Toronto - ©John Vetterli
A campaign to combat Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s stance on cycling in the city.
At the end of July 2011, the North American Epic (NAE), will roll into Toronto. We’d like to use this transcontinental bike ride as an opportunity to send a message to our Mayor about his controversial stance regarding cyclists in the city. Rob Ford, like many people brought up in a car culture, doesn’t seem to appreciate the utility and efficiency of the bicycle. His public statements and actions demonstrate a clear preference for motorized traffic over human-powered transport.
Here are some of the public statements Mayor Ford has made:
“Cyclists are a pain in the ass to the motorists” : watch?v=xwxiv2aznB0&feature=related
“Commuters belong underground so that they don’t slow down the cars” The Ford transportation policy: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/bikes-streetcars-under-threat-politicians.php
The large cycling community here is pretty upset at our Mayor’s attitude towards our cheap, clean and green mode of transportation. We want to change his mind and we’re willing to bribe you to help.
We’ve got our hands on 10 books from bike blogger extraordinaire, Bike Snob New York City (BSNYC), and we’re running a contest to generate ideas of how to best address the issue with our Mayor. When the NAE pedals into Toronto in July, we’ll launch a campaign, based on your ideas, to change his mind and improve cycling in the city.
This contest is organised by Tour d’Afrique Ltd., a Toronto based company named for its flagship cycling tour that annually crosses the African continent from Cairo to Cape Town. [[[Since its birth in 2003, three more transcontinental tours have been added: the Orient Express, crossing Europe from Paris to Istanbul; the Silk Route, a trans-Asia expedition from Istanbul to Beijing, and the Vuelta Sudamericana, which traversed South America from Rio de Janeiro to Quito for the first time in 2009. “While local politics, unrest, and economic climate have occasionally caused us to adjust these routes, we believe our tours continue to offer participants unparalleled personal challenges on two wheels and the experiences of a lifetime.“
You can read more about the contest: http://tourdafrique.com/blog/news/facebook-contest-save-cycling-in-toronto
2 Comments
Hello Carbusters!
Thanks so much for helping to spread the word about our contest. The submission deadline was Jan 21st but for Carbusters readers we are extending the deadline to the end of this week (Jan 28, 2011). Just email you entries to paul(at)tourdafrique(dot)com
You can also visit the contest on our facebook page and vote for your favorite entry. Voting runs though Feb 4th, 2011 at which time we will announce the winner and begin to put together a campaign to Save Cycling in Toronto.
thank you for your help,
Paul
Have you discovered and/or written about the ‘BICYCLE CITY’ project in South Carolina (http://www.bicyclecity.com/)? It sounds incredible, and I think we should all know more about this wonderfully progressive idea.
I live in traffic loaded London, England and a project like this would be a leap forward for the city.
Ive only recently discovered ‘Carbusters’ from a copy of your magazine -issue 37 – left in a local cycle store, and would like to join your campaign. Please send me any relevant information and updates on your activities. Best wishes and success to you all!