Break out the wool socks. Toronto’s Bixi bike-sharing service will continue through the winter. The service is also moving some of its rental stations further afield—to Bathurst, to the Distillery District, and along Sherbourne (check out this handy map from The Grid)—in an effort to widen its footprint. As we’ve said before, Bixi’s utility is tied to its reach. A greater catchment area and the potential for longer rides can only improve the service. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
All stories relating to bikes
Frances Nunziata proposes a new vehicle registration tax (i.e. licensing cyclists)
Councillor Frances Nunziata is talking about licensing cyclists, an idea that’s regularly floated at city hall and always met with a predictable outcome. Often viewed as an anti-cycling tactic in disguise, the Toronto Sun reports that police chief Bill Blair mentioned at least one positive outcome for pinkos cyclists yesterday: licenses would make it easier to return stolen bikes to their lawful owners. But unless we’re missing something, the police’s current police bicycle registration seems sufficient. And this city website lists three times in recent memory when the licensing idea has been considered. Then again, this could be a cash cow for the city. How’s $60 per bike sound? Read the entire story [Toronto Sun] »
Apparently, the mayor makes a lot of proclamations—but we still want to know more about “Foot Health Month”
City hall blogger—and Informer contributor—Matt Elliott has spotted something that we missed: Rob Ford never signed an official proclamation for Car Free Day. Elliott points out that because the application wasn’t filed six weeks in advance, the mayor can conveniently chalk the missing proclamation up to a paperwork problem rather than his hatred for bikes and pedestrians. But that’s not the most interesting part of the piece. Elliott also provides two long lists that show which proclamations David Miller made that Ford has not, and vice versa. While it seems appropriate that Ford has proclaimed “Red Tape Awareness Week,” given the sheer volume of proclamations we’re mostly impressed that the mayor has free time to do anything else. Read the entire story [Ford For Toronto] »
Urban guru Richard Florida joins the chorus of voices warning that the London riots could happen in Toronto
(Image: Ed Schipul)
We were somewhat skeptical when the Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume made the argument two weeks ago that Toronto could see London-style riots in the near future. But with other city sages also putting forward similar arguments—including Richard Florida, the head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto and senior editor at The Atlantic, in this weekend’s Globe and Mail—the idea that the city’s class divisions could someday prove catastrophic is starting to seem a little more serious.
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Mayor Rob Ford receives another death threat, but apparently that’s just part of the job—or so says Mel Lastman
Mel Lastman received death threats and he hung out with the Stones! (Image: KMazur/ WireImages for Molson Sports & Entertainment/ Getty Images)
Criticizing the mayor is one thing, and we recognize that sometimes even a little violent rhetoric and some obvious hyperbole help to get a point across (for instance, when Glenn De Baeremaeker accused Rob Ford of trying to kill him by removing bikes lanes, a statement for which De Baeremaeker later apologized). But going as far as actually threatening to kill the mayor? Seriously, Toronto, that’s not cool. There have now been two threats against Mayor Ford, for which the police have laid criminal charges—however, former mayor Mel Lastman insists it’s just part of the job.
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Reformed commie Giorgio Mammoliti can smell communism, and he doesn’t want its sour scent on his Facebook page
(Image: Toronto.ca)
“I will be monitoring their comments and if I get a smell of communism, they’re off the page.” — Giorgio Mammoliti
That was the city councillor in an interview with the Toronto Star after the good folks at Torontoist broke the news that Mammoliti had created a Facebook page called “Save the City… Support the Ford Administration” to consult with the Toronto public regarding what should and shouldn’t receive city funds.
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The Thing: Seduction on two wheels (a.k.a. the bike)
(Image: Andrew B. Myers)
What with expletive-inducing gas prices and the suddenly ubiquitous Bixi docks, we don’t go for bike rides anymore, we just bike. Everywhere—to work, to the bar, to the opera. And just like you wouldn’t show up to The Magic Flute in head-to-toe spandex, you wouldn’t arrive on a beat-up racer either. Bikes have become functional forms of self-expression, and our bike lanes are runways for a new breed of stylish cyclist, gracefully commuting on retro-inspired models from European brands like Abici or Pashley. With big leather seats and wicker baskets, these bikes are for taking your time, for riding upright in something of a two-wheeled strut. Heads are definitely turning—whether they’re checking out the rider or the bike is another question. Abici Granturismo, $1,000, with Abici Square basket, $100. Curbside Cycle, 412 Bloor St. W., 416-920-4933.
