If you’ve taken your first trip to the Islands this year, or tried to bike (or walk, or drive) east-west on Queens Quay lately, you’re surely aware that the area remains in a state of major flux as the City works on demolishing, rebuilding and constructing the strip as part of a huge revitalization project that is anticipated to take until the Spring of 2015 to completely finish – right in time for the Pan Am Games.

read full article: dandyhorse magazine.

Cyclists and motorists take a lot of flack from each other for bending the rules of the road. But even the police will tell you that it’s pretty much impossible not to break the law. With bike month around the corner, we learned what it’s like to try to follow every single rule.

read full article: The Grid TO.

OK bike nerds and design connoisseurs, this is an event to have on your radar. Brooks, the England-based saddle and bike accessory manufacturer, has organized a five city travelling bike show called “Dashing,” which lands at the Kensington Market location of Bikes on Wheels June 8th. More akin to an art/design exhibition than a strictly commercial display, the idea behind the show is to highlight brands that aren’t well-known in North America but which are nevertheless noteworthy for their design and craftsmanship. Well, that and to celebrate a little.

read full post: BlogTO.

New details have emerged through a Freedom of Information request regarding the August 31, 2009 death of Darcy Allan Sheppard. Sheppard’s father claims the evidence he has obtained through the freedom of information request does not support the explanation in the decision to drop charges against the man who killed his son.

read full article:  The Urban Country.

According to “The American Bicyclist Study: On the Road to 2020,” released in 2012 and conducted by the Gluskin Townley Group, the women of Generation Y represent an important change to who is buying and riding bicycles. To us, this is a clear indication that it’s high time for the bicycle industry to embrace the next generation of bicycle riders, a group that will represent 100 million adults in the next seven years.

The bicycle industry needs to adapt as the market shifts towards a new bicycle consumer: women who use the bicycle as a tool. A tool that serves many purposes and is used for transportation, for exercise, for spending quality time with their children, for stress relief, and, most importantly, for fun.

read full article: Momentum Mag.

Toronto police said the incident happened around 3:45 a.m. Monday near Lower River Street and King Street. The man was riding a rented BIXI bike with four of his friends, said Sgt. Jeff Douglas.

“He was trying to do some sort of stunt with the bike, some sort of jump,” said Sgt. Douglas. “He fell backwards. He banged his head.”

The victim, who was not wearing a helmet, died on the scene after his head hit the concrete ground, said the sergeant who called the incident “death by misadventure.”

read full story: National Post.

An application has been submitted to the City for a building totalling 69-storeys, featuring a glass and steel skyscraper rising behind a reconstruced 1890s heritage structure at the corner. Currently housing an Atmosphere sports store, the Jamieson building’s facade, now half hidden by aluminum panels from a partial restoration in the 1980s, would be fully restored, and would continue to be used for retail.

The tower above is proposed to contain 580 rental suites and a bicycle parking space for each. No car parking is proposed: the tower is located immediately adjacent to the Queen subway station in the heart of the city, and can claim a walk score of 100. The redevelopment presents opportunities to improve the building’s connection to the Toronto Eaton Centre and to provide better street access to the subway station below.

via Urban Toronto.

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.

continue reading the full story: Spacing National.

Few posts that I have written brought out so many commenters, so much debate, as my question, Should Cyclists be Allowed to Blow Go Through Stop Signs? and Why Cyclists Blow Through Stop Signs: It’s Physics. In both, I make the case that stop signs exist primarily as a form of speed control for cars rather than a right-of-way system; that’s why they have converted most of them to four way stops that don’t actually work as well for right-of-way as the old two way stops. It doesn’t matter, I am still an idiot.

Now TreeHugger Emeritus Ruben Anderson joins the fray with Three Cheers for the Idaho Stop!! (or, the Insanity of Over-regulating Parakeets.)

The Idaho Stop is defined by Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland:

This law would make it legal for bicyclists to treat stop signs like yield signs. A cyclist approaching an intersection controlled by a stop sign, would be permitted to roll through the stop sign after yielding the right of way if there are other vehicles at the intersection.

It makes sense; a different kind of vehicle needs a different kind of regulation and control. 

read full post: TreeHugger.

In late 2012, the City of Toronto announced the completion of its first separated bike lanes (cycle tracks) on Sherbourne Street. By physically separating cyclists from motor vehicle traffic, cycle tracks are a key way to increase safety, de-stress cycling, boost ridership and reduce conflicts between road users in Toronto.

Cycle Toronto conducted an on-line survey of its members in January 2013 about the new Sherbourne Cycle Tracks. In response, 189 cyclists provided feedback on their experience of the Sherbourne cycle tracks. Generally, the majority of survey respondents felt safer with the cycle tracks and thought cycle tracks are visually distinct from the car lanes, which discourages cars. However, cyclists also recognized that design of the cycle track itself does not stop cars from entering the cycle tracks in all areas.

Unfortunately, motorists continue to illegally block the new cycle track. Due to insufficient separation, the Sherbourne Street cycle tracks allow motor vehicles to park in the lanes. Reports of cars parked in the cycle tracks have become common place.

Cycle Toronto now calls on the City to make a series of improvements…

read full story:  Cycle Toronto.

Photo from NOW Toronto