I am proud to share that the City of Toronto and Government Of Canada today announced a joint $4 million dollar investment to expand Toronto's Bike Share System with 70 new stations across Toronto, including 3 new stations in Ward 18! The Government of Canada and the City of Toronto will each contribute $1.25 million towards 50 stations, and the City will contribute an additional $1.5 million to exclusively fund another 20 stations for the Bike Share Toronto system.

In 2016, we welcomed Bike Share Toronto to Ward 18 with 13 stations across our community and today's expansion builds on the continued efforts of our community to support a connected and multi-modal transportation network. Designed to support and enhance Toronto's public transit and transportation network, the new Bike Share locations will be in close proximity to TTC subway stations and stops. Click the image below for a closer look at the expansion locations.

Expanding cycling access and facilities in Ward 18 is an important part of promoting active transportation, attracting new visitors to support our local businesses and is vital to developing a sustainable transportation system. Incorporating cycling into our daily commutes means less congestion on our streets and helps to support positive health and environmental outcomes.

Over the month of August, these 70 new Bike Share Toronto stations that will be put in place across the city will bring the total number of stations in Toronto to 270 with 2,750 bikes and 4,700 docks. Bike Share Toronto, operated by the Toronto Parking Authority, now has almost 9,500 active members and served up 1,191,746 rides over the last 12 months. Riders have travelled a total of 16,847,127 kms since 2011, offsetting 3,200,954 kg of Co2 emissions.

I look forward to working with residents as we continue to expand Bike Share Toronto in Ward 18 and across our city!

For more information on Bike Share Toronto, including a map of the proposed bike station locations, visit http://bikesharetoronto.com. 

As part of the Dufferin-Waterloo school safety and cycling connection improvements, City Council approved the reversal of traffic flow direction on Waterloo Ave to become Westbound-only and the installation of an Eastbound contraflow bike lane between Dufferin St and Gladstone Ave. The new road layout will provide significant safety improvements through the creation of a curbside pickup and drop off zone, enabling students to enter and exit Alexander Muir/Gladstone Ave Public School safely, without having to cross in front of traffic.

In addition to these safety improvements, the new road layout will optimize local cycling infrastructure through a future off-street boulevard connection along Dufferin St between Florence St and Waterloo Ave, which will help to further complete our network of safe cycling infrastructure.

Today’s investment of up to $840 million from the Government of Canada to the City of Toronto as part of their Public Transit Infrastructure Fund will go a long way to repair, renew, enhance and expand our public transit system. This investment will also help the City build new active transportation infrastructure across Toronto including providing funding for up to 50% of the cost of extending the West Toronto Railpath, our much loved multi-use trail for walkers, runners and cyclists.

Today’s announcement also builds on the recent Provincial announcement that the Dufferin Street Bridge will be expanded in order to accommodate future Smart Track/GO RER service and the future expansion of the Railpath into the West Queen West neighbourhood.

Over the years, I have been working hard to build support for the expansion of the Railpath among all levels of government and these recent announcements help to advance our efforts. There is still more work to be done and I will be continuing my efforts to ensure that the Railpath gets extended for the benefit of our community and city. I look forward to providing your further updates on this important topic in the coming months.

Earlier this month at City Council, I voted to adopt the City's Ten Year Cycling Network Plan. The plan will effectively double Toronto's cycling infrastructure over the next decade by filling in gaps, improving our current system, and expanding the network to new parts of the city. This network expansion is supported by an annual $16 million cycling infrastructure investment, a doubling of our current investment levels. Of note to Ward 18 residents, the plan supports our existing efforts to expand the West Toronto Railpath south and also proposes to extend the Railpath north.

Expanding cycling infrastructure in Toronto is a step forward to achieving two critical goals. Firstly, it adds new choices for travelers to move through out our city, increasing access to jobs, residences and businesses. Secondly, and most importantly, it is about safety. By creating dedicated cycling infrastructure in our increasingly growing city, we can ensure all users of the road can coexist with one another. We need to have a Vision Zero approach to our cycling, pedestrian and road networks to eliminate the injuries and deaths we are seeing on our roads.

Implementation of the proposed routes are supported by extensive study and analysis and I look forward to working together with you to ensure that this new infrastructure reflects the needs of our community.

At this month's meeting of City Council, I voted in favour of a pilot project to install separated bike lanes on Bloor Street West between Shaw Street and Avenue Road. This year long pilot project provides an opportunity for City staff to collect the data they need to inform our discussion about cycling routes in our city. 

The shape and width of Bloor Street West changes along the 2.6km pilot project stretch. City staff have proposed a mix of painted cycling lanes, buffered cycle tracks and the use of Bollards to separate cycling and automobile traffic as part of the pilot. In all cases, one lane of travel for vehicles will be maintained in each direction with left-turn lanes added at key intersections to mitigate traffic flow changes. 

This pilot project will analyze the traffic impacts and benefits to pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, businesses, and the surrounding neighbourhoods of adding separated cycling lanes on Bloor and will be reported back to council with these results. It important to collect this data to inform our decisions moving forward as we look at ways for different modes of transportation to coexist in our increasingly growing city.  

The results of the pilot project will further include the impacts on business. As this pilot project was supported by the local BIAs, these results are important to them and going forward will help to shape their understandings on this important issue. Parking space losses will be mitigated along Bloor with with new spaces in some sections and access will be maintained to the 860 off street spaces along the route. 

