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Entries tagged: Toronto Cyclists Union

On June 29, advocates from the Toronto Cyclists Union staked out a corner of Jarvis Street with a simple question: What’s wrong with this bike lane? The answer from the overwhelming majority of cyclists and motorists? “Absolutely nothing!”

The video that resulted was just one aspect of the Toronto advocates’ Save Jarvis campaign, which has not just galvanized the cycling community, but boosted the membership for the bike union.

The effort is the result of a recent push by Toronto’s mayor, Rob Ford, to remove a number of already installed bike lanes in the city’s core. Ford and his allies have argued that the lanes have caused traffic congestion. But, as the Bike Union has pointed out, that claim isn’t backed by the facts. “Updated traffic counts from the City of Toronto show that following the installation of bike lanes on Jarvis Street, motor vehicle volumes remained the same while cycling volumes tripled,” the bike union notes.

So, in the run-up to a city council vote to remove three major arterial bike lanes, the bike union kicked into high gear to protect the cycling facilities. They sent press releases to build their media presence, ran a targeted campaign of social media to get the word out, handed out fliers and buttons in the bike lanes themselves, and put together a three-minute video that included not just cyclists, but motorists advocating for the lane.

Unfortunately, the council voted to remove all three bike lanes last month, suggesting that the previous infrastructure will be replaced with a network of protected bike lanes on other streets. To fill the gap before the new construction, the council gave Jarvis a one-year reprieve. The bike union immediately jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on the growing, grassroots, pro-biking energy — and what better way than to get folks out pedaling.

“Our inspiration for ‘Ride for Jarvis, Ride for Bike Lanes’ was the Prospect Park Family Ride,” Heather McDonald, the bike union’s president, says. “When we were talking about what we would do if the council voted to cancel the bike lanes, the images of happy families riding on Prospect Park Ride came to mind. Leading up the ride we capitalized on social media, had a huge response via Facebook, had volunteers distributing buttons and fliers in the bike lanes and coordinated a press release.”

It worked. The turnout was huge. Approximately 1,200 cyclists streamed down Jarvis, ending with a rally at City Hall. But the event wasn’t just a boost to the bike lanes campaign; it was a membership boon for the bike union, too.

“We were able to use our core group of volunteers to act not only as marshals, but also as membership recruiters,” McDonald says. “We offered a discounted membership at the event. With a flat rate of $20 (reduced from $30), we recruited 75 members at the ride.”

“The threat of bike lane removal has really fueled our membership drive,” she adds. “Within 24 hours of the vote, 100 new members joined the bike union. Thanks to the Save Jarvis Campaign and our new full-time director of Membership, Jared Kolb, we’ve seen membership grow leaps and bounds.  Andrea [Garcia, the bike union’s executive director] has been working hard at a more proactive and targeted media presence and has been able to identify good areas for advocacy to fuel membership and vice versa. A general discontent with the state of affairs with the current administration in Toronto has also helped galvanize and unite city-building groups of various interests.”

“We’re thrilled to see that more and more people are turning to the bike union as a credible voice for cyclists in Toronto. We plan to take this momentum forward as we find creative ways to advocate for cyclists in the face of the recent challenges.”

Check out photos of the ride here and stay tuned to developments on the bike lanes on the bike union’s website.

Photos of Save Jarvis Ride courtesy of Martin Reis.

In 2010, Toronto had the highest rate of car-on-bike collisions (per capita) of any major Canadian city. To reduce those numbers and counter the perception of peril, local advocates kicked off a major campaign for separated bike lanes last week.

Calling the crash rate “unacceptable,” the Toronto Cyclists Union is taking a stand to reduce residents’ anxiety about active transportation. “Riding on busy, crowded streets, mixed in with fast moving traffic, can be a stressful experience for any cyclist,” the bike union points out. “We want to de-stress cycling for Torontonians.”

