Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business A Study of Bloor Street in Toronto’s Annex Neighbourhood February 2009 ExecutiveDirector EvaLigeti,CleanAirPartnership  ResearcherandAuthor: FredSztabinski,ActiveTransportationResearcher,CleanAirPartnership  SurveyTeam: DepartmentofHealthSciences,FacultyofMedicine,UniversityofToronto  ParkingData: PlanningDepartment,TorontoParkingAuthority  AdvisoryCommittee: MichaelCanzi,TransportationPolicyandPlanningAdvisor,Metrolinx AlanFilipuzzi, SeniorTransportationPlanner,CityofToronto PaulHess,AssociateProfessor,DepartmentofGeography&PrograminPlanning, UniversityofToronto JenniferPenney,DirectorofResearch,CleanAirPartnership  SupporthasbeenprovidedbyagrantfromtheTorontoCommunityFoundation.CAP wouldalsoliketothankTransportCanadaandthe CityofTorontofortheirgenerous supportofthiswork,andthefollowingpeoplefortheirhelpinreviewingthereport: GordBrown,DanielEgan,JenniferHyland,JanaNeumann,LukaszPawlowski,Nancy SmithLeaandStephanieTencer.     ©CleanAirPartnership,2009  Formoreinformation,contact: CleanAir Partnership 75ElizabethStreet Toronto,Ontario,M5G1P4,Canada 416‐392‐6672 cap@cleanairpartnership.org   Additionalcopiesofthispublicationmaybedownloadedatwww.cleanairpartnership.org   TheCleanAirPartnership(CAP)isaregisteredcharitythatworksinpartnershipto promoteandcoordinateactionstoimprovelocalairqualityandreducegreenhousegases forhealthycommunities.Ourappliedresearchonmunicipalpoliciesstrivestobroaden andimproveaccesstopublicpolicydebateonairpollutionand climatechangeissues. Oursocialmarketingprogramsfocusonenergyconservationactivitiesthatmotivate individuals,government,schools,utilities,businessesandcommunitiestotakeactionto cleantheair. i TABLE OF CONTENTS  TABLEOFCONTENTS i  ListofTables ii ListofMaps ii ListofFigures ii ExecutiveSummary 1 1.Introduction 2 1.1StudyPurpose 2 1.2StudyDescription 2 2.Context 4 2.1Background 4 2.2CyclingInfrastructureandtheBikePlan 5 2.3TheBloorAnnexNeighbourhood 6 3.Methodology 9 3.1ExistingPrecedent 9 3.2Surveys 9 3.2.1MerchantSurvey 9 3.2.2.PedestrianSurvey 11 3.3ParkingData 12 3.4DataAnalysis 13 3.5StudyLimitations 13 4.Findings 15 4.1Merchant’sPerceivedCustomerTravelHabits 15 4.2Merchant’sPerceivedEffectofPotentialStreetChanges 15 4.3PedestrianSurveyRespondents 16 4.4VisitorHabitsandConsumption 18 4.5On‐StreetParkingUsage 19 4.6Off‐StreetParking 22 5.Discussion 23 6.Conclusions&Recommendations 25 References 26 AppendixA–MerchantSurvey 27 AppendixB–PedestrianSurvey 28  ii LIST OF TABLES Table1.Distributionofsurveyrespondentsbysurveylocation 11 Table2.Distributionofsurveyrespondentsbysurveydayoftheweek 12 Table3.Merchantestimateofcustomersthatdriveandparkinthearea 15 Table4.NumberofdayspermonthvisitingtheBloorAnnex 17 Table5.Moneyspentintheareapermonth 17 Table6.Preferredchangetothestreet 18 Table7.BloorStreetandSpadinaRoadaverageon‐streetparkingusage 20 Table8.BloorStreetandSpadinaRoadaveragehourlyon‐streetparkingusage21 Table9.TorontoParkingAuthorityaverageparkinglotusage 22 LIST OF MAPS Map1.TheBloorAnnexneighbourhoodwithinthelargerTorontocontext 3 Map2.SuggestedBloor‐DanforthBikeway 5 Map3.TheAnnexLandUse 8 Map4.TheAnnexbuiltformandtransportationnetwork 9 Map5.MunicipalpaidparkingoptionsintheAnnex 8 Map6.Pedestrianinterceptlocations 11 Map7.Studyareaboundary 16 Map8.Pedestriansurveyrespondents’placesofresidence–Scale:Greater TorontoArea 17 Map9.Pedestriansurveyrespondents’placesofresidence–Scale:Toronto 17 LIST OF FIGURES Figure1.Samplestreetconfiguration,includingbikelaneandstreetcar 4 Figure2.TypicalBloorAnnexcrosssectionfacingeast 7 Figure3.BloorStreetfacingeastatBathurstStreet 7 Figure4.Northsideparkingrestrictions 8 Figure5.Typicalsidestreetparkingrestrictions 8 Figure6.Northsidestreetparking 8 Figure7.Pay‐and‐displaymachine 8 Figure8.Lippincottparkinglot 8 Figure9.TypesofbusinessesonBloor 10 Figure10.Typesofbusinessesthatrespondedtothesurvey 10 Figure11.Responseratebytypeofbusiness 10 Figure12.Merchants’perceptionoftheimpactonbusinessofreducedparking 16 Figure13.Transportationmodeshare–liveorworkinthearea 