Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[Admiral Beez]

A dumpster is a bit extreme, but I don't take the position some people here have that a stopped UPS van is "attempted murder"

Park that UPS truck across train tracks and cause a deadly incident and they’ll be criminal charges.. Why are bike lanes different?

Of course the best way to prevent bike lane blockers is to make them physically difficult to block. And that's why bikes lanes should never rely solely on painted lines, nor low curbs like pictured below.

Instead, higher, precast bicycle dividers, like from https://www.sandersonconcrete.ca/high-profile-bike-lane-dividers should be the norm, not the exception. If every sidewalk must have a raised curb, why not bike lanes?

 

[turbanplanner]

I guess I could soften it to being the responsibility of the city, as well as design guide producers/regulators/the province, and the engineering profession responsible for the same. It is not really the fault of the victims, or even of the users of the infra, if injury and death results from predictable use of that infrastructure.

It's intentionally a bit provocative. We need to treat unsafe infrastructure and the resulting deaths and injuries as the fault of the people who are responsible for designing, building and maintaining that infrastructure. That is the attitude that will result in improvements to infrastructure rather than treating predictable outcomes as 'accidents'.

In this case, the city allows contractors to get away with putting bins in cycling lanes, otherwise it would not have occurred.

Again, even if bike lanes are clear 100% of the time, the root cause was a construction truck that was in a hurry and had poor sight lines. Unless we’re going to turn in Tokyo and have crosswalks physically above the intersection, you’ve just shifted the problem down a few hundred meters.

 

[turbanplanner]

Park that UPS truck across train tracks and cause a deadly incident and they’ll be criminal charges.. Why are bike lanes different?

Of course the best way to prevent bike lane blockers is to make them physically difficult to block. And that's why bikes lanes should never rely solely on painted lines, nor low curbs like pictured below.

Instead, higher, precast bicycle dividers, like from https://www.sandersonconcrete.ca/high-profile-bike-lane-dividers should be the norm, not the exception. If every sidewalk must have a raised curb, why not bike lanes?

Are you comparing a train that has hundreds of people and weighs thousands of tons To a bicycle? I think that’s an incredibly extreme hyperbole

 

[DSC]

News Release

July 29, 2024

City of Toronto parking fines to increase on August 1 to support safer roads and reduce congestion

On August 1, the City of Toronto will increase parking fines for 123 offences to help curb illegal parking, stopping and standing in designated areas. Increasing fines can help reduce congestion by discouraging drivers from parking and stopping their vehicles in high-traffic areas and encouraging people to consider other modes of transportation such as walking, cycling or public transit to promote a smoother flow of traffic.

Some examples of the increased and new fines include:

• parking without paying at a parking meter (increase from $30 to $50).

• parking a prohibited vehicle on a bicycle path (increase from $60 to $200).

• non-electric vehicles or electric vehicles parked and not actively charging in an electric vehicle charging stall will be issued a $75 fine.

 

[DSC]

In bike lanes??

Japan cracks down on use of rideable electric suitcases amid tourist boom

Riders of motorised luggage – popular in parts of Asia – require safety equipment and a driver’s licence, according to Japanese law

www.theguardian.com

 

[Admiral Beez]

Are you comparing a train that has hundreds of people and weighs thousands of tons To a bicycle?

Dead is dead. Since the rules for freight trains changed in the early 2000s, most trains have one (or at most two) person on them. Is that operator's life worth more than a cyclist?

How about we all just follow the rules. I don't park my car on the sidewalk or cycle down the DVP.

 

[elcorrerador]

News Release

July 29, 2024

City of Toronto parking fines to increase on August 1 to support safer roads and reduce congestion

On August 1, the City of Toronto will increase parking fines for 123 offences to help curb illegal parking, stopping and standing in designated areas. Increasing fines can help reduce congestion by discouraging drivers from parking and stopping their vehicles in high-traffic areas and encouraging people to consider other modes of transportation such as walking, cycling or public transit to promote a smoother flow of traffic.

Some examples of the increased and new fines include:

• parking without paying at a parking meter (increase from $30 to $50).

• parking a prohibited vehicle on a bicycle path (increase from $60 to $200).

• non-electric vehicles or electric vehicles parked and not actively charging in an electric vehicle charging stall will be issued a $75 fine.

