Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[steveintoronto]

So as a cyclist I'm not allowed to make a left turn onto many streets that intersect Bloor then? Should I just use the general traffic lane and have motorists honk at me instead? Or am I supposed to make a dangerous u-turn when the lines become dashed? What about when a car parks in the bike lane? Am I not allowed to cross the solid line either?

It's a legal conundrum, exactly my point.

As the HTA now stands, you must *attain the lane nearest to the direction of your turn* before turning. (Edit: There is an exception to this for some multi-lane intersections, but they are marked with dashed lines and signed as such) That applies to motorists, it applies to cyclists. In the event, to be safe, at intersections with lights, (and I often do this to be safe, I make up the time on the straightaway), cycle on the right through the intersection to the other side, wait for lights to change in your favour, and then remain on the right to cycle on the street onto which you are turning. That's described in detail in the Ontario cycling handbook.

I had a cop try and tell me that's illegal in Guelph two years back. Oh boy...the cop shop got a series of emls from me on the matter. Never heard back...Many cops don't even know the law on a number of HTA aspects that pertain to cycling.

 

[steveintoronto]

So as a cyclist I'm not allowed to make a left turn onto many streets that intersect Bloor then? Should I just use the general traffic lane and have motorists honk at me instead? Or am I supposed to make a dangerous u-turn when the lines become dashed? What about when a car parks in the bike lane? Am I not allowed to cross the solid line either?

Here's an idea: Why don't you educate yourself on the matter? You're pretty damn quick to hurl insults at me for my observations, now you want me to explain the law to you. I've already posted on the subject, but here's what the Power of Google reveals:

City

What exactly are the rules of the bike lane in Toronto?
Posted by Chris Bateman / June 10, 2014

122 Comments

The rules of the Toronto bike lane are, let's face it, unclear. Judging from a recent helmet cam video circulated on YouTube, most cyclists don't know which vehicles are legally allowed to be stopped or parked in the bike lane. Contrary to popular belief, even dedicated bike lanes aren't off-limits to all motorized vehicles.

The lack of clearly posted rules is coupled with a dearth of visible enforcement--fines range from $60 to $150 for most bike lane infractions, but the biggest scofflaws--delivery van drivers and moving companies, judging from angry tweets--seem able to dodge enforcement officers with relative ease, increasing the sense of frustration from cyclists.

Coming straight from the City of Toronto bylaw, here are the rules of the Toronto bike lane. Note that the rules differ slightly for painted and separated bike lanes, like on Sherbourne and Wellesley.

WHO CAN BLOCK PAINTED BIKE LANES?

Only bicycles and e-bikes are permitted to use on-street, painted cycle lanes in Toronto, except for in a few unusual circumstances. Ambulances, police or fire service vehicles, or any other vehicles actively engaged in responding to an emergency, are exempt from parking, driving, and operating rules, so are active city, TTC, and public utility -- water, hydro, sewer maintenance -- vehicles. Everyone else has to stay out.

At the approach to intersections, turning vehicles are permitted to move over and occupy the bike lane.

WHO CAN STOP IN PAINTED BIKE LANES?

Vehicles loading or unloading a person with a disability, school buses picking up or dropping off kids, and, yes, taxis collecting or depositing passengers are all allowed to stop in the bike lane. No vehicles are permitted to drive for more than 45 metres in a bicycle-only part of the street marked with paint, however.

WHO CAN BLOCK SEPARATED BIKE TRACKS?

Only pedal-powered bicycles are permitted to use separated bike lanes. Wheel-Trans vehicles operated or licensed by the TTC are allowed to use the track area for loading and unloading passengers. Emergency response vehicles, City of Toronto vehicles, or vehicles parked as part of public utility work are similarly exempt from the rules.

WHO CAN STOP IN SEPARATED BIKE TRACKS?

No vehicle (except the ones listed above) is allowed to stop in a separated bike lane. Not taxis, not delivery vehicles, not moving vans. In fact, the only time a vehicle is allowed to pass through a separated lane is when the driver is accessing a driveway, parking lot, laneway, or side street.

TRANSIT STOPS

On Sherbourne and Roncesvalles, the bike lane cuts directly in front of several TTC stops. When a bus or streetcar is waiting with its doors open, cyclists must wait at least two metres back from the rear doors and allow passengers to enter or exit.

FINES

Any person operating an unauthorized vehicle in the bike lane, contrary to the rules set out in the city bylaw, is subject to a fine of $150.00. Illegally parking or stopping in a bike lane or separated lane also attracts a fine of $150.00.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Photo by Xander Labayen in the blogTO Flickr pool



Discussion
122 Comments
[...]

http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/06/what_exactly_are_the_rules_of_the_bike_lane_in_toronto/

IV. Pavement markings

Pavement markings combine with road signs and traffic lights to give you important information about the direction of traffic and where you may and may not travel. Pavement markings divide traffic lanes, show turning lanes, mark pedestrian crossings, indicate obstacles and tell you when it is not safe to pass.
Yellow lines separate traffic travelling in opposite directions. White lines separate traffic travelling in the same direction.

