The Executive Committee of City Council is meeting today, and the Toronto Coalition of Active Transport (TCAT) is trying to get the issue of funding the BikePlan for a 2012 completion back on the table, after the Budget Committee decided that the Bike Plan was important, but not important enough to finish by when Council wants to have it finished by:
TCAT continues to call on City Council to take immediate action to get the Bike Plan implementation back on track by:
- Committing a minimum of $6.2 million to the 2008 Transportation Services cycling infrastructure budget
- Ensuring that the $200,000 Parks, Forestry & Recreation 'bikeway network expansion' funding that was cut in 2007 as a cost containment measure be reinstated to that budget
- Providing a minimum of $4 million in the 2008 Parks, Forestry & Recreation budget for repairing multi-use pathways in Toronto's Parks, to begin addressing the $20 million back-log
- Moving forward the Parks Forestry & Recreation funding for bikeway network paths from the 2013 to 2017 into the current 5 year plan
- Establishing a staff position in Parks, Forestry & Recreation that is dedicated to ensuring the integrity and connectivity of the pathway network
To read TCAT's letter to the Executive Committee click here.
Please take a few minutes this weekend to write to Mayor Miller, members of the Executive Committee, and your local councillor, and tell them you support TCAT's budget recommendations for implementing the Toronto Bike Plan by 2012.
Write to:
- Executive Committee secretary - [email protected]
- Executive Committee Chair, Mayor David Miller - [email protected]
Executive Committee Members:
- Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone - [email protected]
- Shelley Carroll - [email protected]
- Glenn De Baeremaeker - [email protected]
- Paula Fletcher - [email protected]
- Norm Kelly - [email protected]
- Gloria Lindsay Luby - [email protected]
- Giorgio Mammoliti - [email protected]
- Pam McConnell - [email protected]
- Joe Mihevc - [email protected]
- Howard Moscoe - [email protected]
- Kyle Rae - [email protected]
Please also copy TCAT ([email protected]) on any letters or e-mails you write.
More on the TCAT site, as well as on BikeToronto.ca
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
Eye columnist and Spacing contributer Dale Duncan has a nice piece in Eye this week about bikelanes. Specifically, the frustration that comes with seeing some city politicians talk about being "green" but then not supporting funding for the Bike Plan. Adding bikelanes to Toronto's streets is relatively cheap and easy to do, yet for all the plans, the money is still missing:
It’s strange to hear our city councillors claim that they’re going to make Toronto a green leader in one breath, and then treat cycling as an issue that doesn’t really have to be taken seriously in the next. When, on Nov. 14, Councillor Gord Perks moved to add $17.9 million to the cycling infrastructure budget over the next five years so that it would be possible for the city to meet its own goals, the budget committee shot him down. It’s as though there is a disconnect between plans that are approved and the money that is then dedicated to implementing them.It should be noted of course, that some politicians are trying to get funding put through - Gord Perks, Glen De Baeremaeker and Joe Mihevc have been particularly noteworthy in trying to talk their colleagues into putting money where their mouths are.
Agreed, Toronto continues to face troubling times financially, but somehow the city has found the money to pay for other, much more expensive projects. Take the Dufferin Street extension, priced at $32 million, or take a $35.6 million loan the budget committee recently agreed to provide for the construction of a new conference centre at the CNE. This isn’t to say that these projects aren’t necessarily worthwhile, but to prove that when council really wants something, it can often find the funds for it.
Know of another councillor who should be recognized positively?
[photo credit]
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
The Star already has reader-submitted opinions up stemming from the article this morning:
Toronto likes to boast that it is a world-class city, but it is absolutely parochial when it comes to its cycling policy. You can go to Tokyo and see full-service parking lots holding thousands of bicycles that are used as primary sources of transportation within the city. You can go to Europe and see thousands of kilometers of bicycle paths that are used as primary transportation routes by millions of bicycles. It's about time that Toronto learns that bicycles are not simply used for recreation, but are a primary all-season sustainable means of transportation that needs to be treated with more respect that it currently is.Check it out - they'll probably update the page as more readers submit. Even better - add your own opinion about if community councils should be able to veto bikelane installation.
[Joe Cooper, East York]
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
Go and have your say about "Should community councils be allowed to veto new bike paths authorized by the city?" - they post most comments on their website and a select few in the paper version.
UPDATE: The Star has reader feedback on the website now.
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
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BeeRich said...
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I have to submit my phone number and full name to have an opinion? Then they want the right to publish my full information in the newspaper? And they wonder why they get no answers. Then it looks like we have no opinions. I want the ability to have an opinion without publishing my personal information all over the Internet or a newspaper.
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joe said...
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I tend to agree with you... just fill it in with false info. They've published my comments before and only included my name.
They say they'll contact us if they're going to publish, but never do.
The Star has a short article this morning on City Council's plan to eliminate community councils from the Bikelane approval process - meaning that every January, City Council can decide which lanes will go in that year without having anti-cycling councillors holding up the process in their wards:
There are 50 km that have been identified as having "low opposition" on Council, so there are plans to okay them in January for installation in 2008. This should help catch up on the Bike Plan.Toronto should be able to add 50 kilometres of bike lanes to city streets in 2008 if a bureaucratic speed bump is flattened out, says the chair of the bicycle committee.
City council voted 38-3 yesterday to work toward streamlining the process that bounced approval of new bike lanes back and forth between community councils and the works committee.
A city staff report to come in January will recommend cutting community councils out of the process, said Councillor Adrian Heaps, who chairs the cycling committee. Councillors who oppose bike lanes have often managed to stall approval at that level, he said.
Heaps argues that since new transit routes and road construction don't need blessing from community councils, bike lanes shouldn't need it either.
More at the Star.
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
More at the Star, and news about BikePlan funding was in the BikingToronto post from earlier todayThough it's been cited as a key part of the Toronto's transit strategy, the city keeps falling further and further behind on its bike plan.
