An ode to Toronto’s winter cyclists
Those who bike during the city’s coldest months take a very important one for the team. Here’s how.
Let’s hear it for winter cyclists, the bold and brave among us who refuse to think of biking in the city as a warm-weather endeavour.
No, it’s not for everybody. Just getting out of bed on a minus-degree morning is a feat for many, let alone getting out of bed to then face often snowy and icy road conditions, and bitter cold winds against exposed skin.
But it helps everybody.
Here’s what we mean:
- By showing up day after winter day, cyclists encourage the creation and use of protected bike lanes like the ones you see in our cycling-network visualization. Why? Because if such lanes don’t exist, painted ones (or plainly theoretical ones at the edge of roadways) can simply cease to be as snow is pushed from traffic lanes toward the sidewalk or shoulder. The City plows Without any remaining dedicated space, vehicles and bikes share narrowed roads, which no one wants.
- While removal of snow by the City can be slow and inconsistent, separated bike lanes with proper infrastructure can be cleared on their own with a smaller plow, creating the possibility for simultaneously travel-able thoroughfares for vehicles and bikes. Additional bonus for cyclists: The City starts plowing separated bike lanes after just 2 cm of snow has accumulated, but waits for 5 cm of accumulation to plow major roads and 8 cm on residential streets.
- And the creation of these protected lanes doesn’t just keep things moving and safe in the winter. Studies have found that proper cycling infrastructure — including separated lanes — results in fewer road fatalities, a key component of Toronto’s Vision Zero plan.
Few if any Torontonians were able to travel by bike during the massive January 2022 snowstorm that snarled traffic and closed schools. And there are certainly days every winter — whether due to snowfall or extremely low temperatures — when this is the case.
But, as pointed out by YouTubers Oh The Urbanity!, those days are fewer and farther between in this part of Canada than critics of bike-infrastructure spending would like us to believe:
Moreover, winter cyclists set an extreme example for those who avoid biking in the city as a general rule. As in, they encourage reluctant riders to bike in favourable conditions by proving that it can be done in less far favourable ones.
At the end of the day, more people on bikes is an indisbutable positive, and not just for the impact it has on health. It inevitably means fewer cars on the road, which decreases smog and clears up congestion, which means cleaner air and faster travel times for both vehicles and road-level transit, which makes everyone’s day a little bit better.
So, again, let’s hear it for winter cyclists. Not just made of sturdy stuff, but blazing a trail in the coldest of weather for a healthier populace and safer streets.
Code and markup by Kyle Duncan. ©Torontoverse, 2023