Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[steveintoronto]

Yes the pics were taken around that time, after the press conference. Traffic volumes were reduced since most commuters arrived to work by then, and most shops still haven't opened for business. I plan to revisit Bloor next week during the afternoon to see how it performs under more challenging conditions.

I was watching some vids of the 'procession', http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bloor-bike-lanes-1.3718197 It was *very* orderly, if not sedate, many children in carriers on bikes. In other words, it was the 'ideal' of circumstances for everything to go right. Plus with all the cameras on them, and the many cops and officials present, anyone prone to misbehave would have been caught for all to see.

For a pilot project, implementing a bi-directional lane would require new traffic signals which would significantly increase the cost (not that I'm against that, but unfortunately I don't have a vote at city hall). You might be right that it's the best solution for the narrow sections of Bloor, but then it would also have to be implemented along the rest of Bloor and Danforth which for the most part are significantly wider. Otherwise cyclists will have to cross the street whenever the lane changes from uni-directional to bi-directional.

That had occurred to me, but as a trade-off for over-all safety, that's got to be the cost. It's ironic you mention that, as Metro Police issued a warning today that they will be out in force ticketing at Queen's Quay, pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Don't have link handy, (edit to add:
Queens Quay crackdown this weekend reminds us of the rules


Redesigned street is popular but ‘you really have to keep your wits about you,’ admits mayor.)
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...own-this-weekend-reminds-us-of-the-rules.html

but there was a news story or two on it. It is a problematic location, and confusing for many, but Montreal makes a much better comparison with that bi-directional pic I reposted from another poster five years back. Your pics are excellent in catching a lot of the dynamics in discussion, they help immensely in portraying proximity of passenger doors to passing bikes.

As for motorists, my experience with using the bi-directional Eglinton West trail is that some drivers are not looking properly before they make a turn at an intersection. Someone who's turning left will always check for oncoming traffic but some forget that cyclists can come from the opposite direction.

It's a very real point! There'll never be a risk free way of doing this, bikes barely mix with bikes, let alone with motorized vehicles, but the present Bloor design if fraught with dangers. People getting hurt is one thing, but as ADRM has made clear, it's far more than that, it's using a *very poor design* to hinge the implementation or not of further bike lanes. If that is the case, then they'd damn well best base it on a rational model. This certainly isn't as is. I think they're going to have to re-visit this much sooner than the "2017" touted.

The bi-directional route with parking the other side of the street would offer far more benefits than detriments though. The only time any pedestrian or vehicle passenger would be in the bike lanes would be to cross the road, and you can't make it totally idiot-proof, but anyone doing that would have a much greater chance of looking and being aware....one would hope!

Every time I look at your pics (some angles are perfect to show these nuances) and then at that Montreal bi-directional one, I see vastly better utilization of road width, let alone safety and inherent flow through-put with the latter.

but then (bi-directional cycle lane) would also have to be implemented along the rest of Bloor and Danforth which for the most part are significantly wider.

I digress! There's absolutely no reason to not use separate east/west lanes *where space permits!* Done right, it's the best way to go. One of the problems of the bi lane is oncoming cyclists unable to judge speed and trajectory, or just plain ignorance, and taking your lane oncoming. It happens all the time on the Lakeshore Trail especially. However, given the choice of dealing with getting doored, or a head-on with a vehicle v. another bike, I'll go for the latter. I think most of us would.

lol..it's the old "would you prefer to be cut by a rusty serrated knife or a broken razor-blade" question.

I'll see if there's any studies on 'best practice' for bike-lanes bi v separated. Toronto actually is one of the Cdn leaders in bike lane studies, I used to quote them extensively when living in Guelph, so many misconceptions were rampant. Nothing like a study from "the big city" to placate little city minds. Sometimes...

 

[amnesiajune]

I have *never* lost a demerit point in my entire professional driving career, and only had one major accident decades back from sixty years of cycling, not my fault. Never had an accident driving and cycling abroad. Anything you'd care to add?

