TCAT has surprised me with two reports announced at the same time, the Benchmarking Active Transportation in Canadian Cities report and the Building Better Cycling in Cities: Lessons for Toronto report.
Benchmarking Active Transportation in Canadian Cities, compares the performance of active transportation in Toronto against other cities in Canada, the United States and Europe, and I've just started getting into its meaty content. Some of its results include confirming the "safety in numbers theory" - the more cyclists and pedestrians the safer it is for both; low active transportation mode shares equal high private automobile shares; low gas taxes often mean higher private automobile shares.
TCAT/Clean Air Partnership researcher, Kevin Behan claims there are many ways Toronto could improve conditions for pedestrians: “More people walk to work in Montreal and Vancouver than in Toronto. Both of those cities have pedestrianized streets and lower speed limits in residential areas. Toronto opened its first pedestrian priority streets after the conclusion of this study but doesn’t have lower speed limits in residential areas. "
I thought the claim about the speed limits is interesting so I called 311 (it really is an amazing service). They told me that the normal speed on residential streets in Toronto is 50 km/h but that in any area where there is a school, community centre, parks, playgrounds and some pedestrian-centred factors then the speed will be 40 or lower. Indeed, the majority of side streets around me that are 40 and then the odd one that is 50.
Building Better Cycling in Cities: Lessons for Toronto, the second report by TCAT, looks at how arterial roads should start accommodating high volumes of cyclists, much like they are constructed to carry high volumes of automobiles. It looks at best practices and policies from Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Portland, New York City and Berlin. The lead author was Ada Chan.
I've yet to finish reading both of them, but they should provide nice rainy weather reading for bike geeks while they cozy up to a hot chocolate or as they buff up their Brooks saddle.
Comments
kiwano
Hard-sell pedestrian improvement.
Fri, 10/15/2010 - 11:05As nice as it would be to have pedestrian-priority streets and other such features that make fair weather walking even more appealing, I still think there's one change that the city needs to make in order to make walking in the winter not suck. Whenever a road is rebuilt, move the catch basins over to the crosswalk curb cuts. All winter long, catchbasins sit covered with snowbanks, and the water that should be draining into them accumulates at the lowest available places on the roadway: the cleared corners at intersections where the pedestrians have to walk to cross the street. Sure it'll take decades (and probably also stupid quantities of money) to fix this problem, but it really needs to be fixed.
I regularly point out to my non-winter-biking coworkers that biking to work that not having to cross these nightmares (which even motorists have to do on the slog from their parking spot to the office) is reason enough to accept every other harshness that winter might see fit to throw at me and my bike.
David Juliusson (not verified)
Look for bike and pedestrian friendly school board trustees
Sat, 10/16/2010 - 01:25One way to get support for better bicycling and pedestrian priorities is with our votes for school trustees.
TCAT did a survey in which potential candidates gave their thoughts on cycling and walking. It is on their website and it is worth looking at. The TDSB has a safe walking routes to school program. Kids walking with their parents will get people asking why we don't have better routes. They will ask for it and will be listened to.
Candidates were also asked about a Safe Cycling Routes to School Initiative. Look for the ones who responded positively. After the election contact them. The first thing they will find is how indequate bike parking is. I have schools in my ward with zero bike parking. One school with 500 students is proud of having enough parking for 6 bikes. Trustees can ask for bike parking to be installed. They can set up a Safe Routes to School Program.
Trustees get less votes than Councillors do. A concerted effort to elect those with pro bicycling leanings could make an impact.
Nancy Smith-Lea (not verified)
Barriers to lowering speeds on residential streets in Toronto
Sat, 10/16/2010 - 09:59Thanks for your posting on TCAT's reports Herb. I love it that you called 311 for fact-checking. Very ingenious! I agree that's a great service.
It's true that Toronto has lower speed limits in school zones and traffic calming areas. The difference between Toronto and other cities, as I understand it, is that in Toronto lower speeds happen at the request of the majority of residents on any particular street, rather than as a matter of course. Not only is it request-driven but residents need to undertake several time-consuming steps before speed reduction measures are taken
(http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/traffic/traffic_calming.htm).
Thanks for mentioning the TCAT survey David. If there's a candidate missing that anyone would like to see, please contact the candidate requesting they complete the survey. We'll post all responses right up until election day. Here's the link:
http://torontocat.ca/main/platform_election_surveys
The Clog (not verified)
Who cares about the mandated
Sat, 10/16/2010 - 21:03Who cares about the mandated speed? You should be more interested in the actual speed of traffic.
herb
because it makes a difference
Sun, 10/17/2010 - 12:22What a bizarre assertion. Are you saying the posted speed limit has absolutely no effect on the actual speed? I'd say you've got no evidence for that claim.
I think we're all very aware of the average speed of traffic out there. What's being discussed instead is how to decrease that speed. One of the easiest measures in our toolbox is to post lower speed limits. As the 20's Plenty for Us movement in the UK states, "Compliance is increased by publicity, driver awareness and community involvement. This can and does play a large part in self-enforcement."
From the research I've done posting lower speed limits does lower the average speed. It may be necessary beyond that to adopt physical measures to make it harder for people to speed, by using speed humps, raised intersections, chicanes, bump-outs in sidewalks, replacing asphalt with paving stones and so on. All of these traffic calming measures further help to reduce the average speed.
In some cities experimentation with traffic calming measures have been going on for decades (see woonerf and shared streets).
