A bike ride in pictures

Today was Bike to Work Day in the Greater Toronto Area. Here are some highlights from my bike ride today.

1. New section of Bartley Smith Greenway (between Planchet and Jacob Keefer Pkwy)

2. Bartley-Smith Greenway under Hwy 407

3. Bartley-Smith Greenway, north of Steeles and Dufferin

4. New subway construction at York University

5. Future multi-use trail in Finch Hydro Corridor (coming this summer).

6. Bike to Work celebration by Smart Commute at York University.

7. Collision at Keele/Steeles. Traffic was snarled up for quite a distance.

8. Memorial near Rupert's Pond at Barrhill/Rutherford in Maple

9. New bike lane on Dufferin (though I think 6 lanes for cars is excessive suburban arterial)

Hot Yam

I ate at Hot Yam yesterday. Run by student volunteers at the University of Toronto, it's a mostly local, mostly organic, and entirely vegan lunch for only $4. Not only is it healthy food to nourish you, it tastes amazing. It could just be the best deal in town. Available only on Thursdays from 12-2pm at the International Student Centre (33 St. George St.). Check out some recipes here.

Sustainable Engineers Association 2011 Conference

On January 29th, 2011 I attended the 1st Annual Sustainable Engineers Association (SEA) Conference.

I was really impressed with this student organization at the University of Toronto, which was only formed last May. Students are driving the change; they are are asking better questions about sustainability, are bridging disciplinary boundaries, and are playing a larger role in creating a world that will subsist for generations to come.

Jean-Francois Bergoum from IBM said that innovation and environment are related: you can’t deal with either without running into the other. IBM has set a priority to use its technology to make the world greener. The more information you have, the better decisions you can make. Many of the world’s problems are information problems. Check out the Smarter Cities Challenge.

Graeme Stewart talked about urban building renewal. Toronto is a city of towers, and the biggest challenge of sustainability in North America is how to make the suburbs work. Sustainability is about how we consume. Eco-refurbishment of the city’s 2000 concrete towers built between 1945-1980 can reduce their collective environmental footprint by 60%. You also have to look at neighbourhoods as a whole. Zoning is a human-made problem. The simplest thing you can do for sustainability and livability in a neighbourhood is to add a fruit stand.

Jane Huang from Zenn motor company gave an overview of the future of electric cars. Electric cars provide high efficiency, no emissions, low operating costs, and low noise pollution -- the future looks bright. Tesla Roadster, 2011 Chevy Volt, 2011 Nissan Leaf, 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and BYD e6 are already generating a lot of buzz.

Trish Yee from Steamwhistle Brewery showed that going green makes a great business case. The Good Beer Folks have incredible corporate culture and vision. Their green intiatives include:

• all natural ingredients
• green bottles, green planet: 33% more glass means minimum 45 refills per bottle vs 12-15 refills for industry brown bottle
• painted label eliminates contaminants from paper, dye, glue, saves water and energy
• bio-cups made of corn resin, fully biogradeable and compostable
• 100% on green electricity (Bullfrog power), premium $25,000/year
• cleaner fuel for cleaner air, smart car/minis/hybrids, truck fleet use biofuel made from soya and recycled restaurant oil
• keeping cool: water drawn from below lake to cool plant
• energy efficient equipment
• energy efficient lighting
• waste diversion
• clean air commute

I also had the honour of presenting and talked about how "sustainability superheroes" at the Ministry of Transportation are building momentum for a greener organization. I'll share some of the ideas from the audience in a future posting.

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Engineers Without Borders 2011 National Conference

The EWB National Conference, from Jan 14-15, 2011 in Toronto, challenged me to think of my role as a global engineer and as a change agent in my organization and community. There is great power in my individual choices and actions. Status quo right now is completely unacceptable; the injustices we see are suffocating for so many people with so much potential. I learned about putting emotions and stories to numbers, and to never stop having fierce conversations about the “wicked” problems like poverty. I learned that technology is doing amazing things, but more importantly, it is about the people like John Githongo and their spirit that will unite Africa and the world. I witnessed hundreds of bright and socially-minded Canadian students building a better world. Their positive energy was infectious.

Every decision you make every day makes some sort of change; what kind of change are you working towards? How are you using your abilities and position for change? The maximum impact you can have is where you work because that’s where you spend most of your time.

