Dear Ms. Mayer,…

Dear Ms. Mayer,

Re: MTO Discussion Paper on Cycling Initiatives under the
Climate Change Action Plan
EBR Registry Number: 012-8772

I am writing to provide Cycle Toronto’s response to the Ministry’s Discussion Paper on Cycling Initiatives. Cycle Toronto is a diverse, member-supported organization that advocates for a healthy, safe, cycling-friendly city.

Summary of recommendations:

- Allocate the maximum amount available for cycling initiatives: $225 million over four years.
- Maximize absolute emission reductions by focusing on building cycling networks in population-dense areas where the maximum number of trips (trips under five kilometres to and from work, school, commercial, and community destinations) taken by automobile for personal or commercial reasons could easily be taken by bicycle.
- Set cycling mode share targets for the province: two percent in 5 years; five percent in 10 years.
- Align work across government to ensure that targets and standards for active transportation are sufficiently integrated into the new Long-Term Infrastructure Plan.
- Prioritize multi-modal travel by integrating cycling networks with transit networks.
In terms of infrastructure facilities, priorities protected bike lanes, protected intersections, inter-municipality connections, and bike parking. Ensure good design practices are upheld by enforceable standards.
- In terms of routes, prioritize infrastructure on direct routes with significant latent demand, especially for families with children, seniors, and other vulnerable road users, and address bottlenecks such as the 400-series highways.
- Consider time-limited tax incentives for businesses and individuals to promote cycling.

Funding levels

We are pleased to see a commitment to building better cycling networks within the Climate Change Action Plan. The Province has announced a potential investment of $150 million to $225 million over five years. We strongly recommend an investment at the $225 million level.

Goals

Transportation emissions are the second largest sector (behind oil and gas), responsible for 23% of Canada’s emissions. According to Environment Canada, transportation emissions in Canada increased by 32% from 1990 to 2014. Emissions from passenger (human) travel (as opposed to freight) increased by 15%. Clearly there is significant scope to tackle our transportation emissions by investing in activities that seek to reduce reliance on automobiles in favour of sustainable transportation options, including transit, biking and walking. It will be virtually impossible to meet the Ontario Government’s goal of reducing emissions to 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 without a significant shift in modes of travel.

We applaud the Ontario Government’s commitment to increasing transit infrastructure. For longer trips, electrified transit meets the dual objectives of reducing emissions while simultaneously relieving congestion caused by the over-reliance on single-occupant motor vehicles. We would like to emphasize, however, that there is no more efficient and low-carbon way of moving people than active transportation. We strongly encourage the Ontario Government to set mode share targets and match the proportion of the transportation budget to this mode share as a way to accelerate adoption of walking and biking.

Mode-share targets: A recent report by the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) suggests that a third of all personal trips across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area are 5 kilometres or less. These are trips that could be easily cycled by the average person, given safe and adequate infrastructure. The cycling mode share across the Province for all trips is one percent. The Province should set the goal of boosting that to two percent in 5 years and five percent in 10 years.

Given that TCAT’s survey uses the Transportation Tomorrow Survey data, commercial applications and trips involving shuttling other people are not considered. However, trips within a 5 to 7 kilometre area which involve moving less than half a ton could be also shifted to using a cargo bike or electric assisted cargo cruiser. Considering these trips would involve 0 carbon emissions, there are clear and practical commercial and personal applications. The Province should explore the potential further, consider initiating a pilot project and determine commercial mode share targets.

Cross-government alignment and accountability: Your government is spending $160 billion over 12 years on a historic infrastructure investment. Led by the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ontario Government is developing a new Long-Term Infrastructure Plan to be published in 2017. We encourage the Ministry of Transportation to work closely with the Ministry of Infrastructure to ensure that active transportation is given sufficient priority in the allocation of resources under the new Infrastructure Plan and that reporting standards include measures focused on the quantity and quality of active transportation infrastructure developed and maintained across Ontario.

Investment priorities

Align funding distribution to achieve maximum absolute emission reductions: Since this program is intended to support greenhouse gas emission reductions, investments must prioritize projects that maximize mode shift. Cycle Toronto supports the prioritization of building commuter cycling networks across Ontario. Our recommendation on a funding distribution formula follows from the need to direct investments to where the greatest carbon emission reductions can be found: in communities where the greatest absolute numbers of people take the greatest absolute number of trips by automobile that can easily by travelled by bicycle (under 5 km). This objective can be reached with either a per capita formula or by targeting funding exclusively to communities with populations of 100,000 or more.

While we’re pleased to see the development of a Provincial Cycling Network, components of the network should only be eligible for funding through the Climate Change Action Plan fund where they are deemed to have a significant impact on greenhouse gas reductions.

