Cycling in Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, like many North American cities, has slowly been expanding its purpose-built cycling infrastructure.

Toronto was no exception when the penny-farthing, and later the safety bicycle, arrived in North American cities in the late 19th century.

It wasn't until the 10-speed bike boom of the 1970s that use of the bicycle for transportation in Toronto regained some traction, including the creation of the Beltline Trail.

[2] In 2011, after the election of new mayor Rob Ford, a new Council voted to remove the bicycle lanes and reinstate the previous configuration.

[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, 40 km of bike lanes were installed across the city along major corridors as part of physical distancing measures in a project called ActiveTO.

[9] These bike lanes were made permanent in Dec 2021, after results showed high ridership, increased safety and minimal travel time delays for drivers.

This sets out a plan to create a citywide cycling network of on-road, off-road bikeways, signage and parking.

[11] Two major off-road paved trails along the Don and Humber river valleys provide a backbone for transport on the east and west side of the downtown area.

The city has installed thousands of post and ring stands for on-street bike parking in the last few years.

[1] CAN-BIKE's philosophy is to train cyclists of all levels how to ride safely as a vehicle in regular traffic, also known as vehicular cycling by proponents of John Forester.

[1] Additionally, GO Transit also provides bike racks on all their bus routes, and allows bicycles on their trains outside of weekday rush hours.

Compared to many North American cities, Toronto has a well-established municipal government Cycling Office.

There are also a number of independent cycling organizations in Toronto providing advocacy, recreational and community economic development services: A 1999 Decima Research study[22] showed that 48 percent of Torontonians were cyclists and 60% of households owned bicycles.

Approximately 20 percent of the population (388,000) are utilitarian cyclists, riding to work and school, going shopping, running errands or going visiting.

In the central area of the city, the most frequent type of collision involved a motorist opening their car door in the path of a cyclist.