May 29, 2012

29 May 2012

Recent TCAT activities and news items:

  1. Bike Month Rally at Queens Park: Pedestrian and Cycling Safety
  2. Exhibition: Berlin on the Go - Towards a Pedestrian-Friendly City
  3. Walkability and Economic Development: How Pedestrian and Transit-oriented Environments attract Creative Jobs in Hamilton
  4. Yonge BIA Street Festival
  5. Queens Quay Revitalization about to begin!
  6. TCAT welcomes new Steering Committee members

1. Bike Month Rally at Queens Park: Pedestrian and Cycling Safety

Happy Bike Month! Throughout the month of June, communities across Canada will celebrate Bike Month. The month kicked off Monday, May 28 with the Toronto Group Commute, where commuters from around the city cycle together toward Yonge and Bloor for festivities including a pancake breakfast at City Hall. There are dozens of events all month long, including group rides and tours, workshops, and clinics. The entire schedule is available online.

One event of particular interest is on Saturday, June 2, when cyclists and pedestrians of all ages are invited to join a rally at Queen's Park to push the provincial government to play a more active role in making streets safer. The rally starts at 3PM, and pedestrians and cyclists can join an organized group to walk or bike to the event. Join one of four festive options - Bells on Bloor, Bells on Danforth & Bells on Yonge or the Walk 'n Roll Caravan - that will take you to Queen's Park: Groups are schedule to depart from several locations.


2. Pedestrian events at the Goethe-Institut

The Goethe-Institut and the Urbanspace Gallery are opening a new exhibition: "Berlin on the Go - Towards a Pedestrian-Friendly City". The exhibition features initiatives that encourage people to walk, cycle, and use public transit, highlighting projects implemented by the City of Berlin. The opening takes place June 4, 5:30 - 7pm, featuring a talk by Shawn Micallef, from Spacing.

Also in June, the Goethe-Institut will host "Spine Walk" on June 5 and 25. The free tour is a "participatory embodied audio walk", where participants use headphones to listen to cues, instructions, narrations and sound scores to accompany the walk along John St. For complete details and to register, visit the Goethe-Institut's Future of Mobility event page.

3. Walkability and Economic Development: How Pedestrian and Transit-oriented Environments attract Creative Jobs in Hamilton

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce recently released "Walkability and Economic Development: How Pedestrian and Transit-oriented Environments attract Creative Jobs in Hamilton", a report that considers the links between walkability and transit accessibility and the city's creative industry. The report details the strong link between areas with high walk and transit score, and growth in the creative industries, and highlights that investments in pedestrian and transit environments are important for local job creation. 


4. Yonge BIA Street Festival

The Yonge Business Improvement Area is proposing that the city close two lanes of traffic for a month-long Celebrate Yonge street festival from August 7 to September 16. The BIA notes the benefits of wide sidewalks to other neighbourhoods, and the strain placed on Yonge's sidewalks. The Toronto Star wrote about the proposal earlier this month.

Earlier this spring, TCAT released "Complete Streets by Design". Recognizing this traffic situation on Yonge St., the report includes an example of how Yonge could look and feel if redesigned as a complete street permanently. 

5. Queens Quay Revitalization about to begin!

After years of planning, design and public consultation, construction on the transformation of Queens Quay is about to begin! Waterfront Toronto is holding a public meeting on June 6 and an open house on June 9 to inform citizens about this exciting project. The plan for a revitalized Queens Quay includes a promenade for pedestrians and cyclists, a continuous water's edge boardwalk, and a recreational trail to connect the Martin Goodman trail through the central waterfront. Waterfront Toronto has posted information regarding the upcoming events and the plans for the project online.

6. TCAT welcomes new Steering Committee members

In response to TCAT's call last month for new steering committee members we received several high quality applicants for a limited number of spaces. A sub-committee of the steering committee reviewed the applications, interviewed the candidates, and made selections based on TCAT's current needs as we head into our sixth year of conducting research, developing policy, and creating opportunities for knowledge sharing, all with the goal of providing evidence and identifying workable active transportation solutions in Toronto and beyond.

We are extremely pleased to welcome two new talented and dedicated members to the steering committee - Stewart Chisholm and Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati - who each bring significant board experience, active transportation expertise and other skills to guide TCAT's work. Find out more about the new and continuing members here. We want to take this opportunity to thank longtime outgoing steering committee members Elana Horowitz and Charles O'Hara for their time, dedication and numerous contributions to building TCAT.