Check out our roundup of 18 amazing city bikes »
Conservatives call for licensing for cyclists as bikes-versus-cars rhetoric ramps up (again)
Image: Salim Virji
In the wake of a near-fatal bike-on-pedestrian crash off Dundas Street earlier this week, a number of noted Toronto right-wingers are taking the idea of a comprehensive system for licensing and regulating cyclists for another spin around the block. The fact that the cyclist—who was clearly at fault—will walk away charged with only a minor offence that carries a relatively minimal charge is what has city councillor committee member David Shiner, NewsTalk 1010 radio host John Tory and Toronto Sun columnist Michele Mandel in a huff. But here’s the rub: city hall has studied the issue numerous times in the last 25 years, and every time the conclusion is the same: too expensive, too difficult to enforce.
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Bixi needs to grow—meaning more bikes and a larger service area—in order to survive
Bixi bikes in Toronto (Image: Gary J. Wood)
Ever since its inception in Toronto in early May, the Bixi bike-sharing rental program has been a hit, growing from 700 trips in its first week to more than 28,000 trips a week by the end of the same month. The obvious question is what to do now. The Toronto Cyclists Union says the next step is to add more bikes (no surprise there) despite the fact that Bixi is underused by the standards of, say, Paris, where the Velib “freedom bike” program racked up roughly six rides per day in its first month back in 2007.
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50 Reasons to Love Toronto: No. 25, Bike-riding pinkos have a sense of humour
Last December, when Don Cherry stepped up to the mike at Rob Ford’s mayoral investiture dressed in a signature mobster-meets-Florida-snowbird floral print blazer, he delivered his now notorious rant about “pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything.” Faster than Cherry could spit out “Put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks,” Twitter and Facebook exploded with condemnation. But not everyone reacted with rage. The staff of Spacing, the urban landscape magazine run by a collective of journalists and social activists—precisely the kind of arts-loving, bike-riding lefties who annoy Cherry to no end—saw an opportunity to spoof him by producing pink buttons with the now ubiquitous slogans “Bike Riding Pinko” and “Left Wing Pinko.” They’ve sold 16,000, at $3 each. And downtowners weren’t the only people pinning them on: 2,500 sold in the suburbs. The magazine cheekily donated $1,000 from the button revenues to the Darling Home for Kids, a child hospice originally named Rose Cherry’s Home for Kids in honour of Cherry’s late wife.
In time for Bike Month, 18 amazing city bikes that you can’t get for $20 on Craigslist
With Bixi’s baby steps and an ever-increasing demand for bike lanes, it seems that bicycles have gained momentum as a primary source of transportation in Toronto streets. To kick off Toronto Bike Month, our choices for some of this summer’s slickest rides:
Toronto leads the country in bike-on-car collisions—wait, really?
Cycling in Toronto (Image: Commodore Gandalf Cunningham)
The city recently released a report about last year’s data on cyclist collisions with cars and pedestrians, and the statistics are surprisingly grim. The data reveals that Toronto leads the country’s biggest cities in cyclist collisions, which we find more than a little bizarre. Usually, as more and more cyclists populate a city’s streets, the accident rate drops, not rises (New York and Minneapolis are but two examples). The reason is simple: as cyclists become a predictable part of the local traffic environs, they’re in less danger of being run over. Except, apparently, in Toronto.
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Bixi Toronto launches with limited service, missing keys, rain—and optimism!
The dawning of a pinko cyclist nirvana (Image: Ames Lai)
Bixi finally launched in Toronto yesterday, with much fanfare among latte-sipping cyclists, who can pick up bikes at one of 50 downtown stations, ride a (very) short distance, and lock up the borrowed bike once again. But while Bixi members—who total well over the 1,000 the service needed to get up and running last year—greeted the program’s much-anticipated arrival with happiness, the launch wasn’t exactly trouble-free.
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