I look forward to reviewing the results of this project when staff are set to report back to council next year. 

City of Toronto seeks input to build Cycling Network Plan

The City of Toronto's Transportation Services division is in the process of developing a new 10-year plan for Toronto's Cycling Network. Toronto residents and businesses are being asked to provide their input by commenting on the draft Cycling Network Plan map.

A technical analysis has been undertaken to design the draft map which shows how Toronto's cycling network could be expanded and improved. More than 10,500 individuals from across the city completed the phase one survey and 3,600 individuals used the City's smart phone app to submit data from over 59,000 cycling trips. Input received from phase one consultations has been used to inform the draft map that is now being circulated as part of the second phase of consultations.

The phase two online consultation is now underway, and will be available until July 31 at https://torontocyclingnetwork.metroquest.ca.

The information collected from the online consultation will assist City staff in developing a report to Council on proposed cycling network projects to be implemented over the next 10 years.

On the draft Cycling Network Plan map, some major corridors have been identified as candidates for opportunities to create City-wide cycling connections. On these major corridors (Yonge Street, Bloor Street, Danforth Avenue, Kingston Road, Midland Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard in Etobicoke) it is recognized that to achieve any cycling network link, a Major Corridor Study would be needed to properly assess traffic impacts and work with all interested stakeholders.

Aside from allowing respondents to rank potential projects identified by the Transportation Services division, the online consultation allows residents to identify which existing cycling routes need upgrades, as well as which routes they think should be added.

The next step for the project is the phase three consultations involving drop-in consultation events, featuring conversations in motion for interested stakeholders who wish to cycle with City staff and discuss specific locations and routes on site.

Information from each phase will assist staff in developing a report to City Council on the proposed Cycling Network projects to be implemented over the next 10 years.

More information about the project is available at http://www.toronto.ca/cyclingnetwork.

Toronto Parking Authority Taps Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. to Operate Bike Share Program

March 31, 2014 - Toronto – The Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) today announced that effective April 1, 2014 Alta Bicycle Share will take over the operation of Bike Share Toronto from the Public Bike Share Company (PBSC). 

“We’re committed to making bike share in Toronto a success,” said TPA President Lorne Persiko. “Our objective as a global leader in parking services is to connect people and places by providing a parking experience that is second to none. We want to provide users of Bike Share Toronto the same high-level experience and hope to become a global leader in bike sharing.”

The new name comes with a fresh start for Toronto’s bike share system. The selection of Alta Bicycle Share, Inc., will ensure a seamless operation of the bike share system with 80 stations and 1,000 bikes. The change in management is intended to result in a more reliable system led by Alta, an operator that has successfully managed large scale urban bike share programs in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, and several others. This year, Fast Company Magazine named Alta one of the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in the world. 

“We are pleased that the bike share program will continue to operate in our city,” said Toronto City Councillor and bike share supporter Denzil Minnan-Wong.  “A vibrant city like Toronto needs bike sharing to be one of its transportation options and the Toronto Parking Authority, with its track record of running an excellent business, is best placed to make it work.”

“Bike sharing is a popular way to get around in Toronto,” said Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly. “I’m sure Torontonians, tourists, and businesses will benefit from the efforts of all involved to give it a fresh new start.”

In addition to the name change to “Bike Share Toronto,” the TPA will be making some adjustments to the program, including a change to the price of Long-Term and Short-Term Membership. Starting in April, Long-Term Memberships will be reduced from $97 to $90 per year for Annual Membership and $41 to $18 per month for Monthly Membership. Short-Term Membership will increase slightly from $12 to $15 for 72-Hour Passes and $5 to $7 for 24-Hour Passes. They will also begin offering Corporate Memberships, which allow local businesses and organizations to offer reduced or subsidized Memberships to their employees.

"The City of Toronto is always looking for ways to improve Toronto's transportation system,” said Stephen Buckley, General Manger of Toronto Transportation Services. “We are pleased that bike sharing will remain a viable option for Toronto residents.”

The TPA and Alta encourage current members to email [email protected] with any feedback or comments, and to note that, beginning April 1, they can find the bike share program online at BikeShareToronto.com. Customer service representatives can be reached 24/7 at the new number 855.898.2378.

About the TPA:

The Toronto Parking Authority is a self-sustaining public corporation owned by the City of Toronto. It contributes significant revenues to the City's general reserves while successfully meeting its mandate to provide safe, attractive, conveniently located and competitively priced off and on-street public parking, required by commercial strips and neighbouring residential areas to survive. Recognized as a world leader in parking technology services the Parking Authority has been successful in ensuring that businesses in these areas continue to grow and the neighbourhoods remain vibrant.

About Alta Bicycle Share:

Bike Share Toronto is operated by Alta Bicycle Share based in Portland, Oregon. Alta currently operates Capital Bikeshare in Washington DC, Arlington and Alexandria, VA and Montgomery County, MD; Hubway in the Boston-Metro region;Melbourne Bike Share in Melbourne, Australia, Bike Chattanooga in Chattanooga, TN; Citi Bike in New York City; Divvy in Chicago; CoGo in Columbus, OH; and Bay Area Bike Share in the Bay Area, CA.

TPA Contact:

Marie Casista
VP Real Estate, Development & Marketing, TPA|
Direct: (416) 393-7295
[email protected]

Alta Contact:

Scott Hancock
General Manager, Bike Share Toronto
Direct: (416) 853-7765
[email protected]