Promotion of cyclist education in Toronto - none, same as Ottawa

Post date: May 25, 2012 10:22:13 PM

Toronto's Can-Bike cyclist skills training program, "... is not well known to the public at large, and demand is correspondingly low ... There's not much demand . There’s not enough publicity” laments instructor Len Dobrucki,

An article in the Toronto Star by Oakland Ross, "Taking the Can-Bike 2 bicycling safety course for a test ride" describes the author's experience. Ross notes the lack of promoting the course stating, "that’s a shame, because this kind of instruction is surely needed in Toronto." He could have just as easily been talking about Ottawa. For a number of years the City of Ottawa's Can-Bike program has been buried deep in its recreation and culture program. Although skillful cycling is the most effective means of reducing risk and improving cyclist confidence in traffic, the City has chosen instead to sink millions of dollars into cycling infrastructure, the safety of which for novice cyclists has yet to be demonstrated. By not placing the highest priority on the acquisition of on-road, in-traffic skills, the City is placing the novice cyclists at risk. Its policy is nothing less than irresponsible