Bike Share to get $11.25M funding boost, Jan. 30

The recent announcement about expanding Toronto’s Bike Share program to 6,850 bikes and more than 600 stations is welcome news for Toronto’s cycling community.

However, Toronto needs to accelerate construction of its bike lanes to encourage use of the new stations, especially on arterials such as Bloor and Danforth.

Since Toronto’s bike plan was approved in 2016, only 30.5 kilometres of bike lanes have been installed, including just three kilometres last year. This pace is embarrassing compared to other North American cities, such as Montreal and New York. Not to mention, pedestrian and cyclist deaths remain stubbornly high, despite the Vision Zero road safety plan to eliminate traffic deaths.

If Toronto is to become a bike friendly city, it can start by expanding the Bloor bike lanes west to Runnymede and installing pilot bike lanes on Danforth this year. This, among other projects, would go a long way to ensuring the sustainability of Bike Share Toronto.

Robert Zaichkowski, Toronto