"He had the right of way" doesn't look good on a tombstone. Like I said, people in Toronto - and all people, not just cyclists - need to quit acting like the legal thing to do is the smart thing to do. A taxi is stopped in a bike lane unloading passengers? Well the legal thing to do is to keep riding as if nothing was wrong and risk getting hit by a door, but the smart thing to do is slow down and not risk that. That doesn't absolve the taxi driver, but it doesn't get you hurt and damage your bike either.

 

[steveintoronto]

"He had the right of way" doesn't look good on a tombstone. Like I said, people in Toronto - and all people, not just cyclists - need to quit acting like the legal thing to do is the smart thing to do. A taxi is stopped in a bike lane unloading passengers? Well the legal thing to do is to keep riding as if nothing was wrong and risk getting hit by a door, but the smart thing to do is slow down and not risk that. That doesn't absolve the taxi driver, but it doesn't get you hurt and damage your bike either.

When do you get it? When you're whacked? I took the right turn lane. Cab was straddling the bike lane leading north, stopped in traffic. Cops laid charges, albeit on the passenger, not driver. Do you have any idea of how unusual it was (probably still is) to get a cabby charged in Toronto? It was only because the passenger fully admitted what had happened that she was charged, and I feel sorry for her. Under the Muni By-Laws at that time, in archaic language of the time (gist) "Driver shall entrain and discharge passengers in a safe and legal manner by being in the curb lane when doing so". Same applies to buses, btw, albeit that's covered under Provincial Law, and possibly the Federal Transportation Act.

If a bus lets off passengers suddenly without warning when stopped in an outside lane, and you hit them, is that your fault? The driver is forbidden by law, and common-sense to do that. How about if something falls off the back of a truck into your lane while you're driving? C'mon, tell us all how it's got to be your fault, for driving so fast, because it's all about "You, you, you".

 

[TransitBart]

lol...I'm 67, triple time (chronic) cancer survivor, but being hyperthyroid, and the resultant necessary high dose of thyroxine post thyroidectomy to suppress re-growth, I'd be disqualified from racing. (It was thyroid cancer, a very hot political issue researched by my Endocrinologist, myself, US experts, and written about front page Globe and Mail, Macleans, and about thirty other publications. I lived downstream from a nuclear dump in Port Hope as a child, played in the effluent filled creek, clean-up so far has cost S1.2B and counting, but yes, I'm in phenomenal shape. I ride a fifty year old Reynolds 531 frame renovated by Argos Racing in the UK, major rebuild, three times already, twice by me. Engine losing a little compression around the anal sphincter valve, but hey. I still love beans. And I don't wear silly cycling canary outfits, just well designed gloves, padded liners and shoes. And plain T-Shirts, normal socks and cut-offs. I do distance, 150 km in 6 1/2 hours last year, {with stops and wrong turns} little slower this year, just doing 100 km jaunts, and stopping to see the sights).

I've lived and cycled in a number of countries and cities, haven't been to Holland or Denmark, but certainly in France cycling is catered to and encouraged. And *respected*! (My next younger brother was a horticulturist in the Dordogne Region.) It is and has been in California too, excellent cycle lanes in San Diego, some with traffic light sensors built into the asphalt to change the lights in your favour. Coastal highway been turned over to cyclists south from LA. Highways with few exceptions are paralleled with cycleways. I know what good cycling infrastructure is, and how to use it. I also spent many years in the UK, including in the music industry in London.

You make some good points, but your perception of my intents and observations is way-off. Cycling isn't a product of my being young, it's *what's keeping me young!*

I'm off to view the Bloor experiment again to spend some time and watch behaviour. More observations later.

I was off on age, but hat's off to you because you are stil full of piss 'n vinegar! Cheers!

 

[steveintoronto]

I was off on age, but hat's off to you because you are stil full of piss 'n vinegar! Cheers!