Your cynicism is empty: you start with a fact - drivers are going too fast - and then you assume that nothing can be done because this fact exists. That's not an argument.
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
Well herb, there is the wider
Sun, 10/17/2010 - 14:29Well herb, there is the wider streets increase speeds issue... In fact from what i've seen people seem to drive the fastest a road will safely let them. That is their preception of which speed is safe is influenced by things like long straightaways(University Ave) and I can tell you one area where speed limits are violated to excessive manner as to make the posted limit meaningless - highway offramps. I've always wondered if the the Europeans though ineptness or subconscious made their streets so narrow and curvy as to limit speed and thereby encourage cycling.
herb
my point still stands
Mon, 10/18/2010 - 10:03I'm not sure if you're trying to show an exception to my point.
I said: posting speed limits makes a difference. And that making physical changes to the street will ensure better compliance.
I think your example merely fits within that argument.
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
Herb, the point is, people
Mon, 10/18/2010 - 13:59Herb, the point is, people drive the speed they feel is the appropriate for the conditions. If one were to drive down a street and all the speed limit signs were not visible how would we guess what is appropriate(aside from defaulting to 45km/h)? In my mind posting the limit makes only a narrow difference. I can think of many many streets where the limit has been consistently violated as to have not made a difference - these are suburban streets where police install automated radar guns, speed humps and etc because nobody follows the speed limit. I can read your mind, it isn't a problem of enforcement... a cop is there every week or so on the suburban road i have in mind(finally the city put stop signs everywhere). The issue is that you can't have a multi-lane road(or a road as wide as one) posted at 40km/h - people follow the cues given to them by their perception of speed. If you want another example just look at the Pharmacy Ave discussion in another thread - nobody drove at or below the speed limit there before the bicycle lanes were installed. Of course posting 40 as some baseline when you want people to actually drive 60 is shenanigans. I've heard many speeders rationalize that the road is designed for 140km/h so i'll go 130 and be safe even though the posted limit is 100km/h. From that insight, would argue the baseline speed of a road is dominantly set by the physical characteristics of the road, not the sign, people know that and disobey the speed limit in that manner - particularly when they don't fear being caught.
Anyway - I'd say three quarters your point still stands, because I do believe physical barriers, curves, narrow streets, and such do slow down traffic. Saying that, I think the line "speed limits make a difference" is of such a weak effect when compared to road design that the statement while technically accurate is disingenuous when trying to design safe roads for cyclists.
herb
3/4 + 1/4
Mon, 10/18/2010 - 18:11Again, I'm well aware that people exceed the speed limit and that police enforcement only has limited effect.
I have in other posts made a strong argument that physical changes need to be made to the streetscape to encourage and force slower driving. And I stated that here.
Posting speed limits does make a difference, because it has. I quoted the 20's is Plenty group because they've managed to make such changes in the UK. I think it's just the first step, but it's an easier goal to reach.
Lower the speed limit and people will still exceed the speed limit, but you haven't provided any evidence to prove that people will completely ignore the speed limit. But even if people do completely ignore the speed limit, one can easily imagine the community rallying around the speed limit and forcing politicians to put in place traffic calming to bring the real speed down to the stated speed.
A speed limit is just one tool in a complete streets toolbox, but it can be easier to achieve community consensus around it and implement it.
Seymore Bikes
In Your Neighbourhood......
Mon, 10/18/2010 - 11:49We could wait for Toronto's Political leaders to take cycling where it needs to go, but the Sun will burn out before that happens.
Get things cooking in your community, and build support for cycling. It's not always easy, as there is occassionally some push-back and misinfirmation, but this is where the change begins, and it will direct City Council like nothing else.
The Pedaller (not verified)
Slowiness
Mon, 10/18/2010 - 20:11If you ask residents of a particular street if the speed limit should go down, they're likely to say slower, as would a retailer, pedestrian, cyclist, road crew, etc... The only one who wants to go faster is the driver - ZOOM ZOOM.
Narrower lanes, lower speeds, traffic enforcement, reduced parking, improvements to the pedestrian realm and bike lanes all help bring balance to the equation. I'm OK with a 120 kKPH 401, but make city streets 20-30, and arterials 50.
Ed
Wishing for slower?
Tue, 10/19/2010 - 11:42In the southwest corner of the city, because there's still a grid pattern, "slowing down" traffic is done by more stop signs. So now we either have to stop on our bicycles, or blow through the signs. (The latter seems to be most-chosen.)
For instance, on Elder Avenue (part of Route 6) there are four-way stops at 22nd, 24th, and 26th Streets. It's even worse than it sounds, because 23rd and 25th don't exist at Elder--so it's a stop every short block.
Also, of course residents of a street want traffic banned, lower speed limits, stop signs, etc etc. Oddly, it's often the local residents who then speed, and blow through the stop signs, on their way to and from their residences. In fact, the senior traffic person for the district once said to me, "All those people who ignore the stop sign at James and 40th [which I was complaining about] are probably locals."
Do you want to be run over by your neighbour, or by a visitor to your neighbourhood?
dances_with_traffic (not verified)
You're right Ed, it is mostly
Tue, 10/19/2010 - 13:14You're right Ed, it is mostly locals who come to the same stop sign everyday and everyday there is nobody there because it was a stupid spot to put a stop sign. Eventually people learn to treat it like a yield.
Residential speeding is a nimby problem i'd guess. Nobody wants people speeding through their streets but, they're fine with cutting through neighbourhoods at breakneck speed and such because "that light was backed up". People just ignore the connection.