More rides, active transportation on display for Bike to Work Day in Windsor

Another Bike to Work Day is in the books. Hundreds of cycle commuters joined 11 rides from all across Windsor to meet downtown to celebrate momentum in active transportation.

Number of rides almost tripled

Last year, there were just four organized rides for Bike to Work Day. This year's 11 included rides starting in Tecumseh, LaSalle, Ford City and Olde Walkerville.

Each ride was organized by a community leader who, with the help of Bike-Windsor Essex and the Windsor Bicycling Committee, assisted in mapping out safe rides to get from each location to Jackson Park and then to the riverfront.

Lori Newton, executive director ofBike Windsor-Essex, said it was a lot of work.

"But it was worth it," said Newton. "Look at everybody here!"

Community leaders for each ride

Jessica Bondy, of the Windsor Bicycling Committee, said it was easy to find leaders for each ride.

"Then the logistics come of making sure the routes were safe," said Bondy, who rode from LaSallestarting at 6:30 a.m. and meeting up with three other rides on the way.

"A few years ago, if you were a cycle commuter you were a bit odd," said Newton. "Now you can see it's become normal. This event is just to show lots of regular people do ride to work."

Bondy said the rides "wouldn't have been possible" without community leaders, like Joey Wright who led the ride from Ford City.

"I thought it would be an nice idea to start from Ford City this year," said Wright. "It's important to involve as many different neighbourhoods and communities as possible."

Wright said he divides his time between cycling and riding the bus, using his bike mostly to get to work.

"It's a nice way to get out and enjoy the nice weather."

Transit Windsor involvement

For the first time, a Transit Windsor bus was parked at the end of the ride on Windsor's riverfront.

Bondy said it was there so everyone present could learn how to put their bike on and get their bike off the bus.

"A lot of people are intimidated by that," said Bondy. "This gives a lot of exposure to the people here today to show them how to do that properly. Cycling and transit go hand-in-hand with active transportation."

City representatives present active transportation plan

Newton said she hoped the turnout helps promote the active transportation plan that goes before council for approval soon.

"That involves painting our roads to let pedestrians, drivers and cyclists know where to go. It's not pitting us against them, we're all in this together," said Newton. "We need to invest in commuter cycling, we need to invest in safe streets. We don't have any protected bike lanes in the city. We need to do more."

Two years in the making, Windsor's active transportation plan was published Friday online for everyone to see.

Cyclists could have a face-to-face chat with transportation engineer Joshua Haddad about the plan, which was on display at the riverfront for the end of the ride.

"The plan serves as a guideline for the city for the next 20 years," said Haddad. One of the goals is to increase the current 10 per cent use of active transportation by Windsorites to 25 per cent of trips.

Another goal is to make sure there's one seamless route around the city, regardless of the neighbourhood you're in.

"It's a balance that we have to try to achieve," said Haddad. "We don't want this to be just for leisure, we want this to be for transportation."

Haddad had maps on hand showing existing and proposed routes to show cyclists their current options and what might be coming next.