Results tagged “torontocoalitionforactivetransportation”

Sure, Toronto, you heart your bikes, but there are other cities just as cycle-centric as you are. Tonight at CineCycle, the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation presents a screening of VEER, a critically approved documentary that examines Portland’s (at times) wacky bike culture and shows that for many, two wheels aren’t just a choice of transportation; they’re a way of life.

Ever wonder what distinguishes a good bicycle rack from a bad one? Or what the optimal buffer is between a bike lane and a parked car? If so, then last week's Bike Summit was the place for you, as active transportation activists, transportation planners, urban infrastructure experts, and assorted cycling gurus came together to consider these and other such questions. Organized by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT), the second annual conference was a day-long extravaganza devoted to everything on two wheels.

Score one for the cycling community. After an intense and late-breaking campaign, and with a crucial assist from Councillor Kyle Rae, bicycle advocates have successfully introduced bike lanes into a major redevelopment plan for Jarvis Street. Yesterday afternoon the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) voted to remove the centre, reversible-direction lane of traffic, and use the freed-up space to install bicycle lanes in both directions from Bloor to Queen.

Things of which we are fans: cycling advocacy, dancehall-laced DJ sets, jokes about benzodiazepine, tipsy city councillors. Last night we were lucky to find all of these in the very same room, at the first annual Toronto Bike Awards, hosted by the Toronto Cyclists Union. The Gladstone Hotel’s ballroom was standing-room only, packed with die-hard cyclists and the people who love them. While the City of Toronto has distributed Bicycle Friendly Business Awards for many years, this was the first time that a full evening’s worth of partying was devoted to recognizing the individuals and organizations that are working to continuously improve the state of cycling in our city. In addition to the City’s awards, the Cyclists Union inaugurated their own Golden Spoke Awards: one each for the outstanding city councillor, volunteer, and cycling advocate of the year. The Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) and I Bike T.O. gave out their own awards as well—proof of the breadth and depth of cycling activism in the city.

Cycling in Toronto has been undergoing a bit of a renaissance lately. Hundreds of people took to the streets last September to promote a cross-city bike lane on Bloor Street, the cycling intervention collective Outdoor Urban Repair Squad was named the best activist group for 2007 by NOW Magazine, the Toronto Cyclists Union is launching this spring, and the city's Bike Week has become so packed full of events that it will stretch into Bike Month this year.