Ride the City, Toronto Edition

Hearing Janette Sadik-Khan speak last week was very inspiring. The changes she has made in New York City are remarkable. Seeing the amazing bicycle lanes was inspirational, but also got me thinking about the current situation in my hometown, Toronto, Canada. Although more bike friendly than many cities, it is by no means ideal. Although the city promised 500km of bike lanes by the end of 2011, less than 50% of these lanes were completed by the end of 2009, and then deadline was pushed back. I find this extremely disappointing, especially considering the excellent public transportation that exists within the city. Others in the city also felt disappointment about this, and a group of cyclists went out in the city one night, and drew bike lane symbols on streets that were scheduled to eventually receive bike lanes. Much to the dismay of many people, myself included, the city instantly removed these lanes.

My disappointment has eased slightly, as I recently stumbled upon a website called "Ride the City, Toronto Edition" Similar to mapquest, this amazing site lets cyclists enter a start and an end destination, and the site tells you how to bike there, including which streets have bike lanes. You have 3 options when planning your route, "safer route" "safe route" and "direct route". Additionally, users have the ability to "rate the route" and give feedback on the route that they followed. It is currently in the Beta testing phase, and so feedback is encouraged. The site also shows you any bike service, or rental locations along the route.

I think that this site is a really useful tool, and will hopefully encourage cyclists to bike more within the city. As more and more bike lanes are added to the city, and then to the map, cyclists will be able to better plan their routes through the city as safely as possible. As Janette Sadik-Khan said, people who do not feel safe biking on the streets will not do it. This website will help cyclists feel safer on the streets of Toronto, as they will be able to find the safest route from point A to point B.