At the outset, there were to be 1,000 kilometres of bikeways – a mix of lanes, signed routes and park paths – in place by 2011. Six years later, less than a third are built and the deadline's been pushed back to 2012.
"It's sort of like New Year's resolutions," said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, who bikes to city hall from Scarborough. "It's one thing to write them down, it's another to implement them.
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
Tammy Thorne of Spacing just posted about the Budget Committee backing down from increasing the Bike Plan Budget to get it done by 2012.
While the original amount budgeted for 2008 was $3 million, the $5.5 million approved (while a substantial increase of 83%) falls short of the $7.7 million that some people say is needed to get the plan back on track to a 2012 finish.
The city’s chronic shortage of money has killed a move to add almost $18 million to complete an ambitious bike plan by 2012.
City council’s budget committee voted only to support the project in principle, with a report to come later on whether it’s affordable without cancelling other important projects.
The city’s 2008 capital budget allocates $5.5 million next year for bike lanes, but that should be raised to $7.7 million, said Franz Hartmann, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
Councillor Gord Perks’ bid to add $17.9 million to the bike plan between 2009 and 2012 ran into opposition on the budget committee.
“I don’t want to increase the budget by $17 million right now,” said Councillor Shelley Carroll, the budget committee chair.
The Spacing Post also has some good advice for Toronto cyclists who want to get proper funding back on the table, maybe via the Council Executive Committee (email link to Exec. Committee Secretariat):
• contact your local councillor and ask them to support funding for completion of the entire Bike PlanMore at Spacing Toronto
• contact the Executive Committee if you want them to up the funding for bikes.
[photo credit]
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
Smog from cars kills around 440 people a year according to Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health. The most effective way to get people to keep their cars at home is to give them alternatives. So how about moving forward with our Bike Plan? Since the plan's approval in 2001, only 20 per cent of the funds needed to complete it have been spent.
(Franz Hartmann, Toronto Environment Alliance)
The CAA doesn’t speak for me. I’d rather drive my SUV — yes I own an SUV — on a bumpy road with a bike lane than a smooth road without one. We need more than just bike lanes, we need promotional programs, ads that say “walk more, pollute less” on the TTC. Health care costs are rising, but we don’t have to go to the gym, we just have to walk. I’m here to urge you to spend more.
(Dr. Judy Adler)
More at Eye Weekly.
Here are some excerpts from Martin, but check out his full post for much more info:
...In the morning several people showed up to make deputations to the Budget Committee in support of putting the funding in place to ensure that the Toronto Bike Plan can be completed by 2012. The Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) submitted their deputation which included an analysis of the Capital Budgets of the Parks Forestry and Recreation Division and the Transportation Services Division. It found that the 2008 - 2012 five year capital plan as proposed would not achieve the goal of completing the Bike Plan by 2012. You can read their deputation on the TCAT website: 2008 Capital budget submission.
...
During the day Councillor Gord Perks Ward 14 Parkdale-High Park, a member of the Budget Committee, worked to ensure that the funds to complete the capital projects in the Bike Plan were in the 2008 - 2012 time frame... [including] a request that all the funding for bike plan related Parks Forestry and Recreation trail projects be moved forward from the 2013 - 2017 5 year plan into the 2008 - 2012 time frame. This ... has to be introduced formally as a motion at the budget committee tomorrow, November 14th.
...
Councillor Adrian Heaps Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest, the chair of the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee (TCAC) approached me at one point during the afternoon as I sat in the gallery and said "We're making progress". I think we actually are. It doesn't mean though that the cycling community can relent in keeping on the pressure to see action on the Bike Plan, but rather feel re-energized to keep pressing on.
More at BikeToronto.
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
How does this impact cyclists? It's all about the money for expanding the bikeplan to its full 1000+ km by 2012.
Thanks to BikeToronto for analyzing the numbers for Toronto cyclists:
Since the budget was just released on the 29th it has taken a bit of time to find out exactly how cycling related budget lines have fared in this proposed budget. The two budgets that have the most impact on the Bike Plan projects are those of the Transportation Services Division and the Parks Forestry and Recreation Division.
The presentation by staff at the budget launch showed that the Transportation Services Cycling infrastructure budget would be $3.0 million in 2008, no increase over 2007. However the analyst notes indicate that this budget will get an increase to 5.5 million in 2008 ($4.55 million to be spent in 2008 and $950,000 to be spent in 2009).
However, this annual rate of funding is still short of the funds that would be needed to complete the bike plan by 2012. The proposed 5 year capital plan 2008 - 2012 shows $30.1 million being spent on cycling infrastructure. That budget pays not only for bike lanes and off-road paths in hydro and rail corridors but also it contains the funds for the other items that are paid for out of the Cycling infrastructure budget such as Bike Parking projects, bridges and crossings, project management or any of the amenities that go with trail projects.
More than half of the funds needed to complete the Bikeway Network and the other parts of the Bike Plan are in the Capital plan for the years beyond 2012. The remaining $38.104 million needed to complete the bike plan are in the 2013 - 2017 Capital plan.
To complete the Bikeway Network by 2012 the budget committee needs to move those funds into the 2008 - 2012 capital plan.
If you believe in the possibilities of a full bikelane network encouraging more Torontonians to bike in our city, consider speaking to the Budget Committee next Tuesday during the public hearing session.
This is the only opportunity to voice your support for political funding of projects that improve the cycling environment in Toronto.
To find the public presentation and analyst briefing notes visit the City’s web site by clicking here.
To sign up to make a deputation on November 13th, contact the committee secretary at [email protected] or 416-392-7340.
There's a new committee in town, and it's called the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee. The new "TCAC" replaces the old Cycling Committee in the interests of becoming more efficient and effective, and it's role is to advise City Council on all things bike-related in our fair city.
