Toronto Zoo

Following the adoption of its strategic plan in 2019, the Toronto Zoo sought to update its conceptual site plan based on the new directions identified. These include goals for sustainability, environmental conservation, and education. The strategic plan also aims to better integrate the Zoo into its urban environment. Momentum was part of the Mandaworks design team to provide recommendations for improving visitor mobility and operations.

Based on the mapping of the Zoo’s internal traffic movements, the Mandaworks and Momentum teams identified four broad categories of issues:

• Optimise the number of vehicles travelling within the site;
• Plan roads shared between operational vehicles and pedestrian visitors;
• Facilitate visitors’ wayfinding around the site without complicating the signage;
• Deploy multimodal solutions to navigate the site.

Momentum developed a mobility toolkit to help the Zoo better address the four major challenges. Objectives were identified for each challenge, and concrete actions were proposed to meet these objectives. Examples of inspiring projects carried out by zoos, urban parks, and botanical gardens in Canada and internationally were also provided to support the ideas