18 Figure14.Transportationmodeshare–donotliveorworkinthearea 18 Figure15.Transportationmodeshare–Total 18 Figure16.BloorStreetaverageon‐streetparkingusage 19 Figure17.Palmerstonparkinglot 22 Figure18.TorontoParkingAuthorityaverageparking lotusage 21 Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Proposalstoinstallbikelanesonmajorstreetsareoftenmetwithoppositionfrommerchants whofearthatthereallocationofroadspacefromon‐streetparkingtoon‐streetbikelaneswould hurtbusiness.Thepurposeofthisstudyistounderstandandestimatetheimportanceofon‐ streetparking tobusinessonBloorStreetintheAnnexneighbourhoodofToronto. ToencouragemoreCanadianstousebicyclesforutilitariantripsmoreoften,itisessentialthat theimplementationofbikelanesonmajorstreetsbeaccelerated.TheBloor‐Danforthcorridoris aparticularlyattractiveoptionforacity‐wide east‐westbikelaneinTorontobecauseitisoneof theonlylong,straight,relativelyflatroutesthatconnectsthecityfromendtoend;thereareno streetcartracks;andithasoneofthehighestincidencesofbicyclecollisionsinthecity. Thisreportisaboutthedevelopment andtestingofnewanalytictoolstodeterminethepublic acceptabilityandeconomicimpactofreallocatingroadspace.Thestudy–conductedinJulyof 2008–surveyedtheopinionsandpreferencesof61merchantsand538patronsonBloorStreet andanalyzedparkingusagedatainthearea. Among thestudy’sfindings: • Only10%ofpatronsdrivetotheBloorAnnexneighbourhood; • Evenduringpeakperiodsnomorethanabout80%ofpaidparkingspacesarepaidfor; • Patronsarrivingbyfootandbicyclevisitthemostoftenandspendthemostmoneyper month; • There aremoremerchantswhobelievethatabikelaneorwidenedsidewalkwould increasebusinessthanmerchantswhothinkthosechangeswouldreducebusiness; • Patronswouldpreferabikelanetowidenedsidewalksataratioofalmostfourtoone; and • Thereductioninon‐streetparking supplyfromabikelaneorwidenedsidewalkcouldbe accommodatedinthearea’soff‐streetmunicipalparkinglots. Thespendinghabitsofcyclistsandpedestrians,theirrelativelyhightravelmodeshare,andthe minimalimpactonparkingalldemonstratethatmerchantsinthisareaareunlikely tobe negativelyaffected byreallocatingon‐streetparkingspacetoabikelane.Onthecontrary,this changewilllikelyincreasecommercialactivity. Itisrecommendedthatthistypeofstudybereplicatedonothercommercialstreetswherethere isconcernaboutreducingparkingtoaccommodatewidersidewalksorbicyclelanes. Specifically,the researchersalsorecommendthattheCityofTorontousethisstudytolook morecloselyatthefutureofBloorStreetasacandidateforacross‐townbikeway. Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business 2 1. INTRODUCTION Likeotherroadusers,bicyclistsonutilitariantrips–fromhometoworkorshopping,for example–prefertotakethemostdirectroutebetweenPointAandPointB.Becausesomany destinationsareconcentratedonmajorstreets,thisoftenentailsridingonroadswherethe volumeand/or speedofmotorvehicletrafficishigh.However,a1999surveyofToronto cyclistsfoundthatonly18%ofcyclistsreportedfeelingcomfortablebikingonmajorroads withoutbikelanes,whereas53%reportedfeelingcomfortablecyclingonmajorroadswithbike lanes(DecimaResearch,2000). ToencouragemoreCanadianstouse bicyclesforutilitariantripsmoreoften,itisessentialthat theimplementationofbikelanesonmajorstreetsbeaccelerated.However,proposalsofthis sortoftenmeetwithoppositionfrombusinessownersonmajorstreetswhofearthatthe reallocationofroadspacefromon‐streetparkingtoon‐street bikelaneswouldhurtbusiness. MorethanhalfwaythroughthetimelineestablishedfortheimplementationoftheTorontoBike Plan,lessthan20%oftheplanned‐foron‐streetbikelaneshavebeenbuilt,inpartbecauseof oppositionfrombusinessesonstreetswheretheyareproposed. 1.1 STUDY PURPOSE Thepurposeofthisstudyistounderstandandestimatetheimportanceofon‐streetparkingto business.Regardlessofthespecificfindingsofthestudy,theprojectisintendedtoincreasethe abilityofCanadianmunicipalitiestobetterdeterminethepublicacceptabilityandeconomic impactofnewbikelaneson majorstreets,astheanalyticaltoolscreatedwillbemadeavailable toallmunicipalitiessothattheycanreplicatethestudyintheirownjurisdictions.Thistoolwill helpmunicipalitiesdeterminewhethervocalopponentsofbikelanesreflecttheopinionsofthe majorityandwhetherwarningsaboutlossofbusiness fromreducedparkingareaccurate. 