City of BicyclesBelow is an excerpt of John Pucher's taken from Momentum Magazine. I could not agree more although one could add many more initiatives based on conditions and practises in Canada.
The key policies and innovations used in Dutch, Danish, and German cities to promote safe and convenient cycling focus on:
- Extensive networks of separated cycling facilities
- Intersection modifications and priority traffic signals
- Traffic calming
- Traffic education and training
- Bike parking
- Co-ordination with public transport
- Traffic laws
If you support these policy priorities or have other ideas/comments please email the folks running the show: bikeplan@toronto.ca
Comments
hamish (not verified)
physically separated bike lanes
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 10:38might work really well here. I wonder if there's some street that's being rebuilt where we could try them out?
I have heard from City staff that there are issues around having the cyclist hidden from motorists' view ie. higher c(a)rash rates, so this segment of rebuilt street would need to have the parking removed.
So any candidate street would need to have transit on or nearby it, or even underneath it. Colour would help profiling too - so we'd likely have a Bluer St. and bike lane.
anthony
physically separated bike lanes
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 11:01Physically separated bike lanes need additional infrastructure to support them, like bike only lights (not yet allowed for in the HTA). Still, there's lots of other work to be done.
Staff have indicated that they will be looking to install physically separated bike lanes on Bloor Street; doing this will remove the problem of motor vehicles parking in regular bike lanes. As bike lanes on Bloor are still a ways out, staff are still toying with ideas; nothing is even close to firm yet.
But it is good to know that Staff are at least thinking this way. ;-)
AnnieD
Staff have indicated that
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 14:40That's the first I've heard of this - woot! It's not just the issue of cars and trucks parking in bike lanes that makes the painted ones less appealing, there's also the fear of getting doored when cars are legally parked between the sidewalk and the lane (also a fear of mine whenever I bike along Bloor, causing me to bike in a slow and semi-paranoid state). Or getting cut off by a right turning car, which happens in one of two ways:
1) Driver thinks they have enough time to cut in front of you to make their right turn but ... they don't.
2) My favourite (and by far the more common scenario): you are waiting by yourself at a red light, still in the bike lane. A car pulls up on your left and slowly pulls in front of you, trying to turn right on red. They fail to make the turn, light turns green, pedestrians start crossing, and there your sit, blocked by the right turning car.
While I do try to move to the left at intersections to avoid the whole right turning car issue, it doesn't always work out that way, and is certainly not something I would encourage my kids to do in heavy traffic. Maybe bike boxes will help here???
hamish (not verified)
staff have indicated
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 22:31a certain amount of study, but the real opportunities are possibly being paved over in a very key segment of Bloor between Church and Ave. Rd. It's hard to get straight answers about what is and isn't going on through here, but staff have indicated that all the City is willing to do is to make the curb-to-curb width wide enough that maybe some day we'll get bike lanes, and in the meanwhile we'll study. Apparently the original proposals for this segment from Brown and Storey did have bike lanes. So maybe we need to ask Mr. Rae about his promises of Bloor bike lanes in the last election? Is there a CU group forming in Rae's ward?
It would be nice to improve the quality of the biking experience for Annie et all, and the time is better now than later.
anthony
more dancing required
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 22:39Speaking of Bloor & Yonge,
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_18576.aspx
I't obvious that more standoffs are required to win this battle.
Luke Siragusa
Great read, thanks for the
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 12:09Great read, thanks for the link.
As Pucher notes the gender bias evident among cyclists parallels risk; men are more apt to participate in more hazardous -- foolhardy? -- riding. Until the 'danger' deterrent is removed, the barrier for participation for 1/2 the adults will be that much higher.
That Pucher anticipates non-punitive policies (for drivers) will only result in cyclists topping out at 5% of the total traffic load is disappointing. I wonder if he's underestimating current, unprecedented economic/global trends tending to encourage cycling, perhaps more than any wide ranging (North American) government policy ever could.
Civil and Labour Rights history demonstrates that once the momentum of a movement achieves a critical mass :-) it can initiate a self reinforcing cycle of reform such that the agenda of the agitators, if it's sound, moral and beneficial, will be embraced and advanced en masse by greater society. But until it's generally acknowledged that more bicycles on the road correlates with greater choice, convenience and freedom, the going will be uphill.
chephy (not verified)
Oh no...
Fri, 05/02/2008 - 11:57NOT the physically separated bike lanes! PLEASE!!! The probelms with them are too huge to start describing (they've been convered in depth though if you bother to do a search on any seach engine)...
Svend
Physically separated lanes
Fri, 05/02/2008 - 15:18Physically separated lanes are fine if the barriers aren't continuous, you can have long gaps and just the occasional curb, pylon, lamp post, median, or even tree to remind everyone that cars can't come over.
hamish (not verified)
separated bike lanes are more possible on Bloor
Sun, 05/04/2008 - 14:11While there are concerns about safety with the separated bike lanes in that motorists aren't so "looking" for cyclists, the segment of Bloor is removing the parked cars that would hide the cyclist - so it's much more possible here through Yorkville because it's safer.
Aidan
Chinese Consulate - %$#@ed cops!
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 18:59Every morning I ride by the Consulate of China, on St. George south of Bernard, and have to leave the bike lane because one or more patrol cars, a limo (Chinese security?) and some barriers litter the bike lane. I know there are (completely legitimate!) protests lately, but that's my tax money used to inconvenience me to protect a state that is objectionable in every way. I guess I have letters to write.
Svend
Letters are a good idea
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 19:13Also since this happens regularly I think you could possibly organize a demonstration and/or tag them with your own homemade mock parking tickets to shame them.
I'd join in, I bet a few others would as well!
Aidan
critical mass?
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 19:32Except that Critical Mass is not supposed to have a specific agenda, it'd be great to include St.George in the route.