[/caption]There are interesting things happening in Toronto if you're a cyclist. I'm hoping in this case, "Interesting" means good, and not bad.
So let's begin! Speculation on George Smitherman's possible Toronto mayoral candidacy has been a hot topic since mayor David Miller announced he would be stepping down. Today George Smitherman made it official.
That's one interesting thing. Even if Mr. Smitherman doesn't make it all the way to mayor, the ripple and excitement his running has created hints at (hopefully) a push towards a more progressive and dynamic future for Toronto.
I don't know how strong an advocate of bicycling George Smitherman is, but as a senior Liberal party member, and the former Ontario minister of Energy and Infrastructure he has had exposure to what the energy landscape is going to look like in the coming decades. If you do some research on this topic it can range from slightly depressing to panic inducing. With his working background on the provincial level, I'm going to assume he's a progressive when it comes to transportation matters.
The next interesting thing? Look at this article on the 2010 City Budget [Toronto Star].
The city's total capital spending for 2010 will be $2.4 billion - expected to rise to $2.5 billion in each of the next two years.
...Among the items on the city's shopping list:
- Next year Toronto will spend $217.6 million on new subway cars that will hold more passengers - the beginning of a 10-year program to buy a total of 360 new subway cars;
- The city will spend $72 million on new buses, part of a 10-year program to buy 390 new buses.
- Construction of the Sheppard East light rail line will gather speed, with spending of $163 million.
- Plans call for $22.6 million of spending next year on new bike lanes and paths.
- A new radio communications system for police, fire and ambulance services will get $28 million, the first stage of a three-year, $69-million upgrade.
My personal obsession of course is with improved bicycle infrastructure, and as highlighted by Joe at BikingToronto, the budget for bike lanes and paths is more than double that of 2009, and eclipses previous years! Right on. I'm very eager to see how that pans out.
One last interesting thing; The upcoming Pan American (Pan Am) Games in 2015 will be hosted in Toronto. It's a decent sized multi-sport event - and yet another turbo boost to Toronto tourism and international exposure. As a city, we have five years to further shape our metropolis into a progressive showcase for sustainable living.
Bicycle infrastructure projects from places like New York City, Portland, Chicago, and Copenhagen (where the UN climate change conference is going to be held in December) might give us some pointers as to where we should be headed.
To give you some ideas of what is possible; recently, Roger Geller, Bicycle Coordinator in Portland's Office of Transportation came to town to overview what Portland Oregon did to become a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community. The PDF of this presentation is here, and it is well worth the read. (via, again, Joe at BikingToronto)
I expect European cities to be progressive and open towards bicycle transit but places like New York City and Chicago, putting Toronto's (arguably weak) bicycle infrastructure to shame? Amazing. Considering we Canadians are supposed to be the big progressive socialists in North America, I'm very surprised at how stuffy and resistant Toronto has been towards expanding bicycle infrastructure in the last decade.
It doesn't help that some of our local councillors have been shamefully characterizing extending our bicycling infrastructure as a "war on the car". These flames have been fanned by goofy, sensational editorial pieces in our local newspapers as well.
Hopefully, with what I'm seeing on the horizon, we'll witness an even more bike-friendly turn around in 2010, and we'll make some amazing changes in the next decade. I love this city, and watching it evolve into a progressive and future-proof human transit leader would make Toronto complete for me.
Points of Interest
- George Smitherman at Wikipedia
- Tory and Smitherman set the stage for battle to come and Tory V. Smitherman (video)
- 'Furious George' Smitherman has to form a campaign identity
- The Toronto PanAm Games 2015 site and the Ministry of Health Promotion site
- Complete Streets Update Public Meeting - Mon, Nov 23
- New York City lessons and Toronto’s fairy tale War on the Car
