Our open letter to City Council
June 1, 2020
Mayor Ed Holder & City Councillors
City of London
300 Dufferin Ave
London, ON N6B 1Z2
Re: Responding to the mobility needs of Londoners
Dear Mayor Holder and City Councillors:
Thank you for your leadership during these unprecedented times. I am writing on behalf of London Cycle Link and Western Active Transportation Society representing over 400 members working to help more Londoners ride more often. As we all contemplate how to best respond to the pandemic, we need compassion and unity to guide us. This pause in the way things used to be also offers us a generational opportunity to shift gears and move toward a new normal that is more fair, healthier, more sustainable, and produces true community wealth. It’s with this in mind that I write to you today.
Cycling and walking are essential to the economic and social recovery of London, now and in the future.
Immediate Needs
London has rightfully encouraged outdoor activity to promote mental and physical health during the pandemic, and we need to ensure this can be done safely while keeping our physical distance. But narrow sidewalks have caused many residents and people with mobility aids to stay inside. In high-density areas, such as Cherryhill Village, residents live in small spaces and could benefit from more space to go for walks outside without fear of getting too close to others.
As the weather continues to get warmer, the Thames Valley Parkway (TVP) is getting more crowded and it’s harder to use while keeping your distance. Londoners are cycling, walking, roller-blading, skateboarding and wheeling in unprecedented numbers. We need to offer adjacent routes that ease congestion on the pathway that are safe for all uses. Providing increased opportunities to be active in our city will help all of us cope with the pandemic better and provide greater resilience.
The other immediate need is the lack of transit capacity. It is imperative that we maintain transit service for those who have no other option - whether going to work, the hospital, or for essential shopping trips. Maintaining this basic provision is very difficult as the number of buses and the capacity of each bus has been drastically reduced to comply with physical distancing measures.
Many regular transit riders cannot or do not wish to afford the cost of operating their own vehicle or do not have a licence. We need to effectively offer these Londoners a safe alternative to transit that maintains their ability to participate in community-life. Providing more dedicated space for walking and cycling does just this. Cycling especially has the ability to offer many Londoners an alternative; often one can travel the same or similar distance by bike in a similar amount of time as on a bus or even in a car.
To make cycling a viable alternative it must be safe. We need temporary protected bike lanes that fill in the gaps in the existing bike network (for 24-36 months) until a permanent option can be constructed. With many people working from home, post-secondary institutions cutting back on-campus activities, retail shifting online, and leisure activities significantly reduced, our roads have substantial capacity to accommodate safe bike lanes.
Responding to the changing nature of the pandemic requires quick decision-making and fast implementation. We need to collaborate, test solutions out, listen to feedback, and adapt in real-time. A petition created to encourage the City of London to open up more road space for people has gained over 1,100 signatures. This signals the demand for more space for getting outside safely.
Our immediate recommendations:
Provide safe streets for walking and cycling (this can be achieved by closing vehicle lanes or requiring local traffic only and limiting speeds to 20km/h):
on streets in high-density neighbourhoods such as Cherryhill, Proudfoot, Capulet, Base Line, White Oaks, Huron & Highbury and Downtown. Considerations should be given to areas far from green space, areas with many low-income residents and areas with a large elderly population
adjacent to the TVP on Talbot Street and St. George between King St and Victoria St
Provide temporary protected bike lanes:
on Western Road between Platt’s Ln and Elgin
on Sarnia Road between Western Rd and Sleightholme Ave
on Base Line Road and Thompson Road between Ridout and Adelaide St
on Bradley Avenue between Ridout and Adelaide St
on Oxford Street between Highbury Ave and Mornington Ave
on Ridout Street between Thames Park and Dundas Street
Short to Medium-Term Needs
Creating more space for cycling and walking is also a great economic recovery strategy. As the pandemic shifts from response to recovery, we need to ensure our new normal includes mobility options that are equitable, healthy, sustainable, and financially prudent. Investing in expanded cycling and walking facilities and strong support for transit will do just that.
When safe cycling infrastructure is lacking or disconnected, cycling is a mobility option for only the few - often middle-aged males. Conversely, when cycling is safe and convenient, the majority of Londoners can choose to ride - male and female, newcomer and long-time resident, young and old, rich and poor. Making strategic investments in safe cycling infrastructure will help youth get to school and extracurriculars on their own, help people with mobility devices travel safely on smooth surfaces, and help families fully participate in the community regardless of whether they own a car.
Public health has always been important and is especially so now. Enabling Londoners to be more active will improve their health, help them be more resilient in the face of this or future viruses, and reduce our provincial health care spending. Physical activity can take many forms, but building it into our daily lives is the best way to ensure we are doing enough of it. Investing in safe cycling infrastructure will allow more people to ride to work, to shop, and to get to appointments; we’ll all be healthier for it and we’ll save precious health care resources at the same time.
Leaders across Canada, including yourselves, are responding decisively and appropriately to protect ourselves and our most vulnerable during the pandemic. We need the same leadership in responding to the climate emergency. We know personal driving is the largest source of emissions in London; if we want to meaningfully reduce our GHG emissions, we have to drive less. Making strategic investments in safe cycling infrastructure will reduce our collective emissions, improve our air quality, and reduce the noise impacts of traffic as well. The pandemic has shown us that change is possible, and collective action works. We need to use the same resolve to face the ongoing climate crisis.
London has been hard hit economically by the pandemic like many other places. Now more than ever, we need to be prudent with our personal and municipal finances. As many households experience job or income loss, owning and operating a car will be out of reach for even more Londoners. The City of London is also experiencing significant revenue loss and will need to trim its expenses accordingly. One of the largest line items that doesn’t involve collective agreements is road spending. Choosing to defer or cancel road widening projects now will provide short and long-term financial savings that our city will benefit from but doing so requires support for other modes of transportation. Making strategic investments in safe cycling costs a fraction of road infrastructure and improves our personal and municipal financial outlook.
Our short to medium-term recommendations:
Build 40km of safe connected cycling infrastructure that reaches all major destinations by 2023
Build a secure bike parking facility downtown
Implement traffic-calming measures in neighbourhoods to provide opportunities for active travel to schools, community-centres, and commercial hubs
Thank you for your consideration of these recommendations - we are confident they would help to ensure our transportation system is more equitable, sustainable and provide strong support for our economic recovery.
Sincerely,
Daniel Hall
Executive Director
London Cycle Link
CC:
Lynne Livingstone, City Manager
Kelly Scherr, City Engineer
Dr. Chris Mackie, Medical Officer of Health
Cllr. Maureen Cassidy, Chair of the Board of Health