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In the last two issues of Momentum<\/em> magazine<\/a> there has been a feature (which I believe will be reoccurring throughout future issues as well) called “Cycling for Everyone”.<\/p>\n The first installment in issue #35, “Provision of Cycling Rights of Way<\/a>,” deals with the creation of a cycling environment that is separate, or at least protected, from the larger vehicles on the road. With examples given from European cycling havens such as Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, it’s almost enough to get us North Americans rather jealous.<\/p>\n But what’s good for a Dutch gander isn’t necessarily good for the Canadian Goose. The basic principals behind cycling right-of-way are the same on both sides of the pond but the people it needs to be tailored to are quite different. These European countries have a much higher percentage of cyclists than we do in Canada or The States (as well as having a more statistically well-rounded cycling demographic instead of our young male—dominated scene). With cycling ridership levels in the 20-30% range, compared to North America’s meager 1%, it is obvious that Euro-cyclists will have a lot more infrastructure that is catered to them. Also, North American cities are, for the most part, not as dense as European counterparts — which means longer commutes and more car-dependency — the rolling tides of suburban neighborhoods which tidyly border our cities can be a vertiable no-man’s land for cycling (I touch on this in the forthcoming issue of Spacing<\/em>), at least in any sort of way comparable to Europe. No matter how many kilometers of bike lanes are constructed in-and-around the city, it seems very unlikely to see a big rise in 905-ers cycling into downtown every day.<\/p>\n But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything to learn from these German, Danish, and Dutch models.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just because we may not be boasting the numbers like Europe does, that doesn’t mean that big cities around Canada and the U.S. don’t need complete and integrated bike systems. Toronto, for instance, is a long way away from this. Even when (if) the Bike Plan is completed, just having designated spaces doesn’t make for a very well-rounded infrastructure. It’s like putting a child in a play pen without any toys.<\/p>\n Although cycling numbers may be up in Toronto, we aren’t going to hit European levels any time soon. I think the biggest potential draw the city has towards building bike ridership would be in the bike-and-ride department. Back in the 80s Toronto used to be at the forefront of encouraging the combination of cycling with public transportation as the TTC was one of the few transit agencies that allowed bikes on their vehicles.\u00a0 As other cities such as San Fransisco and Seattle started to catch up, Toronto began to stagnate, falling further down the ladder of bike-friendliness through the 90s. A major part of the City’s Bike Plan is focused on reestablishing a strong relationship with cycling and transit again.<\/p>\n In surveys done by the City in order to establish the needs of local cyclists before the Bike Plan was drafted, almost half of the non-cyclists questioned cited “distance” as the reason for not riding (see what I mean about density?). Toronto has twice as much area as Berlin with only a slightly larger population, leaving Berlin with a much higher density (almost 40 people per hectare, compared to Toronto’s 27). Making cycling to transit (or vice versa) transitions as painless as possible may help the trips to work or school seem more fathomable. The TTC has already started the ball rolling on this with increasing the number of routes equipped with bike racks (Note: I take a fold-up on my commute so I have never used these racks. I would like to know from any <\/em>Spacing readers how they feel about using these racks?<\/em>), but there are still a lot of kinks to work out. Some stations have those revolving door entrances\/exits that (as you can see in the photo above) are near impossible to navigate with a bike. But the big issue is that bikes aren’t allowed on the subway during peak hours (which is reasonable considering what the subway is like during peak hours), but this hampers those who would need to cycle before and after their transit trip. As unfortunate as it is, I don’t see any sort of easy fix for this popping up in the near future.<\/p>\n It may come as a surprise, but Momentum actually named Toronto as a leader in one area of cycling: Parking. Just like cars and butts, having a place to park your bike is a necessity. In the most recent Cycling for Everyone<\/em> article, aptly named “Bike Parking<\/a>“, Toronto, along with sister city Chicago, were hailed as the North American role models. I’m sure no mention is really needed for the 15,000 post-and-rings we have around the city, they’re so popular that they seem to be popping up in people’s own yards for personal use. The City plans to install a lot more over the next few years, same with bike lockers.<\/p>\n Maybe one of Toronto’s best moves concerning bike parking would be the 1993 zoning bylaw requiring bike parking for every residential or commercial building over 2,500 square metres.<\/p>\n But Chicago is a big up and comer. Over the past 15 years, more bike posts have been installed across Chicago than any other city in the U.S. and are getting pretty close to Toronto’s numbers. Also, the CTA has the most indoor\/sheltered bike parking out of every transit system in North America, and they’re still building more and improving designs.<\/p>\n Toronto is still (hopefully only) a few years from seeing the completion of the Bike Plan. While it should give Toronto a big push back into the cycling scene, by no means it should be the end of the line. Getting the proposed bike network up and running should only be the beginning of continous work to keep our bike infrastructure Toronto-specific, as well as world class.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/88\/228406874_0e85df0762_m.jpg\")
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