City staff revealed a politically ambitious bikeway plan for downtown to a very packed house, Monday evening at Metro Hall. Even though the plan includes a number of items which don't require council approval, including bike boxes on Harbord and bike sharrows along streetcar routes, the most politically controversial may be such items as bike lanes on University (as the Post predicts as well). See the whole plan on the City's website (pdf) [this links only to the announcement and not the plan. oops!].
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Councillor Joe Mihevc commended the staff for their ambition (even if it may still be just a stepping stone since some activists pointed out that it was still a fractured network). Then Mihevc explained how it was a really politically tough year; if cyclists present a strong, single voice to politicians, we may have a chance of getting this program implemented.
Cyclists seemed to be divided on whether this represented a turning point or not, but it is apparent that even if some cyclists see this as too little, there is a certain segment of voters and certain mayoral candidates (Rossi, and possibly, Smitherman) who see this is way too much "coddling" of cyclists.
These politicians need to get with the times. The types of folk who bike are not some fringe group of white males who bike because they want a rush. A wide range of people bike, particularly in downtown where the percentage of bike commuters is above 13% in some parts. Before you whip up the hate-on, Rossi, take a look at these people and try to explain to them why they don't exist and why you think they should just buy a car.
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Comments
jamesmallon (not verified)
Tell me how that works out.
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 17:55Because I will be cycling in Tokyo for the next two years, thank god. Bet I come back to a new... eff-all.
Seymore Bikes
Ground Hog Day
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 22:08Is it a coincidence that this meeting was held on Ground Hog Day?
Is Toronto destined to repeat the inaction of the past when it comes to cycling infrastructure?
Well, if you think that City Staff are going to make this happen on their own, then the answer to these questions is YES!
The best way to affect positive change is to build support for cycling, so let's stop ranting and let's get chanting. What the cycling community needs now more than ever, are cheerleaders not critics.
You CAN make a difference!
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
Oh the irony
Wed, 02/03/2010 - 22:50As part of Mr. Bryant's sentence we should be allowed to take him out of his cage every 2nd of Februrary and wait to see if he gets scared after he sees his shadow. No scared Bryant - 6 more weeks of bicycle infrastructure dithering! Awww.
Look out Wiarton Willy, we got us a new rodent!!
Kevin (not verified)
Is this the right link?
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 08:08The link doesn't go to the whole plan.
SunnySide1
University
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 09:18Am I the only one who thinks bike lanes on University would be counter-productive?
That's my usual morning/evening route from/to Union, The right hand lane is pretty much a de facto bike lane already because everyone stops/parks in it, leaving enough room for even a cautious cyclist, but not a car. Unless it was a COMPLETELY SEPARATED LANE (bollards) all that would happen is it would turn into a stopping lane that would leave cyclists having to head directly into traffic. Seems like a lot of money to make something less safe to me.
(And I say that after having a car literally run me off the road there on Saturday morning!)
dramaturge (not verified)
Heard it before: April 13th, 2008 to be exact
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 09:43Here's a good quote:
"Joe Mihevc was by far the best. He described the best approach to getting access to Councillors and how to get them best to listen to your concerns."
http://www.torontocranks.com/?p=317
That, and more of the same, from April 13th, 2008
hamish (not verified)
Politically ambitious for me means Bloor St....
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 11:51There's a lot of good proposals with all of this; let's hope most of it happens. But we don't always need bike lanes, and for this carmudgeon,the true test of courage and will and sensible network planning is doing parts of Bloor St., now, as there's been years of intent to study, and cyclists' wanting to have Bloor bike lanes.
A key segment is from Sherbourne to at least Ave. Rd. but most Councillors but David Shiner voted for that Yorkvile segment that doesn't have enough room for easy bike lanes, and all we're getting is sharrows in narrower curb lanes than staff are comfortable with. Yes, Dan Egan is correct in that we *could * put in bike lanes when it's all done in 2011, or later, but the only way to do that is to remove at least one lane of car travel - and maybe I'm crazy, but I'm not that crazy, given how busy that is with the Viaduct and the DVP funnelling lots of cars into that stretch.
