Thank-you for providing…

Thank-you for providing stakeholders like the Share the Road Cycling Coalition with the opportunity to comment on how the Climate Change Action Plan funding should be prioritized to increase cycling. The cycling program represents a significant opportunity to enhance commuter cycling and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Ontario. We have read your Discussion Paper and developed responses based on the eight questions you posed. In developing our feedback, we hosted a webinar with 41 participants and solicited feedback on our recommendations via email. Overall, we have consulted with more than 50 stakeholders from all five geographic regions of the province, including municipal staff, public health and tourism professionals, cycling advocates, elected officials and representatives from environmental non-profit organizations.

Summary of our Key Recommendations

oInvest the full $225 million in cycling infrastructure over 5 years

oPrioritize cycling infrastructure investments that contribute to the development of connected, low-stress cycling networks (particularly around schools and to transit stations)

oConsider investing in bike share, especially as a connection to transit

oPrioritize provincial infrastructure retrofits and include cycling as a matter of course for new projects

oAll bicycle parking in alignment with APBP Bicycle Parking Guidelines

o75% of funding towards municipal partnerships and 25% towards provincial projects

oEstablish different sets of evaluation criteria based on population size to capture varying needs of municipalities

oAccompany the planned 2017 launch of cycling program with release of CycleON Action Plan 2.0

Full Comments

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. A lifecycle analysis of the environmental impact of various modes of transportation concluded that for each passenger kilometer travelled, bikes emit 92% less CO2 than cars (European Cyclists Federation 2011). Studies have also shown that increasing walking and cycling rates can lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of between 11 to 14% (Maizlish et. al. 2013 and Mason et. al. 2015).

To achieve these potential reductions through cycling, Share the Road strongly encourages the province to fund cycling to the full amount of $225 million over 5 years. Since the launch of the Climate Change Action Plan, Mayors from across Ontario have been writing to the province to support this request, including the Mayors of Ajax, Burlington, Halton Hills, Mississauga, Niagara Falls, North Bay, Oshawa, Ottawa, Pickering, Thunder Bay and Welland. 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, we 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” (http://transweb.sjsu.edu/project/1005.html). We 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 we 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).

We also heard from our stakeholders about 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. Share the Road believes 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

Share the Road appreciates that the province wants to use this funding opportunity to enhance the provision of bicycle parking. We agree with the list of parking facilities included in the Discussion Paper and would like to emphasize that all bike parking should be in alignment with the APBP Bicycle Parking Guidelines (http://www.apbp.org/?page=publications) in order to provide maximum benefit to users.

Bicycle parking at schools should be prioritized. We 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.

Private facilities in close proximity to low-stress cycling networks (existing and planned) should be prioritized to receive provincial funding for bike parking facilities. In communities where such programs exist, businesses with a demonstrated commitment to health & active transportation through programs like Smart Commute, Bicycle Friendly Businesses, etc. should be prioritized. It is, however, important to note than many areas, including some small, rural and Northern communities, do not have access to, or the resources to invest in, these programs. They should not be excluded from this opportunity.

Allocation of Funding

In terms of the allocation of funds, we recommend the following funding breakdown:

•75% municipal partnership funding towards municipal projects that
oFall on the provincial cycling network
oSupport local commuter network development

•25% towards cycling components of provincial road/interchange projects that
oFall on the provincial cycling network
oSupport local commuter network development

We 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. We see this clearly illustrated in the example of Urbana, Illinois (pop. 41,000), where the construction of a 30km cycling network put most of the population within one block of a bike route. A recent community survey (2014) showed that 9% of the population rode to work or school at least 3-4 times a week and 11% rode to other destinations (http://ubmp.cuuats.org/ubmp_draft_executive_summary/). In this example, a relatively short distance of bike infrastructure was required to reach a large proportion of the population. 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.

Finally, we were encouraged to see that the Climate Change Action Plan includes a commitment to accelerate and enhance the implementation of CycleON through Action Plans. As the MTO anticipates launching the Climate Change Action Plan cycling program in 2017, we strongly encourage this program launch to be accompanied by the release of CycleON Action Plan 2.0 to provide a clear framework for continued momentum. As of today, Share the Road has surveyed more than 360 stakeholders about Action Plan 2.0 priorities and we look forward to sharing this feedback with the province.

[Original Comment ID: 202850]