Cycling in Toronto - Cycling Committee

1. Purpose of the Committee
To advise City Council and its Departments, Agencies, Boards, and Commissions, on the design, development and delivery of bicycle policies, programs and facilities to promote and enhance cycling within the new City of Toronto.

2. Goal
A livable and environmentally friendly City that is accessible and safe for people of all ages and abilities to get around by bicycle and to ensure the role of cycling in a transportation system appropriately balanced among all road users.

3. Focus
The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee will focus on:

representing cyclists' interests within the City;
physical infrastructure (planning, design standards, operations, maintenance);
education, safety and security of cyclists and other road users;
promoting bicycle use;
environment, air quality and economic development issues related to cycling;
better integration of transit-bicycle trips; and
co-ordinate initiatives with cycling interest outside the City of Toronto.

4. Composition
The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee will be comprised of 9 members, including a Councillor as the Chair and two citizens as Co-Chairs, as follows:

1 City Councillor; and
8 citizens-at-large, equitably representative of all geographic districts of the City, selected through the Civic Appointments Committee process.

5. Term
Initially, the Member of Council shall be appointed for a four-year term, concurrent with the term of Council, ending on November 30, 2010, and until his/her successor is appointed.

Citizens shall be appointed for a four-year term or until their successors are appointed or City Council terminates an appointment. Membership on the Committee shall be limited to a maximum of two terms. Reappointment to the Committee shall require a minimum of one year off after two consecutive terms.

Citizen representatives are appointed according to the procedures outlined in the CivicAppointments process.

If vacancies should arise during the term, the first designated Alternate Citizen Member will fill such vacancy.

6. Quorum
Quorum shall be 5 members.

Notwithstanding subsection 19(i) of the Simplified Procedures for Advisory Bodies, if there is no quorum present 30 minutes after the start of the meeting, the Secretary shall call the roll and record the names of the Members present.

7. Attendance
In order to be a Member in good standing, regular attendance at meetings is required. A Member who is absent for three consecutive meetings, without providing the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee with written or verbal notification and reason for such absence, shall be deemed to have resigned from the position.

8. Compensation
No compensation shall be made to Members of the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee for their participation.

9. Meetings
The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee meetings shall, generally, be held quarterly or at the call of the Chair, with the provision that at least four meetings shall be held per year.

The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee may consider holding meetings in different areas of the City to encourage participation from all areas of the City. Meetings are open to the public.

The meetings shall be advertised with a proposed agenda at least one week in advance through the various cycling newsletters, on Internet through the City's and the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee's web site, the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee's voice mail telephone line, and elsewhere, as practical. The meeting announcement and proposed agenda shall be available through the City Clerk's Office.

Ad hoc meetings of all or part of the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee may be convened, as required. The location, frequency, and participation of these meetings shall be at the discretion of the Chair and of the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee.

10. Staff Support
City Clerk's staff will prepare the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee's notices, agendas, minutes and correspondence. The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee will be supported by Program Staff dedicated to working on cycling issues, and by Program Staff of the City's service areas as warranted, including:

City Planning;
Transportation Services;
Parks, Forestry and Recreation;
Toronto Transit Commission; and
Toronto Police Service.

11. Reporting
The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee shall report, in consultation with Program Staff, principally to the Planning and Growth Management Committee of the City of Toronto Council and to other Standing Committees, Departments, Agencies, Boards and Commissions, as required. Joint reporting may be appropriate in some cases, depending on the subject and on departmental and standing committee interests. This will include work program and budget proposals to be considered within the budgets of the appropriate Departments, Agencies, Boards, and Commissions.

12. Working Groups
The establishment, location and frequency of Working Group meetings shall be at the discretion of the Chair and the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee.

Working Groups are open to full participation by the public and shall report, in consultation with staff, to the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee.

City Clerk's staff will arrange meeting rooms for the Working Groups. Program Staff will support the Working Groups, where possible, with expertise pertinent to the focus of each group's meeting.

13. Community Cycling Advisory Groups
The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee encourages the creation of (and will work with local residents to establish) Community Cycling Advisory Groups to represent the interests of cyclists within communities, focusing on local needs and priorities, bringing such interests and needs to the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee, and promoting the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee's initiatives and programs as they apply to any community.

The location and frequency of Community Cycling Advisory Group meetings shall be at the discretion of the Chair of each Community Cycling Advisory Group. Each Community Cycling Advisory Group shall determine composition and membership.

The Customer Support Services, Facility Services, Facilities and Real Eastate, will arrange meeting rooms for Community Cycling Advisory Groups. Community Cycling Advisory Groups shall have limited support from other City staff, only as is requested specifically for an agenda item by any Community Cycling Advisory Group and as agreed to by City staff.

The number of Community Cycling Advisory Groups may vary from time to time, as supported by the public within each community of the City of Toronto.

Groups wishing to fill the role of a Community Cycling Advisory Group shall apply to the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee to be recognized. The Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee shall be responsible for monitoring the activities of any Community Cycling Advisory Group on an ongoing basis to ensure that the role of a Community Cycling Advisory Group is being met, otherwise the recognition shall be withdrawn.

14. Nomination Process for Appointment to the Toronto Cycling Committee

Eligibility Requirements of Citizens for Consideration of Appointment:
1. City of Toronto resident or ratepayer or spouse thereof;
2. any person applying for appointment to the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee may not be an employee of the City or any of its Agencies, Boards or Commissions, excluding CAN-BIKE Instructors. Citizen appointees are required to maintain this status throughout their term of office; and
3. no citizen shall serve on more than one Agency, Board or Commission or external special-purpose body at the same time;
Establishment of a Nominating Committee:
1. a Nominating Committee will be established by the Planning and Growth Management Committee consisting of three to five persons, three persons being present at all times for quorum, on an as-required basis. The Planning and Growth Management Committee will appoint one or two Members of Council to the Nominating Committee. The remaining three members of the Nominating Committee will be selected by Program Staff, such selection of the Members to be from one or more of the following areas:
  - former Toronto Cycling Committee members;
  - persons of knowledge in the community;
  - persons of knowledge and representing the cycling community;
2. the Nominating Committee shall meet in private to review applications from qualified candidates, in order to select candidates for interview. A representative of the Access and Equity Office/Human Rights shall be invited as advisers/observers. All applications will be kept in confidence;
3. in making recommendations, the Nominating Committee shall consider balancing reappointments and new appointments to achieve both continuity and change in Toronto Cycling Committee memberships;
4. the questions for the interview will be pre-determined and answers will be scored in an objective fashion; and
5. the Nominating Committee shall interview a short-list of candidates and submit their final recommended candidates to the Planning and Growth Management Committee, via the City Clerk, for approval and appointment by City Council.
Advertising of Appointments and Application Form:
1. an advertising period for appointments to the Toronto Cycling Committee will be established by the Nominating Committee;
2. an information package, including an application form, will be made available through the City of Toronto Website, the City Clerk's Office, and will be available for pick-up at City Hall and the three Civic Centres, at the Access Toronto Kiosks
Key Qualifications for Consideration and Composition:
1. key qualifications for the Nominating Committee to consider will be:
  - specific knowledge and a specific interest to act as a representative in specific areas (i.e. cyclist couriers); and
  - knowledge of cycling conditions across the City and elsewhere.
2. the Nominating Committee will consider, as much as possible, fair representation from across the City of Toronto