The other major segment we need to do right away is from Dundas St. W over to Ossington, and then to Harbord.
While the City's long-awaited study of all this is commendable to some great degree, details here:
https://wx.toronto.ca/inter/pmmd/calls.nsf/0/CC35DBD9CBEBE056852576B8007...
it also can be seen as analysis paralysis, without any real commitment to change, and a way of putting all of this off till after the civic election vs. trying to make some east-west cycling safer now. Will this Class C EA cost more than repainting Bloor from High Park to Sherbourne? - odds are it will.
Historically, when the City measured bike traffic, Bloor/Viaduct were the top spots, and the dominant direction was east-west, with heavier bike traffic entering the older core from the west.
Doing Bloor with bike lanes is fairer to everyone: merchants; transit users; car drivers; cyclists - but we're told we must maintain unity with what's on the table to get anything done.
And it's been uphill to get the Bloor concept, or important segments, near the table, despite the logic of being able to squeeze parked cars off of Bloor onto parking atop the subway...
herb
what is meant by politically ambitious?
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 16:54Perhaps we have different ideas of what is meant by politically ambitious, Hamish. It is probably clouded by our judgments on what we think the incoming city council will look like; what kind of topics are bound to be important to the media and voters; and what kind of agenda is set by the incoming mayor.
I think Mihevc has a good sense of the political winds. And he senses a shift that will make it harder, not easier for cyclists. I hope that he's wrong, and Mihevc would love to be proved wrong by loud cyclists. But this means that there's going to have to be a lot more of talking to candidates, media and voters, rather than trying to convince City staff that it's a good idea. The staff have taken the prudent step of trying to get the ducks in order to convince councillors that bike lanes on Bloor won't piss off voters.
I think you could do a good sell job, Hamish. Put on your best clothes and get out there! Maybe you can replace Ootes this time!
the pedaller (not verified)
Hells Bells
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 15:24Besides the people who take the time to join the Bells on Bloor ride every year, who cares about Bloor Street bike lanes?
Answer this question correctly and you may be on the right path. Forget the history lesson, because nobody is being sold on that. Sell the idea to voters, and not the city staff who already "get it".
hamish (not verified)
The Bells rides have been
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 08:30The Bells rides have been fun, with diverse groups of cyclists, and some of the bigger rides if not the biggest in recent TO bike things (apart from the Ride for Heart of course). And we only had 5700 signatures on the petition supporting the Bloor bike lanes passed in to City hall - maybe pedaller wants to get another 500? - but it's a bit more time than a comment....And who knows how many thousands of flyers.... 10? 15?
Some parts of Bloor make more sense from a network standpoint than others, but the principal of squeezing the cars where we've got a subway is also applicable to University Ave. - and that theory is sound.
quipper (not verified)
Baubles, Bangles and Beads on Bloor
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 16:15Ummm... Birks Jewellers in Yorkville?
"Because a dead cyclist lasts forever"
geoffrey
city staff don't "get it". that is the problem.
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 16:20trash cans haphazardly making the sidewalk an obstacle course for healthy people? think of what it does for those in "mobility devices" or wheelchairs.
city staff dump them there. residents (usually) are a little more considerate in placing them at the curb.
have you never seen city vehicles parked ON sidewalks? forcing pedestrians onto the street to pass? what of city contractors? what of city contractors blocking the bikelane on MGT? http://sockpuppet.ca/blogsplat/?q=node/429
Never happens right?
The city does not get it. Staff do not get it.
Take away their parking perks and they just might start getting it.
the pedaller (not verified)
huh?
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 16:42I mean't the people hosting the meeting, not the truck drivers or contractors; maybe that wasn't obvious.
geoffrey
hunh!
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 18:30If the people hosting the meeting "got it" they would have had it and posted Bloor a priority for bikelanes, sharerows and "grade separated" bikeways. Bloor is beyond significant. It is the cartesian cow.
