Advertising good, bikes bad [Dodgeville] Enough has been written about these stupid info pillars elsewhere that I won’t bore you with another diatribe against their design or the questionable process that resulted in the city being saddled with them in the first place. This one is in front of Carrot Common on Danforth and in addition to looking ugly, replaced a perfectly good post and ring bike rack, as seen by Google Street View. Toronto-Montreal Bixi comparison [Globe … [Read more...]
Bike Union / MEC Member Appreciation Night [Toronto Cyclists Union] Join us for our Member Appreciation Night at Mountain Equipment Co-op on Thursday December 1st from 7:00 – 9:00. Like last year, bike union members will receive 10% off everything in the store except boats. New this year, MEC has extended their 10% discount to bikes as well! TCAT Turns Five and Gets a New Name [Toronto Centre for Active Transportation] Since becoming a project of Clean Air Partnership, a registered … [Read more...]
‘I saw nothing but bike helmets for blocks’ [The Star] She was 38. I am 38. She had a five-year-old. So do I. She was killed on an average day, pedalling down the same two-lane street she always did by a truck that didn’t have a metal fence under its hulking belly because it would cost more. (How much could it possibly cost, compared to the price of a truck? That’s fodder for another column.) A Failure to Address the Intersection Problem [Duncan's City Ride] There are no words to … [Read more...]
Back in June, Rob Ford presented his BikePlan, which essentially was just a re-hashing of some earlier concepts by other politicians and I think, originally, by Dave Meslin, including most signficantly, an idea to put separated bikelanes on Richmond and Adelaide Streets. That plan is one step closer now due to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee carrying an item at their meeting on Thurs, Nov. 3rd to move ahead with an Environmental Assessment on the feasibility of the separated … [Read more...]
The following is from Councillor Mike Layton, who is updating us about options being put forward for a less expensive Fort York pedestrian and cycling bridge. You may remember that the original plan for the bridge was killed in an underhanded way by David Shiner, reportedly acting on orders from Rob Ford, because $23 million dollars is apparently too much for an award winning design that would connect neighbourhoods, provide some much needed pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in the area … [Read more...]
Yet another article from the 'burbs about pedestrians being unhappy with cyclists using the sidewalk: Oshawa bylaws only prohibit cyclists on downtown sidewalks. But Atkinson and her husband Thomas, 74, want that changed to include all areas so they can feel safe on their five-kilometre fitness walks. “It’s gotten worse,” Atkinson says of the road rage that’s veered onto sidewalks in their Rossland Rd. E. and Harmony Rd. neighbourhood. “It appears people are taking out their … [Read more...]
BlogTO has a post today about the removal of the Pharmacy Ave. bikelane. The Birchmount bikelane is also due to be removed thanks to the backwards-looking decision of Rob Ford's regime at City Council. Although the vote to kill the Jarvis bike lanes got most of the attention earlier this year, they weren't the only ones to get the axe. The Urban Repair Squad reminded us yesterday of the alteration of the bike lane at Dupont and Lansdowne, and today we share the scene at Pharmacy Avenue, … [Read more...]
If you've been putting off buying a Bixi Toronto membership, Groupon is making it a lot easier to buy one. For a limited time (until today, Wed, Oct. 5, at midnight) you can get a Bixi membership for $47 instead of $95. That's a savings of 51%! As of midnight last night, almost 900 people had taken advantage of this deal. Bixi Toronto isn't making much on this (I've heard that Groupon takes about half of the purchase price), but they will be getting a bunch of new users who will … [Read more...]
City Council is meeting this coming Wednesday (Sept. 21st) and Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Pauls) has a proposal on the agenda by substantially increasing the fine (to $500) for parking on city arterials or in bikelanes during rush hour periods. I don't see parking enforcement officers ticketing bikelane parkers much (but do, on occasion), but perhaps with higher fines they'll pay more attention to the issue... and you can be sure that once a driver gets a $500 ticket for parking in … [Read more...]
via the Toronto Star: A sign that went up quietly last week prohibits electric bikes from using the Martin Goodman Trail. Perched at the entrance near Bathurst St. and Queens Quay W., the sign is raising the ire of electric bike (or e-bike) users. The ban is “inconsistent” with the shift to greener ways of travel, said Lock Hughes, treasurer of the Toronto Electric Riders Association, which represents users of electric two-wheelers. He added that the ban on “motor power … [Read more...]
via the City of Toronto: Milkman's Lane is a 300m, 3m wide gravel surface trail in Rosedale entering the Don Valley from South Drive near Craigleigh Gardens Park. The trail is well-used by hikers, dog-walkers, cyclists and joggers and connects the community to the Don Valley trail network and the Don Valley Brick Works. It has existed for over 130 years and was used historically by equestrians and for transportation of commercial goods, among other uses lost to history. Due to … [Read more...]
This is another case of treating the symptoms rather than the cause of a problem. According to the Star, there are plans to "crack down" on cyclists riding on sidewalks: Cycling on the sidewalk has become “a huge issue” in cities across the province within the last five years. But the laws governing it are inconsistent and moves to update them have been slow. “There isn’t enough teeth in the law,” said Sgt. Angelo Costa, the traffic sergeant in 31 Division where the incident … [Read more...]
I had such a good time filming everyone on the "Ride for Jarvis, Ride for Toronto" ride on Wednesday (and then speeding it up and putting it to music), I thought it would be interesting to do something similar to watch traffic patterns at an intersection. I found a place I could see most of the Bay & College intersection on Friday morning and filmed it for 10 minutes (8:50 - 9:00 am) ... I've since speeded it up 4x so the below video is only about 2.5 minutes long... then I watched it … [Read more...]
The Toronto Cyclists Union is organizing a "Ride for Jarvis" tonight and plans to have hundreds of cyclists riding on Jarvis Street to show/protest/unify against City Hall decisions that are removing bikelanes and implying that a Torontonian who drives is more important than a Torontonian who bikes. This ride will attract 3 types of cyclist: Cyclists who feel there must be a public show of support for bikelanes Cyclists who are militant and want to take over city streets as a symbolic … [Read more...]
The future of the Jarvis bikelanes is being decided today (or maybe tomorrow) by City Council. If you can't make it to City Hall in person today (or tomorrow), you can watch the activities of Council via this live feed from Rogers. Need to know more info about Jarvis? The Jarvis Bikelane is Doomed, and here’s why. (July 6, 2011) How to Save the Jarvis Bikelanes (June 26, 2011) Jarvis Bikelanes have only produced “slight” delays on car traffic (April 27, 2011) Rocco … [Read more...]
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