January 7th, 2003 will be the chance for residents of Toronto encourage the Councillors on the Economic Development and Parks Committee to support the funding of the Bike Plan in 2003. The responsibility for developing the Bikeway Network of bike lanes, on street bike routes and off road trails falls on two city departments, the Works and Emergency Services Department and the Parks and Recreation Department. The latter is responsible for the off road trails that go through Toronto's parks. Some examples of existing Park's trails are the Taylor Creek Trail, the Humber Trail and the Highland Creek Trail.

At its December 2nd meeting the Toronto Cycling Committee (TCC) passed a motion requesting that $1,000,000 be allocated for Bike Plan Capital Projects in the Parks and Recreation Department Budget. They also requested that any funds that were budgeted for Bike Plan capital projects in 2002 and not spent be added to the 2003 budget. That recommendation is on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting as item 2(d) (see Agenda-PDF). This item was deferred from the December 9th meeting of the Economic Development and Parks Committee Meeting.