Compliment accepted. If you don't use it, you lose it. I must admit to be a fair-weather cyclist though. Cdn winters are hell for me. First winter I spent in San Diego, I felt guilty at first. Got over it pretty fast though...lol. Even in London though, every other day when not working, or after work, could hop on the System with my Oyster Card (flat rate monthly pass) and be out in cycling country. You had to bundle up, but things were still green.

The ones who really deserve kudos are those who cycle here all winter. Is it brave, or just crazy? I tried it one winter when I had a studio down off of Cherry St on Polson in the docks. Destroyed the bike. No such thing as "winter-proofing", the salt seeps into the bearings and inside the frame, into cables, everywhere. Use a junker if you do it. I take transit in the winter...and live to talk about my Summer exploits.

Now for something completely different:

First Bloor, then Yonge: Toronto cyclists eye Yonge Street as next bike lane battleground
Studies are underway in Toronto and York Region examining the potential for bike lanes on Canada's longest street.

By: Luke Simcoe Metro Published on Tue Aug 09 2016
With the bike lanes on Bloor nearing completion, cyclists have turned their attention to Yonge Street as the next battleground for bike infrastructure in Toronto.

Studies looking at installing separated bike lanes on Yonge from the waterfront to Bloor and Highway 401 to Steeles Avenue have started, and cycling advocates are pushing to turn them into a reality.

To better understand what Toronto’s longest road is like for cyclists right now, cyclist and bike blogger Robert Zaichkowski rode 18 kilometres from Queen’s Quay to Steeles last month.

He spoke to Metro about what he learned along the way.

1. Queen’s Quay to Front Street

This short stretch of Yonge is the only part of the road with bike lanes. However, Zaichkowski said a taxi stand outside 1 Yonge St. puts cyclists into “the door zone.” He’d like to see the existing lanes get some separation and suggested the taxi stand could be shifted to the left of the lane.

2. Front Street to Davenport Road

Less than 13 metres wide, this stretch of Yonge is fairly narrow. “I found I had to take the lane a lot, and I know a lot of cyclists aren’t comfortable doing that because they’ll be honked at,” Zaichkowski said. An environmental assessment launched last month includes reducing Yonge from four lanes to two and installing protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks to handle pedestrian congestion.

3. Davenport Road to Highway 401

There’s little support for bicycle lanes along this portion of Yonge. Zaichkowski says streets here become even narrower meaning it would be “a tough sell” to add cycle tracks without reducing the number of car lanes.

4. Heath Street to York Mills

At this point, Yonge Street widens and on-street parking begins, which can be dicey for cyclists worried about doorings. As the case of Bloor Street shows, Zaichkowski said bicycle lanes could be added to this stretch while still maintaining parking.

5. York Mills to Steeles Avenue

North of York Mills, Yonge begins to resemble an urban freeway, with six lanes of traffic. During his ride, Zaichkowski said he was passed frequently by cars exceeding the 60 km/h speed limit, creating a “nightmare situation” for cyclists. However, there are consultations underway about reducing the lanes to four and installing more cyclist and pedestrian infrastructure. “There’s no real need for six lanes up there,” Zaichkowski said.

6. Into York Region

York Region is planning to install protected bike lanes on large parts of Yonge Street by 2026. Despite the challenges, Zaichkowski hopes Toronto will step up and connect those lanes to those being proposed on Yonge, south of Davenport. “Wouldn’t it be great to have inter-city bike lanes?” he said.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toront...e-yonge-street-as-bike-lane-battleground.html

Can't say that it makes that much sense to me, I'd rather the costs be put onto Bayview or some other parallel route. Bloor is different, in that there isn't a full length parallel.

 

[ADRM]

Compliment accepted. If you don't use it, you lose it. I must admit to be a fair-weather cyclist though. Cdn winters are hell for me. First winter I spent in San Diego, I felt guilty at first. Got over it pretty fast though...lol. Even in London though, every other day when not working, or after work, could hop on the System with my Oyster Card (flat rate monthly pass) and be out in cycling country. You had to bundle up, but things were still green.

