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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

The point here, this being the cycling infrastructure thread, is that it's not enough to put the responsibility on cyclists to be "defensive" in a city where there are many people of different experiences and abilities and even the most experienced riders will sometimes make mistakes that result in injury or worse. The infrastructure in the video above is not safe, full stop. The behaviour of the person in the video is not the point if our goal is to prevent injuries and deaths for everyone, so I don't think it's helpful to focus on that.
 
smably said:
The point here, this being the cycling infrastructure thread, is that it's not enough to put the responsibility on cyclists to be "defensive" in a city where there are many people of different experiences and abilities and even the most experienced riders will sometimes make mistakes that result in injury or worse. The infrastructure in the video above is not safe, full stop. The behaviour of the person in the video is not the point if our goal is to prevent injuries and deaths for everyone, so I don't think it's helpful to focus on that.
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Totally agree of course! more so discussing the specific situation above. The fact that such a situation can even occur is a problem, but also the way the situation was handled wasn't exactly excellent either. That's all.
 
There is mention of a new GO Station at Mimico with station improvements will include:
  • 2 station access points on the north side of the station
    • A new, fully accessible main station building
    • A new secondary tunnel entrance building
  • 300 underground, dedicated GO parking spaces
  • 96 spaces for bicycle storage, including secured and covered bike parking
  • An integrated transit plaza with pick-up and drop-off facilities
  • A greenway path for pedestrians and cyclists to access the station
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However, it seems to be very quiet about the underpass itself for now. If someone can look deeper, please let us know.

Mimico GO Station to be transformed as part of Metrolinx and Vandyk Properties signed agreement​

See link.
Mimico GO Station was built in 1967, the year GO Transit launched. The station, located on the Lakeshore West Line is a critical transit point for residents of south Etobicoke, serving around 1,600 riders daily in 2019. By 2031, ridership is expected to triple.
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There's a group of about 20 kids in my town that bike 3 miles to school every day from their neighborhood. It started during the pandemic and has continued. They've apparently designated "nurses" with bandaids and "mechanics" to help put chains back on.


I'd like to see Bikeshare Toronto make a specific effort to expand the network at secondary and post-secondary schools. It's important to get people into the habit of cycling young, and this would be an amazing way to do that. Discount the service if necessary.

This would also dramatically cut down on the amount of car and School Bus congestion we see in the mornings and evenings.

And as a matter of principal, all schools on dangerous roads (lets say, >30 km/h speeds) really oughta be accessible by separated bike lanes. This would protect kids on bikes and on the sidewalks.
 
Cycle Toronto is running a bike lights giveaway campaign this month. Get Lit stations are happening Tuesdays & Thursdays throughout October - see the full schedule at https://www.cycleto.ca/get-lit-2022. The grand finale is at Yonge & St. Clair, a busy spot along the Midtown Yonge Complete Street pilot area. Yonge4All will be there, talking about the safety & climate benefits of complete streets and collecting signatures on our petition (bit.ly/Yonge4All). We are always happy to welcome new volunteers if anyone wants to help us spread the word! Or feel free to stop by for a free set (or two) of lights. It's always good to have backups...
 
TheTigerMaster said:
There's a group of about 20 kids in my town that bike 3 miles to school every day from their neighborhood. It started during the pandemic and has continued. They've apparently designated "nurses" with bandaids and "mechanics" to help put chains back on.


I'd like to see Bikeshare Toronto make a specific effort to expand the network at secondary and post-secondary schools. It's important to get people into the habit of cycling young, and this would be an amazing way to do that. Discount the service if necessary.

This would also dramatically cut down on the amount of car and School Bus congestion we see in the mornings and evenings.

And as a matter of principal, all schools on dangerous roads (lets say, >30 km/h speeds) really oughta be accessible by separated bike lanes. This would protect kids on bikes and on the sidewalks.
Click to expand...
This is a great idea! Someday I'd love for Bike Share to offer kids' bikes and cargo/family bikes so parents could use Bike Share while carrying a younger child.
 
innsertnamehere said:
eliminating them out in the suburbs makes less sense but I largely agree in the downtown core. Even Hamilton is banning them at a lot of downtown intersections right now. It's so challenging to make a right on a red with downtown pedestrian volumes anyway you may as well ban it.
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I think it becomes confusing when it is only some intersections. I regularly have seen cars turning right on red on my cycling route. I'm at the corner waiting for the light and I look at them and point at the sign and they do it anyway.

Maybe we need a right turn signal that is explicitly red. I think people understand that better... Ideally we could gradually migrate to more best practice signals (near side signals, protected phases, protected intersections with pedestrian refuges where necessary and short cycle times), at least in the more urban areas of the city. It's kind of hard to adopt these things piecemeal as it seems like you need the whole ecosystem to really unlock all the benefits.
 
afransen said:
I think it becomes confusing when it is only some intersections. I regularly have seen cars turning right on red on my cycling route. I'm at the corner waiting for the light and I look at them and point at the sign and they do it anyway.

Maybe we need a right turn signal that is explicitly red. I think people understand that better... Ideally we could gradually migrate to more best practice signals (near side signals, protected phases, protected intersections with pedestrian refuges where necessary and short cycle times), at least in the more urban areas of the city. It's kind of hard to adopt these things piecemeal as it seems like you need the whole ecosystem to really unlock all the benefits.
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I just returned from Montreal where instead of a 5 second 'leading pedestrian indicator' on red like in Toronto where it's an open invitation for cars to speed up on their right turn with no regard for crossing pedestrians, they use a STRAIGHT green arrow (suggesting that turning of any sort is not permitted). It worked brilliantly. Every mode of transport gets to proceed straight without issue, and then after ~10 seconds the light turns from green straight arrow to solid green to allow drivers and cyclists to turn. Wonder if we could try that?
 
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