Here's a quest I've found myself pondering... with the topography of Toronto being what it is, assuming we had a complete and usable network of bike infrastructure, how much use would it see?
I don't mean that in a concern trolling way to try to tear down bike infrastructure, I am a full supporter of the concept. Maybe it's because I only ever bike recreationally so maybe it'd get easier if I did it on a daily basis, but after 15 seconds on a hill I feel like I'm about to die. Toronto has a dramatic change in elevation from the south to the north, the most obvious places are areas like the streets along the Lake Iroquois shoreline (Bathurst or Dufferin north of Davenport) but a lot of the streets south of Bloor/Danforth qualify, Woodbine, Greenwood, Coxwell, etc. Looking at elevation profiles of the city on Google Earth and I get puffed out just sitting in my chair! I would think that my own personal abilities would restrict me to more local trips on relatively flat ground, like many east to west streets.
I have watched Not Just Bikes' video on cycling in Switzerland and while it indicates that the hills don't seem to discourage cycling there's no hard statistics given, the kind of grades they deal with, how long they are, what the total modal share is, etc.
Anyone have any ideas? Experiences?
