Toronto's Extended Bloor-Danforth Bike Corridor

Montreal isn't the only city to implement a long and direct bike route over a major transit line recently. In this video we explore Toronto's Bloor-Danforth Bikeway, which actually has a special place in our heart because a pilot project of this corridor back in 2016 played a pretty big role in us becoming comfortable biking in cities.
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More information:
Pilot project study (summary report): www.tcat.ca/wp-content/upload...
Pilot project study (full report): www.tcat.ca/wp-content/upload...
Pandemic network study: findingspress.org/article/190...
Cjhoyle's channel: / cjhoyle
*Filmed before the interprovincial travel restrictions were put into place.
#bikecommuting #toronto #bikelanes

[@parentteachernight]

The Bloor cycle track's concrete dividers are conspicuously missing from where they would be most beneficial: intersections. They've left cutouts at every intersection to make it easier for motor traffic to drive over the bike lanes to make right turns. Couriers also use these cutouts as parking spaces. The combined effect is that trying to follow a straight line across an intersection becomes awkward and dangerous. Cyclists bottleneck and bounce off eachother trying to get through during rush hour. Maybe in Montreal this is less of an issue as i recall there are no right turns at red lights, right?

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Agreed on the point about intersections, that's what we were trying to get at when we said that Toronto has a lot of concrete but Montreal places it more strategically. Montreal (on the REV) really prioritized intersections and underpasses for concrete instead of mid-block stretches. Many intersections have an integrated bus stop design that seems to work pretty well too. And yeah, no right on red helps too.

[@davidreichert9392]

I live in Toronto and get around by pretty much every mode of transportation on a regular basis, walking, biking, transit and driving. I use that stretch of Bloor pretty much every day. Even from the perspective of being a driver, I think that these new bike lanes are fantastic. Before the bike lanes were put in, driving along Bloor was absolutely chaotic, with lanes always starting and ending, and trying to share the space with bikes only made it more so. Now it's more orderly, driving in single file is much less stressful, and I haven't noticed even the slightest increase in the time it takes. It may even be a little faster.

[@cjhoyle]

I just stumbled upon this video today for the first time. Very cool that we passed each other on the road that day. You'll be pleased to hear that some improvements have been made to this corridor since your visit including redesign of the Yorkville section, with the parking now to the left of the bike lane. The unprotected section of Bloor St E is also supposed to get an upgrade very soon.

[@gcason2]

Always great videos. Also, “bike and subscribe” is just too dang cute! Keep it up, y’all!

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Thank you!! Glad you like them, and thanks for joining us for the ride as it were.

[@JTCFC1]

This bike lane is a game changer. I live at Woodbine and Danforth and bike every day during the warm months. Before the bike lane I wouldnt have dreamed of biking along Danforth

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Just curious, what was it like in the winter? Did it seem like they plowed the lanes reasonably well?

[@JTCFC1]

@@OhTheUrbanity People who are braver than me still use them all winter. They are plowed but I am not sure how well they are plowed. I didnt pay close attention since I wasnt considering using them in the winter.

[@spencerh2129]

@@JTCFC1 i use the frequently and i feel the worst part is when there is a big snow pile right at the entrance or exit, otherwise its alright

[@shifty7082]

I live in Bloor West, and the extension of this path into the west end was super helpful. My little brother just started school at Bloor Collegiate, so he uses it everyday. I really wish they would sort out that sketchy bit under the tracks though..

[@john_zhang]

The part under the bridge (Dundas to Symyngton) has lanes is now closed so I assume they are repaving since the road was pretty beat up and repainting with actual bike lanes.

[@shifty7082]

@@john_zhang Nice, good to hear!

[@john_zhang]

@@cmmartti Still under construction. They started tearing up parts of the wall, no clue when it will be done.

[@Zones33]

Underrated channel

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Appreciated!

[@georgeemil3618]

I love the extended Bloor Danforth bike lanes. Yes, there are oblivious pedestrians and even pedestrians who initially wait for you to pass but suddenly change their minds and run across in front of you. Can't even wait 2 seconds. However, on streets with separated bike lanes, I have noticed changes in driver behaviour. Most of the time, they are more careful making right turns. And when they do park in bike lanes, most are weary of it and promptly move out when they see you approaching.

