August 14, 2013

This post by Benvenuto Triolo 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.

Planning safe, fast, and fun routes to ride on is important, especially for novice riders such as me. Besides riding with a friend, making sure you are on good cycling roads is the best way to ease any anxiety about riding in a large city such as Toronto. Like most major cities, Toronto has a large variety of road types – from congested roads with potholes aplenty to quiet residential roads with hardly a car to be seen. I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned in my first few weeks of cycling that can make any beginner’s cycling trips much more enjoyable.

There are generally two types of routes your bike can take you on: recreational outings and commutes around the city. However, with the complexity of large cities and the variety of ways people decide to use city roads, bicycle routes come in many different shapes and sizes and are often used for purposes outside their original intentions. Residential streets, off-road trails, and cycle tracks put distance between cyclists and cars and are good choices for new riders. Recreational routes are generally more approachable for new cyclists and are a great way to build confidence on a bike before riding beside cars. There are a great number of paths completely separated from cars in most urban cities and it feels safe from the get go. For longer commutes, new cyclists might choose to take a more roundabout route through recreational paths they are more comfortable with. Even the most direct routes can include short cuts through parks or under expressways. Besides helping you feel safe, cycling on these trails can be great for exercise and can quickly take you from the urban centre to fantastic scenery. In less than an hour on my bike, I am able to meander from the top of University of Toronto campus to the beach or the famous Leslie Spit (my favourite place to bike to in Toronto, see photo above). Whether you are going to the beach, the waterfront, or the Leslie Spit, there are great trails available that make the ride relaxing and enjoyable. The Lower Don River trail is a long, connected bicycle route that runs north-south and is hidden underneath the city. Once at the waterfront, the Lakeshore Bike Route offers a wide and separated east-west path for cyclists to speed along. From there, you can escape the city by entering either Ashbridge’s Bay or the Leslie Spit, two bike trails where cars do not exist and one can enjoy leisurely rides.

Although recreational paths are more relaxing and can bring cyclists to entirely new places that were unreachable without a bicycle, they are not (in most cities), entirely practical for commuting to work, school, or the grocery store. Mostly they need to be combined with on-street routes and frequently only on-street routes are practical for reaching destinations.

For beginner cyclists such as myself, Google Maps is a valuable tool in planning routes. It provides suggestions for accessible, reliable, and safe cycling routes which outline separated cycling trails, dedicated bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets. The software giant also updated their mobile app to include bike maps for iPhone and Android users, an awesome tool for commuting cyclists. By simply hitting the ‘Bicycling’ tab in Google Maps, you can see a great overview of any city’s cycling roads (Toronto cycling map shown below). The cycling people at the City of Toronto publish an amazing map that is really useful if you get a hard copy (the online version is a bit choppy to read). I encourage you to familiarize yourself with your city’s cycling roads and, if you’re new, start with routes with the best cycling infrastructure. Not surprisingly, streets with good cycling infrastructure are perceived as safer, which is important to encourage new cyclists and act as a stepping-stone to cycling on most streets. While good cycling infrastructure is important for safety, another key role of infrastructure is its ability to attract new cyclists. Since more cyclists equals safer cycling, this attraction acts as a positive feedback mechanism.

(Click on the map for a larger view)

While the Google cycling map is a great step in the right direction for cyclists, it does not always provide the best cycling routes for everyone. Personally, I don’t mind going a few minutes out of my way to get on a street I am more comfortable with (i.e., roads that are relatively flat, have separated lanes, smooth asphalt, or no on-street parking). A lot of this part of cycling route planning is up to your personal preference and I would recommend experimenting with multiple routes to see which meet your own needs. If you’re new like me, give yourself some extra time for travel and find the routes that help you enjoy your commute. The time-saving bicycling offers will come with experience.

June 26, 2013

This post by Daniel Arancibia 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.

Years ago, stuck in traffic on Spadina Ave, I looked around at what appeared to be an infinite number of cars in all directions and thought to myself: “I hate being stuck in here, but how could we possibly move this many people in any other way?” I was letting my eyes do all the thinking, and sometimes our eyes deceive us.

The definition of gridlock on our streets may as well be “running out of space”. Space is often the limiting factor in the equation of modern urban mobility. 20th century planners, in response to space constraints, sought to build sprawling cities with ever larger streets (and ever increasing costs) to accommodate millions and millions of automobiles. The general idea was that space for cars would be so plentiful and densities so low that traffic would never grind to a halt as a result of congestion.

