Most think city roads unsafe for cyclists

As concern grows over fatalities, majority of poll respondents say streets safe for pedestrians

Nearly two-thirds of Torontonians believe the city’s streets aren’t safe for cyclists, while half of those who are aware of the Vision Zero plan think it isn’t doing enough to protect vulnerable road users, according to a new poll.

A survey released by Forum Research on Monday found 60 per cent of respondents believe the streets are either not very safe (42 per cent) or not at all safe (18 per cent) for bike riders.

Four cyclists died in Toronto in the first half of 2018, according to traffic fatality data compiled by the Star. That matches the number of riders killed in all of last year.

Despite recent projects like the Bloor St. bike lanes, Toronto lags behind other cities when it comes to building cycling infrastructure. Montreal’s network of cycling paths is nearly 850 kilometres long, while as of November, Toronto had 643 kilometres of routes, nearly half of which consisted merely of signed routes with no pavement markings.

Despite growing concern from policymakers and advocates about pedestrian deaths, roughly two-thirds, or 65 per cent, of people told Forum that Toronto’s roads remain safe for pedestrians.

Those more likely to believe the streets are safe for walking included people whose primary mode of transport is the private car, 69 per cent of whom answered in the affirmative.

In 2016, city council approved a road safety plan called Vision Zero, whose stated aim is to completely eliminate traffic deaths.

Although the plan has been widely covered in the media, and council recently voted to increase spending on the program to $109 million over five years, a majority of respondents were unaware of Vision Zero. Only about one-third said they knew about the plan.

Among those who did know about it, however, 56 per cent said they didn’t believe Vision Zero is doing enough to ensure the safety of people who don’t drive cars.

Twenty-two per cent said Vision Zero is doing enough, while 7 per cent said it is doing more than enough. Sixteen per cent said they weren’t sure.

As the Star reported in May, since the city unveiled the plan, the rate of cyclist and pedestrian deaths hasn’t signifi- cantly declined.

In addition to the four cyclists who have died so far this year, 20 pedestrians have also been killed, according to figures compiled by the Star.

The Star’s traffic fatality numbers are higher than the official police count. That’s in part because Toronto police figures don’t include deadly collisions that happen on private property, such as in the parking lots of apartment buildings or malls, or on provincial 400-series highways within Toronto.

Forum conducted the poll of 2,521randomly selected Toronto voters on June 29 and 30 using a voice response telephone survey.

Results are considered accurate by plus or minus 3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Sub-sample results are considered less accurate.