[@mxr572]

my old neighborhood where I was born eons ago. great place when the weather is warm and the sun shines. bike thru the area for a pleasant ride. or walk Bloor. great memories.

[@superkristy4963]

I cycle mostly in the east end and it is a game changer! I would never cycle on Danforth before that. I find cars are pretty good but it's the pedestrians that I have to watch for the most, they walk across the bike path without even glancing at it all the time.

[@DougWedel-wj2jl]

Thanks for featuring this route in your video! This cycling route was done like how you eat an elephant (one bite at a time). Every new section had a massive uproar from nimbys. My hope is we can use the data and experiences from this corridor to finally complete the route and to install bike lanes on other streets. We could see a rise in cyclist numbers here before we start to prove their value. They are still below 50% of their capacity. When you remove car lanes (parking or travel) to install bike lanes you see an instant drop in car travel speeds and purchases at stores which don’t have an instant replacement in sales from new cyclists. It’s taking a while to replace lost drivers with more cyclists and subway users likely saw a slight increase. How we can use these bike lanes is: Encourage more cycling. Bike lanes don’t actually encourage cycling. By separating cyclists from cars they remove disincentive to bike. But now that we have them we can use other ways to encourage cycling. Demonstrate the value of bike lanes. Going back to the above.. there is not much value in bike lanes if nobody uses them. (The town in UK Stevenage proves this.) As they get used more, we see how they encourage people to bike instead of drive, to reduce car congestion. We also start seeing a more dramatic uptick in retail and cafe sales. But this needs to be a noticeable change. When cycling numbers slowly increase, people don’t notice. They just notice the sudden change that it’s a bit harder to get around as a driver. Bike lanes - with cyclists - are also noticeably friendlier, quieter, with fresher air. These are benefits to sell to new neighbourhoods we want bike lanes. First... we want bike lanes along all Bloor. And we want to extend this corridor to include all Kingston Road. And Yonge is a patchwork of short sections with bike lanes. With these two backbones we can build out bike lanes on other routes. The two approaches are, where there is a lot of bicycling we can do many arterial sat the same time. The most cyclists are in the downtown core. Bike lanes could be installed on many streets all in the same project. The other approach is install bike lanes on the full length of a long street in the same project. Eglinton is kind of being built like this. Lawrence, Sheppard, Dufferin, Jane, these streets could get bike lanes along the whole route at once. This means working with more than one Ward, more than one city councillor at the same time. In the past the councillors strongly opposed bike lanes but this is slowly changing. All the hard liners are gone. The rest need to be won over by making the existing bike lanes work to their potential, which the cycling community is doing. As things change I hope you come back to document the growth. When people are away, then come back, they notice change that us locals experience as gradual and hardly noticeable. Best wishes on your videos!

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

I live just west of Bloor West Village and find myself using the Bloor lanes more and more to and from downtown. Just today I noticed that the very underpass you showed where the lanes disappeared is now under construction with two car lanes closed and actually no safe place for bikes. Hopefully part of the construction has to do with bike lane implementation.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Thanks for the update, hopefully they take that opportunity to add some bike lanes in. It would be pretty embarrassing for the city if they did construction work there but left the egregious gap in an otherwise pretty respectable bike route.

[@Zarrx]

I take the sidewalk on all underpasses, I live at king and Sudbury and have an underpass near me. Always sketches me out to take the underpass.

[@microtubules]

Just stumbled into your videos, and loving them. Funny enough I was born in Montreal and live in the Annex now and bike to UofT where I work. Keep it up!

[@OhTheUrbanity]

It's a small world! Glad you like the videos.

[@Imnowusingthisname]

My absolute favorite is at the castle frank intersection there was/are several massive pot holes that make biking feel scary. I think the city wants to look like it's trying without actually going all the way, just waiting for the next death to push a law through. I DEFINITELY bike a lot more with the bike lanes. Wouldn't dream of biking otherwise to get to work. I wish we had even more bike lanes.

[@catarctica8587]

I really like your videos, keep it up!!

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Much appreciated, and will do!

[@wl03bu]

@2:34 This stretch has just recently been improved and feels much safer!