The changes from the old to new committee is nicely summed up by BikeToronto:
The committee will consist of 8 members at large and there will no longer be representatives of the local cycling groups nor a representative of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee on the new Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee. There had been attempts by cycling community members to have amendments made to maintain the representatives of these groups and have a more frequent meeting schedule (See previous article). These were ultimately unsuccessful. At the June 19th, 20th, 2007 City Council meeting, the revised terms of reference were passed without the amendments proposed by those in the cycling community.If I remember correctly, there was much "concern" in the cycling community about the proposed changes - as advocates thought the city was not interested in hearing what they had to say. The stated objectives of the changes were to make the committee more efficient and effective (I've heard anecdotal evidence about the old committee being disjointed and unproductive), and all we as citizens can do is hope that these objectives are achieved.
City Council recently (Sept. 26th) approved the list of the 8 citizens who will make up the Cycling Advisory Committee:
1. Paulette Blais;
2. Dr. Chris Cavacuiti;
3. Sonia Khan;
4. Chris Hardwicke;
5. Margaret Hasting-James;
6. Aaron Hershoff;
7. Fred Sztabinski; and
8. Tammy Thorne.
Their terms are set to expire on Nov. 30th, 2010.
See the Council Document (PDF file)
The Cycling Advisory Committee information is on page 47 of the document.
The Globe and Mail has an intriguing article today about a bunch of cycling and pedestrian initiatives due to come up before the City Council Works Committee next week:
A pedestrian-only street, a city-spanning bike lane from Etobicoke to Scarborough and automated cameras to bust illegal left-turners - all those and more innovative schemes are about to hit the city council agenda as transportation planners experiment with low-cost ways to ease Toronto's congested traffic.Instead of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, I encourage you to contact the Public Secretariat and all the members of the Works Committee and let them know you want them to make Toronto more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly."What we're trying to do, it requires a public mind shift," Mr. McPhail said yesterday in an interview. "The public out there has to realize that the way they've been travelling historically ... just cannot continue."
Works committee chairman Glenn De Baeremaeker, an avid cyclist and key ally of Mayor David Miller, said the report would win council's support.
"To me it's a revolutionary document that's going to be the transportation bible for the next decade," Mr. De Baeremaeker said.
Councillors on the Works Committee
Glenn De Baeremaeker, Chair
Shelley Carroll
Adam Giambrone
Mark Grimes
Chin Lee
John Parker
Use this handy email link to email all of them at once :)
[image by Gabi]
Attention All Pedestrians, Cyclists, Bladers and Transit Users: South Kingsway on TPC Agenda
[This is courtesy of TCAT, and I mentioned this back in July too. ]
Responding to a letter from the Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN), the Toronto Pedestrian Committee (TPC) will be considering a motion to re-open the South Kingsway/Queensway Environmental Assessment (EA) on Wednesday, September 12th at 3:00pm. At issue is the opportunity for the City to use almost $1 million to make progressive pedestrian, cycling and transit access improvements that meet the City's Official Plan, Pedestrian Charter and Bike Plan or simply re-construct the 1950s style interchange virtually "as is".
Bill Saundercook, the local Councillor who declared the EA dead in July, will chair the TPC meeting. The TPC is comprised of citizen appointees and two councillors (see www.toronto.ca/tpc/#members). The meeting is open to the public so TURN requests that you attend in person and/or phone TPC members in advance requesting that they support the motion. This could well be the last chance to bring this fast and dangerous car-oriented area into the 21st century by making it much more people-friendly. For further information, contact Marty Collier at marty.collier
Thanks,
Marty Collier
Member, Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN)
**********************************
Toronto Pedestrian Committee Meeting
Wednesday, September 12 at 3pm
City Hall, Committee Room 3
Full TPC Agenda for Sept. 12th ( South Kingsway is Item #2)
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2007/agendas/committees/tp/tp070912/agenda.pdf
Background on South Kingsway pedestrian improvements
http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/south_kingsway-queensway/index.htm
Mike Smith of NOW Magazine, who moderated the NOW Bike Forum a few weeks ago, weighs in with his thoughts from the evening and how cycling will become the priority it needs to be - cyclists making themselves heard:
It almost seemed [City Councillor Adam Giambrone] was dropping a hint: get noisey now. The experience of a participant named Paul who was involved in the successful push for a Dundas East bike lane made the point.While prior proposals faced stiff opposition, "the difference was community organizing," he said. "There are a lot of people out there with rusty bikes in the basement. If you create a bit of a movement, there's more support." He also pointed out that while Business Improvement Areas have staff to help them organize, cyclists don't.
Egan agreed. "Dundas East was really interesting. The traffic implications were greater than most projects," he said. "If the community is behind it, it makes it easier. Whether staff should lead that, that's a good question."
Darren Stehr, no friend of Giambrone's, actually agreed:
"We've had too many projects stall," Stehr said. "We go to the public and there's opposition. Even a mild outcry and the councillor gets cold feet and pulls back." He confided to the audience that many projects have gone under simply because cyclists haven't organized, while over-cautious merchants and motorists have.So, we have to get organized and we have to get vocal.
That may mean bringing an organ to bike events to play those anthemic songs they play at hockey and baseball games - like We Will Rock You, or that "Charge!" one... the options are endless...
Now, who has an organ? :)
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-03-22/news_story5.php
Then there's Bussin's opposition to lanes on Leslie. "Sandra has the other half of that," Fletcher says, referring to the fact that Leslie divides their wards, "and she doesn't support it."
Bussin says Leslie is too complicated, and the lights at Loblaws only make it worse. "The original plan is the wise one: having a lane on Knox. It provides that north route and it's only a block and a half east of Leslie."
Bussin calls Fletcher's Eastern bike lane "industrious," but she's skeptical. "To use [bike lanes on] Eastern as a tool to stop traffic is not a good idea. It's going to create confusion, and trucks will go on Queen."
Bussin suspects that Fletcher's bike lane proposal is an attempt to fend off an influx of mega-stores. Coincidentally, Toronto Film Studios on Eastern has recently sold its site to big-box developer SmartCentres. A monstrous Canadian Tire already sits on Leslie awaiting its official unveiling.
