getting increased funding for the bike plan, including a February 2004 motion to add $800,000 ...

Do you dream of a safe east-west bike passage through the downtown core? Why not let the candidates in your ward know how you feel? In the lead up to the election, the folks behind Take the Tooker -- an initiative to install a major bike route along Bloor -- have set up an "awesome emailer that will send your sentiments to all candidates in your ward. There is even a template letter to help save you time." The letter reads, in part: ...repainting the Bloor/Danforth for bike lanes is a cheap, easy, and fairly effective step to improve ...

Christopher Hume waxes prophetic about the possibilities for pedal power in T.O. in Sunday's Toronto Star. The story compares cycling in Toronto to urban Sweden. Some of the interesting comparisons include: biking in Sweden is part of a larger strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions bikes are not considered a viable means of transportation in Toronto biking in Toronto has become dangerous Toronto's smog plan does not promote cycling. In fact, a rep from Public Health told me that cycling on smog days is discouraged due to the dangerously high level of fine particulate in the air. Shouldn't the City be telling people ...

Running for City Council? What about riding or rolling? I put this question to the candidates in Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park, and found out that three of the 14 candidates running in Parkdale-High Park were willing to ride for their votes. Rowena Santos, Ted Lojko and Walt Jarsky all showed their support for cycling this Friday past when they joined me and other citizen cyclists in a group commute from Queen and Sorauren to City Hall. The group commute was part of BikeFriday -- an initiative to get people thinking about biking as a ...