Today, City Council approved two reports that ensure safe, separated and connected cycling corridors remain in place on a permanent basis across Toronto, as part of ActiveTO, and that 100 kilometres of new cycling routes are planned and designed for installation over the next three years.
Bikeway installation over the past three years has been unprecedented in Toronto. From 2019 to 2021, including ActiveTO routes, 65 kilometres of new bikeways have been installed, as well as 47 kilometres of upgrades and enhancements to existing cycling routes. The approved Cycling Network Plan Update report calls for plans to exceed this growth and add 100 kilometres of bike routes over the next three years (2022 to 2024).
Seven ActiveTO routes, which were first installed in 2020 as a temporary part of the City of Toronto’s COVID-19 pandemic response, have been made permanent. The seven ActiveTO Cycling Network Expansion routes that will immediately be made permanent are:
City staff have closely monitored the impacts of the new ActiveTO bikeways on each of these corridors and data show that where routes have been installed, more people are using them to cycle. Across all seven bikeways, the number of people cycling on the routes has increased by an average of approximately 65 per cent. This increase suggests that the new bikeways encouraged more people to choose cycling more often. Staff also noted an increase in road safety with minimal travel time impacts for people driving along each of the bikeways.
The forecasted new bike routes would advance neighbourhood bikeways and expand Toronto’s growing Major City-Wide Cycling Routes. Study, design and public consultation will be important for the success and delivery of the new infrastructure, and all proposed projects would include a Complete Streets and Vision Zero Road Safety Plan approach.
The locations identified for bikeway expansion are on major roads, as well as in neighbourhoods and have been identified, in part, through new and emerging equity analyses, which seek to expand cycling infrastructure to provide more residents across the city with close access to a cycling route.
For more, read the 2021 Cycling Network Plan Update report or the full Cycling Network Plan – 2021 Cycling Infrastructure Installation – Fourth Quarter Update and the Future of the 2020 ActiveTO Cycling Network Projects report.
More information about ActiveTO is available at Toronto.ca/ActiveTO.
Quotes:
“The ActiveTO bike network was intended as a quick and safe way to help us through the pandemic, by getting essential workers where they were needed to be and by helping people make essential trips. The ActiveTO bike lanes are an important part of Toronto’s rapidly growing cycling network and City staff are working to build on these bikeways to add another 100 kilometres of bike infrastructure over the coming years. Making these routes permanent, and making plans to expand the network even further where it makes sense, is the right and responsible thing to do and it will help more people get around our city safely by bike.”
– Mayor John Tory
“We’re building on the success of ActiveTO and growing our cycling network. The cycling infrastructure approved today will benefit riders with safer roadways, who will in turn benefit the environment through a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”
– Councillor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rough Park), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee
Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City’s website or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.