project 1 research PART 1

TORONTO CYCLING STUDY

Terms of findings:

Cyclists – those who ride a bike for utilitarian and/or recreational purposes
Utilitarian cyclists – those who ride a bike for utilitarian purposes such as communiting to work or
school, running errands, going shopping or visiting friends. Utilitarian cyclists may also ride their
bicycle for recreation or fitness purposes
Recreational cyclists – those who ride a bicycle for recreation or fitness purposes only
Noncyclists
– those who do not ride or own a bicycle
City of Toronto – includes North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Toronto, York and East York (four
districts)


Perceptions of cycling:
‐ reason for increase in cycling is because of the quality of cycling is better than 10years ago.
o In general, the participants rate the quality of the current system the same or lower
than 10 years ago.
‐ Therefore more cyclists could mean that there will be more expectations from the cycling
lanes. “Disconnect” between the growth of the cyclists and the quality of the cycling system
‐ Safety is the most concerned about cycling
o Most cyclists feel more comfortable with bike lanes.
o 1/3 prefer roads without bike lanes+
‐ Having biking lanes separated from the car traffic is widely preferred by the general public.
o Having improvements in such areas could encourage more people to bike on roads
‐ data suggests that up to 40% of recreational cyclists could be motivated to cycle to work or
school regularly, half of whom would do so if biking to work/school were safer than it is
now.

City of Toronto, Online PDF Source:
http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/network/network-project-status.htm
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NEWS ON CYCLING COLLISIONS
Michael Bryant charged in cyclist's death

A 33‐year‐old cyclist was struck by the former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant and
was pronounced dead in the hospital.
‐ The victim’s name was Darcy Allan Sheppard, who was struck on Bloor Street near
University Avenue.
‐ On the day after the death occurred, a dozen cyclists sat on the intersection and chanted
murder.
‐ An argument took place between Bryant and Sheppard around 9:45pm near Bay and Bloor
street due to a minor collision.

The Star
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/689220
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COMMENTS FROM THE CYCLISTS
On Street Harassment (forum)

A cyclists was being yelled “Ride on the sidewalk” and “Take the subway idiot!” while riding
without getting in anyone’s way on the road.
‐ Some commented
‐ “I find that the abuse is more frequent in the areas surrounding downtown. It's usually more
likely that the drivers aren't used to sharing the road with cyclists and they generally have no
understanding of the laws that apply to cyclists (a good example would be drivers yelling at
people to ride on the sidewalk).”
“oh, I've been there too. A number of times I've had cars try to shoulder me out of the way drift
into the lane, or just drift towards me to sandwich me between them and the curb. I generally
manage to stop in time or speed up out of it. Once I had to ditch the bike though.
Honestly have no idea what encourages drivers to do this to me..”
“Q: Why are drivers so abusive?
A: Toronto roads are badly designed, and the downtown core is especially poor. Very
frustrating.

I Bike TO
http://www.ibiketo.ca/forum/advocacy/street-harassment