Mapping where we need more and better bike parking in Toronto.

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About BikeSpace

Every cyclist has struggled to find space to park. There is simply not enough bike parking to meet demand. Bike racks are often full, requiring a cyclist to improvise using poor alternatives like sign posts or fences. Too often racks are ancient wheel-benders, awkwardly located, or taken up by abandoned bikes.

BikeSpace is a community-built web app supported by the City of Toronto and Cycle Toronto. It lets people report the issues they find when trying to park their bikes in the city. This simple web app is:

  • quick and easy to use,
  • designed for mobile and desktop,
  • building a public map of parking problems in Toronto,
  • creating a data-driven picture to drive change.

City planners, businesses and property managers all know there is a problem. They want to build simple and safe bike parking across the city but they need solid evidence of demand to invest smartly. Toronto needs a data-driven solution to bike parking—BikeSpace will produce that data and drive real change.

We have recently released the public version of the web app and invite you to try it and tell us what you think!

The BikeSpace Mission

Community-Built

BikeSpace is made entirely by a group of committed vounteers who want to improve their city.

Bike-Friendly

We want cycling to be safe, fun and recognized as a valid form of transportation.

Data-Driven

We think that smart solutions need a basis in real evidence and high-quality data.

Hopeful

We love our city and believe we can help make Toronto a world-class city for cyclists!

Building the evidence for change

We at BikeSpace believe that no cyclist suffers alone. The problems you encounter daily trying to park your bike are part of a larger story. If we share these problems in a structured way we can gather data to create change. BikeSpace aims to make reporting these concerns as easy as possible. Each time you use the BikeSpace web app you can share:

  • the type of issue encountered,
  • the location of your parking problem,
  • the date and time when encountered,
  • a photo for context (optional),
  • a user comment (optional).

We want to uncover the systemic issues that prevent people from hopping on their bikes. We want people to lock their bikes up with the assurance that their property is safe from vandalism and theft. As more and more cyclists participate a picture will start to form of the pattern of problems cyclists face:

  • broken bike racks that are not secure,
  • areas where new bike parking is most needed,
  • racks where bikes get stolen,
  • spots held up by abandoned bikes,
  • inaccessible or unusable parking spots.

How is my data used?

BikeSpace is being developed by a group of volunteers from Civic Tech Toronto. Our team believes that all data collected for this project should be available to the public. We strive for transparency both in how we work and in the products we build. When data is open it has the best chance of reaching the most people. Only by being public can it create accountability for finding solutions.

In practice, all data collected will go through a 3 step process:

  1. Any cyclist with access to the internet can leave an anonymous report.
  2. Anybody can explore our public data on our dynamic dashboard (coming soon).
  3. An updated machine-readable dataset is accessible in real-time through our API.

We will not collect data on our users or create profiles of them. We only collect high-quality data about bike parking issues to inform those who want to install bike parking. Your participation supports investment in smart, new cycling infrastructure.Find out more by reading our BikeSpace Privacy Policy.

Use the map to find bicycle parking across Toronto

  • Currently available parking is shown by a pink marker ●
  • Click on any of markers to see detailed information including the address and type of parking available

Bicycle parking data has been provided by the City of Toronto. Find out more.

It's time we had our own tool

At BikeSpace, we see that the time for Toronto to actively build a bike-friendly city has arrived. More and more people are cycling as their primary form of transit. The City of Toronto began a 10 Year Cycling Network Plan on June 9, 2016 which includes a commitment to develop a Bike Parking Strategy. Property owners are recognizing that building bike lockers gives them happier tenants. Businesses are realizing that new bike racks bring new customers. Safe cycling infrastructure creates healthier communities, less traffic congestion and less pollution.

Cyclists need their own platform designed for their needs to raise issues that affect them. By focusing on bike parking we concentrate our impact on a specific issue. Too often reporting tools try to be everything for everyone and end up improving nothing for no one. Even a tool for cyclists needs to be specific to be successful. There is a lot of work for us to do but the foundation of any bike-friendly city is convenient and secure parking.

Help us build BikeSpace

We are a small team passionate about making our city kinder and safer to cyclists. There are many ways you can assist us in our mission:

Get updates

Join our newsletter for updates on the project and for opportunities to make a change.

Promote BikeSpace

If you already champion of cycling in your community you can lead adoption of the tool.

Join our team

This is an exciting project built by a great people and we invite anybody who wants to help to join us!

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