Is the TTC warming up to cyclists? Even if they have nothing specific to announce in this press release I'm hoping they'll start serving hot chocolate to cyclists who stop biking and hop onto the nearest bus.
TTC launches the "WARM WELCOME" campaign
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Toronto Transit Commission announces it's new bike-friendly attitude for Toronto two-wheelers with the "Warm Welcome" campaign.
Starting today the TTC is changing the signage at all of it's subway stations, replacing the NO BICYCLES during rush-hour signs, to a more positive sign (a bike symbol in a green circle) displaying the times when bicycles are allowed.
TTC by-law No. 1, Section 17 has not changed, but the presentation of it has. Instead of prohibiting bicycles, the new signs welcome bicycles all day Saturday and Sunday/Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 3:30pm and 6:30pm to close.
The move is part of the Transit City Strategy, the first step in an effort to make the TTC a more integrated commuter system.
The effort hopes to encourage Toronto cyclists, especially those with long commutes, to continue biking all winter, knowing that when it's too cold or snowy, they are welcome to come aboard.
"To all you brave cyclists who ride all winter long, this is just a little change to help you go a long way." says TTC commissioner Adam Giambroni.
The TTC is currently studying the feasibility of other initiatives such as "bike priority" train cars, inviting cyclists aboard even at rush hour, as well as partnering with the new "Bike Share Program" to have bicycles available to borrow at every station.
The Warm Welcome campaign is timed to coincide with the City of Toronto's effort to promote winter riding and their "Coldest Ride of the Year" event scheduled for this Friday, Jan 30, noon, at the rear entrance of City Hall.
For more information, please contact
Toronto Transit Commission
Media Relations
(416) 393-3741
Comments
jamesmallon (not verified)
TTC: changes what, exactly?
Mon, 01/26/2009 - 22:19Am I missing something?
Kevin Love
How to do things the right way
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 00:28The Yonge line doesn't have to make sardine tins look roomy. With a peak hour ban on bicyces. There is a potential express alternative. Its called the Richmond Hill GO train.
Right now the potential is being botched by such idiocies as having the Oriole GO station being built 200 metres down the track from the Leslie subway station. And only having four trains in the morning rush. So that bikes are also banned from the GO train.
Extending the Yonge line to the Langstaff station at Yonge & 7 will completely overload the present system.
The subway and GO trains would both be uncrowded if the GO train ran every five minutes during peak times between these four subway stations: The new Langstaff station, Leslie, Castle Frank and Union.
This is proposed in the Metrolinx plan, but don't hold your breath waiting.
electric (not verified)
Confusing
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 00:30I guess it's a positive step, but the policy behind the signs did a pretty good job of balkanizing users.
On a side note, I can conclude from reading transit(TTC/GO) strategies that those people must think cyclists don't have 9-5 jobs. I guess you can take the bus, but I'm thinking how many GO buses are there that have a rack and are running during peak hours, 80? i don't know... but even if the number is 100 that is only 200 cyclists being shuttled around the GTA at one time. Will those racks will be fully occupied? - I hope so. If we want a full scale solution Cal trans has an interesting system and there are others out there... Why do we keep slapping band-aids on this, let us get on with the surgery!
Another thought - if our benevolent public-transit overlords co-operated by accommodating everybody with a bike on various light rail services their revenue from local bus/streetcar fares would plummet. Perhaps the motives aren't so sinister; it might just be stubbornness or laziness?
A glimpse of the future? Only if we can keep our leaders noses to the grindstone.
toddtyrtle
Infrastructure
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 06:39Thanks for the video, electric. Now I'll be dreaming of our spending some of that $7B for infrastructure in the new budget that way
Of course anything that stops people from buying new cars is likely to be unpopular these days. Imagine: if we got 100,000 people or more to stop buying a new car every 3-5 years. That's $2B hit to the auto industry and it is likely to be a similar one to the petroleum industry.
David Juliusson (not verified)
One good infrastructure would be high speed trains.
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 10:13One good infrastructure change would be high speed trains linking Toronto Montreal and Ottawa. This is an idea that has been around since 1995.
High-speed rail should go ahead now because there's new government infrastructure money available and a heightened appreciation of the environmental attractions of train travel. A high-speed train could use existing track and newly built dedicated track, and then the dedicated line could be expanded later. A piece-by-piece approach has been successful in introducing high-speed rail in every industrialized country except Japan, where the network was built in one shot.
