A fellow fllmaker Clarence Eckerson, Jr. from NYC send this film with this note:
>"Just sending out this quickie new Streetfilm on NYC Bike Lanes:
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/bike-lanes-in-the-big-apple/
>A good video to use if:
>* Your city needs bike infrastructure
>* Your city needs more or innovative bike facilities and they are not doing experimentation in design
>* If you want to show people in your neighborhood and community what is going on in NYC and the benefits to bike amenities.
>Clarence
Comments
Paul (not verified)
So good
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 13:58This is so good. This is what TO should be like. ****
electric
Moderately depressing
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 18:57Oh well - Important to know where Toronto stands.
On an interesting note from the video NYC put sharrows 11 ft from the curb, I think our spanking new sharrows on bloor st are in the gutter.
Thanks for dangling steak in front of people who have to eat hamburger everyday... As if cyclists weren't hungry enough. Anyways, I gotta get back to being abused by Canadian motorists... they'll be even more abusive with me if they find out I've been complaining!
Dragonstar
Suggestion...
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 20:58Can somebody send this to the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee as well as our city councillors.
I've heard from so many drivers that there is not enough space on the road to accomodate bicycles. Well look at NYC! They have many times the number of cars and less road space than up here in TO. So that excuse will not wash anymore.
I love how they have bike lanes between the curb and parked cars with an extra 3 ft buffer zone to stop the door prize.
Rich (not verified)
Ugh
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 21:16We suck. All while having an ostensibly "cycling friendly" mayor at the helm.
New York looks wonderful, I'm planning on going down with my bike some time in the next year.
The Pedaller (not verified)
Pressure Your Councillor
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 22:58Unlike New York, the Mayor of Toronto is limited to the same single vote as a Councillor.
If you care about Cycling in Toronto, call or write to your Councillor to tell them so!
simplicius2wheels
Apples and Oranges....
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 08:27NY and TO are much different. I know a little since lived there for two years. So I would like to make a few points.
For one, New Yorker has boroughs and what we are seeing is Manhattan. We have no clue what they are doing in the Bronx etc while in TO we know the whole picture. Comparing thus is only valid between the Toronto core area and what we saw on the video.
In Manhattan, most folks have been living without cars for decades and there is no sense of entitlement of the road for motorists alone. Folks have been switching to alternate transportation a long time ago. In the 80's, folks thought nothing of walking for 40 minutes to avoid the crush, delays and mess of the subways. Thus you'd see suits heading to the office - with daypacks instead of brief cases and running shoes for comfort. Opening up the place for cycling does not need to overcome the same obstacles as in TO.
The city also seems to have had more clout in telling folks what the rules are: much of Manhattan is a grid of one-way streets that I am sure would not be welcome by Toronto's local interests.
And last: NYC is a bit of a jungle where anything is possible, good and bad. So just take the video for what it is: a sales pitch. But I do like what I see...
geoffrey
o-ranges_and_app-pulls
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 12:37yes, thoroughcarterials tend to be bidirectional barring adelaide and richmond and there was talk of making university and jarvis one way. that said sidestreets in older sections of town don't have space for two way traffic, parking and pedestrian traffic.
a neighbour of mine spent three weeks in intensive care after being struck from behind. OOPS. or as PC Ali Rahid #9497 would report in his memobook had he done the investigation the 6 yo kid was obviously impaired upon being interviewed immediately after recovering consciousness and an accident report was unnecessary.
The battle is on all sides. Police are more interested in defending insurance rates than protecting pedestrians and bicyclists from thugs wielding motor vehicles. Toronto Traffic is still obsessed on enabling motor thugs.
NYC has seen the change.
dash (not verified)
Toronto has a long history of
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 14:13Toronto has a long history of wanting to be just like NY, without really considering just how different the two cities are. This habit would bode well for us in this particular case.
electric
Toronto is special
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 21:04Not like all the other cities such as new york, portland, montreal, vancouver, copenhagen and etc.
We're not like those other cities at all. Somehow we're special and therefore could never make a comparison, in fact there is no way to compare anything about Toronto.. we're a city beyond comparison! We face distinct challenges and choices that no other city and council has ever faced.
