Poll shows Ontario voters care about biking issues, advocates say

Share the Road Cycling Coalition has released polling data it says shows voters want the government to step up investment in bike infrastructure and programming.

Thestar.com
April 16, 2018
By Ben Spurr

As bike advocates from across Ontario gather in Toronto this week, some are eyeing the upcoming provincial vote with the hope of making cycling an election issue.

Ahead of the Ontario Bike Summit, which kicks off in Toronto on Monday, the Share the Road Cycling Coalition has released polling data that it says shows voters want the government to step up investment in bike infrastructure and programming.

"There's a demand amongst Ontario residents to cycle more, and to live in communities that promote cycling and active transportation," said Jamie Stuckless, executive director of the coalition, which hosts the annual summit.

"They want decision-makers to be building communities where they have choices of how they can get around, and we're seeing that people want cycling to be part of that choice."

The polling data, which was commissioned by Share the Road and collected by the Nanos polling firm through an online survey, found that more than 6 in 10 respondents said they either strongly or somewhat agreed with the notion that getting more people cycling is beneficial for society and the provincial government should support it.

Roughly half favoured the idea of Queen's Park funding cycling as part of wider efforts to improve transportation.

About one quarter somewhat agreed with the proposition they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who committed to funding bike infrastructure, like bike lanes or paved shoulders on highways, and 16 per cent strongly agreed with the statement.

Stuckless said the coalition is non-partisan, and declined to endorse any party in the June provincial election."Cycling is not a one-party issue," she said, noting there is an all-party cycling caucus at Queen's Park co-chaired by Algoma-Manitoulin NDP MPP Michael Mantha, Parry Sound-Muskoka Ontario PC MPP Norm Miller, and Burlington Liberal Eleanor McMahon. McMahon founded the Share the Road Cycling Coalition after her husband, OPP Sgt. Greg Stobbart, was killed by a driver while cycling.

The incumbent Liberals say they have a strong record on cycling issues. In what the government has billed as the largest investment of its kind in Canada's history, in December the Ministry of Transportation announced plans to allocate $93 million to 120 municipalities to support the construction of bike lanes and other commuter cycling projects.

The Liberal party has yet to release its election platform, but spokesperson Patricia Favre said "we'll continue to be champions when it comes to ensuring infrastructure for cycling-friendly communities - unlike (Ontario PC leader) Doug Ford, whose record at Toronto city hall proves his opposition to investing in cycling."

As a city councillor, Ford backed an effort to remove bike lanes on Jarvis St. More recently, he voiced opposition to the new bike lanes on Bloor St., while stating he would support lanes where they "make sense." Ford's press secretary didn't respond to questions about his plans for cycling infrastructure Sunday.

The NDP is expected to release its election platform Monday, and a spokesperson said he could not yet provide details. But in an emailed statement, the party's GTA issues critic and Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns said if elected premier, NDP leader Andrea Horwath "would update Ontario's Cycling Strategy, setting concrete targets for improvement, and establishing metrics for measuring progress, while investing in infrastructure that emphasizes commuter cycling."

He said the NDP would also pass a "vulnerable road user law" that would ensure drivers who seriously injure or kill pedestrians or cyclists automatically face penalties like lengthy licence suspensions and community service.

Nanos conducted the online survey of 1,004 Ontarians, 18 years of age or older, between April 5 and 10. The results were weighted by age and gender using the latest census information, and the sample was geographically stratified to be representative of Ontario.