Multi-modal travel: To maximize greenhouse gas reductions, cycling networks must be integrated with multi-modal transportation networks, including regional and local transit networks.Plan and retrofit transit hubs/mobility hubs to be bike-friendly for personal and commercial purposes, with easy access on protected lanes and ample bike parking, both on-street and sheltered/secure.

Enable people to bring their bikes aboard GO Transit during rush hour, especially when greater service levels are rolled out with electrification and regional express rail
Municipalities that receive funding under this stream should be required to have multi-modal transit integration plans in place with emphasis on intensifying networks of protected bike lanes, for personal and commercial purposes, around all mobility hubs

Family-friendly streets: We would like to emphasize that the strategy must plan for future demand and not current demand. Significant lifestyle changes that support sustainable transportation will only take place if planning and infrastructure development encourages large swaths of the population to start cycling who do not already do so. Planners must take into account the needs of people with disabilities, parents with small children, seniors, and people transporting household goods if they are going to change the behaviour of Ontarians. If infrastructure is safe, comfortable and pleasant for women collecting children from daycare or seniors picking up groceries, it will be safe, comfortable and pleasant for all.

What infrastructure should be prioritized?

Protected bike lanes and protected intersections in urban areas: Funding should prioritize infrastructure that reduces conflicts between road users, especially physically-separated/ grade-separated bike lanes and the redesign of intersections into protected intersections, including separate signal priority. We would not recommend that funding support painted bike lanes or sharrows, as these road markings do not provide an adequate level of safety and will not encourage new people to use bikes.

While we recognize the improvements made to the Ontario Traffic Manual to include protected cycling infrastructure, we do not believe it goes far enough to provide low-stress cycling conditions crucial for triggering mass cycling. We recommend the Ministry of Transportation work with the Ontario Traffic Council to develop new standards for protected intersections based on the CROW design manual for bicycle traffic which will accommodate personal and commercial uses.

Connected routes within and across municipal boundaries: Promoting cycling requires a connected network as opposed to a patchwork of disconnected bike lanes. When cities apply for funding, they should be encouraged to justify how the project(s) will connect with existing (and proposed) cycling routes. Building on #CycleON should encourage municipalities to co-ordinate cycling plans with their neighbours to further build on the need for connected networks.

Provincial road and highway standards: We are concerned that the language around revising standards for highway and road construction projects in the discussion paper is not sufficiently strong. We would encourage the Provincial Government to ensure that high quality bike facilities are embedded in standards rather than left to guidelines and policies that may not be adhered to in practice.

Bicycle parking: As mentioned above, bicycle parking facilities at transit/mobility hubs should be a high priority. Other key locations include workplaces, schools, commercial centres, and community/recreation facilities. We would encourage the Provincial Government to adopt a standard for provincially owned and other publicly-accessible facilities.

Encouragement incentives: We encourage the Provincial Government to consider social marketing programs that change the way people think about commuting. Other than direct subsidies to municipalities, the Province should consider offering tax incentives to businesses that provide bicycle parking, shower facilities and other bike-friendly infrastructure, as recently recommended by a British Cycling report commissioned by a network of UK businesses. Tax incentives for individuals on a limited-term basis (two years) could also be considered.

What routes should be prioritized?

High-volume vs. high-potential routes: The discussion guide suggests "targeting routes with high-commuting volumes." We support this objective, but we also recommend targeting support to prioritize routes with high cycling potential. We encourage the Province to consider using the methodology used by the City of Toronto to construct its Ten-Year Bike Plan. This plan relied on heat-mapping of employment and residential zones to identify high-potential cycling routes that would unlock potential cycling trips in future. In many cases, such high-potential routes will be arterial roads, which provide the most direct route between residential, commercial, educational, and employment destinations. We would also encourage the Province to support safe routes to school, bike-friendly school facilities, and education and promotional activities with students of all ages, parents, and teachers.

Addressing bottlenecks and boundaries: There needs to be consideration for crossing barriers such as 400-series highways which are the domain of Queen's Park. In Toronto's case, the Yonge-401 interchange needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

Conclusion

We agree with the overall emphasis on building cycling infrastructure for this funding stream. We believe that, in order to maximize greenhouse gas emission reductions, investments must be targeted in facilities and locations that will maximize mode shift from emitting vehicles. We further have proposed that incentives to businesses and individuals to promote cycling could be useful complements to infrastructure investments in order to encourage more active transportation. We look forward to continuing to work with the Ministry of Transportation as it works to support the Ontario Government’s Climate Change Action Plan.

Sincerely,

Jared Kolb, Executive Director, Cycle Toronto

[Original Comment ID: 202326]