On Wednesday, May 4th, City Council voted to install a pilot bike lane on Bloor St W, between Shaw St. and Avenue Rd. The lanes have now been in place for a couple of months. The pilot will be monitored for 1 year.
Top 5 reasons to build bike lanes on Bloor St even if you don’t ride a bike:
- Most patrons of the Bloor Annex don’t drive there. 90% of patrons in the Bloor Annex arrive by walking, cycling or transit.
- Customers arriving by bicycle spend more money and increase retail sales. Portland State University researchers found that customers who arrive by bike spend 24% more per month than those who arrive by car. After the construction of a protected bike lane on 9th Ave in New York City, local businesses saw a 49% increase in retail sales.
- We can get the city moving. More than 80% of the time, Bloor St has 2 lanes of parking and 2 lanes of car traffic, treating half the roadway like a parking lot. Installing bike lanes would retain those 2 lanes of car traffic and 1 lane of parking. We can give Torontonians more transportation options and get the city moving.
- Torontonians want to ride more often. Over 70% of Torontonians would cycle more if infrastructure were improved. People are already biking in droves on Bloor. Adding protected lanes would allow drivers and cyclists to co-exist in their own safe, predictable space.
- If you build it, they will come. Study after study demonstrates that after protected bike lanes are installed on main streets, cycling volumes increase significantly. Cycling volumes nearly tripled on Adelaide after protected bike lanes were installed. And motor vehicle volume flows as before.
