December 4, 2021 - On Nov. 25 Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee voted to make ActiveTO bike lanes on Bloor, Danforth and University Ave. permanent – next stop is City Council on Dec. 15.

A win for all road users who want to see safer streets and for main street businesses as well, the City of Toronto released a report showing the tremendous success of several ActiveTO pilot corridors installed last year including Bloor/Danforth and University Ave., and makes the case for these changes to be permanent – full statement below.

Statement from Councillors on Making the Bloor/Danforth and University Bike Lanes Permanent

Today, the City of Toronto has released a report that shows the tremendous success of several ActiveTO pilot corridors installed last year including Bloor/Danforth and University and makes the case for these changes to be permanent.

As Councillors who represent the communities along these major routes, these new findings support what we have seen and heard loud and clear over the last year from our communities.

We are thrilled to support making these projects permanent.

We know that these pilot projects, including the patios, road safety improvements, and bike lanes, have and will continue to improve and protect the health of Torontonians, support local businesses, are an important step in fighting climate change, and most importantly make our streets safer for everyone.

At the onset of the pandemic it became clear that rapidly expanding our cycling infrastructure on these major routes was critical. City Council made the bold and necessary decision to quickly expand the Bloor/Danforth lanes, and to create new, dedicated lanes on University.

We saw the impact almost immediately. The number of cyclists on these routes grew exponentially – almost double on University – and we have also seen growth in the use of our BikeShare program. And the data shows these changes had little to no impact on travel times for people driving, even as the city continued re-openings toward pandemic recovery this fall.

On Bloor and Danforth, the lanes made it easier for residents to safely cycle to pick up local goods or enjoy one of the many patios along the stretch. On University, we made it easier for our healthcare heroes to get to work. On both routes we provided alternative safe ways to get across the City.

Cycling infrastructure is an integral part of truly realizing a Vision Zero road safety plan and the net zero climate plan. We know that all road users feel safer when bike lanes are added to our roads and the more expansive and developed the infrastructure is the fewer needless fatalities and serious injuries on the road we will see.

Thank you to the thousands of Torontonians who showed your support for these lanes. We commit to voting this month to make them permanent.

Councillor Gord Perks
Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park

Councillor Ana Bailão
Ward 9, Davenport

Councillor Cressy
Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York

Councillor Mike Layton
Ward 11, University-Rosedale

Councillor Wong-Tam
Ward 13, Toronto Centre

Councillor Fletcher
Ward 14, Toronto-Danforth

Councillor Brad Bradford
Ward 19, Beaches-East York