"I don't think you should be using cyclists to traffic calm in an attempt to stop big-box deliveries," says Bussin. She further questions the approach of "rallying activists'', noting that the best solution is to leave the matter of box stores up to the oracle at the OMB. Ha!
But David Dunn of the city's transportation services says it's "not impossible to accommodate bike lanes on Leslie.'' If it can be done on Eastern, which has more than twice the traffic and is two metres narrower, it can be done on Leslie. "But it's very busy and there's lot's of turning movements."
IF YOU ARE SUPPORTIVE OF MAKING LESLIE AND EATERN MORE BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN FREINDLY PLEASE CONTACT COUNCILLOR BUSSIN AND EXPLAIN WHY - ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE IN HER WARD.
THIS IS AN INVITATION FROM HER TO YOU . . .
Good Morning Residents,Drop-in to my Constituency Evenings at Community Centre 55 —97 Main Street at Swanwick Avenue.Due to the Mayor's Special Budget meeting scheduled for this Monday, the Constituency Evening has been changed to Monday April 30th from 6-8 PM.I look forward to meeting you. Sincerely, Sandra********************************************************************************SANDRA BUSSIN
Speaker, Toronto City Council
City Councillor, Beaches - East York - Ward 32
100 Queen St. West, Suite B28
Toronto ON M5H 2N2
[email protected]
PHONE: 416-392-1376
FAX: 416-392-7444
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
At its March 26th, 2007 meeting the Striking Committee of City Council has recommended that Councillor Adrian Heaps - Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest be the Council member appointed to the committee. (See Decision Document Item ST 4.1) He has expressed interest in supporting cycling in his responses to the TCAT election survey. There was one other Councillor who indicated they wanted to be the appointee to the Cycling Committee, Cliff Jenkins - Ward 25 Don Valley West. (Councillor Jenkins did not respond to the TCAT survey. ) This appointment of Councillor Heaps will not be official until it is approved by Council. The next opportunity to do this will be at their April 24th Council Meeting.Cliff Jenkins would be a good choice as well, as he actually pursues bikelanes in his ward, such as last year when he was exploring the possibilities of a bikelane on Mt. Pleasant... actually the 2nd time he proposed it, as it was turned down in 2005.
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
(photo courtesy of BlogTO)
Okay... I was going to write up a nice re-cap of the NOW Bike Forum on Wednesday night, but BlogTO has already done a great job - so read that. :)
A few observations from me:
1) The whole thing was generally optimistic. While cycling is often the forgotten child of Toronto road uses, and while at present we are perceived to be "losing the fight", there is enough optimism, enthusiasm, energy and planning in the cycling community that I believe most of us got a "dark cloud with a silver lining" vibe from the whole evening.
2) Adam Giambrone, although pretty unpopular with some segments of the cycling community, came off pretty well. He acknowledged that bike stuff is underfunded and that there has been political laziness when it comes to cycling issues, but also offered a lot of hope:
- that community councils and opposition (Case Ootes comes to mind) can no longer halt bikelane creation because although a bikelane may be in one part of the city, it benefits the city as a whole.
- that city cycling staff has recently been increased from 1 to 5 employees
- that 25-28 km of bikelanes will most likely be built this year
- that all new buses the TTC is getting now will have bikeracks - meaning every single bus in the system will have racks by around 2011.
- that they are looking at ways to get bikeracks on the new generation of streetcars - either on the outside or the inside
- that there are plans to incorporate temporary bikelanes into the temporary King St. Transit Mall planned for next summer
- and, that he'd be totally fine with taking all the parking off of Bloor West in his Ward to allow for the first part of the Tooker Bikelanes to be implemented
Here's a simple idea from a guy (me) that apparently an entire city bureaucracy with recently granted funding powers can't come up with to support a "very worthwhile, small, non-profit group":
The Toronto Star
The Toronto Parking Authority takes in over $90 million dollars in revenue every year from parking spaces in this city - with a profit of about $40 million (source: 2005 TPA Annual Report - PDF Format)
To produce $80,000 - you could add a 0.2% increase to parking fees. That's 1/5th of a penny for a $1/hour parking spot. 3/5ths of a penny for the city's most expensive spots which are $3/hour.
Oh, and this idea adds to the cost of operating a private motor vehicle in Toronto - don't we want to be The Greenest City in North America? I don't think we do - because there's a ton of simple solutions to provide cheap and plentiful bikes to all Torontonians, but no politician seems to want to think about it for a couple minutes.
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
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John Spragge said...
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I wish some of our so-called allies on city council would have the guts to say what they obviously believe: that they don't consider this enough of a priority to take the civic heat for it. They'll take the photo-ops and make the speeches, but actually do anything, which would mean taking money away from what we spend on automotive infrastructure, which would mean real heat from drivers, that won't happen.
I'll say this again, we have to hold the feet of our supposed allies in the fire. If they believe what Rob Ford does (and has the guts to say out loud), they should say so and have done. If they don't, then let them understand that when I ride under the Dundas underpass or through Bloor at Ossington, I don't want speeches from the politicians who say they support me, I don't want photo-ops with bicycle helmets, I want real measures that will make my ride safer and more comfortable. Right now we have bike speeches by David Miller and bike policy by Case Ootes. -
Val Dodge said...
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I can find the money, even if De Baeremaeker can't: take Rob Ford's unused $53,000 office budget, mix in the $12,000 raise that David Miller got this year, and top it off with the $20,000 we're spending on catered dinners at council meetings. Enjoy.
Politicians pay attention to feedback from their constituents. If people take the time to phone or email them about something, it shows them that people care enough about the issue.
