Talk:Toronto, Ontario Pedestrian Charter

Since the Toronto Pedestrian Committee (TPC) was started in 1998, members have discussed creating a charter outlining what rights pedestrians can expect from the City in terms of meeting their needs as urban travellers.

The charter was envisioned as a document that would serve as reminder both to decision-makers within the City and to the community at large that walking should be valued as the most sustainable of all forms of urban travel.

The Toronto Pedestrian Committee's Research Sub-Committee adopted the charter as a project and worked on it for approximately two years. It reflects:

1. a review of research into pedestrian safety and environmental design and of current practices in other jurisdictions around the world;

2. an analysis of various City policy documents that affect pedestrians (notably, the Road Classification System and the requirements for traffic control signal warrants); and

3. the sub-committee's experiences visiting the sites of pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries, and following up with contacts in works and Emergency Services, Urban Development Services, Toronto Police Service, Toronto Public Health, various officials at the provincial Ministry of Transportation, and the Provincial Coroner.

In the summer of 2000, a proposal initiated by the sub-committee was adopted by Toronto City Council's Planning and Transportation Committee (T&P) asking for a report commenting on the merits of a charter that would:

• promote awareness of the personal, social, and environmental benefits of walking as a safe, healthy, accessible, and sociable mode of transportation, especially for short trips
• articulate a vision of the physical, social, economic, legal, and psychological framework required in order to encourage more people to walk, and to walk further
• raise awareness of the need to acknowledge the walking component of public transit trips as an integral part of the city's transportation system

The motion requested that attention be given both to "pedestrianism" as a form of travel, and to what is involved from an urban design perspective to make the city more pedestrian-friendly and safe. It also noted the need to relate the proposed charter to various other City initiatives, including the new Official Plan and the Environmental Plan.

Over a period of about two years, the sub-committee extensively researched statements of pedestrian rights and pedestrian charters from around the world, consulted with several dozen individuals and groups, and produced a draft at the end of December, 2001. It meshed well with Toronto Plan and the City's Environmental Plan. The first draft was then presented to the Toronto Pedestrian Committee at its January, 2002 meeting, and after further changes, the charter was adopted at the Toronto Pedestrian Committee's February meeting.

In April, 2002, the Planning and Transportation Committee forwarded Clause 5 of Report No. 6 to City Council without amendment; on May 21, 2002, City Council unanimously adopted the Toronto Pedestrian Charter.