Toronto calls itself ‘A City Within a Park,’ and oftentimes, its trails and ravine system are described as ‘the lungs of the city.’ Access to green space is a key indicator for mental, emotional, and physical health. On top of that, these green spaces — particularly multiuse trails — provide Torontonians with the critical opportunity to engage in active transportation in an environment that is safe and removed from vehicular traffic. Despite all these benefits, there is very little publicly available information on who currently uses and benefits from Toronto’s parks and multiuse trail systems and whether these amenities are being equitably offered to all Torontonians.
With the generous support of The Toronto Foundation’s Deacon Legacy Grant, TCAT has been conducting a study to better understand access to Toronto’s parks and multiuse trails and to provide decision-makers with guidance on trail improvements and programming that could make the biggest difference for equity-deserving groups.
In the first phase of our study, we conducted intercept surveys and travel counts (tabulations of all people who move across a given threshold in a set time period) in three major multi-use trails across the city. Our first report from our multiuse trail study presents key findings from an analysis of cross-cutting trends in the data as well as a demographic analysis that identified associations between demographic variables and trail behaviour, perceptions, and barriers and opportunities to increase trail use.
Our research revealed that while Torontonians across the board do see incredible benefits from the city’s green space, certain demographic groups – in particular, women and newcomers – face disproportionate and several distinct barriers to accessing and enjoying the trail system as much as they could and would like to. In response, in our second phase of research, we organized a series of focus groups and a walk audit with Torontonians holding one or both of these identities. Our second report from our multiuse trail study synthesizes key insights from our conversations with community members and recommends four priority areas for enhancing Toronto’s green space through this equity-based lens.
The focus group facilitation guide and walk audit guide The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) team used for our qualitative research are available as separate resources.
For more information, please reach out to TCAT’s Program Manager Sophie Callahan at scallahan@climateactionpartnership.ca.
