And you thought where you live is anti bike...

[pdonk]

The provincial government is likely going to table legislation this fall that prohibits conversion of "car" lanes to bike lanes.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...anes-1.7328878

We likely have an election coming in the next 12 months or so, wonder how this will play into it.

[benb]

The solution to a gridlock of cars is... more cars!

[GonaSovereign]

It's a safe and expected move from that government. Trolling for votes from Suburban-driving suburbanites who expect free and easy commutes into the city. The data shows the argument is wrong, but facts don't matter if you control the megaphone.

[tellyho]

It's astounding in a city that's so easy to get around without a car (Toronto, that is). My son attends UToronto, and we did totally get stuck in a massive traffic jam when driving up for dropoff.

The dirty secret of getting people to use alternative transportation is making it harder / worse for them to use their car.

[benb]

I notice in a lot of local comments there is a huge undercurrent of "other people shouldn't be here with their cars so that I can take my giant car everywhere when I could walk since I'm so local and more deserving."

Then there is the desire that all new buildings and developments must have parking lots designed so that people have minimal walks from the car right to the business/store they want to go in. Having to park in a large parking lot and walk inside a large shopping mall for example is now too much walking, they want shopping plazas where the shops are all broken up into small shops and each shop has just the right # of parking spaces exactly laid out so you always park right next to the front door of the building and don't even have to cross a few rows of parking lot.

We don't have a whole lot of this new style of shopping plaza design compared to the southeast but as places get redone they seem to be adoping this style here too. And they are perfectly designed to be plopped down on stroads, and usually are down south. It's like the business version of a cul-de-sac neighborhood.

[pdonk]

Originally Posted by tellyho

It's astounding in a city that's so easy to get around without a car (Toronto, that is). My son attends UToronto, and we did totally get stuck in a massive traffic jam when driving up for dropoff.

The dirty secret of getting people to use alternative transportation is making it harder / worse for them to use their car.

That traffic jam is called driving in Toronto, it is a terrible place to have to drive.

With the main route into downtown under construction for the next 2-3 years, transit and infrastructure rehab projects there is no way to get around, even using local sneaks.

[zap]

Originally Posted by pdonk

That traffic jam is called driving in Toronto, it is a terrible place to have to drive.

I thought traffic was bad in the D.C. area. But, since the late 90's traffic in Toronto is worse.....and that's not including the Friday afternoon mayhem getting out of TO.

[pdonk]

Originally Posted by zap

I thought traffic was bad in the D.C. area. But, since the late 90's traffic in Toronto is worse.....and that's not including the Friday afternoon mayhem getting out of TO.

I look out at Hwy 400 from my office, cottage traffic used to start at 4PM, it now starts at 10 am.

[pdonk]

It is now closer to being official. This is one of the steps in getting a bill passed into an act.

https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-9266

[EB]

So Doug Ford has continued his crack smoking brother's tradition of scapegoating bikes?

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by tellyho

The dirty secret of getting people to use alternative transportation is making it harder / worse for them to use their car.

That honestly sounds more like a recipe for resentment towards bike users—I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been riding past a traffic jam of cars while commuting only to have someone pull onto the shoulder to block me from passing.

“****ing socialist hippy cyclist think they can get home faster than ME?!”

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by benb

The solution to a gridlock of cars is... more cars!

And more roadways. Cf: Robert Moses.

[jamesdak]

Well, I'll say this. I'm all for this decision if all that's being done is repainting lines to make a car lane a bike lane. That is simply never a viable solution in my opinion. Biking infrastructure needs to be physically separated from car lanes to be a truly safe option.

The bike lanes in the city nearest to me are nothing but a death trap as far as I am concerned. They put both bikes and drivers at risk and should never have been put in. I can't think of any I would actually feel safe riding in.

[pdonk]

The largest stretch of new bike lanes in the downtown fire of toronto are physically separated, either by bollards, curbs and or raising them above the curb.

These ones are likely the catalyst for this legislation, especially as the lanes are extended west into the heart if "Ford Nation" .

Seems fitting that a guy with the same last name as a car company is doing this.

[dgauthier]

Okay...so...who would drive a car in T'rahnah anyway, eh? TTC is so choice, eh!