1. As reported in the Active Transportation Canada blog,
anyone interested in promoting walking and cycling may want to obtain a
copy of a new training manual that summarizes best practices in cycling
planning and design from around the world. PDF version of manual
available here.

As reported in TCAT News,
Bike Summit 2008 was a huge success back in April of this year. One of
the goals for the one-day conference was to share the knowledge and
lessons learned at the summit with bicycle advocates, professionals and
elected officials unable to join us in Toronto. To this end, TCAT
helped to first coordinate a follow-up Bike Summit webinar, and now TCAT has prepared a summary report to help build the case for cycling investments in communities across Canada.

In the US, transportation infrastructure funding is a complicated
process. A large portion of funding is approved at the federal level
and can be administered by federal, state, regional, county and
municipal agencies. The current federal transportation bill is set to
expire shortly, and groups across the country are lobbying feverishly
to ensure that the next bill includes funding for what they believe is
important.

For those who ride BMX or maybe have kids that ride BMX, you might be
interested to learn that the City of Toronto is presenting a report to
develop a strategy and policy for BMX facilities. This report will go
to the Community Development and Recreation Committee at its meeting this Thursday, October 16th.

To read the staff report click here

One of the above-mentioned projects for which TCAT has been awarded
funding is a study looking at the impact on business resulting from the
removal of on-street parking in order to install bike lanes. The study
area is the Annex section of Bloor Street, between Spadina and
Bathurst. The findings from this report should be published by the end
of 2008 and will be of significant interest to City staff working on
the Bloor Corridor Visioning Study. This study was mostly completed in
2007, but the final report was just recently released (thanks to one

Two weeks ago, Metrolinx released a draft version of its Regional
Transportation Plan (RTP) for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
TCAT has been following the development and consultation that led to
this draft document, and so far we are generally happy with what we
see. Of course, Metrolinx is limited in how it can influence what is
translated on the ground in local municipalities. For example,
Metrolinx is committing $20 million per year to invest in cycling and
walking - however that incentive can only go so far in motivating local

In July, TCAT and the Toronto Cyclists Union
hosted Transportation Alternatives' Deputy Director, Noah Budnick, to
give a series of talks in Toronto. A few weeks ago, Transportation
Alternatives continued to take transportation advocacy to a new level,
preparing and releasing a report titled Suburbanizing the City: How New York City Parking Requirements Lead to More Driving

A new study is just getting underway titled Methodologies for Identifying and Ranking Sustainable Transport Practices in Urban Regions.
The study leaders would like to get the word out about their research
in case interested parties would like to be involved or learn more. A
Project Synopsis has been prepared, and it can be accessed by clicking here.

A new study is just getting underway titled Methodologies for Identifying and Ranking Sustainable Transport Practices in Urban Regions.
The study leaders would like to get the word out about their research
in case interested parties would like to be involved or learn more. A
Project Synopsis has been prepared, and it can be accessed by clicking here.

Professor John Pucher at Rutgers University is the foremost North
American writer on comparative government cycling policy. He has
various publications on the subject, and travels regularly to present
his work.