There NEEDS to be a local priority to city hiring no matter how much that upsets TTC and police hiring. 905ers deciding transportation policy roadside when they decide not to take a bicyclists statement is beyond reprehensible.
Free parking for TTC operators is no incentive to make the system work. Give them a transit pass. Likewise police.
Driving at bicyclists is assault with a weapon and should be treated as such. Forget these weany HTA charges. There is a time for benefit of the doubt and when "I didn't see them" is an obvious pattern it is obvious careless or dangerous driving charges are indicated.
This pattern of blaming victims is tired.
Vulnerable entitled road users should not have to beg and plead to proceed on green..
Seymore Bikes
Skill Testing Question
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 20:57What has been accomplished by making complaints and accusations to City Staff and or Politicians?
Darren_S
Answer.
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 22:14Once burnt, twice shy. We have heard it all before.
Nothing wrong with demanding accountability, that is not complaining or accusing. Complaining and accusing is what people who obstruct the implementation of cycling facilities do. Unfortunately we have been really bad at holding City Hall accountable. Look at the mess. I have a bike lane right outside my door. Does not go anywhere.
geoffrey
one of those things
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 19:01http://www.bicyclelaw.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/2/2/It-Was-Just-One-Of-Tho...
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
Protected bike lanes, safer and easier for everybody?
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 19:25If the city is going to put in lanes up university, they should be protected and to the right of parked cars... i'm tired of useless bike lanes meandering allover and being parked in, might as well put in those silly sharrows... caring means sharing - too bad most motorists don't really care!!
crosses with in... (not verified)
Hype
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 20:29All this talk about separated bike lanes is rubbish. The majority of collisions happen at intersections. It's a fact. All lanes of traffic, from pedestrian to bicycle to motorist, have to cross each other at some point. I heard so many cyclists talk about cars turning right where cyclists were stopped at intersections. That's all about behaviour, nothing to do with infrastructure. Keeping traffic separated is nonsense. Traffic needs to learn to work together better, not divided or separated. Modifying behavior, perceptions, opinions is the work we have to do.
A general shift is in the air; we finally have one voice, the Toronto Cyclists Union, to speak for all cyclists in general. Yvonne needs a male counterpart to don a suit, speak eloquently and educatedly, and the two of them, the Dynamic Duo, our heroes, our champions, need to do business with the CAA, the BIA's, the Councillors, the media, and the voters, the general public. We dont' need to separate out; we need to join in.
The Bike Union needs to come up with strategies to influence public opinion on cycling issues asap. These strategies need to be distilled into messaging, and the messages need to be communicated via press releases, public meetings, TV broadcasts, Radio talk shows, etc etc. etc. asap, so that when "bike season" comes around in April, it's a hot topic that everyone is buzzing about, and clamouring to ask their election candidates where they stand on.
Cyclists need to stop clamouring for special attention, separation, and division. Cyclists need to start working together, in one direction, with one voice, and one goal : cooperation. THAT's how traffic is supposed to work.
Darren_S
Yvonne needs a man?
Sat, 02/06/2010 - 18:14"...Yvonne needs a male counterpart to don a suit, speak eloquently and educatedly, and the two of them, ..."
Does Yvonne need a man because she is doing a man's job? Or is it that she is often tongue tied? Maybe you are worried that she will be lonely this coming Valentine's Day and she needs to find someone quick?
Wonder how your message would play out in the public?
Donald Wiedman (not verified)
"a male counterpart"
Sun, 02/07/2010 - 12:14Brings an old saying (and a line from a U2 song) to mind:
"A Woman Needs a Man Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle"
Donald Wiedman (not verified)
Hear! Hear! (ya!)
Sun, 02/07/2010 - 12:07Hear! Hear! (ya!)
kevcom
University as a catalyst
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 20:35YES! We need lanes on University. University is an amazingly wide street and there shouldn't be a problem if it loses a lane in each direction.
