Something needed to be done. For years, cyclists weren’t safe on Bloor. From 2008 to 2012 there were, on average, 22 collisions annually along the route – an average of nearly two a month.
To remedy the situation, the city installed separated bike lanes from Avenue Road to Shaw Street in August 2016. It then set up an online survey to gauge public response.
An enormous number of Torontonians have weighed in on it. As of late February, the survey had received more than 12,000 responses. Five hundred people also attended in-person consultations where they assessed various design concepts. On February 24, the city officially released data on the Bloor bike lanes pilot and announced that 92 per cent of cyclists support the project.
Not surprising, perhaps, but the lanes don’t just mean progress for vulnerable road users alone. They also represent a victory for neighbourhood democracy.
The city’s survey shows that 64 per cent of local residents and 53 per cent of businesses support the bike lanes and, more importantly, believe they embody “acceptable trade-offs in motorist traffic flow and parking convenience.”
This suggests the lion’s share of people living or working near the lanes have made their peace with them. They may be a little frustrated with vehicle speeds (eight minutes slower during the peak of evening rush) or feel parking is a bit trickier to navigate, but overall they believe the project constitutes a reasonable compromise.
One question on the survey suggests the lanes are even getting buy-in from car users. Sixty-three per cent of them now “feel comfortable” driving next to cyclists along Bloor, compared to 14 per cent in 2015 before the lanes were installed.
Cycle Toronto recently reported that dooring collisions across the city are up 58 per cent over the last two years, Bloor being a particular problem. By clearly dividing the road and reducing the chance that drivers will come into contact with bikers, the new infrastructure can prove a life-saver.
Many cyclists would like the lanes to be more extensive some businesses and drivers would like them cut back. But the majority can live with them.
Almost all infrastructure embodies trade-offs: think of noisy highways, expensive subways, smog-generating airports. The lanes represent a negotiated settlement, a viable middle ground and a win for local decision-making. It shows a community recognizing that its main thoroughfare had to change to improve safety for cyclists and support the city’s climate change reduction efforts.
The project has also been a democratic success at the process level. Prior to the lane’s installation, city staff made personal connections with hundreds of businesses along the route, hand-delivering information to them and engaging in conversations about the initiative.
There have been abundant opportunities for community members to shape the pilot and ensure it reflects at least some of their wishes.
The lanes have facilitated positive changes along Bloor. Following their installation, the number of cyclists using the street increased by 36 per cent, while the number of cars dropped by 22 per cent.
The Toronto Centre for Active Transportation, with local business improvement areas and the Metcalf Foundation, is now conducting a study on the lanes’ economic impact.
The lesson from Bloor: new infrastructure can not only help to tackle climate change and reduce congestion – considerable accomplishments – but it can also generate locally appropriate transportation solutions that win the backing of divergent interests within the neighbourhood.
Gideon Forman is transportation policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation. Jared Kolb is executive director of Cycle Toronto.
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