In case you haven't noticed.. city's aren't simple pieces fruit.
We can compare them, Toronto loses when it comes to comparisons regarding enabling cycling in the city.
The Pedaller (not verified)
Mayor Power
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 15:57I have heard that the Mayor of NYC has a greater voting power than a Municipal Councillor (something like 10:1), can anyone verify this?
Ben
^
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 14:22IIRC, american mayor's don't get a vote, but they do get a veto. It's like the PM / president spectrum.
andrew d (not verified)
Crisatunity
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 12:01The pace of progress in this city can be so dispiriting.
But.
We do have a chance to make a change. There's an election coming up next year. Obviously, we should try to elect a bike-friendly mayor. But it's just as, if not more, important, to make council as bike-friendly as possible. I really hope the TCU is working on some campaign to pressure the candidates this time round. There's really no excuse for any non-suburban councillor to drag their feet.
The Pedaller (not verified)
People Power
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 13:53A Bike friendly Mayor would be great, but the fact remains that the Mayor's vote carries the same weigh as any Councillor's vote.
Each of us can make a difference by:
1. call your Councillor to complain about the lack of Cycling Infrastructure like bike lanes & bike parking
2. asking Municapal candidates to make election promises on improvements for cycling
3. raising public support for cycling
4. be a responsible cyclist
The way to make improvements for cycling starts with good policies - and good policies initaite out of public opinion.
David Juliusson (not verified)
Bureaucracy can make the pace of change even slower.
Tue, 10/27/2009 - 12:09Getting pressure on our elected officials can bring about change. But the sheer bureaucracy can be daunting.
A good example is Phase 2 of the Mimico Waterfront Park. Public consulatation began in 1999. The project began in 2004. Phase 1 was completed in 2008. When Phase 2 is completed there will be a continuous cycling link from Superior Ave. in Etobicoke to the Harbourfront. If the promised Bike lanes on Lakeshore are ever installed there will be a bike link all the way to Mississauga. It is a no brainer. All three levels of government are on record as supporting it. Waterfront Toronto has the money to build it and has already committed to doing so. Once the final landowner is on side work can begin. Yet the earliest it will be done is summer 2012.
To understand why, plase read the following letter from Connie Pinto who manages the project.
Mr. Juliusson,
I am pleased to provide you with the following information regarding Phase 2 of the above project. TRCA is currently in discussions with landowners. Once the necessary properties are secured, TRCA will issue a Public Notice announcing the start of construction. Construction is scheduled to take 2 1/2 years to complete. TRCA has a Delivery Agreement with Waterfront Toronto to fully fund Phase 2 of the Mimico Waterfront Park.
Please see the link to our web site where you will find the most recent project updates.
http://www.trca.on.ca/protect/environmental-assessment-projects/mimico-w...
Best regards,
Connie Pinto
Connie Pinto | Project Manager, Waterfront Planning | Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | T: 416 661 6600 ext. 5387 | cpinto@trca.on.ca| www.trca.on.ca
There needs to ways to speed up the process. Thirteen years for a project with unanimous apporval by all three levels of government, plus the money in place is too long.
Svend
Is it possible we're TOO democratic?
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 20:11You can't get a bike friendlier mayor than David Miller and the council is also tilted towards us.
Yet we don't have a Bloor-Danforth bike lane.
I think the governing structure is too unwieldy, things take too long to get done but I admit to not knowing the best solution.
Seymore Bikes
No Smoking
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 23:21I wouldn’t go so far as to say that City Council is tilted towards cyclists. The Jarvis Street Bike Lanes were voted in at Council by a 28-16 margin, and that was just a mile long section of lanes, and the centre lane had already approved for removal. What would the results be of a vote on Bloor-Danforth lanes?
Council is designed to act in the interest their constituents - re-defining those interests is the first step.
The people of Toronto need to support policies and funding for the development of new bike infrastructure, and education has role to play there. Maybe 10 years from now we'll look at a street full of idling autos, the same way we regard smoking in a public space today.
