Red Riding Goods

I have just returned to Toronto from Rochester in upstate New York. I was very happy to learn during my trip that Rob Ford, the Toronto mayor, was forced to resign because of the conflict-of-interest court case. For those unfamiliar with the case, Ford solicited money for his football foundation using city letterhead. Afterward, he voted with the rest of council to pardon himself, which is not allowed under provincial legislation. Ford still has 2 weeks to appeal the ruling, but it is quite unlikely his appeal would be successful. For those of us who cycle in Toronto, we are all very happy. The Ford mayoralty has been horrible for cyclists - we have seen the recent death of the Jarvis bike lanes, deaths of cyclists due to streetcar tracks that aren't even in use anymore, and many other catastrophes. Hopefully, council will now get on track with the Bike Plan and we will see a renaissance of cycling yet again in this city. We also have lots of other transportation related issues to deal with such as TTC funding, proposals for road tolls, the crumbling Gardiner Expressway, and the building of the LRT network known as Transit City.

For me, this issue is both personal and professional. I have been cycling in Toronto for many years and I've cycled quite a bit in London, Tokyo, and in a few places in Germany. I even delivered sandwiches by bike in London and I currently work for Red Riding Goods in Toronto. We deliver food and coffee beans by cargo bike. Toronto has a lot of bicycle couriers and there is a growing demand for and interest in bike delivery. Many businesses are excited about the work we're doing and we've had great reception thus far. The only thing we lack is sufficient cycling infrastructure such as bike lanes. I sincerely hope that Toronto will get its act together on the transportation issue. There are many people who would like to cycle, but are concerned about safety issues. If we had more of a cycling culture in this city, it would be easier to get new people on bikes. A lot of people ask me if I cycle in the winter and I say, yes because the cold is not an issue when you're moving. Last winter, because of the mild weather, I was able to cycle for most of January, February, and March. I even cycled in the winter of 2004 when we had a few days of -20. Such is life when you want to stay active...

Happy cycling everyone!