1.2 STUDY DESCRIPTION Thestudyincorporatedaseriesofsurveysto:a)determinetherelativeimportanceofon‐street parkingtobusinessactivityonBloorStreetWestintheAnnex,a medium‐to‐high‐density, traditionalcommercialstreetindowntownToronto;andb)projecttheimpactsonbusiness activityofreallocatingspaceinthe Annexfromon‐streetparkingtobikelanes orwidened sidewalks.Forthepurposesofthisstudy,theBloorAnnexneighbourhoodwasdefinedasthe areasurroundingBloorStreet,boundedbyPalmerstonBoulevardtotheWest,HuronStreetto theEast,DupontStreettotheNorthandHarbordStreetto theSouth(seeMap1.TheBloor AnnexneighbourhoodwithinthelargerTorontocontext). Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business 3  Map 1. The Bloor Annex neighbourhood (highlighted in orange) within the larger Toronto context (Source data: Google Earth,) Datawerecollectedusingthefollowingsources: 1. Asurveyofareamerchantstogaugeassumptionsaboutthemodesoftransportation patronsusetoaccesstheneighbourhoodandinwhatproportions. 2. Apedestrianinterceptsurveytodeterminehowpatronsaccesstheneighbourhood,how often,andhowmuchmoneytheyspend there.Thissurveyalsoincludedaquestion aboutthetypeofroadspaceallocation(tocars,bikes,orpedestrians)theywouldprefer. 3. On‐streetparkingdatatodeterminewhatpercentageoftheon‐streetparkingspacesare occupiedatdifferenttimesofday. 4. Off‐streetparkingdatato determinewhetherthereisunderutilizedcapacity. Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business 4 2. CONTEXT 2.1 BACKGROUND Cityplannersandengineersfacecompetingprioritiesforspace,especiallywhenitcomesto roadspaceoncommercialstreets.Frombuildinglinetobuildingline,decisionsneedtobe madewhethertoallocatespacetocommercialactivity,sidewalks,streetfurniture,trees and otherplantings,bicycleparking,carparking,parkingmeters,bicycle lanes,publictransitand motorvehicletravellanes(seeFigure1.Samplestreetconfiguration,includingbikelaneand streetcar).Inmanycases,itisnotpossibletoaccommodateallofthesepriorities,anditisthejob ofplannerstoweightheneedsofthevariousroadandotherpublic spaceuserstomake recommendationsforthegreatestpublicgood.However,electedofficialsoftenmakethefinal decisionandtheiropinionsmaydifferfromthoseoftheplanners.  Figure 1. Sample street configuration, including bike lane and streetcar Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business 5 2.2 CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE BIKE PLAN TheTorontoBikePlan’sBikewayNetworkcallsforalmost500kmofbikelanestobeinstalled by2011.CityCouncilhasnowmovedthistargetcompletiondateto2012,butevenmeetingthat goalwillrequireamonumentalshiftinCityprioritiesinordertoapproveandinstallthe needed bicycleinfrastructuretocreatearealnetworkthroughoutToronto.Sincetheapprovalof theBikePlanin2001,Cityplannersandengineershavefacedhurdleafterhurdlesecuring politicalapprovaltoinstallbikelanesacrossthecity.Citychampionshavetriedtoaccelerate theBikePlan’simplementationbyincreasingcapital budgetsandstreamliningtheapproval process.Buteveninthe2008constructionseason,Citystaffwereunabletoconsistentlycount onallthenecessaryapprovalsatCityCouncil. Almosteverynewbikelaneintheoldercity–wherestreetsarenarrowerthaninsuburban areas–hasinvolvedtheremoval ofatleastsomeon‐streetparking.Theremovalofon‐street parkingcapacityisabigconcernforsomebusinessownerswhobelievethatthemajorityof theircustomersarrivebycar.Theyare concernedthatifthereisn’tsufficientparkingveryclose  athand,itwilldetersome customersfromvisitingthebusiness.Inmostinstances,thereisvery littleevidencetosupportornegatethisconcern. Forquitesometimecyclingadvocates–andsomeCitystaff–havebeenlookingathowto makeamajoreast‐westbikewayinToronto.Someproposethatthemostattractive optionisthe Bloor‐Danforthcorridor,stretchingalmost20kilometresacrossthecity.TheCitydidnot includethisrouteinits2001BikewayNetworkplan,though earliercityreportsdidrecommend aBloorbikelane.  