Svend
28-16 is better than the car:bike ratio
Fri, 10/23/2009 - 11:4128-16 in favour of the Jarvis bike lanes shows the council is currently tilted towards us. Those number are Toronto-wide, overriding their main car driving constituents. That's impressive!
We've never had those numbers before, we're finally entering road planning on other streets as well.
This means the problem is implementing, not deciding.
Seymore Bikes
Need More Support at Council
Fri, 10/23/2009 - 12:14Svend,
You are right that implementation is still an issue, as there are approved Bike Lanes that don't get installed because of Couclillors like Feldman in Ward 10, that have deliberately blocked cycling infrastructure in their Ward.
My point is that Jarvis wasn't a typical bike lane vote, because the centre vehicle lane was already coming out.
If we had a vote in Council on bike lanes that required the taking of lanes on a street like University Ave., I think that the vote results would be dramatically different.
We still have a lot of work to do to get City Council to support Bike Lanes.
hamish (not verified)
It goes beyond political support
Fri, 10/23/2009 - 13:08It['s encouraging to see other folks reference the Bloor/Danforth biking as a litmus test - and I think that it is.
And we've had a lot of support for studies and great improvements to Bloor biking in Yorkville already, going back some years - but the realities are on the disappointing side. As the BST in Yorkville is only 1/3 done, I think there's still room for making room for bike lanes by expanding the curb-to-curb width by .5M on either side, as there's deadspace between curb and planter where the city councillors and staff were more concerned about the well-being of car doors opening into them than of cycling safety, though there was unanimous support for attaining the Toronto Target of a 20% cut in ghg emissions!
This BST is on the TCAC agenda, item #6, on Thursday, stemming from the ECO's annual report, as there was some complaint/criticism.
Perhaps those who feel more strongly about it could email fbalda@toronto.ca with either a set of opinions,or ask for deputation time, though we have to be careful about not burning out volunteers.
The real friction should be directed at the politicians though - and the sustained bull that might be given out about doing things for bikes should be assessd with a sniff test about BS - and it smells!
And it isn't just supporting bike lanes - it's important to put in a quality assessment too - so I am less convinced of Jarvis being such a great "win" vs. Bloor. And then with Wellesley, I did get a response to an FOI about the dangerous curve going eastbound that staff said was a painting error, but the design sent had a pavement width of 12.5M and my road measurements found a 12M width.
So we can't trust the City to even do good measurements it seems, let alone a good network ahead of mangling by politricks. (This will be in #1, and the good news is they say they'll repaint! this area in this year!)
Svend
When has council rejected bike lanes as a whole?
Fri, 10/23/2009 - 14:26The bike lanes are blocked BEFORE they make it to council, council has a good track record of approving them. And no, I haven't been smoking anything.
David Miller spent a lot of his political capital on us and got results, I don't like seeing him in an unfair comparison with other bike friendly mayors like Bloomberg who have more power at their disposal to wield.
David Juliusson (not verified)
Councillor Grimes blocks bike lanes.
Fri, 10/23/2009 - 16:30Ward 6 is represented by Councillor Mark Grimes, who is best known to cyclists for his opposition to bike lanes on Annette St. at the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in September 2008. He also blocked bike lanes on Horner Ave., even though it was on the bike plan and is a road that allows no parking. He reasoned that it was too dangerous for cyclists because so may trucks turn at the corner of Browns Line and Horner. Councillor Grimes has first hand experience with this: Before entering politics he was president of his family trucking firm which routinely uses Horner Ave. “I've been in the trucking business, I know the turning radii of the trucks, it's too dangerous, I know somebody is going to get killed," he says. This has already happened even without the lane. The stoplight at Beta St. was installed because a pedestrian was killed there. Horner is a favourite for police speed traps with cars routinely being clocked at 40 to 50 km over the speed limit. All compromise solutions were ignored and the issue is back in the “study” phase. There is not a strong enough cycling community to get the type of support that led to action on Annette St.
What is sad is he considers himself a bicycling advocate. “Bikes and trucks don’t mix. Don’t let the lanes go down on Horner,” Grimes said. “I support the Toronto Bike Plan, but pick the right
routes.” Sadly, when compared to other Councillors in the former Etobicoke, he is the most bike friendly.