Oh, and not to forget the large median island - that could come of importance if for some reason Council decides to lay down lanes in the middle instead of on the sides. Just think for a sec a street like St. Clair Avenue West - but instead of a Streetcar ROW, you have a bike boulevard. Cars will have to wait to make lefts! I've always had this idea of a bicycle "highway" of sorts, and this would be an easy candidate. Imagine Bloor to King in 5 minutes shooting down University on your own bicycle dual carriageway! Just imagine!
Also, University is "easy" because it's so wide, and would be a catalyst for other roads in the area. Especially good would be the continuation of bike lanes on Avenue north of Bloor going up to St. Clair. Come on - who really needs all 6 lanes there through Yorkville? Put in 2 bike lanes, 2 car lanes in each direc, and a Centre turn lane. Bingo!
The more lanes the better, so let's fight for this one, even if other roads are overdue for lanes. We get this, the other victories will be easier.
Seymore Bikes
Here and Now
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 21:10Listened to Dan Egan (Manager of Cycling Infrastructure) speak with Matt Galloway on CBC this evening about the planned bike lanes on University Ave. I was afraid that the media attention would generate bad spin, but Dan did a fantastic job of addressing the issue, and keeping the story on target.
These lanes are being designed after the New York ones that exist between the curb and parked cars, and have proven effective in reducing vehicle collisions and "door prizes".
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
My mistake.
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 23:31I thought separate signal lights are included with physically separated bicycle lanes... how does a physically separated lane cross an intersection without it's own traffic light???
I agree with right on reds, i routine get the right hook through bikelanes at intersections...
Check out this footage of right hand or red turners at a downtown Toronto intersection.
the pedaller (not verified)
5700
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 09:305700 is big number, and worth celebrating, although I'm not sure a councillor would recognize it as something that spoke for the people in their ward.
Could you get half that many homes in Adam Vaughan's ward to support the same?
Yvonne (not verified)
a suit, maybe...
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 20:35Thanks for your comments Darren and Donald - nice to see that comment annoyed you too.
I've been considering the suit - definitely, but I don't believe our organisation requires a 'man in a suit' to be effective as communicators...
@Crosses-with-Intersections, we are definitely connecting with all of the groups you have mentioned, more connections every day, and outreach material / campaigns in the works, and underway.
Here's the thing, I'm the only paid staff at the moment, with the help of many volunteers - some of whom are men in suits ;) What we need most are more dues-paying members so that we can sustain ourselves, and hire additional full and part time staff, and in turn expand our reach and influence.
How about you lend a hand - we need all the good folks we can get! http://bikeunion.to/join. You can email me at yvonne at bikeunion.to
locutas_of_spragge
Let me add...
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 07:46that Ms. Bambrick has my full confidence as a representative of the cyclists of this city. I already belong to the cyclist's union, and I already try to play an active role in politics, especially the politics around cycling in this city. I echo her call-- let's get to work at the municipal level. I would add: let's also work on the province, because some of the worst problems for cyclists stem from ambiguity in the highway traffic act.
dramaturge (not verified)
No, let's go to the Toronto zoo instead...
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 09:28because I'd rather lobby baboons than buffoons! Thinking that politicians, at any level, will get us anywhere is foolhardy. The union should be running candidates in the next election. We need people in power who actually bike, and not just for a good photo op - like our friends Heaps, DeBaermaeker and Perks? (this list is way too short).
the pedaller (not verified)
Open Letter from the Complaints Dept.
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 12:05Nobody is getting elected on a Bike agenda in Toronto, I don't care if it's Lance Armstrong.
Demanding a Political figure to deliver on things that the majority of voters either don't care about or bare some resentment towards isn't just a bad strategy - it's plain dumb.
Until there is a shift in public opinion on cycling you can expect more of what you've got.
So stop compaining and DO something about it!
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
Who is getting elected on a cycling agenda?
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 21:35Noooooobody!
In Toronto our Mayor promises you don't pay for the lack of bicycle infrastructure until 2012!
hahaha.... oh goodness.