Community Bicycle Network

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The Community Bicycle Network was a non-profit cycling promotion organization in Toronto, Canada. It closed down in 2017.

Mission

CBN worked to stimulate, support and link together a wide range of community-based bicycle initiatives in the City of Toronto. CBN housed an array of activities from repair and skills workshops, bike promotion programs and bicycle recycling efforts, to urban revitalization activities. CBN served as a community resource and offered an accessible, affordable place for community groups concerned with sustainable transportation and urban affairs to convene. CBN operated with the support of scores of regular volunteers and the generous contributions from individuals and organizations. CBN’s core mission was to make sustainable, community-friendly transportation accessible to all in the city of Toronto.

Services

At the end, CBN had two programs: Wenches with Wrenches and ToolWorks. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding and political will, their very popular and internationally known Bikeshare program had to close down in 2007.

Wenches with Wrenches was an ongoing program of CBN volunteers who host bicycle repair workshops run by and for women in downtown Toronto. The idea was to make basic bicycle repair skills accessible to women in the hope that participants would then share their knowledge and their confidence with others in the community

Wenches with Wrenches brought women together in a safe, non-competitive and friendly learning environment. The workshops were run by women for women because, many times, women are just more comfortable learning from other women.

ToolWorks let you use our equipment, tools and expertise to get you on intimate terms with your bicycle. ToolWorks was located at Intersection. ToolWorks was supervised by experienced volunteers. ToolWorks provided you with:

repair time to tools and stands for $5 per hour
access to mechanic advice and help at $10 per hour

Location

CBN was located in funky 761 Queen Street West, Suite 101; an old church converted into office and art space.

Organization

The Community Bicycle Network (CBN) was established in 1993 as a project of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre (TCRC), a charitable organization which supports and administers a number of social justice programs.

CBN operated in accordance with the policies and regulations established by TCRC. The work of CBN was guided by TCRC’s CBN Advisory Board whose members were elected annually.

The Community Bicycle Network Association, CBN's sister organization, operated under the CBN Association By-laws, and was guided in its mission by the CBN Board of Directors whose officers were elected annually by the membership, and by a Community Board, whose members were appointed annually by the CBN Board.

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