May 22, 2015

-This post by Jeffrey Trieu is part of Spacing‘s partnership with the Toronto Cycling Think and Do Tank at the University of Toronto. Find out more about the think tank, and the series, here.

With countless community events being hosted from May 25th to June 25th, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is anticipating Bike Month 2015. Municipalities and community groups alike are hosting the A to Z in bike events, from food incentivized group rides to bike repair crash courses. Although cycling mode shares are still relatively low in Toronto, they are trending upwards; hence, the cause for celebration! In fact, in a two decade long review of trends in cycling rates, infrastructure, and policies, John Pucher and his colleagues suggest that many large North American cities, including Toronto, are undergoing a bicycle renaissance. According to Transportation Tomorrow Survey data[1], all adult age demographics (including seniors!) have seen an increase in cycling rates in the past decade and half. In 2001, 1.18% of all trips were taken by a bicycle for folks 18 years of age and older. Ten years later in 2011, this rate has risen to 1.96%.

However, cycling in Toronto has not been booming for all its residents, particularly those who would benefit most from a transportation mode unrestricted by age-enforced licensing. Cycling rates for Toronto youth have remained stagnant over the recent past and in some cases, have seen decline. In 2001, 1.02% of all trips were taken by a bicycle for Torontonians aged 11 to 17. This rate inched to 1.04% in 2011. Moreover, in Ron Buliung and colleagues’ examination of school travel patterns among Toronto youth, bicycle trips comprised 1.7% of school trips in 1986, then dropped to 0.8% in 2006.

This Toronto youth cycling trend is quite contradictory to the contemporary public health emphasis on youth physical (in)activity. Sixty minutes of physical activity is the daily recommended dose for young folks, yet only 4% of Canadian adolescents are achieving this benchmark. The bicycle combines physical activity with utility; biking simply to get to everyday destinations is a feasible means to sneak in exercise. Moreover, the backseat generation lacks opportunities to be independently mobile – free to travel in their urban space as they wish. Here, the bicycle may be framed not only as a tool for physical health, but for exploration and autonomy as well.

It is quite exciting then, that this year’s Bike Month will be accompanied by the region’s inaugural Bike to School Week from May 25th to the 29th. Over 100 schools (and counting!) across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area have registered to participate in this week-long event. Registration essentially means that participating schools will be delivering cycling-related events leading up to or during the Week, with the potential opportunity to snag prizes.

Perhaps, it is too early to dub Bike to School Week a celebration of youth cycling in the region as Toronto youth cycling rates have not been climbing upwards as they have been with adults. Numerous factors are at play here: parental fears, lack of infrastructure, inaccessibility, or perhaps concern over helmet head. Still, Bike to School Week has the potential to be something more interesting than a celebration of biking in my eyes. It can be a catalyst for change. The idea of Toronto undergoing a bicycle renaissance is quite uplifting; however, it does not occur over one week or one month. It requires long term investment and engagement from numerous stakeholders, ranging from the chief city planner to the average city cyclist. So as our bicycle renaissance rolls on, let’s not leave behind our youngest companions. Bike Month and Bike to School Week is a time for folks across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, young and old, experienced and uncertain, to hop on a bicycle. Of course, it is healthy and environmentally sustainable. But, let`s not forget, it is also fun.
 
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[1] The Transportation Tomorrow Survey (DMG, 2014) measures travel modes across the city. If these rates still seem unimpressively low, bike mode shares are substantially higher in particular downtown neighbourhoods. However, suburban-urban cycling is a whole other discussion in itself.

May 7, 2015

This post by Natalie Corbo is part of Spacing‘s partnership with the Toronto Cycling Think and Do Tank at the University of Toronto. Find out more about the think tank, and the series, here.

Google Maps is not the best tool for mapping out a bike route. Not only is the software an unreliable judge of what makes a good cycling street, but it also turns out that scrawling all the relevant intersections on my wrist in Sharpie is pretty confusing. And yet, in many places, trying to memorize a route from Google Maps is the best choice cyclists have for wayfinding.

Although wayfinding broadly refers to all the different ways that people navigate the space they inhabit, most wayfinding initiatives in cities are focussed on designing low-tech systems that make the city easier to navigate without a smartphone. The split-second decisions that cyclists must make are particularly well-suited to good signage, rather than reliance on an app.

There are at least two components to cycling wayfinding. One is having a legible cycling network that is both predictable and easy to navigate on it’s own. At a recent talk on Metrolinx’s new transit wayfinding initative, Applied Wayfinding founder Tim Fendley emphasized the importance of consistency and certainty to make transit, pedestrian or cycling networks accessible and inclusive. He argued that if you can improve predictability and coherence of a network, you can gain the user’s trust, which will then increase transit, pedestrian or cycling use. At the Cycling Think and Do Tank, there is an emphasis on promoting cycling among people who are new to the city and even new to the country. If you constantly get lost, or have to back track, or can’t figure out how to easily get from the Richmond cycle track to Shaw St., then it’s less likely that you will perceive cycling to be a reliable and easy way to get around.

In Toronto then, where the physical bike network can be unpredictable and has significant gaps, the other component of wayfinding is to make it easier to find these disparate routes via signage. In Vancouver, where I have lived most of my life, I can usually be certain that any time a designated cycling route ends, there will be a big, green sign pointing me in the direction of a different bike route. I also know exactly what size, style, and colour of sign to watch out for along my journey. When I moved to Toronto, despite my route-planning efforts I have on a few occasions ended up on streets that I felt so uncomfortable cycling on that I’ve walked my bike a few blocks. I’m a committed cyclist, and very little could ever discourage me from riding my bike every day. But to a new, more tentative cyclist, the uncertainty of knowing whether or not you will end up on a street you aren’t comfortable riding on may be enough to discourage you from getting on your bike in the first place.

Toronto and Vancouver have their own unique challenges in terms of network legibility. Connecting the gaps in the network is a long-term fix that will hopefully be prioritized in the future. As for signage, Vancouver doesn’t have all the answers, but they have implemented some strong ideas that could work for other cities like Toronto. One aspect of Vancouver’s design is simply following good signage guidelines: the colour and size of cycling signs is consistent across the city, and the signs are large enough to be visible and legible from a distance. Unlike the few numbered routes here, the cycling routes that cut across different streets are named to be indicative of their path or destination. For example, the “Seaside” bike signage gives a lot of information in just a single word. The street signage is also included in bike wayfinding, as each designated cycle street has a little bike next to the street name at each intersection. This is a good signifier for both cyclists and drivers, who are reminded that the road is for multiple users. Added clarity to cycle crossings at busy intersections is also both a wayfinding strategy and a part of good lane design. Beyond signage, we can also think bigger and look at lighting schemes, pavement treatments and planters as part of the wayfinding strategy.

Toronto has a very high bike mode share in some parts of the city, an embedded cycling culture, and is topographically blessed with a relatively flat road network. Along with these gifts, an effective wayfinding strategy could encourage tons of new cyclists who will support network growth, and cement an even stronger cycling culture in this city.