The ones who really deserve kudos are those who cycle here all winter. Is it brave, or just crazy? I tried it one winter when I had a studio down off of Cherry St on Polson in the docks. Destroyed the bike. No such thing as "winter-proofing", the salt seeps into the bearings and inside the frame, into cables, everywhere. Use a junker if you do it. I take transit in the winter...and live to talk about my Summer exploits.

We had, like, four days of snow covered streets last winter. It doesn't take a very hearty soul to withstand that.

 

[W. K. Lis]

 

[steveintoronto]

We had, like, four days of snow covered streets last winter. It doesn't take a very hearty soul to withstand that.

True, but black ice, salt and other factors conspire to debase the experience for me. I like it hot, loved it in the desert. That salt film stays on the road until Spring downpours wash it away. That means riding a junker. If you can't fly, what's the point? If I'm stuck to get around, I'll use a junker, but otherwise, just take a bus. Not to mention that I use traps, not cleats, and getting 'sensible' shoes or boots into traps is impossible, at least on the machines I love to ride.

Who else benefits from the Dutch cycling infrastructure?

They've really got it figured out. I started lamenting on the back lanes in the UK, then erased it....

We could learn so much in *implementing* bike lanes, let alone societally adapting to their mindset. Just as an aside, Dutch males are determined to be, on average, the tallest in the world. Could it be...?

Lis: Here's one back at you. I watched this six months or so back, it boggled me then as to how Indianapolis, even on *hard times* compared to Toronto (This is the rust belt!) and a much smaller city, could have this kind of progressive thinking manifest:

Indiana as a state has a Republican super-majority, both houses, albeit Indianapolis is a Democrat city. Doubtless, they got Fed funding to help with this, but still...climate is almost identical to ours, and yet this kind of thinking thrives. Look how much pedestrian space is downtown in the vid. They care about their city.

 

[ADRM]

True, but black ice, salt and other factors conspire to debase the experience for me. I like it hot, loved it in the desert. That salt film stays on the road until Spring downpours wash it away. That means riding a junker. If you can't fly, what's the point? If I'm stuck to get around, I'll use a junker, but otherwise, just take a bus. Not to mention that I use traps, not cleats, and getting 'sensible' shoes or boots into traps is impossible, at least on the machines I love to ride.

I ride my normal bike wearing normal clothes at normal speeds in the winter in Toronto and it's fine.

And I am, I assure you, in no way hardcore.

 

[steveintoronto]

I ride my normal bike wearing normal clothes at normal speeds in the winter in Toronto and it's fine.

And I am, I assure you, in no way hardcore.

Kudos to you, persons like yourself put the adage "no-one cycles in the winter in Canada" to shame. It's just not the same for me. Some slim shoes I can get into the traps, but I ride slicks (tires), not even good in the wet on asphalt. My down time is only about three months, as you're right, 'deep' Winter is only about three months, late December to March, and then it's just grey for the other three...

It's depressing just thinking about it...

 

[TransitBart]

No, this is not an issue of the perfect being the enemy of the good. The stakes are much higher. The Mayor has quite clearly said that this pilot is essentially a test for his support of protected cycle infrastructure on busy streets anywhere else in the city.

Combine that with the fact that there is no consensus on measurement or success criteria (which means the data is subject to extreme manipulation and misuse), and the perceived outcome of this pilot could literally mean life or death for the evolution of adequate cycle infrastructure in this city for a long time.

Similarly, the "current excitement around cycling", or at least how I'm interpreting the intimation, is a gross mischaracterization of how and why people cycle and longitudinal usage trends.

Very simply, the success such as it be of the test such as it be, will be whether the good citizens of the city are not in open war with each other over sharing the inadequate street geography for all the modern uses. And whether there is sufficient consensus in the masses for the politicians to push this along. And whether we all got where we are going on time or whether some people (commuters) never found a new routine which leads to permanent unrest.

