IN-PERSON London. Section B

Abstract

Cycling enables citizens to travel efficiently and economically, while enjoying the social and physical aspects of cycling. However, this ongoing shift toward a greater emphasis on promoting cycling has not occurred without push-back from politicians and some organizations that see the economic resources devoted towards improving cycling infrastructure as too costly and threatening to devalue the pre-eminent place of automobiles from city streets. This paper will focus on the City of Toronto’s efforts to “…make travel by bike safer and more inviting, which helps ease congestion on streets and transit, creates a cleaner environment, and promotes physical activity” (City of Toronto, 2022). Cycling advocates want Toronto to speed up the construction of Toronto’s cycling lanes. However, there are groups who would like Toronto to slow down the construction of more cycling infrastructure because bike lanes are often constructed, but not always with the public good in mind. This paper will employ a good governance framework to offer a “road map” to creating a decision-making environment within which to continue to promote cycling in our cities. A review of the governance and cycling scholarship has been undertaken, leading to a number of good governance practices; however, the five principles of participation, consensus-oriented, accountability, equity/inclusiveness, and transparency stand out as a suitable to anchor this paper and examine opportunities to create an approach to governing cycling more effectively, not only in Toronto, but in other cities as well.