TO Cyclists Union to launch this week

After nine months of planning, the Toronto Cyclists Union (TCU) will officially launch on Tuesday. Working together with other groups, such as the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation, Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists, iBikeTO, Toronto Bicycle Network, the new union hopes to build Toronto’s cycling community into a strong, diverse and effective network to ensure that bicycles are taken seriously by politicians, planners and the media.

Toronto has put bikes on the back burner, says Yvonne Bambrick, one of the group’s coordinators: “Our first and most clear objective is to get the city to put in place all the things they voted on in the bike plan that was passed in 2001,” she said. “It’s stagnated for far too long now.”

The City of Toronto has a great bike plan, but implementation has been slow. Its aim was to have 1,000 kilometres of lanes in place by 2011, but only a few dozen have been installed. The Toronto Cyclists Union will focus on new bike lanes, improved signage, maintenance of existing infrastructure and enforcement of bike lane rules.

The new union also hopes to negotiate an insurance plan to cover cyclists, start a CAA-style roadside assistance service for bikes and try to teach motorists how to interact safely with bicycles. Membership costs a minimum of $2 a month.

The TCU is a city-wide project, with 44 ward captains acting as liaisons between the union, riders, city planners and local media.

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