Operating Budget 2007
 
Write your Councillor - it does make a difference!
 
Councillors respond to letters -- even a small number of letters can change how a Committee votes.
  1. •ALL the Councillors on the Budget Committee pledged to support Active Transportation
  2. •All the councillors also supported budget initiatives to improve pedestrian safety and infrastructure.
  3.  
It's time now to remind Councillors of their election commitments. Take a second to modify this letter or just add your name to the bottom and send it along.
 
It's simple: just select the text below with your mouse and cut and paste the letter into the body of your email.
 
Be sure to send your email to all Budget Committee Councillors and also be sure to send it to your Ward Councillor as well.
 
A list of all Councillors by ward can be found here: (City of Toronto Councillors)
The names of all the Councillors on the Budget Committee, with their e-mail addresses, are listed below.
 
 
Budget Committee
    
Shelley Carroll , Chair  councillor_carroll@toronto.ca
Paul Ainslie  councillor_ainslie@toronto.ca
Maria Augimeri   councillor_augimeri@toronto.ca
A. A. Heaps   councillor_heaps@toronto.ca
Joe Mihevc   councillor_mihevc@toronto.ca
Gord Perks   councillor_perks@toronto.ca
Kyle Rae   councillor_rae@toronto.ca
 
 
 
 
Subject: Promote Active Transportation - Cycling and Walking - in the 2007 Operating Budget
 
Dear Councillor _________
 
During the 2006 municipal election you completed the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) election survey.  In your response you expressed support for Active Transportation – walking and cycling.  To  promote cycling and walking as safe sustainable modes of transportation and to ensure that the cycling and pedestrian infrastructure is safe and well maintained I encourage you to support the following items in the 2007 City of Toronto Operating Budget:
 
1)    Increase the budget for Cycling safety, education and promotion by $270,000.00  
2)    Add a senior position of Cycling and Pathways Planner to the Parks Forestry and Recreation Division
3)    Add $100,000 to the Toronto Public Health budget to fund a public education program to address the issue of sidewalk cycling.
4)    Add $100,000 to the Toronto Public Health budget for a Car Free Day
5)    Add full-time permanent staff to the Transportation Services Division to work on pedestrian infrastructure.
6)    Provide additional financial and human resources to support the process of developing the Pedestrian Plan
7)    Increase the funding for sidewalk maintenance in order to reduce the current backlog
 
It is now time for the 2007 budget deliberations and I am asking you to follow through on your commitment to support Active Transportation. Many of your fellow Councillors have also supported the increased funding for active transportation, but as a member of the Budget Committee you have special responsibility to ensure that the projects that support cycling and walking are not overlooked nor underfunded in the 2007 budget.
 
As a cyclist and citizen I have not forgotten that there has been no increase in funding for cycling safety, education and promotion programs since 2001 resulting in a 30% erosion of these programs. It is time  to turn words into action by providing adequate funding for cycling as recommended by City staff in the Toronto Bike Plan 3-year implementation strategy released in August 2005.
 
As pedestrian and citizen I  want to see adequate human resources are dedicated to ensuring that the principles of the Pedestrian Charter are put into practice.  I want to see that Toronto’s sidewalks and pathways are in a state of good repair.
 
There is simply no excuse for the neglect of cycling and walking in Toronto's
budgets.  Toronto needs to invest in Active Transportation and promote walking and cycling in order to achieve the goal of having a truly sustainable transportation system which will help it achieve its environmental and climate change goals. By failing to see the benefit of this small but significant investment, past City Councils have contributed to making unsafe streets, increasing congestion and worsening air pollution.
 
It is time to reverse this neglect - a small investment in cycling and pedestrian infrastructure today will keep paying benefits for generations to come in safer streets, a healthier environment and a better transportation system for Toronto. I trust I can count on you to make the 2007 City of Toronto Operating Budget a pedestrian and cycling supportive budget.
 
Sincerely,
        
 
________________
 
 
 
 
 
Budget 2007
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