General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

[reaperexpress]

I don't see "plenty of opportunity" at all. What does short sighted planning have to do with lack of space?

What lack of space? If there's room for 4 car lanes, then by definition there's room for 8 bike lanes. We're only asking for 2, which means that no only is there space for bike lanes, but there's also 3 car-lanes of room left over.

Lots of other streets have been improved by "narrowing" from 4 car lanes to to 2 (Dundas East, Shuter, Harbord, etc) and introducing left turn lanes at intersections. Not only does it free up space for bike lanes, but it also makes car traffic flow smoother and most importantly in the case of College, it moves left-turning cars out of the way of streetcars.

I think the most important forward-thinking planning needs to be in relation to streetcar track reconstruction. The City needs to have a plan in place before the TTC goes to reconstruct track, so we can realign the streetcar tracks to create left turn lanes without delaying the TTC's routine maintenance program.

 

[Admiral Beez]

On a side note, I'm looking for an upright bike with internal hub gears, fenders and good chain guard coverage. Has anyone any experience with Breezer? You have to build it yourself, or find a mechanic.

http://www.commuterbikestore.com/breezer-uptown-8-2016.html

 

[UserNameToronto]

On a side note, I'm looking for an upright bike with internal hub gears, fenders and good chain guard coverage. Has anyone any experience with Breezer? You have to build it yourself, or find a mechanic.

http://www.commuterbikestore.com/breezer-uptown-8-2016.html

Proper used Dutch bikes are like EUR50 in Amsterdam. You could buy a round trip ticket to Schiphol and a bike to send back for less than $740+tax. Just an idea! I can't imagine riding a brand new bike in Toronto.

 

[bilked]

Can you believe this guy?

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toront...-wants-city-to-examine-bicycle-licensing.html

Straight from the "Respect for Taxpayers" wing of council - respecting them like wasting their money debating a proposal that's been rejected three times in the past.

Stephen Holyday is a dinosaur and needs to go.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Can you believe this guy?

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toront...-wants-city-to-examine-bicycle-licensing.html

Straight from the "Respect for Taxpayers" wing of council - respecting them like wasting their money debating a proposal that's been rejected three times in the past.

Stephen Holyday is a dinosaur and needs to go.

I'd totally support licensing and insurance for ebikes. If it's not truly a peddle assist bike, meaning you must be peddling for the motor to run, it's a motorized vehicle

 

[W. K. Lis]

Next, licenses for motorized wheelchairs?

 

[Napoleon]

I don't see "plenty of opportunity" at all. What does short sighted planning have to do with lack of space?

Most of the day there are not actually 4 lanes of car traffic either on College. There are two lanes of car/streetcar traffic and two lanes of parking. The better question is whether two full lanes of parking is really the best use of the limited space on College Street. IMHO, I'd much rather see one or both given over to better cycling infrastructure and a wider sidewalk.

 

[mind_the_gap]

I'd totally support licensing and insurance for ebikes. If it's not truly a peddle assist bike, meaning you must be peddling for the motor to run, it's a motorized vehicle

I fully agree with your point.

A moped is a moped, regardless of whether it runs on gas or electricity. I find it a joke that for the gasoline version you need a motorcycle license to operate it, however, the electric version you need nothing. For e-bikes, under law, if you remove the pedals, it becomes a motorcycle - and how often do you see people using the pedals anyways. And if an e-bike is involved in a collision with a pedestrian, it will do the same damage as a gas moped. It bothers me that e-bikes are classified as bicycles, they're not. And it really pisses me off when I see people riding these things on the sidewalk.

The HTA needs to be amended to include a classification of "moped", and this should include e-bikes and gas mopeds.

Mopeds have been around in Europe for decades, and drivers need to be licensed. For example, in the country I'm from, you can get your moped license at 16, and mopeds have speed limiters that limit them to 40km/h. If you remove this speed limiter, then it's classified as a motorcycle.

It's time Ontario realizes that an e-bike is not a bike. There's a reason they have a spot on the rear to mount a license plate.

 

[44 North]

I fully agree with your point.

A moped is a moped, regardless of whether it runs on gas or electricity. I find it a joke that for the gasoline version you need a motorcycle license to operate it, however, the electric version you need nothing. For e-bikes, under law, if you remove the pedals, it becomes a motorcycle - and how often do you see people using the pedals anyways. And if an e-bike is involved in a collision with a pedestrian, it will do the same damage as a gas moped. It bothers me that e-bikes are classified as bicycles, they're not. And it really pisses me off when I see people riding these things on the sidewalk.