The war on the car is over?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the war on the car stops today . . . Transit City is over. We will not build any more rail tracks down the middle of our streets."
-Rob Ford, mayor of Toronto

"The war on the car is over? If only it had actually BEGUN!"
-Christopher Hume

Map shows that Light Rail Plan delivers more winners than Subway Expansion Plan

[from Toronto Environmental Alliance]

Fun at the Zoo

Recently, I had a great time with my family at the Toronto Zoo. During the winter months, it's far less crowded (and the best time to go, in my opinion). But the best part is seeing the reactions of my kids to the incredible biodiversity that we are privileged to have and enjoy on this earth. Zoos do important work with conservation and education.

-S

High Speed Rail from Windsor to Quebec City

"The possibility of introducing high-speed passenger rail service in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor has been investigated extensively on different occasions during the last two decades. However, a number of fundamental conditions have changed since the completion of these studies, including the following:

- Strong economic growth resulting in increased development along the corridor

- Increased congestion on highways and railways and in airports in the vicinity of the Corridor

- Increased implementation, reliability, and service performance of high-speed rail technology

- Increased interest in environmentally sustainable transportation

Consequently, the governments of Canada, Quebec, and Ontario have announced their intention to update several elements of the previous studies that may have changed substantially since 1995..."

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P.

Metrolinx has tough road ahead

Toronto Star
Monday, April 14, 2008

Road Map to Recovery
Byline: Tess Kalinowski and Daniel Girard

Every day, Rob MacIsaac gets a unique perspective on the monumental task of weaning the Toronto region off its automobile addiction.

The Metrolinx chair's ninth-floor office at the foot of Bay Street overlooks an exit ramp of the Gardiner Expressway where a seemingly endless flow of traffic inches into the city long after the traditional morning rush has ended.

Fewer than 8 per cent of regional commuters outside Toronto and 23 per cent in the city use public transit, according to the 2006 Transportation Tomorrow survey of the Toronto area. Add that to a rapidly growing regional population and it is clear nothing less than a massive cultural shift can save us from choking on our own congestion.

Smog days are now the norm in summer. Last year was the second-worst on record, with 29, contributing to an alarming incidence of respiratory illness and childhood asthma. Obesity has become the scourge of our drive-through lifestyle. Economically, road congestion costs $2 billion a year in lost productivity in the Toronto region.

And, without swift action, it's only going to get worse.

Metrolinx is planning based on a projected growth of 2.5 million in the region, pushing the population to 8.6 million by 2031. Most of that growth will occur in the municipalities outside the city of Toronto.

The job of Metrolinx as the province's transportation planning agency for the region spanning Oshawa and York Region to Hamilton, is to help us clean up our act. Its blueprint for an integrated infrastructure, the roads and rails, buses and bicycles that could help effect that shift, is due out this spring.

"We need to change the culture in transportation," said MacIsaac. "The car is going to play a role for the foreseeable future, but we can introduce a lot of elements in combination with the car to have a much more effective system than we have today."

That's especially true in the regions outside the city, where the convenience of a car almost always trumps an incomplete and inconsistent public transit system.

But for MacIsaac and the regional politicians on the Metrolinx board, at least the timing for change seems right. An Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,000 residents of the GTA and Hamilton last fall found two-thirds believe the best way to improve the region's traffic situation is by increasing public transit, compared with one-third calling for more roads.

The public is also clamouring for action on global climate change. And, earlier this month, Statistics Canada figures showed that between 2001 and 2005, the number of people walking or using public transit to get to work in Toronto was up 7.2 per cent, with those cycling rising by one-third in the Census Metropolitan Area.

Meanwhile, all three levels of government have pledged big money for public transit. Queen's Park, through Metrolinx, is spending $11.5 billion for 52 regional projects to expand subway, streetcar, light rail and bus services by 2020. Some of that money will help expand the TTC's Spadina and Yonge subway lines into York Region and build a network of light rail stretching to the farthest corners of the city's suburbs. Ottawa, which is being asked to pony up $6 billion for the provincial plan, hasn't committed to the Metrolinx plans but has earmarked some cash for its own transportation priorities.

So where do we go next?

Today and for the next five days, the Toronto Star will look at key transportation challenges facing the region and how other cities have tackled them. Ideas include road tolls, HOV lanes, parking and financial incentives to get people to share rides, take transit, walk, cycle and work a compressed week. Planners are trying to create communities easily accessible by public transit and other modes but also destinations in themselves, attracting workers, residents, shoppers and recreation seekers.