The City of Toronto’s 2007 Operating budget process will soon get underway. This is another opportunity to ensure that the budget related items from the TCAT Plan for Active Transportation will be approved by City Council (you can see the plan at www.TorontoCAT.ca. The TCAT candidate survey found strong support for the TCAT Plan for Active Transportation among all the members of the Budget Committee and a majority of the Executive Committee. However with some of the members the support was qualified when it came to Operating budget items to hire staff. Now is the time to convince the Councillors that it is important to support the TCAT budget recommendations and ensure they are incorporated into the final 2007 municipal budget.
TCAT supporters can get involved in the budget process by making in person or written deputations to the Budget Committee and by contacting the members of the Budget Committee and the Executive Committee by phone, letter and e-mail letting them know how important it is that they keep their promises to support Active Transportation.
We have prepared a draft letter to send to Councillors on the Budget Committee encouraging them to support the TCAT Platform and the related budget items. You can modify the letter or use it as is, but please take a moment to let Councillors know Active Transportation is important! The letter can be found at the following link along with the e-mail addresses of the Councillors on the Budget Committee. http://www.torontocat.ca/OperatingBudgetLetter.html
The 2007 budget process is very different from past years. One key difference is that the Budget Committee and the Executive Committee will be the only committees having deliberations on the budget - that means these Councillors have a significant influence and need to be reminded that Active Transportation is important. The other key difference is that there will be just one opportunity for the organizations and the general public to make deputations to advocate for programs and services in the Operating budget. The day for deputations will be on March 29th, 2007 starting at 9:30 am. To sign up to make a deputations in person call 416-392-6662 to get on the list. You can also sent written deputations via e-mail to [email protected] or by fax to (416) 392-1879. Of course, you can send an e-mail to your Councillor, the Mayor, the Executive and Budget Committees any time before March 29th.
For more information on how to get involved in the 2007 Capital Budget process and for contact information for the Mayor and Councillors go to the following web page. http://www.torontocat.ca/2007OperatingBudget.html
If you or your organization are planning to make a deputation or contact Councillors please let TCAT know with a quick email to [email protected] - if we know who is deputing we can coordinate efforts!
Thanks for your continued support and help in making Toronto a more cycling and pedestrian friendly City.
Please forward this letter to your members and any others you think would be interested.
TCAT Steering Committee
Useful links:
TCAT 2007 Operating Budget Information
TCAT draft letter to your Councillor
The Mayor's email
The emails of the Budget Committee and the Committee Clerk
Miller and city council [unveiled a plan] that sets ambitious targets for reducing emissions that lead to climate change, increasing so-called green energy usage and encouraging retrofitting of city homes and businesses to make them more energy efficient. The targets would be for both the city government itself and the community at large.
There isn't a lot of time or space in this plan given to cycling in Toronto, but what it does say is that a
Labels: enviro, infrastructure, politics
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John Spragge said...
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Actually, emissions from operating light duty gasoline vehicles account for 6% of all Canadian greenhouse gas emissions (see Environment Canada). Assuming each day's commute accounts for 20% of the total greenhouse emissions for Toronto, that means riding a bike one day a week will reduce our total by 1.3%. The remaining emissions will come from growing the food we eat, extracting the minerals we use and sell, manufacturing (including bikes!) and so on.
Don't get me wrong. If everyone biked to work we would have a more attractive city, populated by more fit, more motivated, and more alert workers. I support cycling. I just want us to make the right claims on its behalf. It doesn't do to say your bike will solve global warming (particularly if you only ride it one day per week) if in reality riding one day a week only cuts your carbon output by 1%.
Want to get the most bang for your political dollar? Here's a simple math lesson for you:
Cost of Infrastructure:
One km of Subway: ~$250,000,000
One km of "Light Rail Transit : ~25,000,000
One km of Bikelanes: ~$100,000
Cost of Vehicles:
Subway Train (6 cars): ~$18,000,000
Streetcar: ~$7,500,000
Bike: ~FREE
Everyone who wants to bike buys a bike.
They will buy bikes... as soon as they feel safe enough on the streets. Build cycling infrastructure and watch the number of cyclists in Toronto explode. It's the easiest way of becoming your oft-mentioned "Greenest City in North America".
Labels: infrastructure, politics, transit
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said...
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Dear Blogger,
Duuuuhh...?
Politicians. -
Joe (BikingToronto) said...
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Dear Anonymous,
How very constructive. Very impressive.
Sincerely,
BikingToronto -
said...
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Have you forwarded the above to members of our trusty city council yet Joe? I think you have something here. Maybe you could encourage your faithful readership to re-iterate the above sentiments to their own councillors.
Cheers! -
John Spragge said...
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What exactly do you include in the proposed price tag of $100,000/km for bike lanes? What kind of bike lanes do you imagine, lane markers, extra wide kerb lanes, lanes permanently separated by concrete barriers or "humps"?
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Ben said...
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At Take The Tooker, we always say $25k /km. We had a source for that number somewhere. Either way, you raise a good point.
You must be erring on the side of bike lanes with lane markers, extra wide kerb lanes, that are permanently separated by concrete barriers and "humps" -
Joe (BikingToronto) said...
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I've just heard that $100,000 mentioned in a few places - taking into account "environmental assessments", etc. I'm not sure really what's involved - but I know there is a lot of consultation with the community before one is finally installed.
There has been a lot of hue and cry about the misguided and uneducated comments by Rob Ford about cyclists always being at fault in car-bike accidents, and this has perhaps overshadowed comments about bikelanes made by other councillors. Thankfully, Inside Toronto included some of these, starting with Ford's:
"Roads are built for buses, cars and trucks, not for people on bikes. It's their own fault at the end of the day if they get hit. You shouldn't be in the middle of traffic riding your bike. If you want to ride your bike you've got beautiful parks. That's where you should ride your bike."
Rob Ford
(Ford's comments drew fire from several of his colleagues... Giorgio Mammoliti pointed out that Ford had previously opposed spending any money on a bike path linking the northwest of the city with the downtown.)"Instead of my car being in front of Councillor Ford's car at a stoplight, or me turning left to pick up something at the variety store, my bike zooms along the side of the road and he can zoom past me," he said. "If we can get 50 to 60,000 people onto bikes, not only does it protect themselves and their families to have a cleaner, softer option to get to work, they help every single person who's in a car."