In Toronto, where most arterial streets were widened to accommodate more automobiles during the post-war period, we are running out of space again. This time around, we cannot expand the roads without destroying the very destinations roads are supposed to take us to. The good news is this is only a major problem until you consider the whole point of transportation infrastructure is to move people (and goods), and not to move cars; people take up a lot less space than cars.

While I was stuck on Spadina I wasn’t counting the cars, much less the pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. My judgement then was a result of unconsciously equating material mass to volumes of people. It never crossed my mind that I wasn’t helping the traffic by taking 30m2 all for myself and a passenger!

Now I know that a single rush hour streetcar on Spadina Avenue moves more people than all the surrounding cars on the same block combined. I have also learned that if more of us used bicycles when making neighbourhood trips (distances less than 5km), there would be more space and less congestion for everybody (as well as cleaner air, fewer accidents, etc). Trips wouldn’t necessarily take longer: bicycles can, and often do, outperform cars and transit in tight urban settings.

To better visualise the relative spatial efficiency of automobile and bicycle traffic, I set out to capture a photograph of the Becel Heart and Stroke Ride for the Heart as riders took over the Gardiner Expressway – an elevated highway in downtown Toronto. I managed to obtain a picture where you can see approximately the same number of people on each deck of the structure – some in cars, some in bikes. In the elevated portion of the highway I counted 72 people in total (67 in bicycles and 5 pedestrians). In the lower portion (Lakeshore Blvd) I counted 60 cars carrying approximately 72 people. I used binoculars and peaked into the first 20 cars to calculate a ratio of people per vehicle of 1.2 (which is slightly more generous than the number Metrolinx uses, of 1.15 people per car).The picture speaks for itself. Not only could you fit at least 4 times as many cyclists in the upper deck without affecting traffic flow, people on bicycles were moving faster than those in the cars below!
The interesting thing is that you could probably fit all the cyclists pictured on the upper deck into the space of a single traffic lane without much difficulty. Allocating paths and lanes for cyclists throughout the city would in effect increase the capacity of roads rather than decrease it. This would be especially true if these lanes encourage people who are currently ‘interested but concerned’ to use their bicycles for transportation.

In a city that has become globally notorious for its congestion, we need to consider allocating more road space to those who use it most efficiently.

Daniel Arancibia is a research assistant with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank

May 15, 2013

This post, by researcher Emma Cohlmeyer, 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.

How do you get around your city? Do you cycle? Would you like to cycle? What influences your decision?

There have been numerous attempts to encourage a shift towards active transportation and cycling. The most high profile of these have focused on the construction of physical infrastructure such as separated bicycle lanes, bike parking and destination amenities such as change-rooms and showering facilities. Due to tight city budgets and the slow pace of infrastructure development, cities like Toronto have lagged behind other urban centres which have fast-tracked their cycling infrastructure. In spite of this, Toronto has greatly increased its cycling population. A recent Toronto study estimates the increase in the number of cyclists, from 2001 to 2006, to be as much as 30%. While this increase shows positive signs, there is still significant room to grow.
Researchers from the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank have been working on the development of A Toolkit to Accelerate the Adoption of Cycling for Transportation. This toolkit takes an original approach: linking behaviour change theory and cycling promotion. The toolkit is based on a thorough review of existing scholarly literature and builds on the practical components of successful cycling programs from around the world. The result is an evidence-based, adaptable model, providing a guideline for a cycling promotion program design.

The Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank will be using this toolkit in a pilot project in 2013. The idea is to move beyond “traditional” cycling campaigns – which often strive to raise awareness, promote the benefits of cycling and provide information. While these initiatives do play a role, many studies have concluded that knowledge and information campaigns alone do not lead to actual behaviour change. The Toolkit to Accelerate the Adoption of Cycling for Transportation recommends a more supported, targeted and “give it a try” approach to cycling encouragement, including these general steps:

1. Segment Target Population
2. Identify & Remove Barriers
3. Implement Commitment Strategies
4. Sustain Behaviour Change

+ Ongoing social support through modeling, local hubs & periodic events

An important additional factor, and one that must be ongoing, is the use of various techniques to draw people in and inspire widespread participation. Techniques such as pledges, small incentives to encourage initial involvement, the creation of social support networks or local cycling hubs, the presence of an enthusiastic cycling “champion” to model the desired behaviour, and periodic, large-scale community events to keep new, as well as experienced, cyclists motivated are some examples of engagement tools. These elements involve the target audience, instill a sense of ownership in the program and help sustain the behaviour change.