The series also examines some customer-service ideas, the high-tech and common-sense enhancements that could transform public transit's image.

MacIsaac does more than talk about being a model commuter. He takes a GO train from Burlington to downtown daily and uses a car-sharing firm or the subway if he needs to get around during the day.

His task now is to come up with a road map that will persuade others to get on board.

Ontario Bike Plan

Cycle Ontario Alliance's Ontario Bike Plan is available to view on Toronto Bicycling Network's web site (one of the study's sponsors):

Short URL: http://tbn.ca/obpfull

Full URL: http://www.tbn.ca/forms/OntarioBikePlan-2008-web.pdf

The Ontario Bike Plan presents a series of strategies for both recreational and utilitarian cycling to encourage cycling participation in Ontario, specifically focusing on the implementation of the Ontario Bicycling Route. The strategies take into account existing cycling conditions in Ontario, derived from data and research in various Ontario communities and elsewhere, as well as consultation with various stakeholders including provincial ministries, Cycle Ontario Alliance (COA) members and the general public through the COA’s web site.

The vision for cycling in Ontario is to create a bicycle-friendly Ontario that encourages people of all ages to cycle for recreation, fitness and transportation enhancing the overall health and quality of life of Ontarians.

This study was completed for Cycle Ontario Alliance/Ontario en vélo, a member-supported, non-profit corporation dedicated to non-competitive, on-road cycling activities and was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Toronto Bicycling Network, North York Cycling Committee, Niagara Freewheelers and Sault Ste. Marie Velorution.

For further information about the Ontario Bike Plan or Cycle Ontario Alliance, please contact: info@Cycleontario.ca

Report recommends new road tolls, gas tax

A study released today suggests you pay even more for your daily commute. Financing Public Transit and Transportation in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton (GTAH) was commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario and authored by Trent University economics professor Harry Kitchen. In his report, Mr. Kitchen said the time has come for governments to act boldly to rein in the infrastructure spending deficit as property taxes and user fees just aren't cutting it.
York Region Era Banner, January 21, 2008


Lukewarm response to road tolls; New study proposes tolls for highways, but don't expect to see them anytime soon
Ontario should follow the example set by some European countries and charge drivers road tolls, congestion fees and gas levies to pay for necessary highway upgrades and improved public transit, a study recommended yesterday. Although the province's former finance minister is already putting the brakes on the proposal, the study's author said the extra charges on 400-series highways and major thoroughfares around the Greater Toronto Area would help reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and traffic jams by getting people off the roads.
Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo Record, P.A3, January 22, 2008

Paved paradise

GO Transit abandons pedestrian-friendly station to build jumbo parking lot for car-happy commuters.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=161209

Metrolinx (formerly GTTA) releases Discussion paper #1

Yesterday, Metrolinx, formerly the GTTA, released its first of six discussion papers, Towards Sustainable Transportation. It can be found at http://www.metrolinx.com/, along with details about registering for updates, providing feedback, etc.

Jim Bradley, Ontario's new Minister of Transportation

Toronto Star
Monday, November 5, 2007

Environmentalists bet on Bradley
New transportation minister expected to exert influence well beyond his portfolio
Peter Gorrie - Environment Reporter

A surprise name comes up when environmentalists assess Ontario's new cabinet. They tout Jim Bradley as the minister, among the half-dozen with a direct impact on green issues, who offers the most hope for progress.


Yes, that Jim Bradley – the gregarious 30-year Legislature veteran from St. Catharines who's been nearly invisible during the past four years in stints as the minister for seniors and tourism, and government house leader.


His new job, minister of transportation, isn't much more of a political powerhouse than those others.


But green observers say transportation policies will be crucial in deciding southern Ontario's environmental fate. They also expect Bradley to wield strong influence beyond the borders of his ministry.


They are pleased by the choices for all six ministries, announced last Tuesday, which include John Gerretsen in Environment, Gerry Phillips at Energy, Donna Cansfield in natural resources, Jim Watson in Municipal Affairs and David Caplan, returning as minister of public infrastructure renewal.


"None of the six is a lead weight; none are anchors," says Chris Winter, executive director of the Conservation Council of Ontario. "They all have the potential to move their agenda forward. We're miles ahead of where we were 20 years ago."