Glenn De Baeremaeker"If I thought for one minute, hundreds of thousands of people would start using their bicycles, I would be supportive, because people would be encouraged to get out of their cars," he said. "But that hasn't happened along Cosburn. So we're in a situation where there's an impression that as far as the public is concerned we're doing something for the greening of Toronto when in fact the experience has been that along Cosburn all we're doing is creating greater waiting times at major intersections. So it's fundamentally dishonest."
Case Ootes
Labels: infrastructure, news, politics
After making more stupid comments (it's a habit of his) about how he thinks that a cyclist is at fault if they get hit by a car, he's been featured in very widely read blogs such as BoingBoing and TreeHugger, as well as countless cycling blogs around the internet.
A lot of people have posted links to his contact information, so I will too... he's an elected official, after all.
I'm personally demanding an apology and for him to announce that bikes are legal vehicles and deserve respect and space on our roadways.
Rob Ford
| Phone: 416-397-9255 Fax: 416-397-9238 Constituency Office: 416-233-6934 [email protected] Ward map |
| Executive Assistant Andrew Pask 416-397-9255 [email protected] | Administrative Assistant Amanda Maternicki 416-397-9255 [email protected] |
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Sadly, the best thing to do with Rob Ford is too ignore him. A heart attack or stroke will likely remove him from council before the electorate does. Of course, from the look of him, the cardiovascular event will be completely his fault, but it will be our tax dollars that make sure he receives adequate care.
Despite professions of wanting to be a "green" city, cycling in Toronto has been virtually ignored, despite being by far the cheapest mode of transportation to promote (the infrastructure is cheap, no vehicles to buy, etc.) and promotes health among Torontonians:
The city's bike plan calls for 484 kilometres of bike lanes in a 2,074K overall network, including parks and shared lanes. Currently, there are 68.6K of bike lanes. Last year, 5.6K were "installed".
A staff report last year made clear the reasons for delay: no funding, no planning staff, no political support. It called for the bike lane budget to be doubled, to $6 million.
Last week, the budget committee recommended and the executive committee signed off on the status quo: $3 million in capital funding. Enough for just over 25 kilometres.
Makes you wonder why the members of the budget committee and the mayor publicly supported a $6 million budget in last year's election survey by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transport (TCAT).
Ah, I kind of pity Rob Ford. He's way out in Etobicoke-land... his braincells always under assault by carcinogen-laced car and truck exhaust...From the Star, and picked up by BlogTO:
"I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day."-Rob Ford, Toronto City Councilor
I'd like to invite Rob to check out archive of Toronto's Weekly Carnage - it's not just cyclists in there... most of it is other people in cars dying, and pedestrians dying. Using your logic it's their fault they were killed because they were in a car, or going for a walk.
And for the record, roads have been around for FAR longer than cars have been. Thousands of years longer... the Roman Empire had a fantastic road system, and not one car! Not even a moped!
Even here in Toronto, roads pre-date cars.
Labels: carnage, infrastructure, news, politics
7 comment(s) on this post
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Andrew said...
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That's just a brutal comment.
Isn't this the guy that got loaded at a Leafs game, caused a public scene and then denied it afterward when someone complained to city hall? -
Joe (BikingToronto) said...
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Yup, same guy.
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Tuco said...
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Hmm. Doesn't he realize that the reason cyclists get killed is because they're on a road WITHOUT a bike lane? I.E. if there were more bike lanes there'd be fewer deaths?
Moron. -
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Could his comments not be considered as fomenting hatred against cyclists? ie. hate speech?
Some are likely to consider his comments as endorsing vehicular assault and vehicular homicide when the target is cyclists. -
Darren J said...
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I'm wondering seriously if he could be sued if a cyclist gets hit by a car, especially if the driver lives in his ward. He has a position with some authority, which should come with some responsibility. He's giving the public entirely wrong information.
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scruss said...
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Rob Ford looks like a bit of a chubster. Surely it's his own fault if he has a coronary in a McDonalds 'cos he didn't ride a bike now and again ...
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Simon said...
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Rob Ford is not a genius of note. In fact I would describe him as a walking side of grade F ham.
"It is very preventable," he spouted in his typically bombastic fashion. "If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn't get AIDS probably, that's bottom line."
His comments are not directly related, but his style is to shoot his mouth off regarding subjects he has no understanding of. I just can't figure out how this slab of grease keeps getting elected to public office.
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It's something Miller mentioned when he won the election in November - that to support effective and efficient public transit (among other things), some of the economic activity that Toronto produces (something like 20% of the GDP of Canada) should be returned to Toronto.
"It's a call to the federal government to help build the kind of Toronto, the kind of cities and the kind of Canada that all of our citizens deserve," Miller said about his GST push. "A Canada that is forward looking. A Canada that is sustainable, economically and environmentally. A Canada that understands our people live in cities and that we must, in turn, give back to those communities at least a portion of what they pay in taxes."Check out the website, and sign the petition. There's a pretty good FAQ over there too.
Most likely, none of this money will go to cycling programs or infrastructure in Toronto. It will probably all go towards public transit. If it gets cars off the road, then I'm all for it.
There SHOULD be atleast some going to cycling. Cycling is, other than walking, the cheapest form of transportation for a government to promote.
Cars make for high-maintenance roads - subways and streetcars are expensive too. A person with a bike (which they buy themselves) can go just about anywhere with minimal impact on roads and the environment.
Labels: politics
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I highly recommend signing up for the TCAT newsletter, if you're into this kind of thing. :)
~~~~~
Labels: politics
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Darren J said...
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Hey Joe,
Where do we see the letter that might serve as a model? -
Joe (BikingToronto) said...
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Oops. Thanks for noticing my forgetfulness. :) It's up there now. :)
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Darren said...
