For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you would have noticed I am fiercely opposed to Doug Ford. Especially when his government went after bike lanes in Fall 2024 with Bill 212. Ever since he won his third majority last February, he has become even more unhinged with at least ten different controversial announcements within the past month alone which begs the following question. What will it take to stop Doug Ford?
On Wednesday, the Toronto Parking Authority presented Bike Share Toronto’s 2026 annual operating plan. Several media outlets mainly reported on the new e-bike design, but there are several other things in store for the next four years. Let’s pedal along!
Toronto hosted two bike shows this past weekend: those being the Toronto Bicycle Show and E-Bike Expo and Gremlins’ Vintage MTB Show. The former returned to the CNE after being held at the International Centre near Pearson Airport in recent years, while the latter was next to Blood Brothers Brewery on Geary Avenue. I went to both shows yesterday morning and here are my thoughts.
Today marks the longstanding annual winter cycling tradition called the “Coldest Day of the Year” Ride. However, the Alex Pretti Solidarity Ride held on January 31 was more deserving of that title with today ended up being a balmy 5’C. Even so, over 60 cyclists took part while Helen and Mozzie came along as well. This year’s route started at Sugar Beach Park headed southeast to the Tommy Thompson Park entrance before returning to Sugar Beach.
Almost three weeks after the big snowstorm, there were still some parts of the Bloor bike lane that were blocked by snow including the eastbound lane in Koreatown. Since I had to do some errands in The Annex and Chinatown this morning, I helped Albert Koehl and some other TCBC volunteers with the bike lane clearing in Koreatown.
On Sunday, January 25, Toronto had a record-breaking snowfall with 46 cm reported at Pearson Airport and higher accumulations downtown. Seventeen days later, there are STILL a lot of bike lanes that have not been cleared! Since I had the day off today, I went to the east end to do some errands and get some takeout while reporting on the bike lane conditions along the way. Having above zero temperatures also helped.
After fifteen years of construction and more than $13 billion spent, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT has finally opened to the public today! Since I haven’t rode a transit line on its opening day before, I did just that for Eglinton a.k.a. Line 5.