It would cost about $11 billion which sounds like alot. But think for a minute. Terminal One was subsidized with $6.5 billion. It is as yet unknown how much the automakers are going to get, but lets say $3 billion. Imperial Oil was given a $2 billion subsidy. Not to mention the added cost of congestion and highway work.
Imagine a two hour train trip from downtown Toronto to Montreal. One stop in Kingston which would be the change point for the Ottawa train. That is faster than getting to Pearson, getting into Montreal etc.
There are some strong advocates for it. One is Jean Charest who wants to see it expanded to Quebec City. When asked if Ontraio and Quebec can afford it, he replied " I think the real question is can we afford not to carry out this kind of project, given the impact of increased greenhouse gases … and of course the gridlock on our roads by both trucks and cars," He also sees the jobs created for building the trains. Gilles Duceppe stated "The train would be good for the environment and create jobs". Transport Canada likes the idea too. According to its president "Every aspect of high-speed rail has been studied to death. What we need is the political will."
Even the federal Conservatives have expressed interest. "If you were to start a line that connected these three major centres, you would have a line that would be well-supported, would offer significant economic benefits, and, obviously, you'd have significant environmental benefit," said Dean Del Mastro, a Conservative MP from Peterborough, He is planning a meeting with John Baird to get official approval.
As Ontarians we can lobby our Liberal MP's to get behind the project. Michael Ignatieff has stated he wants to get behind environmental initiatives.
There would be some strong opposition, especially from the airline industry. There are flights between Pearson and Trudeau airports every 30 minutes. Air Canada estimates that 40% of the passengers originate in the downtown core of Toronto and Montreal. Airlines and politicians are legitimately worried about the risk of destabilizing the fragile Canadian air transport system. The way out of this problem is not for lobbyists to block high-speed rail, but rather for airlines to negotiate favorable terms for using high-speed trains to transport passengers bearing airline tickets. This is common practice in Western Europe where it benefits travellers and airlines alike. The taxi industry is a powerful lobby in Toronto and it would definitely hurt their business.
Finally, the Pearson group would object strenuously. They are a private group, even though they were given $6 billion for Terminal One. They have blocked any form of public transportation becuase $4 per 30 minutes of parking is a major money maker for them. How else will they pay off their $200 million monorail to the employee parking lot.
So how would this benefit bikes? Less congestion on the roads is easy. Asking that a bike car be built for some of the trains is feasible. Imagine a Bike Train year round. The trains have to be built anyways.
Luke Siragusa
Re: Infrastructure
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 16:35I agree with your sentiments. In our society the ethos "you consume therefore you are" forms the foundation of so much of our culture.
A major obstacle that the bicycle, as a cheap, clean, low tech solution to personal short range travel, must overcome is that it's damned hard for anyone to make big bucks out of the proposition. Where it triumphs more expensive and destructive alternatives by its efficiencies, such a simple technology cannot compete as a generator of large scale economic activity and profits.
Not an issue if the goal is to move people. Entirely the point if the question rests upon political considerations.
Scorekeeper (not verified)
Two bikes better for transit
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 10:49How's this simple solution: buy a second, used bike. Park it at your destination subway or train stop. Good for you, good for second hand stores, easy on cash-strapped transit. Better they invest in secure parking than give another billion to Bombardier.
geoffrey (not verified)
How about safe driving around Cyclists?
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 11:17I'd be more impressed if the TTC announced a no-tolerance policy with respect to TTC staff driving aggressively around bicyclists. What's more, this policy NEEDS to be expanded to all city employees ESPECIALLY in light of Alan Temane's murder in 2007 at the hands of a city employee driving a city vehicle. IF the city is going to pretend to uphold the Coroner's Report (http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/coroner_index.htm, http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/coroner_summary.htm, http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/coroner_recomend.htm), it should be following its recommendations and requiring staff to drive as if those recommendations have been enacted in law already.
It is one thing to accept bicycles on transit vehicles. It is quite another to accept bicyclists as entitled road users as they are described in the HTA already.
redrum (not verified)
Murder?
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 11:27Murder? Little harsh don't you think? Try driving a bus or a cab in this town. We ride for pleasure and sometimes die doing it - like a skier in an avalanche. I think funds are better spent protecting those who drive for a living.
The EnigManiac
Most of us...
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 15:32...ride for utility, commuting AND pleasure. We are no less human nor deserving of courtesy and respect even when we're riding for pleasure, as many motorists also drive for pleasure, alone, too. Or, do you suggest we wear a sign that says 'Riding For Fun' on our backs so that when they scrape up out bodies off the road, the cop can rip up the ticket he was writing to the motorist and remove his handcuffs?
Kelp (not verified)
I think this is a hoax.