The designers of Toronto 100 years back did not leave a lot of space for all the stuff that seems to be a part of modern life. Pedestrians, mail boxes, paper boxes, transit shelters, hydrants, garbage and recycling bins, bike storage, and trees and planters on the sidewalks. (Aside, Man those new bike share stations take up a lot of space!) Add parking, bike lanes, bus and streetcar ROW and the whole thing is very tight.

The "war" here is over space. The city could do a great deal to mitigate the war by putting a significant part of the infrastructure underground. Oh wait, those are called subways. (Another thread...discussion...)

And whether it's cars or the honkin' bike storage picture from Holland that we keep seeing, parking space is a real need. I suppose we could task Green P with ensuring adequate bike storage in some quarters where every vertical post and them some is already occupied.

In the end, my own view is that bad governance and shocking lack of vision from city hall, home of the fourth largest municipal government on the continent created this. Had the proper underground heavy rail subway infrastructure been built over the past thirty years, the need to reclaim space on arterial roads would not be the competition it us now.

Some threads here debate how we can afford subways. Personally I can't see how we can't. There is not enough space left on the surface to accomplish the transit and "public realm improvements" which are high on Toronto's want list.

Next battleground. Yonge. But it's really intimately connected to the Relief Line. Ok. Brick it up. I like pretty walkways and cafes as much as the next bloke. I enjoy them. Some are great places to bike and poke around. But having removed that as a transit option, what remains? Problem solved. There is a fabulous subways already built right underneath. Great. Oh wait. The thing is bursting at the seams. If the Relief Line and other improvements were in place, then the commuters and travellers displaced by cycling infrastructure, would have options. It is not displacing them that creates the "war", but rather displacing them to inadequate (or frankly zero) alternatives that match their health and lifestyle. Those are in short supply today.

 

[steveintoronto]

Had just started Googling to find definitive reference for bike lane markings, didn't find the ones I was looking for this try, but did find this, City of Toronto's own website on it, but unfortunately they don't mention provincial legal requirements, let alone guidelines, but there is some interesting information.

This intrigues me, has anyone seen any of these? I might have and disregarded them as 'noise' on the asphalt, guide marks for laying down the lines (the line work on the Bloor 'experiment' is pathetically done in many ways, not the least the legibility and consistency):

Bicycle Actuated Signals

More than half of the existing signals in Toronto are semi-actuated. At a semi-actuated signal, the display does not automatically alternate between green indications on the main street and the cross street. Instead, the signals will remain green on the main street until a vehicle arrives at the cross street or a pedestrian pushes a button to cross the main street. The presence of a vehicle is detected on the cross street by a detector loop embedded in the pavement. The majority of the detectors are not set at a sensitivity level to detect the presence of a bicycle. This forces the bicyclist to either wait for a motor vehicle to arrive in order to actuate the detector, or to dismount and press the pedestrian push button.

Bicycle Dots at Semi-Actuated Traffic Control Signals
Since 1995, the City has adjusted the sensitivity of detectors at all new semi-actuated intersections to detect bicycles. Three small white dots, approximately 200 mm in diameter, are applied to the roadway to inform cyclists where to place their bicycle to be detected by the sensor loop.

The City is exploring other means of vehicle detection other than loops and has installed video detection at 29 intersections. Our intent is to replace existing detection loops with video detection when existing loops require replacement due to road/utility construction or normal maintenance.

If a semi-actuated signal is not cycling for bicyclists or equipped with the white dots, you can call 311; a service request will be created to have the detectors reviewed or dots installed.

http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/c...nnel=a983970aa08c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Here's the site url:
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=a983970aa08c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Here's a pic from the site linked on what really concerns me with the Bloor markings, as this is how it should be:

No further detail on it at this site, but a link takes one to this site:

Where the white
line is dashed,
motor vehicles
may merge into
the bicycle lane
to make a right
hand turn

http://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toronto/Transportation Services/Cycling/Article/Understanding_bike_lanes_FINALweb.pdf

That's a pdf, and my pdf reader doesn't have the ability to copy pics, just text. That text occurs on page 2 top right hand corner. If someone can copy the pic apart from the whole page, please do so and display here for discussion, it's the crux of much of what is wrong with the present Bloor markings.