To do that, the bike union released a proposal for a network of separated bikes lanes on six downtown Toronto streets, including major arterials and key collector roads. “Many of Toronto’s streets are an excellent candidates for this easy riding treatment,” the bike union notes. “A network of protected bike lanes through Toronto’s busy downtown streets will make it accessible for cyclists ranging from experienced riders to those just starting out.”

Currently, the city is studying the feasibility of a downtown network and the bike union recognized the need for an informed discussion on the topic. So the advocates compiled a comprehensive and user-friendly resource website that’s a one-stop shop for key statistics, studies and informed suggestions. “If we are going to create protected bike lanes in Toronto, they will need to address the needs of all road users, not just cyclists,” the advocates emphasize. “Here we’ve collected a range of experiences and research on protected bike lanes that can help Toronto to become an easy riding city where cycling is safe, comfortable and fun.”

But you don’t have to be a Torontonian to benefit from bike union’s new resource. The site expertly summarizes a wealth of information, including:

• What are protected bike lanes and why are they an asset to active transportation
• How protected bike lanes increase bicycle safety and ridership
• Sharing the road with transit, pedestrians and drivers
• Dealing with intersections and driveways
• And, of course, the proposed network of protected bike lanes in Toronto

Are you working on protected bike lanes in your city? Be sure to check out the bike union’s site. And stay tuned to the blog tomorrow for an update on Chicago’s progress on separated facilities.

Back in February, Toronto’s public bike share program was headed towards extinction.

That is, until the Toronto Cyclists Union jumped in to preserve it.

When Yvonne Bambrick (pictured), TCU’s executive director learned the program was an endangered initiative, she alerted the union’s membership. Scores of supporters answered the call to action, ringing the phones and buzzing the inboxes of important decision-makers, like the mayor and key city council members.

“Because of our collective effort and the power of the arguments in favour of this exciting and important extension of the public transit system, public bikes were put back on the table,” Bambrick wrote in the union’s most recent newsletter.

The union’s members didn’t just put the issue back on the table; they pushed it to passage. Earlier this month, the city council voted 33-8 in favor of the public bikes program.

Bambrick gives the credit to local advocates and bike-riding residents. “Toronto’s Public Bike Share Program was near death and the bike union rescued it with behind the scenes work and action alerts to our members and supporters, which motivated approximately 500 unique e-mails over two alerts,” she says. “We’re very excited to see this come together and know the role of our collective efforts!”

Read more about TCU’s recent victories in their newsletter, Ring & Post.

Toronto Cyclists Union recently announced that a new grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation will give their Newcomers Cycling Project a boost. Recently awarded a 2010 Alliance Advocacy Award for innovation, the project is part of a joint effort with CultureLink Settlement Services to promote cycling amongst newcomer communities. The partnership is entering into the second phase of the outreach campaign in 2010 and the new grant will fund a full time coordinator to serve the campaign and expand cycling outreach initiatives amongst newcomers to Toronto.

According to Toronto Cyclists Union, “During this year’s Bike Month, the partnership hopes to release the Toronto Cyclists Handbook in 15 languages, as per our ‘From back home to our new home’ poster series, and to distribute the handbook to newcomer communities thanks also to generous support from the Toronto Community Foundation. Through interactive workshops, the coordinator will start to mobilize cyclists from newcomer communities to actively engage in a grass-roots effort to make our city more bike-friendly.”

Kristin Schwartz takes up this new and exciting challenge as the new Cycling Outreach Coordinator. Kristin can be reached at cycling@culturelink.net.

For more information on Toronto Cyclists Union visit http://www.bikeunion.to.

Toronto kicked off their Bike Month with a big win for cyclists when the Toronto City Council voted 28 to 18 in favor of new bike lanes on Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto. According to Yvonne Bambrick of the Toronto Cyclists Union, “This is a big win for our city’s cyclists, and for the Toronto Cyclists Union who got the wheels rolling on this issue last fall by submitting a report to Transportation that showed the viability of bike lanes, in addition to some of the proposed pedestrian realm improvements.  This is particularly important because the original scope of the Environmental Assessment (EA) did not include any consideration of cyclists, and was focused solely on the beautification of the pedestrian realm.”

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