Toronto gets an Election Day Bike Bus as cyclists ride together past removed Bloor bike lanes

October 26 is election day in Toronto, and cycling group Cycle Toronto has organised a special Bike Bus on Bloor Street West: a led group ride that takes cyclists together through the Etobicoke stretch that has just lost its protected bike lanes, so that people riding to vote do not have to face traffic alone.

Times and meeting points

The Bike Bus runs in two windows on election day: 8 a.m. to noon and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., every 15 minutes. The route runs between Islington and Royal York; westbound riders meet at Royal York Road and Bloor Street West, and eastbound riders join at Green Lane and Bloor. The rides are free and open to people of all ages and abilities — not only those heading to a polling station, but anyone riding to work, school or errands.

Why ride as a group

The backdrop is the Ontario government's recent removal of about 1.2 km of protected bike lanes on this stretch, despite more than a week of protests by cyclists and advocates; the removals went ahead after repeated delays. Cycle Toronto's answer is a visible group taking the lane together, riding under Ontario's Highway Traffic Act: a group is harder for motorists to overlook than a lone rider and should draw safer passes rather than close calls. The Bike Bus idea, already popular across North America and Europe, is usually used to take children to school in groups; this time it has been put to work on election day.

Another side of election day

The Bike Bus also captures one of this election's live disputes: the fate of bike lanes and road safety has become a campaign issue, and today's group ride is itself the cycling community's response to the removal. For riders, the road looks different today: the protection is gone, but the company is bigger.