European Mobility Week [1/5]: Bloor Street, Canada

                By: Raphaël Chapalain

#1 - Bloor Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In 2016, Toronto City Council approved a pilot project to install a bike lane on Bloor Street West and evaluate its impact. This axis is an important road for the city of Toronto (east-west axis). The pilot project involved the installation of separate one-way bike lanes at the end of 2016 and ran for a full year.

Prior to the pilot project, Bloor Street saw around 24,000 vehicles per day and 3,300 bicycles, and an accident rate of 22 per year. The installation of the pilot project between 2016 and 2017 of the bike lane increased bike ridership by 49%, including 25% of new cyclists, bringing the daily average to 4,900 bikes.

Protected bike lane. Photo credit: The City of Toronto

This precisely analyzed pilot project also increased safety for all road users - a before/after conflict analysis showed a 45% reduction in the number of conflicts between all road users. Bicyclists also reported a significant increase in their sense of safety following the implementation of the pilot cycleway, with 85% reporting that they felt "safe" cycling on Bloor Street West (compared with just 3% before the development).

Last but not least, the economic impact of the new, safer bike lanes was also accurately measured. Bloor Street shopkeepers reported an increase in the number of customers following the development. Visitors reported coming to Bloor Street three days more per month than before the infrastructure was built. It's worth noting that this increase in patronage was observed for all modes of transport combined, not just for cyclists!

In 2015, 44% of Bloor Street visitors said they spent at least $100 on Bloor Street last month. This figure rose to 53% in 2017.

Following this successful pilot project, city council voted in October 2017 to make the pilot project permanent, much to the satisfaction of Toronto cyclists! Today, two permanent ZELT counters and an Eco-DISPLAY Classic collect and display ridership data on Bloor Street to continue analyzing usage data for the development.