The HTA needs to be amended to include a classification of "moped", and this should include e-bikes and gas mopeds.

Mopeds have been around in Europe for decades, and drivers need to be licensed. For example, in the country I'm from, you can get your moped license at 16, and mopeds have speed limiters that limit them to 40km/h. If you remove this speed limiter, then it's classified as a motorcycle.

It's time Ontario realizes that an e-bike is not a bike. There's a reason they have a spot on the rear to mount a license plate.

Many of them are a menace. On the east side of downtown the situation is getting out of control. We have these braindead folks zipping up along the sidewalk, going the wrong way on the road, crossing intersections on a diagonal through a red, and many times with no lights. I'm now seeing riders letting their kids ride them. Literally, we have children riding adult-sized motorcycles through playgrounds.

And anyone else notice a disproportionate number of e-bike degenerates with a helmet on their heads...but not actually strapped? Perhaps a licensing system is the right approach, but it unfortunately won't fix stupid.

 

[mind_the_gap]

And anyone else notice a disproportionate number of e-bike degenerates with a helmet on their heads...but not actually strapped?

LMFAO! This is hilarious!

I'm just thankful we don't have moped cars in NA like they do in Europe. In my country you could buy one made in the Netherlands for around 16000 euros. It had a similar but smaller body of a Smart car, and a moped motor, again limiting you to 40km/h. A serious toy for the rich kids, before they'd get their license at 18. What a nuisance those things were on the road when I lived there!

 

[Admiral Beez]

Many of them are a menace. On the east side of downtown the situation is getting out of control. We have these braindead folks zipping up along the sidewalk, going the wrong way on the road, crossing intersections on a diagonal through a red, and many times with no lights. I'm now seeing riders letting their kids ride them. Literally, we have children riding adult-sized motorcycles through playgrounds.

And anyone else notice a disproportionate number of e-bike degenerates with a helmet on their heads...but not actually strapped? Perhaps a licensing system is the right approach, but it unfortunately won't fix stupid.

ive seen all that and more in downtown east. I swear the ebike has become the the default transport of the nearly homeless, drunk, and welfare squad.

 

[LNahid2000]

ive seen all that and more in downtown east. I swear the ebike has become the the default transport of the nearly homeless, drunk, and welfare squad.

I like to call them DUIcycles.

 

[andrewpmk]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/...ane-street-and-sheppard-avenue-west-1.3672055

Someone belongs in jail for a long time.

 

[steveintoronto]

Here's the ride eastbound from Finch Station to (almost) Old Cummer GO Station.

Just watching your video now, kudos for this, great so far. I'm at 2 mins in. The law is actually in your favour. You state: "Cycling through a crosswalk is illegal in Ontario". Not if there are lights! Unless changed, there are two conflicting HTA clauses, one of them allowing cycling through marked but indicated with traffic lights.

[(29) No person shall ride a bicycle across a roadway within or along a crosswalk at an intersection or at a location other than an intersection which location is controlled by a traffic control signal system. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 144 (29).]

Double check that's still in the latest revision. I had to set straight some cops who were writing tickets on that a few years back.

Now back to your vid, this is interesting...

Edit to Add: The GO train arriving for your final shots couldn't have been timed any better!

As for the centre-path line, yellow only applies to 'highways' (which also means roads). This isn't. It comes under municipal law. You'll note many bike paths (Waterfront Trail, for instance) used to be marked blue to one side of centre, green the other, to indicate direction.

To mark it yellow would indicate to some idiot driver that it's a roadway! (It's happened, I've seen it...)

Great footage, but very unexciting scenery, save for crossing the Don (which is always wonderful). The spell for me is always shattered when having the Humber, Don or Taylor Creek and other ravine paths blocked by construction, the Humber at the #401 being a real gripe of mine.

Make no mistake though, cycling in that stretch of corridor is *infinitely safer* than on the road, not least because the cyclists you did meet were on the ball. I suspect that stretch will stay sparsely used because of its isolation.

 

[steveintoronto]

I like to call them DUIcycles.

Yeah...I fully admit that it's a good part reactive on my part, but I detest and resent them on cyclepaths. 99% of the time they're slob low-lifes who disrespect themselves, disrespect the protocol of cycling, disobey the laws of the road, and are inevitably in terrible shape.

Did I mention I don't like them?