[@adorabell4253]

I'm in the 3% of the strong and fearless bike riders so for me these dedicated bike lanes are very much about convenience vs safety, and they really are incredibly convenient. We need more of the 2-stage left turn boxes, though. Right now you still have to merge into the left lane to turn which is annoying and I always feel bad about the cars stuck behind me. I'm also loving the new Dundas bike paths, very convenient, even if they are just the painted lanes. Car traffic isn't very high there to begin with. And it looks like Eglinton East is going to have some pretty wide bike lanes (hopefully they install dividers as well) along the overground LRT route.

[@klimptone9700]

I live in Toronto and I cycled to school and work pretty consistently before the pandemic. I actually got hit by a car riding down the Bloor-Danforth bike path that you discussed! This was before the new extension was added and I really hope they expand the path more significantly in the future because while the expansion has significantly increased bike safety on the after you've crossed the viaduct, it really hasn't helped at all between Castle Frank and Bloor, which is at the very centre of downtown and some of the most busy and congested parts of the city. Between Young and Bloor it is particularly bad (though I may be biased in saying so because it's where I was hit lol). Another thing to note is that Bloor has really bad roads, they're littered with potholes and can be absolutely brutal on thin tires. This makes biking more dangerous because you often have to risk swerving into traffic to avoid them or risk popping your tire and being stranded, and thus leads to more reckless riding and/or more biking on sidewalks. I love the new bike lanes but they desperately need to be expanded upon and paired with more actual road maintenance to make a substantial increase in cyclist safety, in my opinion.

[@fernbedek6302]

It's very nice to see how much new cycling infrastructure Canada is getting lately.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Yes! Hopefully it keeps improving

[@FlimbsBikesAndHockey]

Good video!

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Thanks!

[@letsgoskiagain]

I use this route pretty often, and it's been great, definitelyan improvement, except that I live further to the west (close to old mill) and that part of bloor isn't covered by biking infrastructure at all, not even a painted gutter which only means you have to bike along with cars or cut through neighborhoods for a few kms

[@georgeemil3618]

I read in a discussion forum that in Montreal, or specifically Longueuil, parking in a bike lane is an offence that you can call 911 and report. Is that true?

[@Davmm96]

It is, but you usually contact the parking agents. They drive around in their white, red-marked hatchbacks. Otherwise you can call 911 or the 514 280-2222 option 5.

[@sinthujankethes]

3:19 Could you explain what those multiple lights on the traffic signals is for and how each light is suppose direct traffic on the St-Denis Express Axis? That looks like overkill but maybe it provide more direction than I can see.

[@CruelViper88]

Funny how they call those bicicle lanes "express"...like it's some kind of extra special silver lining bike lane. Like they made express lanes on highways....here in the Netherlands it's just a road for bikes.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

The "express" part of the Montreal corridor is mainly that it's (1) straight and direct, making it suitable for covering longer distances and (2) wide enough to very comfortably pass other cyclists.

[@xxgg]

CJ who? I would love to see your lists of toronto bicycle youtube bloggers.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Here's his channel: kzbin.info Thanks for asking, we've since added his channel link to the description box. Johnny Strides stands out as another favorite for both cycling and walking videos! Also CycleYYZ.

[@thomascharky7031]

Y'all are visiting TO?

[@OhTheUrbanity]

It was a few weeks ago, we were able to get a day of cycling in the city while visiting family. Not even sure they'd let us across the provincial border now!

[@joshuasmith4315]

Even the recording of riding directly to the left of cars gave me anxiety.

[@xouxoful]

« Bike and subscribe » but there’s no bike button! 😀

[@GUTOMOFFICIAL]

Yes I've seen this bike path on other Toronto channels. Toronto and Montreal are very flat. Vancouver has hills.

[@blitzk782]

e-bike

[@georgeemil3618]

Vancouver has a good network of bike lanes too. When I lived there over 30 years ago, I used to bike from New Westminster to Stanley Park. Not so hilly. And I used to bike along King Ed to UBC. Only one gruelling hill, Arbutus and 16th. Toronto has hills too.

[@GUTOMOFFICIAL]

@@georgeemil3618 traffic and construction is crazy now! Very scary for cyclists!