Lea El Maalouf

THE BIKE HUB

Environmental Design

2024

Proposing a car-free zone in Toronto's Financial District, centered around a comprehensive bike hub, to enhance cycling infrastructure and promote urban sustainability, thereby encouraging more people to bike to work.

“This thesis proposes a solution to the problem of motor vehicle prioritization over cycling in Toronto’s Financial District. I propose the establishment of a car-free zone from Yonge to University and Dundas to Wellington. Central to this proposal is a bike hub equipped with extensive cycling facilities, including parking, repairs, a bike shop, and a café with a view. Additionally, the hub will feature designated bike capsules with special storage inside, serving as parking and storage. These capsules are uniquely situated on different floors, each offering special features to encourage cyclists to ride up the ramp and use the facility extensively. By enhancing cycling infrastructure within this zone, the project aims to make cycling a more attractive and accessible mode of transportation, thereby fostering a more sustainable and community-focused urban environment and encouraging more commuters to cycle to work.Future Proposal Update: After receiving feedback from my thesis critique, I plan to update my proposal by incorporating a car-free zone that includes bike rentals scattered along the zone's edges. Additionally, I propose placing multiple "bike hubs" with shorter floors of fewer blocks throughout the Financial District to accommodate various needs at different locations. Scattered with a purpose around the car-free zone, these hubs offer greater accessibility, minimizing travel time and making bike commuting and cycling more appealing. They also provide higher overall capacity, preventing overcrowding, while catering to diverse user groups with tailored amenities like parking, maintenance services, rest areas, and charging stations. These hubs can also integrate with underground paths, making them seamlessly connected to existing infrastructure. Additionally, they create a resilient system, reducing the impact of disruptions by offering redundancy through multiple hubs.”