Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[afransen]

Just listened to a podcast episode titled “Are Bike Lanes Good for Cities?”, focusing on Toronto’s bike lanes. Dr Shoshanna Saxe was the guest and presented well articulated arguments to the oft-asked questions and skepticism around bike lanes and their justification. For anyone else who talks about this stuff with others or spends time considering the issue, it’s a great listen. Fairly short too, about 35 min.

Are Bike Lanes Good for Cities?

Bike lanes are central to city planning, but why do they spark such fierce debate? On Good for Cities, host Matti Siemiatycki sits down with infrastructure expert Dr. Shoshanna Saxe to cut through the "bikelash" and analyze the numbers. They discuss how to balance public benefits - like the 44%...

www.podbean.com

I'm amazed that there are still podcasts that don't post to YT.

 

[chrisw]

Just listened to a podcast episode titled “Are Bike Lanes Good for Cities?”, focusing on Toronto’s bike lanes. Dr Shoshanna Saxe was the guest and presented well articulated arguments to the oft-asked questions and skepticism around bike lanes and their justification. For anyone else who talks about this stuff with others or spends time considering the issue, it’s a great listen. Fairly short too, about 35 min.

Are Bike Lanes Good for Cities?

Bike lanes are central to city planning, but why do they spark such fierce debate? On Good for Cities, host Matti Siemiatycki sits down with infrastructure expert Dr. Shoshanna Saxe to cut through the "bikelash" and analyze the numbers. They discuss how to balance public benefits - like the 44%...

www.podbean.com

An alternative link. When I clicked the podbean link on mobile it directed me to download the app.

Good For Cities Podcast » Infrastructure Institute

Good for Cities An Infrastructure Institute Podcast Welcome to Good for Cities, the podcast that examines the ideas, policies, and trends shaping urban life. Hosted by Matti Siemiatycki, Director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, the show asks the...

infrastructureinstitute.ca

Welcome to Good for Cities, the podcast that examines the ideas, policies, and trends shaping urban life. Hosted by Matti Siemiatycki, Director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, the show asks the essential question: are these interventions really making our cities better? Each episode features conversations with leading urbanists, challenging assumptions about city building to uncover which ideas stand the test of time, and which might need to be rethought- or even scrapped altogether.

Get the latest episodes by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Overcast, Apple Music, Spotify, Podbean, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

 

[txlseries4]

An alternative link. When I clicked the podbean link on mobile it directed me to download the app.

Good For Cities Podcast » Infrastructure Institute

Good for Cities An Infrastructure Institute Podcast Welcome to Good for Cities, the podcast that examines the ideas, policies, and trends shaping urban life. Hosted by Matti Siemiatycki, Director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, the show asks the...

infrastructureinstitute.ca

Thanks! Edited my comment to swap out URLs

 

[pawlyshyn]

I'm amazed that there are still podcasts that don't post to YT.

I don't understand why anyone WOULD listen to a podcast on YouTube. It's not a video, after all.

 

[DSCToronto]

I went to inspect the work on the Martin Goodman (well, someone has to!). The contractor has now removed the old asphalt and put a layer of sand or small gravel on top of the old base and compressed it. Not sure all is done yet (lunch called!) but they do seem to be moving pretty fast and it looks as though it is just about ready for paving.

I hope the City will soon fix the 300-400 yards of combined path on the east side of Cherry north of Unwin and south of the Ship Channel, it is the last remaining quite poor section as the City or WT have fixed the section north of the Ship Channel and Transportation and Parks are fixing the area further east.

 

[txlseries4]

I don't understand why anyone WOULD listen to a podcast on YouTube. It's not a video, after all.

Loads and loads of especially young people are consuming media on YouTube, which happens to be the leading platform (by some margin) for podcasts. Some podcasts have pivoted to also record video, which allows them to put out short form clips and reach new audiences. There are a few podcasts I like that were once audio only and now I only watch the video version. I’m sure there’s some analogy to good bike infrastructure and modal split here but I’m not feeling creative enough

 

[Northern Light]

I thought this was the answer, but I think they've just created one problem in trying to solve another -- the Harbord lanes are great with the exception of those sections; literally every time I've ridden them since they were opened, I have had to navigate one or multiple cars parked in the bike lane in those sections. At risk of sounding cute, in trying to solve an accessibility problem in a way that creates a condition that is more likely to produce more people who have accessibility issues because they got hit by a damn car.

