Take a tour of Toronto's busy bike lanes with a cop who cycles them every day

Cycling is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of transportation in downtown Toronto and it's driving up demand for more bike lanes on the city's major routes.

• Millennials want to keep their beloved Bloor bike lanes boomers, not so much

"Bike lanes are like condos, they're coming up everywhere," said Toronto Police Sgt. Jeff Zammit, a senior cycling officer with 14 Division.

Zammit has been patrolling the streets on his bike for more than 20 years. He even relies on bike lanes to get to a crime scene more quickly, he said.

To help less seasoned cyclists navigate the city's bike lanes, Zammit agreed to let CBC Toronto ride along with him.

College Street

Zammitbegan his tour with the designated lane on College Street that runs between Manning Avenue and Bay Street, which takescommuters through the University of Toronto and just north of the central business district.

But there's often confusion, because the bike laneis sandwiched between the street on the leftand a row of parking on the right, the officer said.

Cars can drive through the bike lane to get to the parking spots, but it's illegal to stop in the lane itself.

That said, Zammit pointed out several drivers sitting in the bike lane waiting for a spot andignoring the cyclists swerving around them.

The cost to wait? It's $150.

Lina Piressaid she didn't know about the violation when she parked her car in the bike lane to run into a buildings.

"Now I do," she said, after earning a warning fromZammit.

A near miss

7 years ago

Duration 0:08

Toronto police Sgt. Jeff Zammit nearly gets doored by a man getting out of a van on College Street.

Zammit was also very forgiving when another motorist opened his car door into the bike lanewithout looking.

"If I wasn't paying attention, I would have got smoked for sure," the officer said.

The cost of dooring is a $365 fine and three demerit points and if someone is injured or killed, those in the car could face a lawsuit.

Zammit suggests that drivers always use theirright hand to open the door.

"That means you've got to swing over to get to the door handle [and] you're actually going to be physically turning your head to see if there's any cyclists coming."

BloorStreet

The popular Bloor Street bike lane, which runs between Shaw Street and Avenue Road, began as a pilot project last summer.

Like its counterpart on College, the bike lane also runs along a row of parked cars but, in this case,the parking acts as a barrier and separates the bike track from traffic.

Driverstrying to turn onto Bloor, meanwhile, have to creep up to see around the parked cars. As they wait for asafe opportunity to turn, they often block the bike lanes there andfrustratecyclists.

Richmond and Adelaide

Looking for the safest place to cycle?

Zammit says two of the best routes in the city are on Richmond Street heading west and Adelaide Street running east, between Bathurstand Parliament streets.

The one-way streets have designated bike lanes, lined with poles to ensure to keep cars out.

"It's added protection for cyclistsand it tells a motorist it's a no-go," Zammit said.

The only place a car can actually enter these lanes is when approaching an intersectionif the driver needs to turn right. A broken line at the intersection indicates cars canmerge, but the cyclists have the right-of-way.

Despite that, Zammitadvises cyclists to keep an eye out.

"If you get hit, you're not going to win," Zammit said.

This cyclist gets pulled over for running a red light

7 years ago

Duration 0:21

Chris Ioannou runs a red light on the Queens Quay recreation trail and is pulled over by Sgt. Jeff Zammit.

Queens Quay

Queens Quay has a multi-use path that between Parliament Street and Stadium Road, which is separated from the main road by streetcar tracks.

Zammit said there are issues here that need to be made safer.

For example, there are several intersections where the paved path ends, forcing cyclists to drive over cobblestones oftencrowded with pedestrians.

And although there are stoplights for cyclists, not everyone follows them, Zammitsaid.

"It's not an excuse, but if there's nobody coming the other way, generally cyclists have a tendency to sort of blow through red lights and stop signs," said Chris Ioannouwho had done just that before being pulled over.

He said he didn't realize, however, that the penalty is same as it it would be if he were driving a car: a $350 fine.

Zammittold Ioannou to brush up on the rules of the road, something the officer suggested other new cyclists do as well.