Take our free shuttle bus between Evergreen Brick Works and Broadview Station, now with more frequent trips on Saturdays!
View the schedulePublished on August 24, 2026 by Ethan Rotberg, Senior Communications Specialist | Evergreen
There’s something about summer that reminds us just how much fun it is to get around by bike. Whether you’re pedalling to work, exploring a trail or heading to a neighbourhood park, cycling can help us move through the city, connect with nature and support our health and wellbeing.
But those experiences don’t happen by accident. They depend on infrastructure that makes cycling safe, comfortable and connected—from protected bike lanes and dedicated paths to trails that link natural spaces and neighbourhoods.
Creating these kinds of connections is part of building better public spaces, which is why Evergreen is helping lead The Loop project, a groundbreaking 80km network of trails that will connect Toronto’s ravines, neighbourhoods and people.
To explore what connected cycling infrastructure can make possible, we spoke with Lanrick Bennett, Urbanist-in-Residence at U of T’s School of Cities, and Michael Longfield, Executive Director of Cycle Toronto.
Lanrick Bennett, Urbanist-in-Residence at U of T’s School of Cities
Bike lanes, trails and multi-use paths have fundamentally changed how I experience Toronto. I can use my bike for far more than recreation. I can get to meetings, events, community spaces, neighbourhoods across the city and places like Evergreen Brick Works without having to build my entire trip around driving or transit.
People make decisions about how they move based on how comfortable they feel, and there is a huge difference between knowing that a route technically exists and feeling confident enough to use it.
And comfortable doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone. What feels manageable to an experienced rider can feel completely different to a parent riding with a child, an older adult, or someone who is less confident on a bike. If we want riding a bike to be a realistic transportation option for more people, we need infrastructure that makes people feel like they belong on the route.
As a parent, I know there is a very different calculation when you’re riding with your children. I might be comfortable navigating a difficult connection myself, but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable putting my kids into that situation. And that calculation becomes even more important when you’re thinking about whether a child can ride independently, with friends, to school or to a park. If parents don’t believe the connected network is safe, they are understandably going to say no.
That’s why I see projects like The Loop as being about much more than my own ability to get around by bike. A more connected network gives more people the confidence and independence to choose riding a bike, including children, older adults and people with mobility challenges who are able to ride a bike.
Michael Longfield, Executive Director of Cycle Toronto
Riding a bike can be a really great, convenient, cost-effective way to experience Toronto’s green spaces. Whether it’s the waterfront or Toronto’s trails and ravines, it enables you to move through spaces at a slightly more human speed while still feeling a kind of speed and efficiency that can create a sort of childlike sense of joy and wonder. Having this connection to nature, trails and water within the city itself—we’re so lucky in Toronto to have this.
For me personally, riding a bike also happens to be my main mode of transportation. It’s one of the things I do to help unwind and disconnect. I was able to go for a bike ride recently, explore the opening of the new Lower Don Trail, make it up as far as Evergreen Brick Works, and really felt like I was able to disconnect. It’s a key way that I help keep things in perspective and help centre myself.
One of the disappointing side effects of the injury I sustained in December 2024 was that I wasn’t really able to ride my bike very often. I felt the impact on my mental and emotional health, just not being able to move that way or experience the city. Now that I’mable to get back out on my bike, I definitely notice the benefits to my health and emotional well-being.
If you have a network of safe and connected bike lanes on city streets, that’s what enables people to get to the ravines and trails and pathways and lakeshore paths that we have.
What The Loop offers is not only connections in local neighbourhoods, but a broader citywide connection too. I think that’s really exciting.
Learn more
Want to keep rolling into fall? Visit us at the Cycle Toronto Rec Hub at Evergreen Brick Works. This community space takes the intimidation out of bike maintenance and repair while serving as a hub for cycling programming.