Advocates are also pleased by the government's apparent recognition that environment issues aren't separate from others – as, for example, with the recent report that linked the spread of diabetes to the sedentary lifestyle encouraged by car-dependent suburbs.


"You can see how these things fit together," says Julia Langer, of World Wildlife Fund Canada. Agriculture ministry support for local food buttresses the climate-change plan. Several ministries must mesh to ensure new housing is never more than an easy walk from a transit stop. "The cabinet has to have more than one environment minister."


But Bradley occupies a special place, partly because of his record as environment minister under then-premier David Peterson from 1985 to '90, but also because he's reputed to have been a quiet force since the Liberals regained power in 2003.


"Bradley is considered to be the father of the modern environmental government," says David Donnelly, a lawyer who works on issues such as urban sprawl, building standards and protection of Lake Simcoe.


Among other things, Bradley stared down nickel-smelting giants Inco. Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. and other industries that caused acid rain, and, over strong business objections, pushed through regulations that reduced toxic pollution from sewer pipes.


Now, he's in charge of a ministry that's fixated on more and bigger highways and bridges, and that critics argue must shift to support public transit, cycling and walking.


"He does a wonderful `aw shucks' routine," Donnelly says. But "very few people are shrewder.


"He holds a great deal of sway with the cabinet....I expect him to fight and, based on his past history, I expect him to win."


Winter adds: "He had a lot of spine back then (as environment minister) and I don't think he's lost it."


In their most optimistic moments, environmentalists picture Bradley killing plans for new expressways through the Greenbelt – the extension of Highways 404 and 407 and a new route along the Niagara Peninsula and across York Region's mid-section.


More realistically, they say he might reduce the scale of those massive road plans, which seem to fly in the face of the government's claim to want more compact, transit- and pedestrian-friendly communities.


A cautious Bradley, still busy moving to his new office, says he hasn't yet "turned my attention" to that issue. He is certain, though, that much of his effort will focus on how to spend the $17.5 billion Premier Dalton McGuinty has pledged for transit projects.


The other five ministers have reasonable green credentials but those with track records get mixed reviews.


Gerretsen, former mayor of Kingston, earns high marks for creating the Greenbelt over strong objections from developers and landowners. He's downgraded, though, for approving energy-efficiency standards for new houses that Donnelly calls "disappointing."


Caplan, with part of the responsibility for containing sprawl, is praised for general direction but considered weak on putting it into practice. Phillips strongly backed the creation of the Rouge Valley park on Toronto's eastern border.

GO save the planet

taken on a blistery cold day in Feb at Union Station, Toronto...

Bells on Bloor 2007

500 cyclists turned out on Sept. 23 to call for a bike lane on Bloor
dubbed TaketheTooker.



Viva ! La Velorution !

..~......__o..__o
.~.. _.-\.<,.-\.<,_
~...(_)./.---./....(_)

Bikes Rule, Cars Drool!

Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists' right to the road. The event is typically held on the last Friday of every month in cities around the world where bicyclists and, less frequently, unicyclists, skateboarders, inline skaters, roller skaters and other self-propelled commuters take to the streets en masse.

September 28th, 2007 was the inaugural North Toronto Critical Mass, starting from York University at the fringes of car-centric York Region. Eight enthusiastic cyclists took to the streets before eventually meeting up with the Toronto Critical Mass at Bloor and Spadina. With bells chiming, they circled the York U bus loop, earning cheers from line-ups of bus riders. They proceeded south, taking a lane on busy Keele St. “I’ve never felt this empowered on Keele Street before,” said one Environmental Studies student. “Ya! Ya! Hurray! Alleluia!” chanted a nine year old boy as we passed. We turned onto Bloor Street and began picking up more riders, grins from ear to ear on the faces of all the pedestrians.

We arrived downtown to see hundreds of cyclists with bikes of all kinds congregating for the Toronto ride. There were homemade bikes with long handles, tandems and unicycles, and decorations and costumes. The atmosphere was electric. A trumpet summoned, and the ride began. What a site to behold! There was safety in numbers. We were many, but also one. There were a few honks from annoyed motorists, but most understood that we’d be through in a few minutes, and they were powerless against the mass anyway.