Tried uploading the file, it's too large.

Edit to Add: I had no idea that the Sharrows indicate to use the full lane:

If a street is narrow, a “use-full-lane”
sharrows are painted in the centre
of the lane, directing road users to
travel single file.

That's quoted from a link above, but Google search shows it to occur here:
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=fe2f0995bbbc1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

Bit of a problem with that, however:

New study finds that sharrows don't do anything for cycling safety


Lloyd Alter (@lloydalter)
Transportation / Bikes
January 18, 2016

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© Martin Reis
They are all over the streets where I live, in Toronto, where the City says "these pavement markings are an excellent way of encouraging cyclists and motorists to share the road safely." Or not. Angie Schmitt of Streetsblog calls them " dregs of bike infrastructure — the scraps cities hand out when they can’t muster the will to implement exclusive space for bicycling." She also points to a new study that shows that they don't do much of anything.

A study by University of Colorado Denver researchers Nick Ferenchak and Wesley Marshall examined safety outcomes for areas in Chicago that received bike lanes, sharrows, and no bicycling street treatments at all. The results suggest that bike lanes encourage more people to bike and make biking safer, while sharrows don’t do much of either. They found that bike commute rates more than doubled in areas with new bike lanes, compared to a 27 percent increase in areas with new sharrows and a 43 percent increase in areas where nothing changed.
Furthermore, where bike lanes were installed, injuries decreased 42 percent; in the sharrows vs areas with no changes, the difference was not statistically significant. Angie notes that in the Netherlands, sharrows are sometimes used when roads are shared, but only on streets with a maximum speed of 30 Km/hr (20 MPH)- "mixing modes with higher speeds is deemed too unsafe and thus unethical." She quotes bike engineer Dick Van Deen:

So are sharrows bad? Not always. Using sharrows to accentuate the position of cyclists on the road can be recommendable, especially when the main culture is still car dominated. But using sharrows on a wide, high-speed route is not advisable. It is not making anything safer or easier. So if you use sharrows, be sure to include a road diet, lower the speed limit and make overtaking difficult. Than you create a bike space where car drivers must learn to behave like guests.

The way I have seen sharrows used, and the way they are explained in this video, they seem to me little more than a waste of good paint.

Related on TreeHugger.com:

• Why does bicycling explode on streets with two-way bike lanes? And should this type of bike lane be avoided?
• 1 mile of a protected bike lane is 100x cheaper than 1 mile of roadway (Chart)
• Life in the Fedex Lane, or is it the beer truck lane, or maybe the police car lane. It's rarely a bike lane (Video)

• http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/new-study-finds-sharrows-dont-do-anything-cycling-safety.html

 

[W. K. Lis]

The city is updating the setback bylaws to locate new tall buildings further away from the edge of the roadway. Unfortunately, that'll mean it will take many decades to show up on whole blocks.

In the meantime, we should make use of locations that already have that wider setback to include designs for bike paths/lanes. Even if for only a few metres or so.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The suburbs could be more bicycle oriented if they could fill in some gaps. Like a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Humber River from Sheppard Avenue West & Weston Road over to Albion Road & Elmhurst Drive.

Using this video as an example to follow.

 

[steveintoronto]

The suburbs could be more bicycle oriented if they could fill in some gaps. Like a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Humber River from Sheppard Avenue West & Weston Road over to Albion Road & Elmhurst Drive.

