Academic literature on the topic 'Bicycle commuting – Ontario – Toronto'

This research investigated the route choice behavior of cyclists in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with data collected from a smartphone application deployed to many cyclists in the city. For the study, 4,556 cyclists registered and logged more than 30,000 commuting trips over 9 months. In addition to the time-stamped, second-by-second GPS readings on each trip, information on age, gender, and rider history was collected on a voluntary basis. Multinomial logit route choice models were estimated for the commuting cycling trips. The results revealed the critical importance of cycling facilities (e.g., bike lanes, cycling paths and trails) on cyclists’ route choice decisions, and provided valuable information for use in Toronto’s ongoing bicycle network planning.

This study surveyed attitudes, behaviors, social norms, and perceived control among the populations of students at three high schools in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The results showed a pattern of hesitancy to cycle on the part of female high school students compared with their male counterparts. Young women reported less access to a bicycle, less comfort or confidence in riding, more fear associated with cycling, and less ability to decide independently how to travel to school. The study identified two important variables that were likely associated with young women's smaller participation in cycling to school: overall cycling mode share and ability to decide their travel mode independently. The former variable tracked findings for the general population, and the latter appeared to have been associated with the proximity of immigration, as families might have brought associations of danger to independent female travelers from their countries of origin or perceived new dangers in Canada. While the former association is well established, the latter hypothesis warrants further research.

Urban intensification is believed to result in a modal shift away from automobiles to more active forms of transportation. This study extended the understanding of bicycle mode choice and the influence of built form through an analysis of dwelling type, density, and mode choice. Apartment dwelling and active transportation are related to intensification, but an understanding of the impact of increased density on bicycling is muddied by the lack of isolation of cycling from walking in many studies and by the lack of controls for the confounding effects of dwelling type. This study examined the relationship between dwelling type and mode choice in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In this study of 223,232 trips, 25 variables were controlled for, and multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to estimate relative risk ratios. Strong evidence was found that a trip that originated from an apartment-based household was less than half as likely to be taken by bicycle as a similar trip that originated from a house-based household in Toronto in 2011. Increased population density of the household location had a positive impact on the likelihood that a trip would be taken by walking and a negligible and uncertain impact on the likelihood that it would be taken by transit. However, increased population density had a negative impact on bicycling. Further analysis found that the negative impact of density did not seem to apply to those who lived in single detached housing but rather only to the likelihood that apartment and townhouse dwellers would cycle. Further research is required to identify the exact barriers to cycling that apartment dwellers experience.

Vehicle emissions are one of the largest local contributors to poor urban air quality. High emissions are often associated with traffic congestion, and pollution may also become trapped between tall buildings creating a street canyon effect. The spatial variability of traffic-related air pollutants in microenvironments should be considered in evaluating changes in urban planning. This study focuses on assessing the air quality and commuter exposure in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, specifically focusing on the effect of the King Street Pilot Project on local urban air quality by reducing traffic. Increased vehicular density is expected to contribute to higher urban pollution levels and tall buildings may trap these contaminants. Field measurements were made within the King Street Pilot area during weekday rush hours to capture the best representation of peak activity and pollutant levels when there were similar average wind speeds and directions for the sampling dates. A suite of portable devices was carried along predesigned and timed routes through traffic dense areas to measure vehicle-related air pollutants including black carbon (BC), ultrafine particles (UFP, particles smaller than 0.1 μm), and particulate matter (PM2.5, particles smaller than 2.5 μm). Data was normalized, corrected and analyzed using centralized pollutant while considering meteorological site measurements located about 1.5 km away from the study area. Results indicated higher BC and UFP levels during peak commuting times between 8 am to 10 am and relatively increased pollution levels within the area of tall buildings versus the area with shorter buildings. Strong spatial variations of BC and UFP were found, while PM2.5 levels remained relatively constant in the downtown area. Elevated levels of BC and UFP were observed around nearby construction sites. This study contributes to establishing a baseline to evaluate the King Street Pilot Project’s air quality impact as well as proposing potential methods of detailed data collection within microenvironments to observe the air quality of urban centres.

This paper presents an investigation of the mode choice behavior of cross-regional commuters in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area of Ontario, Canada. A survey of cross-regional intermodal passenger travel (called SCRIPT) was developed and conducted during the spring and the fall of 2014. SCRIPT collects data on respondents' revealed preference in daily commuting trips to pivot each respondent's mode choice stated preference experiment separately. An innovative multimodal trip planner tool was developed to generate feasible travel options for each stated preference experiment with information on household auto ownership level, proximity to transit, work start time, and total travel time from home to work, as well as predeveloped discrete choice models to identify access station locations of intermodal travel modes. The stated preference experiments were based on the D-efficient design technique. The survey used 1,203 randomly selected cross-regional commuters. The paper reports on a mode choice model estimated by the revealed preference data portion of the survey to verify the validity of the survey design, sampling procedure, and data quality. An empirical model provides insight into cross-regional commuters' mode choice behavior.

