With spring just around the corner, it's time to start thinking of cycling, but apparently not at the City of Toronto's Transportation and Planning committee. On February 19, 2001 the committee misclassified the core budget of Toronto's cycling programs as "Requested New Services - City Planning Student Programmes" in spite of the fact that these programmes have existed for years and are not student programmes. This misclassification caused the entire $108,000 core budget of the cycling programmes to not be included in the budget submission as new initiatives are not being considered in the city's budget deliberations. The programmes that will suffer or cease to exist are CAN-BIKE courses, Bike Week, Cycling Ambassadors Program, the Cyclometer newsletter and any cycling promotions that have been done by the Toronto Cycling Committee.

The programmes most affected are those that promote cycling safety. CAN-BIKE is a programme that trains people to cycle safely and responsibly to help avoid injury to themselves and others. CAN-BIKE is run on a cost recovery basis that pays the instructors out of the fees paid by the participants. The $20,000 that has been cut is needed for 1. curriculum development - one day unit for drivers and other non-cyclists and production & pilot-testing 2. instructor training development - necessary due to instructor shortages and 3. program support materials (including publicity) With out that funding the program and the funds and employment it generates is in jeopardy. Another safety initiative affected is the Road & Trail Safety Ambassadors that promotes safe and responsible cycling.

The need for these programs was recognized in the coroner's report on cycling fatalities in Toronto. It recommended more widespread availability of CAN-BIKE training for adults and youth (see recommendation D below). The complete report is at the following web site. Relevant recommendations from the report are included below.

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/cycling/coroner_recomend.htm

A report on cycling fatalities in Toronto 1986 - 1998
Recommendations for reducing cycling injuries and death
Prepared by: W. J. Lucas, M.D., C.C.F.P.
Regional Coroner for Toronto

D. Collision prevention - education

Recommendation #6

That the City of Toronto identify on-going funding sources to expand cycling collision/injury prevention programs. This could include, but not be limited to:

more widespread availability of CAN-BIKE Training for adults and youth; publishing regular road safety reports that highlight common collision types and ways to prevent them; and production of a bicycle safety video for use in driver training programs, police training programs, in schools and other programs.

Rationale: To ensure future cooperation between all road users, school age children have been identified as an essential target learning group. The Canadian Cycling Association has several educational programs available to this age group. It is imperative that agencies responsible for public education endorse the use of recognized educational programs.

One deficiency of adult bicycle education programs is the lack of availability of a Canadian content bicycle video to accompany existing training. To complement all road safety programs a priority should be placed on the production of a video for training purposes with appropriate Canadian content. (end of excerpt from coroner's report)

Another program that will be jeopardized is the The Road & Trail Safety Ambassadors Program. It was also pointed to in the coroner's report as a program that was effective and should be maintained and even expanded. The budget that was not supported by the Planning and Transportation included $38,000 for the The Road & Trail Safety Ambassadors Program. Another request for $150,000 to expand the ambassadors program was rejected by this committee with direction that the city would try to get these funds from other sources. Ironically getting this money will not be possible if the base budget for the Ambassadors program is not in the budget. Also not included was the $35,000 that funded education and enforcement programs such as S.P.A.C.E. and O.A.S.I.S. These are other programs singled out in the coroner's report as effective means of preventing collisions and enhancing safety.

(from coroner's report) E. Collision prevention - enforcement

Recommendation #10

That the Toronto Police Service, in partnership with the municipal Cycling Committee, expand targeted enforcement and education efforts towards specific behaviours (cyclists and drivers) which cause collisions, and use the media to raise awareness of these behaviours.

Rationale: Programs such as the Cycling Ambassadors Program, which includes S.P.A.C.E. (Safety, Prevention, Awareness, Courtesy, Enforcement) and O.A.S.I.S. (Off-road Awareness, Safety, Information, Stop) have been, and continue to be effective programs aimed at education and enforcement. Continued support of existing programs and expansion of similar programs on a provincial scale is an essential strategy in promoting awareness in these areas. (end of excerpt from coroner's report)

The last program that will have to be eliminated as a result of this decision is Bike Week is a week-long promotion of cycling that occurs every spring.... or has occurred every spring. The $15,000 spent on this program attracted $10,000 of additional sponsorships. The main goals of Toronto Bike Week are to:

• encourage more people to use environmentally sustainable, healthy, and fun modes of transportation
• promote safe cycling practices, both for cyclists and motorists
• encourage a business culture that recognizes cycling contributions to the economy
• celebrate bicycle and active transportation culture
• demonstrate to people that the various modes of active transportation are easy and cost effective.

In 1995 Toronto was named the best cycling city in North America. In 1999 we had dropped to 5th place. No longer the 'Greatest City in the World' in terms of cycling its rating is sure to plummet. With this proposed cut Toronto will be the only major city in North America without a funded cycling program. All of the safety programs will be eliminated. Mayor Lastman, when describing the budget process, said he is asking Torontonians to 'bleed'. That is an unfortunate choice of words on his part given the ramifications of this decision.

Follow the link below to see the lists of the council committees including the Transportation and Planning committee and the Policy and finance committee

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/council/standing_cttees.htm#5

If you are concerned about this issue contact your councillor especially if they are on the Policy and Finace committee or the Budget Advisory Committee.

Policy and Finance Committee

Mayor Mel Lastman (chair) - mayor_lastman@city.toronto.on.ca

Case Ootes, Deputy Mayor - councillor_ootes@city.toronto.on.ca

Sandra Bussin - councillor_bussin@city.toronto.on.ca

Norman Kelly - councillor_kelly@city.toronto.on.ca

Denzil Minnan-Wong - councillor_minnan-wong@city.toronto.on.ca

Pam McConnell - councillor_mcconnell@city.toronto.on.ca

Gloria Lindsay Luby - councillor_lindsay_luby@city.toronto.on.ca

Kyle Rae - councillor_rae@city.toronto.on.ca

David Shiner - councillor_shiner@city.toronto.on.ca

Paul Sutherland - councillor_sutherland@city.toronto.on.ca

Budget Advisory Committee

David Shiner (chair) councillor_shiner@city.toronto.on.ca

Paul Sutherland (vice chair) councillor_sutherland@city.toronto.on.ca

Olivia Chow - councillor_chow@city.toronto.on.ca

Ron Moeser - councillor_moeser@city.toronto.on.ca

Joe Pantalone - councillor_pantalone@city.toronto.on.ca

Jane Pitfield - councillor_pitfield@city.toronto.on.ca

David Soknacki - councillor_soknacki@city.toronto.on.ca