Indeed, there's a lot of 'loose strips' that could and should be strung together, some even making a continuous ribbon in from the east (Rouge Hill) to the Taylor Creek trail. One can do it now (I often use it when cycling back into town from distance when the engine is still hungry, and the GO schedule doesn't co-operate). It does involve some on-street (St Clair and Bellamy, for instance, for short stretches) but Bellamy is fine as is, St Clair could have marked lanes to accommodate where needed, but as you suggest, bridges in spots could also make a lot of disparate segments far more connected and usable. Much of the route I describe is through parks with cycle lanes, a cemetery where respect is necessary, but they provide an excellent paved path, some fields, where there are extant dirt tracks, and the Victoria Park Station walkway, a short stretch up Vic Park, then established bike lanes all the way in. We need a "Guerrilla's Guide to Cross-Towning" to be published.
-----------------
Finally got a chance to take a third run along the Bloor St shooting gallery, a couple of observations now fully crystallized:

The northern (western) lane is far safer, faster and more predictable than the south, buffered one. "Safer" in a relative sense. It continues to be very dangerous relative to other cycle lanes in the city. Christie especially is going to have some very nasty incidents. Saw another very close one today. I saw it coming, because my sixth sense tingles whenever I'm close to there. The cyclist is lucky to have skidded to a stop before impact, the car didn't even stop, just went right across, no signal, barely slowed for the turn. The City is at least partially responsible. Here's an idea City Hall: Get a consultant qualified engineer to review your work before someone is maimed, mutilated or killed.

Parking on the buffer zone: I'm noticing a trend, and it's a well recognized one. It pertains to broken windows (fix them before others copy the breaking, ditto tagging), cyclists, motorists and pedestrians with red lights (one does it, then many more copy them, classic mob mentality), and many other copy-cat behaviours. You'll notice orderly parking, on the outer white line (where the inside wheel was intended to abut) in groups, and disorderly parking, where many to most or parked erratically on cycle line, not the outside buffer line. I saw one cyclist almost doored from passenger exit. This is one of the reasons the northern side is safer, first, no parked cars, and secondly, in the event of an incident in the lane, one can swerve (look whenever you can before doing it) into the vehicle lane. Ditto for passing.

Bunching: The slowest cyclist can be very slow. Usually the most unpredictable too, unsteady and not looking, albeit very few cyclists look behind before direction change. This can't be addressed with the space available and the present parking model. The solution is a bi-directional twin path one side of the road, and parking on the other side. The opportunity to pass is presented by gaps in the oncoming lane.

Lack of enforcement: I've yet to see even *one* cop or parking control in three complete tours, out and return on the lanes. Illegal stopping and parking is rampant. Not only do they partially block lanes, they block sight-lines. I looked down the side-streets when passing them. Almost all had space to park on. These are lazy, inconsiderate motorists who will only respond to one impetus: Fines and/or being towed.

And of course, albeit not as many today, but cyclists jumping red lights. They don't even look in most cases. Very few cyclists indicate turns, and not one today even looked behind at any time before directional change. It does not bode well.

Edit to Add: Just starting to watch Lis' link on Copenhagen, and it and the Dutch ones completely dispel the comment from one of the aggravate posts yesterday as per (gist) "I bet you insist on going really fast too, blah, blah, blah...". Pretty rich coming from a probably fat driver speeding who plays the stereotype game, but none-the-less, the Danes and Dutch go at a *comfortable but sustained speed*. These are intent commuters, and they do it like a choreographed dance. It's wonderful to watch! Oh man, and I'm *so* in envy. Mind you, on average, they are in far better shape than the average Cdn, now close to the obesity levels of the US, UK and Germany, albeit at least the Germans are taking serious action addressing it.

Quick observation on the Danish bridge vid: The "Cycle Serpent". Note, for any readers of an engineering/design background, how minimal the supports are for that structure, basically twinned poles at intervals....normally a far too flimsy and unstable approach, but the beauty of the ride and the structure is in the alternating curves. It makes the structure vastly more stable by bracing in a horizontal plane. So much of what is being built here in Toronto (e.g: the Toronto West path extension) is overbuilt and expensive because of it.

We have so much to learn...