The cycling department at the City is putting some effort into educating the public on sharrows and how to use them. I recall this being a request put forward by some in the cycling community, that if we're going to have sharrows, we need to raise awareness of what they mean and how to use them.
Despite that, I believe that the mere existence of sharrows without education still influences the behaviours of drivers and cyclists. Cyclists are more likely to feel they can use more of the lane and drivers are more likely to give way to cyclists. (Not all, but many).
The ads will be appearing on various online newspapers over the next couple months.
If you can't see the Flash goodness above, here's a static graphic of it:
Documents:
Comments
jamesmallon (not verified)
educate the drivers?
Mon, 10/04/2010 - 19:51So... are they going to educate the drivers? You know, the people in the vehicles that kill people, versus those on the vehicle that rarely kill people?
hamish (not verified)
Using sharrows not ads
Tue, 10/05/2010 - 08:21It's helpful to have a bit of advertising, but quite honestly, how to deal with the 20-hour images of cars parked atop sharrows on College St.? It's a contradiction to have the idealistic version being used for the propaganda (which it can be), and the street conditions imply the cyclist can be run over in non-rush hours.
The sharrows on Bloor near Yonge, as inadequate as they are, got a bit worse when the oil from the fresh asphalt darkened some well away from white. So there's a question of maintenance and of installation frequency
There's also the question of exact placement of these sharrows within the lane - sometimes they feel too far out, and we know from Mr. Bryant that we shouldn't always take a lane eh? And the City has had some confusion as to placement too eg. the erasures on College between Brock and Lansdowne.
They're only $200 each to put onto the road - so maybe we should question how much the ad campaign is costing, and instead re-allocate to putting more of them down. They are useful in some places, but sadly, they're more used to duck out from the controversy of providing a good linked network, instead of our notwork.
Mad Jack McMad (not verified)
So how are we going to start
Tue, 10/05/2010 - 10:53So how are we going to start educating the public on how to use bike lanes? Or how about basic driving skills and rules of the road?
A.R. (not verified)
Lead by example
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 22:29Don't worry, once one cyclist uses the box, everyone will understand it.
However, the implementation of this is typically Toronto sloppy. The bicycle graphics painted on the street look narrow and cheap, almost as if it were a guerrilla endeavor. Maybe it's because it's a trial run, but it should be very prominent. Green or blue paint is a good idea. If durability is an issue with our winters, at least paint a bold green frame to the bicycle box. Big, wide bicycle graphics are important for visibility and so it looks official.