The first step, in the process, is to identify and understand the target audience. This could be a particular demographic group: school children, female non-cyclists or senior occasional cyclists, as examples. Ideally the group is one that will, for a variety of reasons, be amenable to cycling. We know, for example, that populations making big changes in their lives are often open to additional new behaviours. Once the group is identified, a more individualized, targeted intervention can be developed and applied.

While education, awareness and information can affect and shape attitudes and intention; barriers ultimately mediate whether they are expressed through behaviour. Common barriers to cycling include fear, perception of safety, perceived lack of comfort, distance, negative stereotypes related to the “image” of a cyclist and the power of habit as a determinant of travel behaviour. Ultimately, it is when barriers, both internally and externally, are low that behaviour change programs are effective.

It is fascinating to see the success of countless cycle encouragement programs in Toronto and around the world. Many incorporate one or more of the steps and tactics presented in the toolkit. Our research suggests the combination of these steps will be more powerful than single interventions. The wheel does not need to be developed from scratch – rather the programs that already exist can be supplemented and looped into a larger framework, in partnership with local community groups. Our work is about expanding, enhancing and connecting communities and activities that support cycling.

For more information, please visit www.torontocycling.org

Or email info@torontocycling.org

Emma Cohlmeyer recently completed her Masters in Urban Planning at the University of Toronto. She has always been intrigued by urban life, cities and the built environment. She is fascinated by the dynamic and diverse ways that people are able to shape and influence their city, while at the same time how urban form is able to shape its population.

​May 8, 2013

Spacing is pleased to be working with the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank, a research partnership located at the School of the Environment, University of Toronto, devoted to increasing cycling for transportation. This is the start of an ongoing series of posts looking at some of the research coming out of the think tank. Though looking at Toronto in particular, we think it will be of interest to cyclists and cycling advocates across the country — the more cycling information there is, the better. This first post is by principal investigator, Beth Savan.

These days, Toronto isn’t widely known as a cycling-friendly city. What other modern urban metropolis is removing bike lanes, instead of creating them? But a new project, the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank at University of Toronto’s School of the Environment aims to change this image. In spite of our woeful lack of infrastructure, Toronto’s cycling population is growing: Between 2001 and 2006, the percentage of Torontonians cycling grew by more than 30% (Toronto Public Health (2012) Road to Health: Improving Walking and Cycling in Toronto PDF) and a recent planning department report suggests further growth since 2006 (City of Toronto Planning Department. (2012). Living in Downtown and the Centres PDF). We think there are effective tools to help it grow further.  Tools that will be piloted and researched in Toronto, but that we are confident will be useful in communities across Canada and around the world.

Taking a leaf from books written by social psychologists, we are using proven tools for behaviour change, integrating a suite of complementary interventions shown to work in other fields. We will research, develop and pilot test a made to measure recipe for cycling adoption, including ingredients such as pledges, free tune ups and equipment, group rides, lots of peer modeling and social support, local hubs to catalyze change and provide advice like route planning. We’ll throw in a generous dose of fun and celebration for good measure.
We’re working in a terrific team of brilliant and enthusiastic students and faculty at the U of T, along with a host of creative and savvy partners off campus – groups like CultureLink Settlement Services, 4th Floor and Curbside, Toronto Centre for Active Transportation, 8-80 Cities, Evergreen, BikeChain, dandyhorse, and Shawn Micallef at Spacing.
Our first job has been to map the city – charting the intensity of cycling ward by ward, and learning about the detailed demographics of each part of our city. We hope to figure out why people in some wards cycle much more than those in neighbouring wards, and identify the specific barriers that keep people off bikes in parts of the city where cycling is the quickest way to get around. We’ll evaluate how population make-up, cycling resources and infrastructure appear to influence cycling patterns on a ward by ward basis. Next we’ll study the variety of tools for encouraging cycling tested in other communities, and, using the well-developed literature in social psychology, put these tried and true ingredients together into our integrated recipe. Finally, we’ll try out our recipe, adapting it to the different tastes of a couple of carefully chosen communities, where the benefits of cycling would be considerable.
We’re also looking at how cycling affects our economy, and how for profit and not for profit cycling hubs can both benefit from the boom in urban cycling and contribute to it. We know that cycling costs less than travelling by motorized vehicles, but we’ll try to figure out exactly how much less it costs, and what the economic benefits are for both local businesses and the community at large of having more cyclists on the road.
Happy pedaling and continued reading
Beth Savan is based at the Cities Centre and School of the Environment, University of Toronto, and is the Principal Investigator at the Toronto Cycling Think And Do Tank. She’s also an avid city cyclist
Photo by Mary Crandall