General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

[Skeezix]

The Wonder Twins (Di Ciano and Campbell) have submitted a motion at this week's Council asking staff to investigate the possibility of allowing new technologies and apps to facilitate the sharing or renting of private driveways and parking spaces. Not a bad idea in and of itself, but the premise of the motion is ridiculous. According to the motion, the 10-year cycling plan and the expansion of Bike Share are somehow significantly reducing the number of on-street parking spaces and adversely impacting local businesses, and therefore the City needs to look at finding alternatives to on-street parking for vehicles ("we must also continue to facilitate the use of the personal vehicle").

The motion is at this link.

 

[PinkLucy]

You mean like this: http://roverparking.com/

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

^^^ That reminds me, I created a thread for Private Parking Sharing some time ago:
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/torontos-parking-system-and-rover-parking-app.23604/
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/torontos-parking-system-and-rover-parking-app.23604/

 

[W. K. Lis]

Replace on-street parking spaces with driveways. We can't "PARK", however we can use the driveway space to drop off or pick up people (unless there is a "NO STANDING" or "NO STOPPING" signs).

If there is a driveway to a parking lot or parking garage, we can still use that space in front of it to drop off or pick-up people.

 

[ADRM]

I encourage you all to express your support of the Bloor bike lanes pilot in this City survey: cityoftoronto.fluidsurveys.com/s/bloor2016/

 

[salsa]

I encourage you all to express your support of the Bloor bike lanes pilot in this City survey: cityoftoronto.fluidsurveys.com/s/bloor2016/

Or preferably, constructive feedback.

 

[ADRM]

Or preferably, constructive feedback.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive.

 

[LNahid2000]

Just did the survey and made sure to note that I found it safer to bike on Bloor before there were bike lanes than I do now, due to the terrible design of these bike lanes.

 

[ADRM]

Just did the survey and made sure to note that I found it safer to bike on Bloor before there were bike lanes than I do now, due to the terrible design of these bike lanes.

I certainly agree that the current design leaves much to be desired, but how is that possibly the case?

 

[LNahid2000]

I certainly agree that the current design leaves much to be desired, but how is that possibly the case?

I had much more room before the bike lanes to react to any potential obstacles (such as dooring, a pedestrian stepping onto the road without looking, a vehicle turning onto Bloor without checking for cyclists). The biggest problem for me using Bloor now is that cars turning onto Bloor don't check for cyclists before entering the street, which makes it very easy to get hit. This wasn't a problem before the bike lanes were put into place since I could just get into the other lane in this situation.

 

[Red October]

I certainly agree that the current design leaves much to be desired, but how is that possibly the case?

No kidding. I see the flaws in the current design but I still feel 1000x more safe now than in mixed traffic before.

 

[UserNameToronto]

No kidding. I see the flaws in the current design but I still feel 1000x more safe now than in mixed traffic before.

If cyclists complain about bike lane pilot projects (no matter how good/bad the design is), then good luck building support for more...

 

[LNahid2000]

If cyclists complain about bike lane pilot projects (no matter how good/bad the design is), then good luck building support for more...

What? Why shouldn't cyclists be able to give constructive feedback about bike lanes that are inherently dangerous? Again, I'd rather have no bike lanes than badly designed ones.

 

[ADRM]

What? Why shouldn't cyclists be able to give constructive feedback about bike lanes that are inherently dangerous? Again, I'd rather have no bike lanes than badly designed ones.

I think the latter half of that statement is where you'd lose a whole bunch of cyclists, though (including this one), and especially the less experienced ones. I always prefer riding with some sort of protection because on College, etc. feel like I'm risking my life every single second of the ride.

There are some serious design flaws with every protected bike lane this city has (which isn't many to begin with), and that's a big issue in itself, and it is worth noting that staff have acknowledged as much with respect to the Bloor pilot. They've been quite clear about that and have said they'd invest in better design if the pilot is approved and the lanes become permanent.

 

[W. K. Lis]

It's a classic snowball situation, bike lanes (even bad ones) lead to more cycling, lead to more (better) bike lanes etc. .

The great thing about Bike Lanes opposed to other infrastructure like tunnels, roads, transit etc. is that it's comparatively cheap to redesign and rebuild them.

...except for the conservatives or suburban councillors on city council.