Surely there is a compromise position that reduces the length of those unprotected sections to be the width of a standard vehicle, with a corresponding designation as an accessible loading zone, no?

Staff commenting on this today on Bsky:

Now I'm going to tie that it to another post, also about Harbord, but with more general application, because it loops back to the issue hand:

In plain English, if you have a better idea, staff are listening.

****

I agree the current standard has its problems. This would be addressed in part, by less parking; but to the extent some is retained for accessibility, for loading zones, how do we design for that?

 

[PinkLucy]

Loads and loads of especially young people are consuming media on YouTube, which happens to be the leading platform (by some margin) for podcasts. Some podcasts have pivoted to also record video, which allows them to put out short form clips and reach new audiences. There are a few podcasts I like that were once audio only and now I only watch the video version. I’m sure there’s some analogy to good bike infrastructure and modal split here but I’m not feeling creative enough

It depends how and what you measure https://podnews.net/article/biggest-podcast-app

For me, podcasts belong in my ears because I'm doing something else while listening and can't watch. Driving, walking, cleaning house, whatever.

Anyway, I appreciate the bike-related podcast recommendation, I'm going to check it out (on Apple podcasts)

 

[JasonParis]

It depends how and what you measure https://podnews.net/article/biggest-podcast-app

For me, podcasts belong in my ears because I'm doing something else while listening and can't watch. Driving, walking, cleaning house, whatever.

Anyway, I appreciate the bike-related podcast recommendation, I'm going to check it out (on Apple podcasts)

And as someone in podcasting, downloads don't mean squat anymore. Millions of podcasts are downloaded everyday automatically to people's phones. It doesn't mean they are listening to them though.

 

[afransen]

I don't understand why anyone WOULD listen to a podcast on YouTube. It's not a video, after all.

It's the #1 platform for podcast listens. A lot of podcasts have a visual element now, but a lot of people also just listen to YT. You can do background playback in a computer or if you have YT Premium (no ads) you can do so on mobile as well.

 

[Aplus23]

Is this what we're known for in the urban cycling world? I appreciate these barriers as a stop gap measure, but these can't be the permanent solution to building bike lanes.

I understand that raised bike lanes are better, but what exactly are wrong with these barriers exactly ? I mean I don't ride bikes much but as a driver I feel better with barriers for the bikers

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

I understand that raised bike lanes are better, but what exactly are wrong with these barriers exactly ? I mean I don't ride bikes much but as a driver I feel better with barriers for the bikers

Yeah, I also don't see what's so wrong with them to only see them as a stop-gap solution. I am familiar as a cyclist with the stretch of Lake Shore Blvd W from Norris to Royal Yok in Mimico neighborhood. This cycle path has featured the "Toronto barriers" for a better part of a decade now:

I personally never saw anything wrong with them. They are anchored solid to the ground with metal rebar. They are tall enough to provide protection from most cars, should they veer towards cyclists for some reason (certainly more protection than a simple curb). They feature gaps large enough for access to local driveways and for wheelchairs but small enough for parked cars not to be a problem. And they also offer a canvas for local artists to paint their "public art contributions" on, as seen in the Google Streetview image above.

 

[GameOnBrad]

I was walking down River today. These parking stoppers are just not great. Many are crumbling.

Hilariously, I guess city workers did some patch work here to the road/bike lane and then placed the parking stopper back in place before the asphalt hardened. So, yah. It sunk into the road?

 

[DSCToronto]

I was walking down River today. These parking stoppers are just not great. Many are crumbling.

View attachment 690863

Hilariously, I guess city workers did some patch work here to the road/bike lane and then placed the parking stopper back in place before the asphalt hardened. So, yah. It sunk into the road?

View attachment 690864

The City clearly knows about this (the orange paint) but maybe reminder to 311??

 

[GameOnBrad]

The City clearly knows about this (the orange paint) but maybe reminder to 311??

Yah, the city is aware. I mentioned it to a city worker in a truck nearby. They also put traffic cones down on Shuter where all the parking stoppers were moved all over the place (and almost impeding the bike lane).