Increased fines are great but I think won't do much unless there's a greater enforcement. I wonder if a citizen led reporting systems would help. Don't need a bounty, just allow citizens to report the infractions. Quick google search says Ausin and NY tried to do this though I'm unsure if it worked. Will dig into it later

 

[turbanplanner]

Dead is dead. Since the rules for freight trains changed in the early 2000s, most trains have one (or at most two) person on them. Is that operator's life worth more than a cyclist?

How about we all just follow the rules. I don't park my car on the sidewalk or cycle down the DVP.

I was assuming you meant a passenger train, the point still stands a train takes MILES to stop.....

Speaking off, I have multiple times ran across bikes on the highway, just last week on the Gardiner most recently. I agree personal responsibility would help but any solution that relies on that will fail. Numerous people here have mentioned the decline and increase danger of commercial drivers. I feel like better enforcement would fix SEVERAL issues on the road!

 

[Northern Light]

Increased fines are great but I think won't do much unless there's a greater enforcement. I wonder if a citizen led reporting systems would help. Don't need a bounty, just allow citizens to report the infractions. Quick google search says Ausin and NY tried to do this though I'm unsure if it worked. Will dig into it later

In respect of construction bins in bike lanes, that is a matter for by-law enforcement rather than parking enforcement (I clarified this with the City).

I think the PEOs are pretty good though adding a couple more, and transferring a couple to focus on bike lanes would be worth considering.

Design wise, you will see more separation over time and and that includes those striped areas at the end of legal parking zones........they will generally become streetscaping.

 

[DSC]

In respect of construction bins in bike lanes, that is a matter for by-law enforcement rather than parking enforcement (I clarified this with the City).

I think the PEOs are pretty good though adding a couple more, and transferring a couple to focus on bike lanes would be worth considering.

Design wise, you will see more separation over time and and that includes those striped areas at the end of legal parking zones........they will generally become streetscaping.

While I agree that bins in bike lanes are an MLS enforcement issue, the TPS parking control officers (PCOs) are on the street constantly and presumably there more than MLS officers. If a PCO sees a by-law issue do they call MLS? Maybe they should!

 

[Admiral Beez]

I wonder if a citizen led reporting systems would help. Don't need a bounty, just allow citizens to report the infractions.

We already allow citizens to report the infractions. https://www.communitybikewaysto.ca/how-to-report-illegal-bikelane-parking-in-toronto

Actually, since there are zero legal reasons for parking in a bike lane, a bounty would work perfectly. It doesn't matter if it's a banker running in for a coffee, a harried parent dropping off the kid at school, handicapped grandad running in for Cialis, Costco delivering a couch, or a shredding truck making a pickup. If you're in a bike lane and you're not an emergency vehicle (on emergency business), you're in the lane illegally and should be fined. So, deputize us all.

 

[DSC]

LOWER DON TRAIL.

One of my neighbours got this response from the City about the LDT

"We appreciate your continued interest in tracking the progress of the improvements that are underway along the Don River trail. We acknowledge that this trail is very popular and that its temporary closure has been inconvenient and disappointing for many.

We are committed to advancing the project as expeditiously as possible. The area of focus where the work is occurring, between the rail corridor and the Don River, is a challenging site due to soil conditions, the density of the network of utilities and its lack of easy access for transportation of materials. We have responded to poor soil conditions discovered in late 2023 with a revised approach. This will result in an extension of project timelines to July 2025.

We will continue to work with the contractor to expedite supply delivery and reopen the trail as soon as it is safe to do so. Please note that it is not appropriate from a public safety perspective to open the trail in an interim condition as it is an active construction site.

Following the July 16th flood there has been a necessary clean up and assessment of impacts. The project website is updated whenever significant progress is made. Our next update is scheduled for early August."

 

[evandyk]

At this point, it's more of a "long term closure" than a "temporary closure".

 

[elcorrerador]

We already allow citizens to report the infractions. https://www.communitybikewaysto.ca/how-to-report-illegal-bikelane-parking-in-toronto

Oh cool. I'll give this a try next time.

 

[Natika33]

Again, even if bike lanes are clear 100% of the time, the root cause was a construction truck that was in a hurry and had poor sight lines. Unless we’re going to turn in Tokyo and have crosswalks physically above the intersection, you’ve just shifted the problem down a few hundred meters.

No, the dump truck didn't swerve into the bike lane, so the root cause was not the dump truck. The cyclist swerved due to a dumpster not the dump truck. We don't know that the dump truck driver didn't see her or was driving too fast as that wasn't discussed on the news.