Cycling safely toward a better city [Toronto Star]

Mostly an article with Gil Penalosa of 8-80 Cities about what is needed to make Toronto a great cycling city (hint – it’s things other cities like NYC, London, Montreal and Vancouver are doing)

Bixi Toronto Newsletter – November 2011 [Bixi]

The November edition of Bixi Toronto’s newsletter is out and includes information about some Bixi Stations moving in preparation for winter, a VIA Rail discount to BIXI members, how to gives someone a BIXI for Christmas, and Bixi Statistics (including 300,000 trips taken so far)!

Derailed: A Bike Union Dance Party [Toronto Cyclists Union]

Get your groove on with the Toronto Cyclists Union.  This Friday night is Derailed, a dance party at CSI Annex on Friday Nov 11! Doors at 9:00. Presentations until 10:00. Silent Auction, raffles and dancing all night long.  Bike Union members get in free. Non-members = $5.

Cyclist killed in west Toronto collision [CBC]

Toronto’s second cyclist has died in traffic this year after a truck hit a woman at Dundas West and Sterling Rd, which is where the West Toronto Railpath ends.

 Bikelanes on Leslie? Let’s Make It Happen! Nov 9, 6pm

Let’s make Leslie St better for walking and cycling (to food stores, parks and the Spit)!!! The TTC is considering re-designs of Leslie Street between Queen St E and Lakeshore Blvd as you read this. Have your say: TTC designers will be presenting at a public meeting.

Wednesday, November 9
Open house: 6pm
Presentation + Q&A: 6:30-8:30
Toronto Fire Academy/EMS 895 Eastern Ave

[image from the Star]

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.  If you have an item you would like to see in The News Cycle, please email it to me at joe[at]bikingtoronto.com

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Birchmount bike lanes latest to bite the dust [BlogTO]

The removal of bikelanes under the Rob Ford regime continues, as Toronto removes incentives to cycle while every other major (and non-major) city in the world adds bikelanes, bike parking and more.  World class cities welcome cyclists, Rob!

The Fixer: Cycling a better way to get around than it looks [Toronto Star]

The Fixer’s Jake Lakey rides around town with James Schwartz of The Urban Country and discovers that contrary to the mainstream media’s portrayal of cycling as dangerous, it’s actually relatively safe, fun, and connects people to the urban environment in a way that drivers never ever will experience in a car.

What’s Next for the Railpath? [Torontoist]

The West Toronto Railpath currently runs from approximately Dupont south to Dundas and has made an old railbed into an award-winning multi-use trail.  Torontoist looks at that the plans are for extending the railpath downtown.

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.  If you have an item you would like to see in The News Cycle, please email it to me at joe[at]bikingtoronto.com

Subscribe to our RSS feed to get The News Cycle in your feed reader, or subscribe to our mailing list to get BikingToronto posts in your email (maximum 1 email per day).

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 lanes.

The full text of the item is as follows:

1.         City Council authorize the General Manager of Transportation Services to initiate a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment study for separated bicycle lanes within the Richmond-Adelaide corridor, between Bathurst Street and Sherbourne Street, which could include consideration of a pilot project to install and evaluate separated bicycle lanes on the preferred alignment during the course of the study.

2.         City Council direct that the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study for separated bicycle lanes within the Richmond-Adelaide corridor be limited to existing one-way road configurations.

3.         City Council authorize the General Manager of Transportation Services to initiate a second study to develop preferred bikeway route alignments to connect the future Richmond-Adelaide corridor bike lanes to existing bikeways east of the Don Valley, including, but not limited to, Dundas Street East, Eastern Avenue, and the Lake Shore Boulevard East path, as well as to the west of Bathurst Street to connect with bikeways on Strachan Avenue and Shaw Street.

The PWIC Agenda Item on the City’s website has a lot more background information on this as well.  I recommend you checking it out if you’re interested.

[Image by Dave Meslin, via the Bike Union]

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, where the City has commenced work on the complete removal of its cycling infrastructure.

Read the full post on BlogTO

[photo by Christian Bobak, via BlogTO]

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 a bikelane, they’ll think twice about doing it again.

From JoshMatlow.ca:

NOTICE OF MOTION: Relieving Congestion by Increasing Fines and Enforcement for Motorists and Delivery Vehicles that Obstruct Traffic During Rush Hour Periods

Moved by:  Councillor Matlow

Seconded by:  Councillor Layton

 

SUMMARY:

Traffic congestion is a significant problem for Toronto’s motorists, public transit users and cyclists. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently noted that the Greater Toronto Area suffers from the longest work commute times in North America. This congestion costs the region’s economy an estimated $3.3 billion per year while negatively impacting on the quality of life of our residents. The long-term solutions to this problem include building a more accessible, extensive and efficient public transportation system in addition to encouraging car-pooling and cycling.

In the meantime, council can take small, but important, measures to alleviate traffic congestion. One such measure is to provide sufficient deterrents to motorists and delivery drivers that stop, stand, park illegally or otherwise obstruct traffic on arterial roads during rush hour. Far too often, entire lanes of major roads are blocked due to an individual pulling over to grab a coffee in the morning or a delivery vehicle choosing the afternoon rush period to drop off their goods. Drivers along arterials often use bicycle lanes as a parking lane, forcing cyclists to dangerously merge into traffic. During rush hour this creates very unsafe conditions for cyclists. While currently not permitted, it is clear that current fines and levels of enforcement are not sufficient to deter such activities.

This motion seeks to improve traffic flow during the morning and afternoon rush hour periods by increasing the fines and level of enforcement for individuals that obstruct other motorists, public transit users and cyclists.

