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IMAGE: A map of Toronto s bikeway network with colours representing the route s level of stress. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Bo Lin / University of Toronto Engineering
With COVID-19 making it vital for people to keep their distance from one another, the city of Toronto undertook the largest one-year expansion of its cycling network in 2020, adding about 25 kilometres of temporary bikeways.
Yet, the benefits of helping people get around on two wheels go far beyond facilitating physical distancing, according to a recent study by three University of Toronto researchers that was published in the journal
Transport Findings.
University of Toronto Engineering PhD candidate Bo Lin, as well as professors Shoshanna Saxe and Timothy Chan used city and survey data to map Toronto s entire cycling network - including the new routes - and found that additional bike infrastructure increased low-stress road access to jobs and food stores by between 10 and 20 per cen