Bike bus drivers that is. Are you already cycling Bloor West in the morning and/or evening rush? Are you avoiding Bloor because cycling it alone is too stressful? We’re looking for folks to lead bike buses on Bloor West in the upcoming weeks.

Leading a bike bus would consist of either riding at the front or back of a small group of cyclists as they travel in a compact group down Bloor acting as a single vehicle. Time commitments are subject to your availability but should be relatively consistent (i.e. riding the same day(s) and time(s)).

If you’re interested, please contact us using the form below or better yet, join the google group and participate in the discussions there.

I’m still fighting with the CSS to try to add a photo credit for the header graphic. Meanwhile, I’d like to thank Commodore Gandalf Cunningham for the use of the photo above.

Despite the rain, several folks made it out to Tuesday night’s meeting to discuss the bike bus project. The following topics were discussed:

Route
While the earliest visions for the bike bus project were for service between Sherbourne and Spadina, the current construction along that stretch makes that portion of Bloor an impractical street for commuting of any type and particularly unsuited for bike bus.

Instead, it was agreed that the first service would be along Bloor between approximately the High Park area and Spadina. Reasonable commuting speeds would be possible along this route. Not only that, given the number of cyclists already riding this route individually along with the current parking and traffic conditions along that route make this stretch of Bloor one of the most logical locations for the first bike bus route.

Service Timing and Frequency
While actual route schedules are yet to be determined, the feeling was that routes should be available to provide the ability for folks commuting in the morning to reach Spadina in time to get to work with ample time for showering/changing if necessary for both an 8:00 AM start and a 9:00 AM start. Outbound service in the evening rush hour will also be provided.

Frequency will be dictated by two factors – the demand for service, and the availability of 2 leaders (one in the front of the group, one behind) to guide each scheduled bus along its way.

Collaboration with other Cycling Advocacy Groups
It was agreed that there is definitely a great deal of synergy and common cause between this group and groups such as the Toronto Cyclists Union and Take The Tooker and others. Wherever possible we hope to work with these and other groups to further the project.

Path Forward
The first step in making this a reality is to gather a core group of people to lead the buses. Ideally these people would already be riding the route and thus be readily available to ride the route and also know the route well. However anyone with time in the morning and afternoon should get in touch and let us know.

At the same time, we need to begin to promote the idea not only with potential leaders but also potential “riders” as well. With this in mind, we discussed different methods for on and offline promotion and plans for on-bike flyers, postering, as well as a number of online promotion methods are being organized.

Start Date
While the actual start date will be dictated mostly by the speed at which volunteer leaders are gathered, we hope to do a few trial Friday commutes in the next few weeks. We’d prefer to see service begin by the end of September, ideally in time for Mobility Week between the 16th and 22nd.

Other Plans
In addition to the above, the creation of this site, as well as the two mailing lists (see the sidebar for details) was discussed. In addition, trips will be made at rush hour along the potential route to time the route for scheduling purposes.

Curious about what all this talk about Bike Buses is? This video should give you a good idea of what it’s all about.

When will you be able to take a bike bus to work in Toronto? Keep your eye on this space!