Item - 2017.PW24.9

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council approve maintaining the eastbound and westbound cycle tracks on Bloor Street West, from Shaw Street to Avenue Road, as a permanent installation, including changes to the current design that will improve safety and operations, as part of 2019 Capital Works on Bloor Street West between Bathurst Street and Avenue Road.

2.  City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to work with all local businesses to understand concerns and identify modifications to improve the safety and operations, including additional designated loading zones or pick-up/drop-off areas in the area of the Bloor Street West cycle tracks to be implemented as soon as possible in 2018, in advance of the 2019 Capital Works, to further mitigate concerns raised by local businesses about commercial loading and customer access.

3. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to consider the following changes to the cycle track design in 2018 to improve traffic flow and safety, in advance of the 2019 Capital Works on Bloor Street West:

a.  traffic signal and minor intersection modifications to better facilitate traffic flow and right turn movements;
b.  changes to setbacks for parking areas to improve sight line safety for all road users;
c.  green area markings in conflict zones and left turn bike boxes to improve safety and operations for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists; and
d.  alter the streetscape to provide curb protection, further separating bike lanes and parking areas.

4. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to consider the following changes to the cycle track design as part of the design of the 2019 Capital Works on Bloor Street West in order to improve traffic flow and safety:

a.  traffic signal and physical intersection modifications to better facilitate traffic flow and right turn movements; and
b.  a greater degree of separation than a painted buffer with bollards used in the pilot project, to improve safety and operations for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.
 

5. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to introduce permanent bike count station technology to collect year round data on cycling volumes along the Bloor Street West cycle tracks in time for the winter 2017/2018 season.

6. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to identify modifications to improve the accessibility and safety of pedestrians in eliminating conflicts (near-miss collisions) to further mitigate the bike/pedestrian conflicts that increased during the Bloor Street Bike Lane Pilot Project. 
 

7. City Council direct the City Manager to identify methods of supporting and promoting local businesses along the Bloor Street Bike Lanes and report to the Economic Development Committee in the first quarter of 2018.

In May 2016, Council approved the implementation of a pilot project to install and evaluate bike lanes on Bloor Street West between Shaw Street and Avenue Road.  The design objectives of the pilot were to improve safety and reduce risk for all road users and minimize impacts to curbside operations. The pilot was installed in late August 2016.

Prior to installing the pilot, Bloor Street was a heavily used travel corridor, carrying approximately 24,000 vehicles per day and 3,300 cyclists. With an average of 22 collisions involving cyclists each year in the section between Shaw Street and Avenue Road, this area represented a documented safety concern.

Extensive before and after data was collected to evaluate the performance of the pilot in order to assess the impacts and benefits of the project in the following areas:

-   Effect on cycling environment;
-   Effect on motoring environment;
-   Effect on curbside demands and parking;
-   Effect on local business; and
-   Public perception and level of support from residents and businesses
 

Even without cycling facilities in place, Bloor Street was one of the most heavily used cycling corridors in the city due to its location and east-west connectivity. Installation of the pilot has increased cycling use by 49% on Bloor Street (with 25% being new riders) as of June 2017, compared to the baseline from June 2016.  When only including cycling counts from within the pilot area, the increase amounts to 56% with an average of 5,220 weekday cyclists, making Bloor Street the second highest bicycle facility by volume in the city.

While currently less than one year of road safety data is available "after" the installation of the bike lanes, preliminary indications show that collision and conflict ("near-miss" collisions) rates have reduced.  Based on public opinion surveys, the introduction of bike lanes have significantly increased levels of comfort and safety for both motorists and cyclists.  In addition, a strong majority of pedestrians feel their experience walking on Bloor Street with bike lanes installed is about the same or better than it was previously. 

Motor vehicle travel times along Bloor Street initially increased immediately following the installation of the cycling facilities, prompting Transportation Services to make operational adjustments to signal timing to mitigate delay to motor vehicles.  The increased travel times have since been cut in half.

Regarding curbside demand, the impact of cycling facilities on commercial loading and accessibility was mitigated through the introduction of loading zones, accessible loading zones and curb ramps, designated pick-up/drop-off areas and education to encourage the use of laneways for deliveries, where appropriate.

As a result of the reduced number of on-street parking spaces, there were times when both on-street and off-street parking was at capacity.  Although there were fewer paid parkers in the area, the total parking revenue generated remained about the same due to the addition of off-street lot parking spaces and higher utilization in the off-street lots. This can likely be attributed to the Toronto Parking Authority's (TPA) annual rate changes that were implemented in August 2016 as well as additional revenue from the off-street lots where the average transaction amount tends to be higher than on-street.

As directed by Council in May 2016, the City partnered with the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area (BIA) and the Korea Town BIA on a study that the BIAs had already commissioned in October 2015 on the local economic impact of bike lanes on Bloor Street. Through a door-to-door merchant survey and a pedestrian intercept survey, this study found that most merchants reported an increase in the number of customers, most visitors reported spending more and visiting more frequently, and that vacancy rates are stable.

During the pilot, the City heard from some businesses concerned about impact to their business as a result of the pilot.  In order to provide additional insight into the potential effects on local businesses, the City obtained customer spending analysis from Moneris Solutions Corporation, the company with the largest market share of point-of-sale payment processers in Canada.  The Moneris data demonstrated that while average per-transaction size has marginally decreased in the pilot area, it is on-trend with other parts of the City.  Total customer spending in the Bloor Street pilot area increased more than in the area surrounding the pilot and more than in the Danforth Avenue control area.

Feedback from the over 14,000 responses from the post-installation public opinion survey generally showed support for the pilot project by cyclists, drivers who occasionally bike, pedestrians, and local residents. Cyclists felt safer and cycled more often as a result of bicycle facilities on Bloor Street. Motorists reported to feel more comfortable driving next to cyclists with bike lanes, but raised frustration with traffic delays and reduced parking convenience.  Businesses raised concerns about challenges with coordination of deliveries, and reduced parking convenience for customers, while the bike lanes and additional bike parking were appreciated by employees and customers who travel by bicycle.

Based on the findings of this evaluation, Transportation Services recommends that the pilot be made permanent.