Position Statement

Torontonians Need Safe Streets

Regular physical activity is one of the most important determinants of health and well-being. For many of our patients, an increase in physical activity would have significant health benefits. Symptoms of coronary artery disease, depression, and many pain conditions improve with exercise, and people who exercise regularly live longer and have better health.  Cycling is an easy way for our patients to fit exercise into their busy lives. Increasing the proportion of travel done by cycling would improve public health through an increase in exercise, in addition to reductions in the deleterious health effects of air pollution and global warming.

Safety is one of the most important factors that promotes cycling in cities. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that on-street bike lanes reduce bicycle injuries by 50% while physically separated bike lanes reduce them by 90%.

Despite great strides in building out cycling infrastructure since 2020, the Toronto network remains incomplete. The provincial government plans to tear up this infrastructure despite evidence showing doing so will be costly and unsafe, while doing nothing to improve congestion. Cities around the world have realized that bicycles help build healthy and vibrant urban environments.

We encourage the City of Toronto to continue to implement evidence-based policy by increasing and improving bicycle infrastructure in the City. We ask the government of Ontario to focus on provincial issues and leave Toronto’s bike lanes alone.

We particularly encourage the implementation of separated bicycle tracks, and, where these are not possible, the construction of on-street bike lanes. City staff reports have shown that the rate of bicycle injuries, pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions, and the overall number of collisions on streets decrease following the installation of bike lanes. Traffic capacity on streets also increases after bike lanes are installed, with little or no change in motor vehicle volumes and with an increase in the number of bicycle trips.

A call for improved bicycle infrastructure in the City of Toronto is consistent with similar calls by major medical and professional organizations in Ontario including: The Ontario Medical Association, Toronto Public Health, the Chief Coroner’s Office of Ontario, and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.

Toronto has a bike plan that has been approved by City Council in consultation with Toronto residents.  Ensuring that it gets implemented is our priority.