April 1, 2016
The City of Toronto will be removing abandoned bicycles from city streets over the next few weeks to free up critical space for those who wish to park their bicycles.
Residents can assist with this cleanup by calling 311 to report any bike that appears abandoned in the public right-of-way. To help the City identify the abandoned bikes correctly, callers are asked to identify the bike with as much information as possible, including the colour of the bike frame, the type of bike and the location.
Usually an abandoned bicycle has missing or damaged parts, flat or missing tires, and is in unusable condition. If a bike has been locked at the same location for more than a month, it is likely abandoned and should be removed.
Bikes that are clearly derelict will be removed immediately. Where there is some question about whether a bike is abandoned, the City will place a notification on the bike that identifies the bike as abandoned. If a bike has been tagged in error and the owner does not want it to be removed, he or she should simply remove the tag and park the bike at a different location. After 14 days, the City will remove any bicycles that remain tagged in the original locations.
In 2015, over 1,500 abandoned bikes were removed from city streets. Many of these bikes were offered to not-for-profit cycling organizations.
The abandoned bike cleanup is part of the City's spring cleanup program Clean Toronto Together, a month-long litter removal program that includes City divisions cleaning streets, parks and watercourses along with community-led clean-ups taking place in public spaces across the city.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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Media contact: Steve Johnston, Strategic Communications, 416-392-4391, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