 
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. City Council requests the City Manager to report to Public Works Committee with an implementation plan to increase fines to $500 for any motorist, including delivery vehicles, from stopping, standing, parking or otherwise obstructing traffic on arterial roads and in bicycle lanes>during City designated rush hour periods

 

2. City Council request the City Manager to work with the Toronto Police Service to increase enforcement of existing by-laws prohibiting any motorist, including delivery vehicles, from stopping, standing, parking or otherwise obstructing traffic, including bicycle lanes, on arterial roads during City designated rush hour periods.

It took a full 7 minutes for the ride to completely pass me, so I’ve sped it up a little, and added some lively music.

I’m quite happy with how this turned out, considering it’s really the first iPhone video (which is why the video is a touch shaky) I’ve tried to edit and put music with (all using an App too). First video ever, really.

Here are some photos and a few words about the event:

People start gathering at Allan Gardens.  Lots of news media.

It’s like a two-wheeled bike party.

There were LOTS of bikes! [photo by Hyedie Hashimoto]

Dave Meslin addressed the crowd. He sounded like a politician with a lot of soundbites. A bike-friendly politician.  He also said he’d lay down on Jarvis in front of any trucks that would remove bikelanes.  I doubt he’d do it and that it would do anything for the cyclist cause, other than maybe get him arrested.

Jared Kolb, director of Membership for the Bike Union speaks… offering any non-members a break on membership – only $20 instead of $30.

Met Chris after seeing his Left Wing Pinko t-shirt.

Then everyone hit Jarvis Street! [photo by Hyedie Hashimoto]

Even some dogs! [photo by Hyedie Hashimoto]

Woo! [photo by Hyedie Hashimoto]

Then everyone gathered at City Hall [photo by Hyedie Hashimoto]

I’m working on a video of the whole ride passing Carlton. Stay tuned.

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 Rossi Flip-Flops on Bikelanes (Sept. 27, 2010)
• Have You Tried the New Jarvis? Tell Us About It! (July 26, 2010)
• The Jarvis Bikelanes are Painted! (July 25, 2010)
• Video: Jarvis with 4 Car Lanes, Still no Gridlock (July 23, 2010)
• Jarvis Street, During Bikelane Installation (July 21, 1010)
• Jarvis Street Middle Lane now Car-Free. Bikelanes Are Coming (July 19, 2010)
• Jarvis Street, Before the Bikelanes (July 18, 2010)
• Jarvis starts getting Bikelanes this Friday! (July 14, 2010)
• Photos from the City Council Bikelane Debate (May 27, 2009)
• City Council Votes in Bikelanes for Jarvis (May 26, 2009)

I didn’t like writing the title of this post, but the following HAS to be said.

We’re in danger of losing the 1-year-old Jarvis bikelanes as the Ford Mayoralty has shown that they believe (and they’re right) that the Torontonians that voted for Rob Ford and his idealogical counterparts voted for them to 1) reduce waste at city hall and 2) end the so-called “war on the car”

The Ford Mayoralty is catering to the drivers in Toronto.

The cycling advocacy community in Toronto (mainly the Bike Union) is pulling out all the stops to try and get City Council to “Save Jarvis” (as well as the bikelanes on Pharmacy and Birchmount avenues in Scarborough) by encouraging their members and people that bike on Jarvis to contact Rob Ford and their local councillors.

Does anyone else see the problem in this strategy, or is it just me?

Don’t get me wrong… what the Bike Union is doing is GREAT, but it can’t stop there:

To paraphrase Kanye West, Rob Ford does not care about cyclists.  They did not vote for him, and he knows they won’t vote for him in the future.

Therefore, cyclists can email and phone his office (and the offices of all the City Councillors who are in the Ford voting bloc on Council) all they want, but it will be dismissed, because neither Ford nor the right-wing of City Council has any vested interest in the needs of cyclists.

Getting cyclists who use the Jarvis bikelanes to contact the Mayor is akin to (if you’ll forgive me for a rather crude analogy) hitting on a good looking guy/gal while they’re having sex with someone else.

It’s all fine and good to mobilize and galvanize the cycling community, but until Rob Ford isn’t mayor anymore, or at least until his stranglehold on Council breaks, it is the Totally Wrong Way to save bikelanes or get new ones installed.

The ONLY way to save or get new bikelanes in the current political climate is to have DRIVERS contact Rob Ford and their councillors (especially the non-downtown councillors).

Go to the shopping malls surrounded by parking lots in Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough and  hand out information pamphlets about how bikelanes actually help *ease* traffic congestion (and how they can contact Rob Ford).

Talk to the DRIVERS stuck in traffic downtown about how getting people on bikes means getting people out of cars and therefore their commute may get a little easier.

Get DRIVERS to phone Rob Ford (Rob loves the phone) and tell him:

• They’re a driver and a taxpayer and…
• They like bikelanes because it gets cyclists to the side of the road and not in front of their cars, slowing them down, or:
• They’re son/daughter wants to ride their bike to school and they should be safe on the roads, or:
• Getting people out of their cars and on bikes will mean less cars on the roads, which means better car traffic flow.

Date & Time:

Location:
Meet at the Victoria Park subway station

Help save the Pharmacy Av. and Birchmount Rd. Bike Lanes by joining us for a ride to raise awareness and to listen to what the local neighbours have to say.

Toronto City Council votes on July 13th to accept all or part of Mayor Rob Ford’s Bike Plan, which calls for the removal of the bike lanes installed in 2008 on Pharmacy Ave. & Birchmount Rd..

This is a matter of personal safety for everyone who uses the roads and we will ride on Tuesday to help save the lanes.

Please leave a comment to let us know your thoughts or whether you can make it or not.

[photo from Inside Toronto]