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 12:18I think this is a hoax.
tino
Really?
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 12:28Really hope not and if it is it's very extensive see the photos here. Every station I have been to in teh last couple of days (20+) had the new signs up:
http://www.web.net/~lukmar/Action1/index.html
Martin
You GO Girl (not verified)
GO too?
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 13:10GO should do the same. Presently each train car door with a washroom inside has a "no bikes" sticker. To most people this seems to tell them you cannot bring your bike on the train. More positive "bikes welcome" stickers would look great on every other door.
joe
hoax
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 15:50This is a good item... but the TTC news release may be a hoax.
It's hard to believe that TTC media relations would miss-spell Giambrone as "Giambroni".
Otherwise, it's cool that there are new signs up.
tino
Cool signs
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 16:25They are sure better than a bicycle crossed out with a red line and red circle around it.
anthony
Bloody Brilliant!!
Tue, 01/27/2009 - 23:14I don't care if it's real or a hoax, I think that it is bloody brilliant, and if it is a hoax I hope that the TTC actually adopts it, and the "Warm Welcome" campaign as its own.
Torontoist thinks it is a hoax...
http://torontoist.com/2009/01/i_bike_on_the_ttc.php
toddtyrtle
Though it is a hoax
Wed, 01/28/2009 - 09:48It underscores a very important message: people take their cues as to how to view cyclists from authority. Being bombarded by images of bikes inside a red circle/slash (regardless of what's written underneath), seeing bike lanes filled with park cars, and councilors loudly arguing against lanes sends a subtle yet strong message: Cyclists are second-class citizens that don't really belong. And the people respond accordingly...
jamesmallon (not verified)
authority
Wed, 01/28/2009 - 10:14Quite right, 'toddtyrtle'. I have had a member of the commuting public tell me not to take my bike into the subway silenced as soon as I told him the 6:30 p.m. rule, at 6:35. Never mind I was soaked, looked exhausted and it was still as crowded as at 6:15; I had 'the rules' behind me.
brian
Disagree on Authority
Wed, 01/28/2009 - 11:40Hi All,
I respectfully disagree on the statement about ppl taking their cues from authority.
My opinion is that ppl take their cues from ther own experiences, common knowledge, and the media.
The current general perception is that bicycles are toys, and seasonal toys. Only a few cues from authority point towards that :
The rest of "authority's" cues are subject to personal interpretation and officer discretion, so i don't count them as hard, fast rules.
As for where a bike can and cannot be taken, that is totally up to personal discretion and opinion, which has a lot to do with appearances, behavior, and attitude. My bike is my primary vehicle, but it is also my briefcase, an item of personal property from my home, and/or a tool.
I regularly take my bike on TTC, and am never confronted or rejected, because I am polite, cooperative, and positive; and I wear my helmet, brightly coloured clothes, and leave my lights on. I go out of my way to be seen and taken seriously.
Even when I had a flat on the Bloor Viaduct and had to get on the subway at 9 am, I was positive and straightforward with the collector; he could see my tire was flat and i was in trouble, and I asked directly if I could please go in. He allowed me, but cautioned that the train conductor might not let me on. I made a point of avoiding confrontation with the conductor by boarding at the very end of the train, where there were fewer passengers. I arrived at work on time, and that story had a happy ending.
I have been saying for a long time now that changing ppls perceptions about bikes from being toys to being vehicles is the key. This idea has been written into HTA since its creation. What needs to change is public opinion, and the way to do that is thru media, education, and positive communication on a consistent, regular basis.
What I like about this latest episode is that like the "renegade bike lanes" of a few summers ago, the public will generally believe anything they're told, especially if they see, hear, feel, and smell change for themselves. I commend the perpetrators of this stunt for shifting perceptions ever so slightly without putting property or lives at risk.
cheers,
brian
jamesmallon (not verified)
Also Authority
Wed, 01/28/2009 - 14:00"Common knowledge, and the media" are also authority for most people. People are lazy, and also have learned that it is simpler and seemingly profitable to give in to the prevailing mood, in action as well as habit of mind. Individual or mass authority is 'willingly' given in to so that people can maintain their self-percieved 'freedom'; if they had to fight and lose, they'd feel constrained. At least this is the way most people's subconscious plays out. The truth is that process has a lot to do with why people are miserable and snippy, and fill their emptiness with objects and fattening foods.
tino
TTC Meeting Today
Thu, 01/29/2009 - 10:35Public meeting at Metro Hall regarding service improvements:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Public_Meetings/Suggestions_for_service_improvements_...