Map 2. Suggested Bloor-Danforth Bikeway (Source data: Google Earth) Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business 6 Theindependentcommunitycyclinggroup,BellsonBloor,hascompilednumeroussupporting reasonsforchoosingBloorastheCity’smajoreast‐westbikeartery(BellsonBloor,2007).These include: • Blooralreadyhasoneofthehighestratesofcyclingintheentirecity.Goodbikerouteplanning placesbikelaneswherethecyclistsalreadyare; • Bloorhasoneofthehighestincidencesofbicyclecollisionsinthecity; • Bloorisoneoffewlong,straight,relativelyflatroutesthatconnectsthecityfromendtoend; • Therearenostreetcartracks,whichcansometimesinterferewiththesafeoperationofabicycle; • Thecorridorisalsoservedbyasubwayline,whichprovidesafast,frequent,viablealternativeto driving; • Researchdemonstratesthatbikeroutesaremostsuccessfulwhentheyarecontinuousanddirect, andwhentheyminimizedelaysorstopsforcyclists; • Unconnectedsegmentsofbikelanesthatforcecycliststotakecircuitousroutesonvariousside streetswillnotencouragepeopletogetoutoftheircarsandontobikes; • Along,continuousanddirectbikelaneonBloorwillencouragemorepeopletogetoutontheir bikes,andwillprotectthosewhoarealreadyoutthere;and • LongstretchesofBlooraremadeupofsmallbusiness,andresearchhasshownthatbikelanescan begoodforbusiness.Cyclistscanstoponawhimmoreeasilythanmotorists,parkatthenearest post‐and‐ring,andsupportlocalbusinesses. (Note:Thepointsabovehavebeenparaphrasedfrom theoriginaltextforbrevity,clarityand accuracy.Toviewtheoriginaltext,pleasevisitwww.bellsonbloor.ca) 2.3 THE BLOOR ANNEX NEIGHBOURHOOD TheBloorAnnexneighbourhoodisadiverseneighbourhood,withalargestudentandyoung professionalpopulation.Theareaalsohasastrongcommercialandentertainmentcharacter, withBloorStreetasthefocus.Thecity’smaineast‐westsubwaylinerunsalong BloorStreet, withaninterchangetothenorth‐southUniversity ‐Spadinasubwaylineattheintersectionof BloorStreetandSpadinaAvenue.Intermsofthestreetlayoutwithinthestudyarea,thestreet issymmetrical,withsidewalksfrontingthebuildingsoneachside,aparking/travellane,and thenanothertravellane.ThislayoutisrepresentativeofthelargerSpadina Avenueto LansdowneAvenuesectionofBloorStreet. [...]... Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and Business 12 TPA supplied July 2008 usage data for on street parking along Bloor Street and Spadina Road,  all within a two or three minute walk of the study area. TPA also supplied data for three ‘Green  P’ lots, also within a two or three minute walk of the study area: at 577 Palmerston, 365  Lippincott and 19 Spadina. The data tracks payments made using TPA’s pay and display ... pm, and so this skews the weekday afternoon average. For this reason, and to account for other  potential spikes or troughs in the parking data, it is also useful to look at the specific hourly  Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and Business 20 totals for each of the seven study days (see Table 8. Bloor Street and Spadina Road average  hourly on street parking usage).  Table 8 Bloor Street and Spadina Road average hourly on -street parking usage Total Spaces 10:00 am... Clair streetcar exclusive right of way, TPA is building new ‘Green P’ lots to make up for some  of the lost on street parking. )   Rather than using observational data, parking capacity and usage data was requested from the  Toronto Parking Authority (TPA). Because the TPA now exclusively employs pay and display  parking machines for on street parking and in most municipal parking lots (‘Green P’ lots), the  TPA has a robust, sophisticated, and reliable system for tracking parking usage.   Bike. ..   Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and Business 22 Palmerston Lippincott Spadina Weekday Average 49% Saturday 41% Weekday Evening Average 72% Saturday Evening 105% Weekday Average 74% Saturday 64% Weekday Evening Average 55% Saturday Evening 38% Weekday Average 60% Saturday 49% Weekday Evening Average 62% Saturday Evening 72% Total Weekday Average 57% Saturday 48% Weekday Evening Average 66% Saturday... would remove one lane of parking,  reducing supply on Bloor by 50%. The on street parking on  Spadina would be unaffected, and so the total reduction of on street parking would be 72  spaces (half of 144). At peak demand, such a change to the street would leave a shortage of 38  parking spaces that may need to be accommodated elsewhere.  Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and Business 21 160 Parking Spaces 140 Weekday Average Saturday 120... Saturday 37 64% Saturday Evening 22 38% Weekday Average 39 60% Weekday Evening Average 40 62% Saturday 32 49% Saturday Evening 47 72% Weekday Average 152 57% Weekday Evening Average 176 66% Saturday 128 48% Saturday Evening Total 70 Saturday Spadina % Used Weekday Evening Average Palmerston Peak Usage Weekday Average Lippincott Total Spaces Day 220 82% 144 58 65 267 Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and. .. of on street parking is used during the pay parking periods (9:00 a. m. to 9:00 p.m.), and 48% to  82% of off street parking lot space is used. The removal of one lane of on street parking would  reduce on street parking by one half and total paid parking in the study area by about 20%.  Since average peak usage is not far above 80% at any time of the day, the potential 20%  reduction can likely be absorbed by existing paid parking capacity. In addition, even if all the ... elsewhere. If the peak demand for on‐ and off street parking were to coincide – which they do  not – there would still remain a surplus of 47 spaces in off street lots to accommodate the loss  on Bloor Street.   Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and Business 21   Table 9 Toronto Parking Authority average parking lot usage Parking Lot 49% 104 72% 59 41% Saturday Evening 151 105% Weekday Average 43 74% Weekday Evening Average... Saturday Evening 0% 82% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%   Figure 18 Toronto Parking Authority average parking lot usage At peak demand, 220 of the 267 off street parking spaces are occupied. As already stated,  installing a bike lane or widening the sidewalk on Bloor would leave a shortage of 38 on street parking spaces during peak on street demand, and this shortage may need to be accommodated  elsewhere. If the peak demand for on‐ and off street parking were to coincide – which they do ... Total 29% Saturday July 19 19% Total 19% 3.3 PARKING DATA In order to understand the effects of removing one lane of on street parking,  the researchers  needed to know the current supply of public on street and off street parking in the area, and the  current rates of usage. If one lane of parking is removed, merchants and City decision‐makers  will want to know if the existing parking demand can be accommodated with the remaining  . TPAsuppliedJuly2008usagedataforon street parking along Bloor Street and SpadinaRoad, allwithin a twoorthreeminutewalk of the study area.TPAalsosupplieddataforthree‘Green. including bike lane and streetcar Bike Lanes, On -Street Parking and Business 5 2.2 CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE BIKE PLAN TheToronto Bike Plan’sBikewayNetworkcallsforalmost500km of bike lanestobeinstalled by2011.CityCouncilhasnowmovedthistargetcompletiondateto2012,butevenmeetingthat goalwillrequire a monumentalshift in Citypriorities in ordertoapprove and installthe needed bicycleinfrastructuretocreate a realnetworkthroughoutToronto.Sincetheapproval of the Bike Plan in 2001,Cityplanners and engineershavefacedhurdleafterhurdlesecuring politicalapprovaltoinstall bike lanesacrossthecity.Citychampionshavetriedtoaccelerate the Bike Plan’simplementationbyincreasingcapital budgets and streamliningtheapproval process.Buteven in the2008constructionseason,Citystaffwereunabletoconsistentlycount onallthenecessaryapprovalsatCityCouncil. Almosteverynew bike lane in theoldercity–wherestreetsarenarrowerthan in suburban areas–hasinvolvedtheremoval of atleastsomeon street parking. Theremoval of on street parking capacityis a bigconcernforsomebusinessownerswhobelievethatthemajority of theircustomersarrivebycar.Theyare