Results tagged “advocacy”

Saying something like, "Hey, it's been a ridiculous year for cycling in Toronto" sounds like a bit of a cheap lead-in, but it's true. This year, already dubious for widespread Obamamania, then equally widespread Obamaphobia, and peppered each month with one tragic, horrifying aviation disaster after another, has sucked pretty hard for local cyclists. From losing one of its own at Bay and Bloor to being told, laughably, that a carbon footprint somehow rivalling that of the city's motorists is cause enough for a bike tax, Toronto's cycling community has a few too many reasons to shake its collective head.

After months of quiet preparation, Toronto's very own Bike Union officially launched at City Hall yesterday morning. Modelled after successful cycling advocacy groups in Chicago, London, and elsewhere, the Toronto Cyclists Union is already a big name in the city's cycling community.

In a world where the squeaky wheel gets the grease, cyclists may be a little too well-lubricated for their own good. No matter how much noise they think they're making, cyclists just can't seem to push their agenda as well as, say, the Canadian Automobile Association can push theirs. Into this breach is stepping the Toronto Cyclists Union, the latest in a series of formal and informal organizations to try to help Toronto cyclists squeak a little louder.