Ontario launches province-wide cycling policy
Posted August 30, 2013 7:58 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The province of Ontario announced a new cycling policy Friday, as an attempt to encourage and improve safety.
This comes after a couple of years of consultations with cyclists, including a draft policy which was released in January, which outlined potential improvements to infrastructure and legislation.
Transportation Minister Glen Murray announced a 20-year vision that supports cycling by encouraging and promoting safety and awareness.
“Our goal is to make Ontario the premier cycling province in Canada – a place that promotes safe and healthy travel alternatives connecting people to their jobs, schools, parks and places of interest right across the province.”
Details on implementing the strategy will be released in spring 2014, but Murray, an avid cyclist, hinted at some changes at Friday’s conference.
“One of the things that i want to tackle is the issue of dooring, and the immediate safety issues.”
“We want to get up and get this going quickly,” he said.
Last year, Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner found that all of the province’s 129 cycling deaths between 2006 and 2010 were preventable.
Of the 129 deaths, 104 were the result of a collision between a cyclist and a vehicle. A cyclist collided with another object or fell off the bike without a collision occurred in the remaining cases.
During the spring, summer and fall, about 630,000 Ontarians cycle on a daily basis.
About two million Ontarians ride a bike at least once a week during spring, summer and fall.
