TCAT News

The Toronto Board of Health recently studied the health benefits and risks of active transportation. In the report, Road to Health: Improving Walking and Cycling in Toronto, the Board of Health demonstrates that the physical activity associated with active transportation provides important health benefits, and leads to significant savings in health care costs.

Nancy Smith Lea was recently interviewed for Public Radio International's The World in an article entitled "War on the Streets of Toronto: Motorists vs. Cyclists." The article focuses on the challenges Toronto cyclists are facing.

What a great day! A record breaking number of delegates participated in TCAT's fifth annual Complete Streets Forum on Monday April 23, 2012 at the Evergreen Brick Works. There were 230 delegates gathered in Toronto and another 20 joined in through webcasting for a total of 250 participants!

TCAT is pleased to announce that it was awarded a Sustainability Internship from the Metcalf Foundation to build upon TCAT's Complete Streets programming. TCAT has hired Sam Schachar, a recent graduate in urban planning and previous TCAT volunteer, for six months starting in May. Sam will be profiling three communities in Southern Ontario who are making progress in creating Complete Streets and producing Complete Streets online resources.

Eva Ligeti and Nancy Smith Lea have been invited to present TCAT's Complete Streets by Design research at the April 30 Toronto Board of Health meeting. On the agenda is Toronto Public Health's report released April 23rd titled "Active Transportation & Health".

A reminder that TCAT has one spot on its Steering Committee to fill. For more information, the full description and background can be found here. Have a look and consider joining our team!

Applications accepted until April 30th.

On April 23, 2012 at the Complete Streets Forum, TCAT released a new report titled Complete Streets Gap Analysis: Opportunities and Barriers in Ontario. Produced, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the report provides an analysis of the potential for Complete Streets in 17 of Ontario’s largest municipalities.

Due to overwhelming demand, the Complete Streets Forum reached full capacity of 200+ registrants! As a result, registration is now closed. We are maintaining a waiting list in case any spots open up. To get on the list please send an email to info@tcat.ca

In response to concerns related to the fall of 2011 rollout of the InfoPillars (120 in total are called for by the City in the agreement), and their placement on Toronto's streets, City of Toronto staff recently explored a number of options with Astral. These included elimination of the element entirely, reducing the numbers to be deployed, redesign the ad faces, enhanced transit shelter ad capabilities, as well as variations on the placement parameters.

Toronto Public Health has released a " The Walkable City: Neighbourhood Design and Preferences, Travel Choices and Health." The report details the results of a study conducted in Toronto, examining residents' preferences for walkable and transit-supportive neighbourhoods, and highlights the relationship between travel choices, levels of physical activity, and body weights of residents in relationship to the walkability of their current neighbourhood.