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Thanks for the heads-up Joe. The thing I was wondering about was how to address it, so I sent it to the Clerk and a bunch of councillors. I'll resend it to the budget committee members too.
One small squeak!
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I met with TTC Chair Adam Giambrone and Vice-Chair Joe Mihevc yesterday, along with the people from the Sierra Club who have been financially supporting and doing the administrative work of the MAP.
It was my first time "in" City Hall (that is, where all the councillor offices are) and it was pretty cool. Someone in Giambrone's office bikes to work too - which is impressive, as winter is finally hitting Toronto.
While I won't let out too much news here just yet, I can tell you that Adam and Joe are fully on-board with the concept and goals of the Metropass Affinity Program (namely, to get more people using transit instead of their cars, to get more people buying Metropasses, to encourage business at Toronto stores, and to help de-smog our air). Still to be worked out is exactly how the city or the TTC will be involved, and what kind of financial obligations there will be, since there will be a lot of administrative work if this little idea of mine from a couple years back becomes very successful.
It's a significant step towards continuing the Mission Statement ("to do my best to break and destroy the dominance of the automobile in this city") that I published in the fall. I don't take Mission Statements lightly... so you can expect a lot more.
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Dear Biking Toronto readers:
Joe has kindly asked for a status report on the "promotion of cycling" petition before we all take breaks from blogging and cycling politics over the holidays.
So here's the story:
The petition was conceived on Nov. 4, 2006.
It was placed online at http://www.gopetition.com/signatures.php?petid=10170 on Nov. 16. As of today (Dec. 18) it holds over 2400 signatures, including those of former Canadian Olympic cyclist Curt Harnett, and well known coach Ziggy Martuzalski.
The Memorial Muse (in Newfoundland) wrote about the petition on November 30th.
Get Out There Magazine –both the western and eastern editions - will be writing about the petition in their Jan/Feb issue.
Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow has agreed to present the petition to Parliament when we are ready to hand it over to her. An official petition must be in the traditional paper and ink format, with written signatures, and so we are planning to spend January and February collecting signatures, and handing the completed petition to Ms. Chow in March 2007.
To that end, we are searching for businesses across the country to offer themselves as "signing sites' for the paper version of the petition. So far the Toronto and Winnipeg locations of Mountain Equipment Co-Op have agreed to do this, as well as both branches of Grassroots in Toronto. If you would like to offer your place of business as a signing site, or if you are simply someone who thinks they can get lots of friends to sign, write to me at [email protected] and I will send you the petition as an attachment. You could print it off (as many copies as you need), get people to sign, and then snail-mail it back to me in February.
The written version will contain the names of Curt Harnett, current Canadian Ironman champion Jasper Blake, and former Lance Armstrong teammate, and current T Mobile rider, Michael Barry.
To everyone who has helped out with this petition by emailing their friends and saying "Hey Sign This!" thank you so much.
Happy Holidays,
Chris (Tuco)Labels: politics
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Tuco has put together a great petition for the federal government asking for tax credits for cyclists, as well as other good incentives the government can take to encourage bicycle use. This would build on their recent initiative of making monthly passes for public transit (like the Metropass) eligible for tax credits.
Go and visit (and sign, if you support it) the Promotion of Cycling in Canada Petition.
Even better, email all your friends about it and blog about it, if you're all into the weblog publishing stuff. :) This is a All-Of-Canada thing, after all!
Labels: politics
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Miller won. That's good, considering Pitfield said she liked cycling yet drove her SUV to City Hall every day.
Gord Perks won in Ward 14 (Parkdale-HighPark). He's very environmental and very pro-transit.
Joe Mihevc won in Ward 21 (St. Paul's). This should put to rest any notion that that area is against the St. Clair streetcar row, as Mihevc had very organized groups rallying against him, yet won with 57% of the popular vote. Let's hope the ROW is very successful so ROW streetcar lines can be added throughout the city.
Case Ootes won by only 20 votes in Ward 29 (Toronto-Danforth) over Diane Alexopoulos. Can we get a re-count?
You can probably find a ton of great info over on Spacing Votes or on major news sites.
Labels: politics
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Dave Meslin says his sites http://www.tpsc.ca http://www.whorunsthistown.ca and http://www.cityidol.to are going make him a kingmaker in local politics.
If anything Dave who used to work in NDP MPP Marilyn Churley's constituency office has only managed to help fringe candidates undermine the chances of well known and well respected NDP candidates like Alejandra Bravo, Paul Ferreira and Greg Hamara from having any chance to unseat incumbent city councillors.
Way to go Dave! -
dave meslin said...
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it's sad when blogs are used to post comments that are uninfomed and/or intentionally misleading. It gives a bad name to all independant and democractic media.
First, I don't believe I've ever claimed to be a "kingmaker". My projects were designed to get more people involed with the election, and it worked.
Second, I'm not sure how I could possibly have had any effect on Paul, Alejandra or Greg's chances of winning. It's a ridiculous statement.
Third, the real reason that these candidates lost is because of our archaic voting system. Palacio, Nunziata and Saundercook all recieved less than 50% of the vote. Alejandra would have one with an instant run-off. www.whorunsthistown.to is the only voice I can see calling for electoral reform to eliminate vote-splitting. Where's the municpal NDP on this? Nowhere, as usual.
Fourth: Alejandra, Greg and Paul have to wait four years to run again, instead of three. You can blame NDP Mayor David Miller who publicly supported the reduction of elections, along with most of his NDP caucus.
Lastly, if you're going to criticise someone with false information, at least have the guts to identify yourself.
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Miller is quoted as being against tolls:
Speaking to a pro-transit crowd, Miller said he's not in favour of tolls. The mayor took a lot of heat for floating the idea in 2003 but said he's had plenty of time to think about it since. "In London they have an extensive network of transit and it gives everybody a real choice. But that's not true in many parts of Toronto."I'm for extending a Right-of-Way Streetcar Network out into Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke as much as Miller is, but he's forgetting something huge.
