Commuters go green

Census figures released yesterday show greater numbers of commuters are walking or cycling to work in the city or using public transportation.
“I have a car, I have access to public transit. I choose to do this, even in the middle of winter,” says Chris Blackloch, 44, who cycles 45 kilometres from Oakville to Toronto, winter and summer, weather permitting. “It’s a good way to blow out any frustrations and cobwebs on the way home from your work.”
Blackloch is one of the thousands of people who took up cycling to work in Toronto between 2001 and 2005, the time period covered by the last census. The number of people cycling to work in the Toronto CMA rose 33.2 per cent over those five years, to 22,540.
Thousands more commuters began walking or hopping on public transit during the same time period — travelling green grew by 7.2 per cent in the CMA. Toronto was also the Canadian CMA with the highest public transit use by commuters.
“By the end of this year we’ll be up over 70 million rides from 2001,” said TTC chair Adam Giambrone yesterday. “The problem is once you leave the 416, the service is nowhere close to being there.”