Introduction: Head injury is a major cause of bicycling-related disability and death, and more likely to occur in unhelmeted riders. Legislation regarding helmet use varies by province. In Ontario, helmet use is not mandatory for cyclists >= age 18, and approximately 50 % of adult cyclists do not routinely wear helmets. Non-legislative approaches to increase helmet use have included education, public health campaigns, and helmet giveaways, but sustained effect is typically limited. The goal of the HEADSTRONG Behaviour Study is to identify injured adult cyclists who do not regularly wear helmets, and effect sustained helmet use. The strategy incorporates evidence-based elements of health behaviour change, including: reducing barriers, education and modelling, providing necessary materials, and social support. Methods: Prospective cohort study in downtown Toronto teaching hospital, launched Nov 2015. ED clinician (EP or NP) will recruit injured cyclists (consecutive, convenience sample) who report not regularly wearing a helmet nor owning a suitable one. Study endpoint: 100 enrolled (to estimate prevalence of usage of +/- 10%, alpha 0.05, power >90%, assuming 80% study completion and 50 % helmet wearing at 12 months). Exclusion criteria: unable to consent, admitted to hospital, age <18. Each element of the HEADSTRONG Behaviour Strategy is intended to facilitate patient adoption and maintenance of the desired behaviour, including: 1) enrolment/education by research associate while still in the ED; 2) provision and fitting of a free bicycle helmet; 3) social contract commitment and tailored reminders to document ongoing helmet use: participant agrees to respond to brief electronic survey follow-ups at two weeks, two months, six months, and twelve months; 4) social media engagement with participation in the HEADSTRONG Twitter group, which engages other enrolees and cycling advocacy groups; 5) peer nomination: the participant who is complying with the social contract is encouraged to nominate an uninjured non helmet-wearing colleague to enrol in the study. Results: Primary outcomes include: recruitment rate, enrolment, and sustained participation through follow-up period. Secondary outcomes include age, gender and social demographics of helmet recipients, and participation of peers. Conclusion: Discussion of strategy and interim results at six month interval will be presented at CAEP.

Introduction: We seek to characterize unhelmeted injured cyclists presenting to the emergency department (ED): demographics, cycling behaviour, and attitudes towards helmet use. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study in a downtown teaching hospital, from May 2016 - Sept 2019. Injured cyclists presenting to the ED were recruited if they were not wearing a helmet at time of injury and over age 18. Exclusion criteria included intoxication, inability to consent, or admission to hospital. A standardized survey was administered by a research coordinator. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, and survey responses reported as percentages. Results: We surveyed a convenience sample of 68 unhelmeted injured cyclists (UICs) with mean age of 33.6 years (range 18 to 68, median 29.5 years). Ratio of males to females was 1:1. The majority of UICs cycled most days per week or every day in non-winter months (89.6 %, n = 60). Cycling in Toronto was perceived as somewhat dangerous (45.6%, n = 31) or very dangerous (5.9%, n = 4) by most, and very safe (2.94 %, n = 2) or somewhat safe (19.12%, n = 13) by few. Almost a third (29.4 %, n = 20) had been in a cycling accident in the prior year, some of these (15.0%, n = 3) prompting an ED visit. All cyclists were riding their personal bike (100 %, n = 68) at time of injury, and most (98.5%, n = 67) had planned to cycle when they departed home that day. Purpose of trip was primarily for commuting to work (50%, n = 34), social activities (19.1%, n = 13), school (7.4%, n = 5), and recreation (7.4%, n = 5). Bicycle helmet ownership was low (41.2 %, n = 28). UICs reported rarely (10.3%, n = 7) or never (64.7%, n = 44) wearing a helmet when cycling. Reported factors discouraging helmet use included inconvenience (33.8%, n = 23), lack of ownership (32.4%, n = 22), discomfort (29.4%, n = 20), and ‘messed hair’ (14.7%, n = 10). Few characterized helmets as unnecessary (10.3%, n = 7) or ineffective (1.5%, n = 1). The majority had a college diploma or more advanced education (77.9%, n = 53), and spoke English at home (85.3%, n = 58). Conclusion: Unhelmeted injured cyclists surveyed were frequent commuter cyclists who do not regard cycling as safe, yet choose not to wear helmets for reasons largely related to convenience rather than perceptions regarding safety or necessity. Initiatives to increase helmet use in this subgroup should address the reasons given for not wearing a helmet, potentially using principles of adult education and behavioral economics.