Downtown, where most people in Toronto are pushing for a "toll" like London's Congestion Charge, has EXCELLENT transit. Put in a congestion charge like other world class cities (London and Stockholm have it, San Francisco and London are considering it) for the downtown area where everything is accessible by transit or walking.
Charge private automobiles entering the Bloor/Jarvis/Front/Spadina rectangle - have anyone driving in park outside and do a 10-minute walk to their destination or have them hop on the TTC - it's only a 5 minute walk MAXIMUM from the borders of the Bloor/Jarvis/Front/Spadina rectangle to a subway station.
What do you do with the money? Put it towards that ROW streetcar expansion in Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke.
It just makes sense.
Labels: politics
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At the recent YIMBY event, not only did some TTT folks run into Mayor Miller, but talked to him about the possibility of a Bloor-Danforth bikelane.
Thankfully, instead of political babble, Miller said Case Ootes "has got to go".
There's another TTT ride happening this Saturday too. Come out and show your support.
Past Entries about the Ootes Challenge:
Part III - Ward 29 Electoral Race
Part II - Ootes still trying to get Cosburn bikelanes removed
Part I - "In Toronto, People Won't Get Out Of Their Cars
Labels: politics
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Ben Wendt said...
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That photo on the bike lane diary is from Critical Mass, not take the Tooker. We always do rules of the road rides.
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Joe (BikingToronto) said...
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Thanks Ben. Sorry for the mix-up. :)
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I emailed all candidates (even the incumbents) about BikeFriday, to see if they’d like to bike downtown with the cyclists in their ward they’ll be hopefully representing, or even setting up a little bike-friendly stand along a cycling route with a little giveaway.
A couple of Parkdale-HighPark (Ward 14) candidates rode with Tammy (who I think is planning a Spacing Votes post about it) on the Queen West ride… Rowena Santos (who also took part in September’s BikeFriday …), and David White - which looks good on them, as now we KNOW that they’re willing to get up early to support a bike-friendly event.
Major props to Patrick Kraemer of Ward 30 (Toronto-Danforth), who is going up against Paula Fletcher. Patrick set up a table with juice and muffins on the Danforth just west of Coxwell. He was out there early in the very dark morning, offering goodies to people on two wheels.
It just so happens that Ward 30 is my ward. While I voted for Paula Fletcher in the last election, I haven’t really heard boo from her on anything else but the whole "Stop the Plant" initiative (and I’m on her mailing list). Cycling issues have been non-existant. I suspect that she feels that now that the Dundas East BikeLane is in, she can forget about cycling initiatives.
I’m seriously considering voting for Patrick now. Below is a photo of his juice/muffin stand that he sent me, as well as a picture of him and his bike from his website.
It should be noted here that staff of Cesar Palacio (Ward 17 - Davenport) helped BikeFriday get the Dark City Coffee Event on Nathan Phillips Square. Thanks guys!
Labels: politics
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Tanya said...
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Actually Paula Fletcher has proposed bike lanes on Eastern between Carlaw and Leslie. (although more of a traffic calming initiative than for cyclists benefit I'm sure) I have heard tons from her office but we have a mailing list (leslieville) for local concerns. I'm actually also opposed to the majority of ward 30 projects that are proposed on the bike plan with a few exceptions.
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Walt Jarsky said...
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Rowena Santos does not even live close to Parkdale and knows nothing about the community's issues.
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The Spacing Wire focuses on a recent quote from Mayor Miller about how the Bike Plan has failed and how to have it succeed in the future:"... the only way for the bike plan to succeed…is we have to bring the cycling community together with the neighbourhoods and get some strategic routes in the bike plan first. It has to be a political exercise, not a money exercise. We tried to do it with money and it hasn’t worked because of local opposition so now we have to try to work together with communities and cyclists,"
Meanwhile, up in York Region, Darren J has been noticing new bikeroute signs in Markham on his commute to work, with a possible bikelane even being added at one spot:
...this is a valuable first step. Not only can these lead to better or more extensive bicycle infrastructure in certain places, but the simple designation of Bike Routes is significant. This means the city has recognized that these roads are being used by cyclists.
Labels: infrastructure, politics
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Here’s a rundown of a couple of recent posts that you should check out if you haven’t yet:
City Council Cycling Report Cards
A great rundown of the winners and losers on the current council in regards to cycling. This post ranges from the hardcore cyclist Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38 – Scarborough Centre), who is known to bike year-round, to the auto-loving bike-haters like Case Ootes, who not only is actively campaigning against the Cosburn bikelanes, but also put up a stink about the Dundas East bikelanes a few years ago, and they aren’t even in his ward!
Take The Tooker Auto-Emailer
A great post about a new feature on the Take The Tooker Website, in which you can email all council candidates in your ward to ask them to support a Bloor-Danforth BikeLane, or you can customize the letter to push for bikelane improvements in your ward!
Labels: politics
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In Ward 29 (Toronto-Danforth), a previously a two-horse race between Mel Lastman lackey and anti-bikelane and Esso stockholder Case Ootes and Diane Alexopoulos (although there are 6 candidates in Ward 29 in total) has gained new definitely pro-cycling candidate!
Hamish Wilson has joined the race. A
If you live in Ward 29, learn more about Hamish, but above all, vote on November 13th. There's a lot of apathy in municipal politics because people think it doesn't matter, but it effects you the most - it determines how safe your streets are for your kids to play on, it effects your garbage and recycling pick-up, and it effects how easily you get around the city.
The Ootes Challenge - to prove that Toronto CAN be a city where the car (and planning for cars) doesn't suffocate everything else on our streets, since Ootes has insisted that in Toronto ...people won’t get out of their cars. It doesn’t happen. This isn’t that kind of city.
(if you missed them, you can also read parts ONE and TWO of the Case Ootes Challenge.)
Labels: politics
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