A bicyclist's guide to Toronto: Where to go and what to avoid
Globe Staff
The Globe and Mail
Last updated Wednesday, May. 22 2013, 11:31 AM EDT
Safety
Whether after the winter or following a longer hiatus from the bike, riding again can bring what Cycle Toronto executive director Jared Kolb calls “an incredible sense of independence.” But before you start zipping around town, there are a few steps to make sure you and your bike are ready, and some common riding mistakes to remember to avoid.
-By law, your bicycle has to be outfitted with reflectors, a bell and working lights at the front and back. While riders under the age of 18 must wear a helmet, there are sharp differences of opinion for their suitability among adults. Some argue that it is foolish to take the chance of not wearing a helmet, others say that putting one on gives a perception of safety may spark riskier behaviour.
- Make sure your bike itself is safe. Cycle Toronto uses the reminder ABC – standing for the correct amount of Air in the tires, properly functioning Brakes and a clean and lubricated Chain. There is plenty of information available online, but get a bike shop to do your tune up if you don’t have the tools or don’t know what you’re doing. Urban cycling consultant Yvonne Bambrick, who is running a series of safety courses next month, notes that “a rainy day is usually a great day to bring in a bike. Not quite as busy.”
-Once on the road, make sure you’re visible. Lights have to be on from before dark to after dawn and bright clothing will help others see you. Ms. Bambrick stresses that you have to “be communicative” and signal your intentions to drivers.
-Be confident taking the space you need. Provincial law requires you to ride as close to the curb as is practicable, meaning that you can move left for safety if there are obstacles such as debris, a bad surface or dangerous grates. Under city of Toronto bylaw, full-sized bicycles cannot be ridden on the sidewalk.
-While riding, watch for drivers who throw open their doors without looking. Don’t try to squeeze to the right of a right-turning car and beware of buses and large trucks that have reduced sightlines. When you can, watch drivers’ body language to get a sense of what they will do next.
-Rank beginners may want to practise in a park or on a quiet residential road. As skills improve, they will find that cyclists have plotted numerous good routes around the city. Downtown streets such as Harbord and Beverley are practically bicycle highways in the summer.
“There are parts of this city where cycling is booming,” said Mr. Kolb, who pointed out that numbers improve safety. “You get more cyclists on the road and drivers pay more attention to them.”
Bike lanes
Bicycle lanes follow the path of least resistance – but what that means has changed.
The old logic was to send cyclists through areas where no one would complain about their presence. That usually meant a stitched-together hodgepodge of routes through urban green spaces, industrial zones and inconvenient streets.
Perhaps no surprise, these were not particularly well used. But then the logic evolved.
With a growing acceptance of riding as a legitimate form of commuting, the current concept is for cyclists to get direct routes. In the most striking example of that in Toronto, the city is looking at separated bike lanes on Adelaide and Richmond, major corridors across the downtown.
But running the risk of undermining these plans is the controversy that lurks whenever bike lanes are considered in Toronto.
There is the expected criticism: a pro-car bloc on city council that appears to despise bicycles for getting in their way and a mayor who, while still a councillor, blamed slain cyclists for their own deaths because “roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks.” And then there’s the less obvious anti-lane community: the so-called vehicular cyclists who insist that bicycles deserve space amid the other vehicles on the road.
What could help break through the rhetoric is research suggesting that separated bike lanes both save lives and help local businesses.
The New York City Department of Transportation found recently that that country’s first fully separated bike lanes, on 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan, had remarkable effects. There was a 35 per cent drop in injuries among all street users on 8th and a 58 per cent drop on 9th,, their report shows. There was an increase in retail sales of “up to 49 per cent” in an eight-block stretch of 9th, compared with a 3 per cent rise across the borough.
The research is unlikely to settle the debate, but it does add some facts to what has occasionally become an overheated war of words.
