Campaign promotes cycling trails
Jun 02, 2008 - 08:55 AM
By Keith Gilligan
AJAX -- Trains have inspired Donald Wiedman to push bicycling.
The Toronto cyclist came up with the GO-by-Bike to Ajax idea from a similar initiative offered by Via Rail last year.
GO-by-Bike encourages Torontonians to take the GO train to Ajax and then ride trails west back into the city. It runs from June 1 to Aug. 17.
As an avid cyclist, he wants to promote the activity. As a parent, he wants to see more cycling trails.
His eight-year-old daughter Charlotte is too old to cycle on sidewalks but "I don't want her on roads," Mr. Wiedman said.
The campaign kicked off on Wednesday in Toronto and Ajax when Mr. Wiedman and Charlotte were joined by Ajax Mayor Steve Parish, Toronto City Councillor Adrian Heaps and officials from GO Transit, Durham Tourism, the Trans Canada Trail and the Waterfront Regeneration Trust.
Mr. Wiedman met Mayor Parish last year and thought the mayor could help promote the initiative. He also left a message with GO managing director and CEO Gary McNeil and worried they would "push the delete" button.
"I wanted it to happen. I wondered why Europe has it and why don't we have it here," he said.
"GO sees itself as a partner in an intermodal transportation system. You can bring your bike on GO during off-peak hours," said Jennifer Niece, a transportation planner with GO.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to share what Ajax has to offer. We're excited to be the host community," said Luisa DaRocha, the manager of economic development for Ajax.
Most of the focus has been on the waterfront trail, but she said Ajax has more than 80 kilometres of trails.
During the kick-off ceremony at the Ajax GO station, Mr. Wiedman said once he had the plan "all I need to do is get it done.
"I hope it's not just the summer of the bicycle, but the decade of the bicycle and the millennium of the bicycle," he said.
"Ajax is really committed to cycling and the environment," Mayor Parish said. "We have the greatest waterfront trail in the GTA.
Cycling is "an alternative transportation method, especially as gas reaches $1.30, $1.50, $2," the mayor said. "It has tremendous tourism potential."
The City is "building the first permanent storage station at Union Station," Coun. Heaps said. "We use to correlate cycling with recreation. As transportation, we haven't accepted that yet.
"Cycling is not just recreation. It's a viable method of transportation," he said, adding about 950,000 Torontonians ride a bike each year. "We have to increase the infrastructure to increase opportunities to use a bike."
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