Road transportation accounts…

Road transportation accounts for 27% of carbon emissions in Ontario (David Suzuki Foundation). Through this
planned investments in cycling infrastructure of $150 to $225 million, the province can help to reduce private
automobile use, especially for trips under 5km.

To achieve the potential reductions in green house gas emissions through cycling, I strongly encourage the province to
fund cycling to the full amount of $225 million over 5 years. Since the launch of the Climate Change Action
Plan, our Mayor from Oshawa along with other Mayors from across Ontario including the Mayors of Ajax, Burlington, Halton Hills, Mississauga, Niagara Falls, North Bay,Ottawa, Pickering,Thunder Bay and Welland, have been writing to the province to support this request. As outlined by these Mayors, your full support of cycling is crucial to meeting local
and provincial environmental, health, economic, tourism and transportation objectives.

Prioritizing Infrastructure

With regards to the types of infrastructure that should be prioritized to make cycling in Ontario safer and more
convenient, Ie encourage the province to fund local and provincial projects that include context-specific
designs aimed at developing connected low-stress commuter networks. Low-stress networks provide “routes
between people’s origins and destinations that do not require cyclists to use links that exceed their tolerance
for traffic stress, and that do not involve an undue level of detour”.
I agree with the list of facility options outlined in your Discussion Paper. While there is no one-size fits all
approach, we do encourage an emphasis on connectivity, both to existing and future (planned) facilities. We
would also like to highlight that in many scenarios, protected bike facilities are a crucial part of building a low
stress network that is attractive to the 67% of Ontario residents who say they would cycle more with more
infrastructure in their community (Share the Road 2014). A special emphasis should be put on cycling networks
that connect to schools to make it easier for children, youth and their families to choose cycling as a mode of
transportation.

One additional facility-type that I believe could be supported to encourage commuter cycling would be
bike share. As demonstrated in Hamilton, bike share members reported a 70% decrease in automobile use and
a reduction in carbon of 132,433kg based on the number and distance of trips taken. The Hamilton case study
also shows that cycling can complement investments in public transit as 30% of bike share trips we made to
connect to transit (SoBi Hamilton User Survey, 2015). I think in Oshawa with our university and college campuses this could help students move around the city.

I believe the importance of incorporating cycling infrastructure into new and existing provincial roads and interchanges as many residential communities are disconnected from business centers and major destinations by a provincial road or highway. I believe that new provincial projects should include cycling as a matter of course and that the Climate Change Action Plan funding be used to retrofit existing infrastructure.

Bicycle Parking

I appreciates that the province wants to use this funding opportunity to enhance the provision of bicycle parking. I agree with the list of parking facilities included in the Discussion Paper.

Bicycle parking at schools should be prioritized. I know through the School Travel Planning project that
schools in Ontario must purchase their own bicycle parking through volunteer-led fundraisers, which means
many schools go without appropriate parking facilities. School Travel Planning is supported in Ontario by a
number of partners, including the Ministry of Education. Installing bike parking at schools through the Climate
Change Action Plan would leverage this existing investment.

Covered bike parking facilities should be available at GO transit stations and carpool lots and at major local
transportation hubs. Cycling can provide the first and last mile transit connection for many Ontarians. Priority
investments can be made at stations near connected cycling networks (existing and planned) to ensure
maximum usage and easy access.

Allocation of Funding

In terms of the allocation of funds, I recommend the following funding breakdown:
• 75% municipal partnership funding towards municipal projects that
o Fall on the provincial cycling network
o Support local commuter network development
• 25% towards cycling components of provincial road/interchange projects that
o Fall on the provincial cycling network
o Support local commuter network development

I also recommend that the MTO consider different sets of evaluation criteria based on the population size of
municipalities to recognize the varying needs of municipalities of different sizes. As noted in your Discussion
Paper, there is an important opportunity to reduce emissions through cycling in smaller communities, notably
because of shorter distances between destinations. I think communities that have an Active Transportation Committee be considered as a evaluation criteria as well.

By strategically investing in cycling in a variety of scenarios across the province, the Climate Change Action Plan funding can be used to kick-start
the implementation of much-needed cycling networks in small, rural and Northern communities while also enhancing and accelerating investments being made in our larger urban centers.

[Original Comment ID: 202681]