Once one experiences the interdependence that the bicycle gives us, the increased adrenaline and full use of the senses it calls for, and the overwhelming feeling of moving beyond the speed of walking or running on your own power, it is very hard to go back to a car.

This Critical Mass was a celebration of the human spirit. It was a voice against the sprawl, pollution, global warming, injuries, and destruction of cities that the automobile breeds. And it was a fight for a network of bike lanes that will take you anywhere in the city. And that is something worth fighting for.

Toronto's Car-Free Day - Sept 20, 2007

Check out this website (www.carfreeday.ca) for information. It's a low profile event compared to the action taking place in other parts of the world. And too bad Car-Free Day is almost completely ignored in the 905 area of the GTA.

Car Free Day is a vital tool in the larger day-to-day, year-to-year process of reducing car dependence in cities. If this year-round process were a religion, Car Free Day would be it's annual holiday - a time for celebration, reflection on the year that has past and planning for the year ahead. Benefits of these events include:
- Changing the way people think about transportation
- Spotlighting related programs across the city, building participation and support
- Creating positive public events which draw civic participation, media attention, tourism
- Advancing existing city goals (Official plan, Transit ridership growth strategy, Bike plan, etc.)
- Taking a leadership role in a growing international program

TTC Fare Hike

It's sad that the TTC has been forced to raise fares once again to deal with budget shortfalls. Is transit an essential service? I think so. Without the TTC, the streets would be gridlocked, the air polluted, and we wouldn't be able to move goods and services through the City.

What's wrong with cars? Aside from the pollution and global warming it causes, the thousands killed or injured each year, and the stressed, aggressive behaviour it breeds, cars have systematically destroyed our villages, towns, cities, and countrysides. Cars have led to the creation of endless roads, flyovers, shopping malls, gas stations, fast food joints, and parking lots, all where nature was before. Fuel-efficient or non-polluting cars would not have done any better. - Carbusters.org

"The automobile has not merely taken over the street, it has dissolved the living tissue of the city. Its appetite for space is absolutely insatiable; moving and parked, it devours urban land, leaving the buildings as mere islands of habitable space in a sea of dangerous and ugly traffic" - James Marston Fitch

"and yet the relationship between urban dynamism and transit is more fundamental than ever in an age of global warming. Cities that can't move citizens from A to B quickly and efficiently are on the slow road to nowhere.

Though we all know this, the political will to deal with it head-on doesn't exist. We persist in the attitude that public transit is for those who can't afford to drive, the rest of us needn't worry.

The truth is that we can't afford NOT to drive."

-Christopher Hume, Toronto Star

Full article

Attention All Pedestrians, Cyclists, Bladers and Transit Users: South Kingsway on TPC Agenda

Responding to a letter from the Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN), the Toronto Pedestrian Committee (TPC) will be considering a motion to re-open the South Kingsway/Queensway Environmental Assessment (EA) on Wednesday, September 12th at 3:00pm. At issue is the opportunity for the City to use almost $1 million to make progressive pedestrian, cycling and transit access improvements that meet the City's Official Plan, Pedestrian Charter and Bike Plan or simply re-construct the 1950s style interchange virtually "as is".

Bill Saundercook, the local Councillor who declared the EA dead in July, will chair the TPC meeting. The TPC is comprised of citizen appointees and two councillors (see www.toronto.ca/tpc/#members). The meeting is open to the public so TURN requests that you attend in person and/or phone TPC members in advance requesting that they support the motion. This could well be the last chance to bring this fast and dangerous car-oriented area into the 21st century by making it much more people-friendly. For further information, contact Marty Collier at marty.collier@sympatico.ca

**********************************

Toronto Pedestrian Committee Meeting

Wednesday, September 12 at 3pm
City Hall, Committee Room 3

Full TPC Agenda for Sept. 12th (South Kingsway is Item #2)
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2007/agendas/committees/tp/tp070912/agenda.pdf

Background on South Kingsway pedestrian improvements
http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/south_kingsway-queensway/index.htm

Blog info on progress to date - from Bike Toronto
http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/446

Toronto Transit Map

This map contains public transit (bus, subway, street car, train, and LRT) lines for much of the Greater Toronto Area on a map provided by Google. Data for TTC, GO Transit, VIVA, Brampton Transit, Mississauga Transit and Vaughan Transit is included.
http://crazedmonkey.com/toronto-transit-map/

The Harder Way... here's a map with the proposed cutbacks