#ibikeivote : Cycling & the 2018 municipal elections
by Jamie Stuckless, Executive Director, Share the Road Cycling Coalition
It’s municipal election season in Ontario and Election Day is October 22nd. Across the province, local advocacy groups are hard at work putting cycling on the agenda with candidates and ensuring that voters know where their candidates stand on cycling.
If you do a search for #ibikeivote on social media you’ll see a variety of advocacy approaches and citizens voicing their support for cycling.
Candidate Surveys
Advocacy groups in Ottawa, Guelph, Peterborough, Toronto and Hamilton have conducted candidate surveys to better understand how candidates would support cycling if elected.
In Ottawa, the candidate survey received 74 responses. In their review of the responses, Bike Ottawa concluded that “cycling is becoming more and more mainstream.” Although they caution not to underestimate the demand for more space for cars, they also highlight that “this poll shows that there is a wide understanding that cycling needs to be improved and that councillor candidates and mayoral candidates are willing to support it.” This is encouraging news!
Cycle Hamilton also conducted a survey of candidates running for council, mayor and school board trustee. Ninety-four responses were received and shared with media and residents, generating over 8,300 social media impressions to date, as well as interviews with print, radio and television news outlets.
The Peterborough Cycling Advisory Committee asked all candidates 9 questions about street design, vision zero and healthy communities. They received responses from 19 of 27 candidates, including both Mayoral candidates and two wards where all candidates responded.
A slightly different approach to surveys is being taken in Windsor, where they are posing cycling questions to candidates via Facebook.
Bike rides, pledges & more!
In addition to surveys, Cycle Hamilton members and residents have been encouraged to engage with candidates through Ward Rides and by asking questions about cycling at all-candidates meetings (sample question here).
The Ward Rides are being organized by local residents with the support of Cycle Hamilton. The purpose is to engage with candidates about cycling in their neighbourhood in the run up to the election. Volunteer ride leaders were provided with a tip sheet and email templates to help them coordinate a ride with residents and candidates for council, mayor and school trustee.
To date, 6 of Hamilton’s 15 wards have hosted rides with a 7th planned for later this week.
The Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation also hosted candidate rides in Wards 1–6. The leisurely rides each took approximately 1 hour and included stops along the way to discuss what participants liked about the route, and what could be improved. Mayoral candidates were also invited. Check out their website for more on how they organized and promoted the rides.
(Tip: Even if you weren’t able to host bike rides in the lead up to the election in your community, you could certainly do this post election with elected officials! Feel free to use the resources linked above.)
In Waterloo, a new advocacy group is off to a quick start with candidate bike rides and a pledge. CycleWR has hosted 20+ candidate bikes rides and have had 43 candidates & 282 voters sign their pledge (and counting!).
The #ibikeivote pledge has been a way to highlight local cycling priorities and gain candidate support for:
- a minimum grid of connected cycling infrastructure, primarily segregated from traffic, within 4 years;
- a minimum funding commitment of $20 per resident per year to implement this plan across both local levels of government ($7 per resident per year at the city/township level and $13 per resident per year at the regional level).
Businesses have also been invited to support the #ibikeivote pledge and can demonstrate their support by adding their logo to the pledge page.
In Windsor, the #ibikeivote hashtag is at the centre of the engagement campaign being coordinated by Bike Windsor Essex. This visual campaign has both residents and candidates share why they support building a more bicycle-friendly city.
Toronto’s #BuildTheVisionTO Campaign
In Toronto, a coalition of organizations has come together to launch #BuildTheVisionTO. The campaign includes a candidate survey (results to be released this week) as well as a report outlining 15 priority actions under 7 themes that need to be taken to build safe & active streets for all. This includes:
- Moving at human speed
- Sidewalks for everyone
- Build the Grid: a vibrant cycling city for all
- Crossing with confidence
- Complete streets the default
- Zero traffic deaths
- Streets for people
#BuildTheVisionTO is a partnership between the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT), 8 80 Cities, Cycle Toronto, Friends and Families for Safe Streets and Walk Toronto. This work is a good example of groups joining together as a coalition to account for different perspectives and highlight a shared message — that we all deserve safe streets.
Share the Road is proud to be a supporting partner of #BuildTheVisionTO.
It’s encouraging to see local engagement that highlights the important role of municipalities in making cycling safer & more convenient. Ultimately, we need elected officials across this province to understand how cycling can help to build healthy, safe, economically vibrant and green communities. Positive engagement with candidates — and then with elected councillors, mayors and school trustees — builds the case for them to say “yes” to cycling.
Absorb all the info from your local advocates and candidates, and then go vote!
Make a voting plan
Make sure that you have a plan to vote on election day — Monday, October 22 — if you haven’t already voted in the advanced polls. As outlined by our friends at the League of American Bicyclists in a recent newsletter, a voting plan includes knowing the answers to the following questions:
- Where is my polling place?
- What hours will it be open?
- How will I get there (and how long will it take)?
- What time am I going to go vote?
Taking a few minutes to plan ahead will make a big different when life gets busy.
Happy voting!
[Post-election updates, as of Nov. 9th, 2018]
- Read more about what Ottawa’s new councillors think about active transportation: https://bikeottawa.ca/index.php/news/news/261-new-ottawa-city-councillors
- Check out what Hamilton’s new Council thinks about cycling: http://www.cyclehamont.ca/hamiltons-incoming-city-council-their-thoughts-on-active-transportation/
- What does Toronto’s election mean for cycling? Read Cycle Toronto’s re-cap: https://www.cycleto.ca/election-recap
- In the City of Waterloo, 6 of 8 representatives elected to council signed the #ibikeivote pledge in the lead up to the election (from Twitter)
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