Source: Rannie Turingan

On occasion I go for a lunch-time bike ride, to pick up fresh fruit and veggies, then go over to the park to eat. In front of the grocery store, I have to lock my bike to a tree. And I feel guilty.

This isn’t the only intersection in downtown Toronto where I’ve had to search for a bike rack.

Recently in New York City, 10 bike rack designs were announced for the CityRacks Design Competition. It is part of a move to increase bicycling as a way to commute. The City’s Department of Transportation, Janette Sadik-Khan, said the bike rack “that meets the City’s needs for usable bike parking [that] will also generate greater interest in bicycle use in the City.” From the 10 shortlisted designs, they seems to fit the criteria of being functional, secure and aesthetic. Prototypes are installed at various locations around the city.

Two racks look seem similar to the ones we have in Toronto.

If you build it they will come. Is this the idea behind New York’s DoT to double cycling commutes? Will it work? As a cyclist (but not a good one), I don’t think a competition to redesign bike racks will inspire automobile commuters to get on a bike (even if musician David Byrne is one of the jurors). But I do think that it’s important that the transportation department has raised the public profile of cycling to hold an international competition.

The competition was one part in a mix of approaches taken, which also includes “legislation that will require large commercial buildings to provide indoor bike parking”. That a transportation agency is entering the realm of land-use regulation to establish one piece of their mandate into building projects is something for Toronto – or any city in Ontario – to seriously consider. Looking through Cycling’s homepage, reading their policies and ‘latest’ bike plan, “Shifting Gears” – it can only get better. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Some Links:

NYCDoT Press Release

David Byrne’s bike racks designs

NYCDoT Strategic Plan for the New York City Department of Transportation 2008 and Beyond

Photos of bike racks on Flickr

What gets a person to ride a bike?

This is the $6000 dollar question (the average annual cost of owning a car). Some people need some mentoring and encouragement from a cycling enthusiast to get them started.  Others need to have bike lanes or be fed information about best routes. Others, still, are so set in their ways that getting on a bicycle seems like a far-fetched notion. There are many motivations to ride: saving money, saving the world, saving one’s waistline, or simply enjoying the pleasures a bicycle offers. Conversely, there are many barriers that discourage people from choosing two wheels over four. Safety, weather, distance, health, and facilities are but a few. I aim to explore these motives in this and future postings.

I started riding to work three years ago. Let me provide some context and back up to 1994. When I was in high school, my bike was stolen from my parent’s garage. At the time I didn’t really think it was cool or safe to ride anyways, so for a period of 10 years I didn’t bother to replace it. In university, I was oblivious to the precious minutes of extra sleep I could have had if I cycled to class, in breezy style I might add, instead of making the 15-minute trek by foot. Worse, I drove a navy 1988 Cadillac DeVille around town, an eight-cylinder boat of a car that downed 15L of black gold for every 100 km travelled.

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My grade 10 geography teacher commuted daily from Barrie to Markham. My commute: Bloor and Christie to Queen and Spadina. This weekend I decided to have a short vacation; I took the 400 highway to Collingwood from Toronto. As far as driving goes, I considered it a ‘good’ drive. But I cannot see myself driving down the 400 as often as my teacher did, ever.

My ‘good’ drive depends on:

• the time of day
• the day(s) of week
• the season
• the reason for travel
• the type of car
• the driver’s driving ‘style’ (aggressive, lane-changer, space from the car in front etc)
• the volume of traffic
• the music selection and/or level of chatter

The drive back home to Toronto took place on the Sunday in the middle of Labour Day long weekend and started around 5:30pm. I had borrowed my parents’ new-ish Mazda V6 station wagon (note: without sunroof), which transported myself, my boyfriend and my sister. The CD selection was made hastily and included Buena Vistas’ Ruben Gonzalez, Willie Nelson’s Stardust, Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief, Thom York’s Eraser among others. Usually for passengers (those not being official navagational assistant), when chatter dies down, and the car’s rhythm is constant, the internal activity of contemplation may set in.

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