Diagram 3-1
A solid line at the left of your lane means it is unsafe to pass. ('A' should not pass.)

Diagram 3-2
A broken line at the left of your lane means you may pass if the way is clear. ('A' may pass if there are enough broken lines ahead to complete the pass safely.)

Diagram 3-3
Broken lines that are wider and closer together than regular broken lines are called continuity lines. When you see continuity lines on your left side, it generally means the lane you are in is ending or exiting and that you must change lanes if you want to continue in your current direction. Continuity lines on your right mean your lane will continue unaffected.

Diagram 3-4
A stop line is a single white line painted across the road at an intersection. It shows where you must stop. If there is no stop line marked on the road, stop at the crosswalk, marked or not. If there is no crosswalk, stop at the edge of the sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk, stop at the edge of the intersection.

Diagram 3-5
A crosswalk is marked by two parallel white lines painted across the road. However, crosswalks at intersections are not always marked. If there is no stop line, stop at the crosswalk. If there is no crosswalk, stop at the edge of the sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk, stop at the edge of the intersection.

Diagram 3-6
A white arrow painted on a lane means you may move only in the direction of the arrow.

Diagram 3-7
A pedestrian crossover is marked by two white double parallel lines across the road with an X in each lane approaching it, and overhead yellow lights. Stop before the line and yield to pedestrians.

Diagram 3-8
Two solid lines painted on the pavement guide traffic away from fixed objects such as bridge piers or concrete islands. Yellow and black markings are also painted on the objects themselves as warnings.

Diagram 3-9

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/section3.4.0.shtml

Note! The HTA is the *LAW*...whatever Toronto prescribes is *BY-LAW*, and subsidiary to the HTA.

 

[Northern Light]

If only we could get rid of on street parking.

If we could persuade the powers that be to mandate Green P to charge market rates, utilization would go down, and the cost-effectiveness of building off-street where demand warrants, would go up.

On-street parking rates are well below market in Toronto. In Chicago the top rate is $6.50 per hour, Toronto is $4.

Rates are also higher in Vancouver and Calgary.

A similar move here would help shift the political winds on ultimately removing some street parking.

***

Same issue applies to permit parking, with rates as low as .50c per day, when a private spot in many of those same communities would run you at least triple that (based on monthly rates), and perhaps as much as eight times.

***

Green P also runs its parking lots at artificially low rates as well, using a pricing formula that roughly amounts to 75 % of market value.

 

[LNahid2000]

Here's an idea: Why don't you educate yourself on the matter? You're pretty damn quick to hurl insults at me for my observations, now you want me to explain the law to you. I've already posted on the subject, but here's what the Power of Google reveals:

I already mentioned that I read the City of Toronto documentation and it says nothing about crossing the solid white line. And I'm not the only one hurling insults:

And that's all about my ego? C'mon, you're a feakin' loser who not only doesn't know the rules of the road, you're blind to those that do.

 

[steveintoronto]

I already mentioned that I read the City of Toronto documentation and it says nothing about crossing the solid white line.

That's because it's nothing to do with the City. It's the HTA. You truly do lack understanding the Law.

And I'm not the only one hurling insults:

I regret having to resort to losing my temper with you, but you made insufferable reference to my observations of many cyclists disregarding the Law and Common Sense as being all about "my ego" and "a holier-than-thou attitude".

Thank you for displaying yet again what little understanding you have of the need to follow not just the Law (which can be bent with common sense, something a lot of cyclists don't use) but *protocol* like having a sense of safety for other cyclists, let alone pedestrians.

 

[LNahid2000]

That's because it's nothing to do with the City. It's the HTA. You truly do lack understanding the Law.

I only mentioned that because your last post quoted the City of Toronto and said nothing about the HTA. You later edited your post to add the HTA information. I never said I'd ONLY read the City of Toronto information. Of course, you go on to assume that I know nothing as usual. Anyway, my point was that it's pretty much impossible to follow the HTA on the Bloor bike lanes, and in many other situations as well.

 

[steveintoronto]

If we could persuade the powers that be to mandate Green P to charge market rates, utilization would go down, and the cost-effectiveness of building off-street where demand warrants, would go up.

On-street parking rates are well below market in Toronto. In Chicago the top rate is $6.50 per hour, Toronto is $4.

Rates are also higher in Vancouver and Calgary.

A similar move here would help shift the political winds on ultimately removing some street parking.

***

Same issue applies to permit parking, with rates as low as .50c per day, when a private spot in many of those same communities would run you at least triple that (based on monthly rates), and perhaps as much as eight times.

***

Green P also runs its parking lots at artificially low rates as well, using a pricing formula that roughly amounts to 75 % of market value.

We're stuck with what we have, unfortunately. Even with *free parking* along the side-streets adjacent to where the parking infractions are on Bloor, drivers still do it. The absolute worst, in law and common sense, is double parking with an empty spot adjacent right in front or behind them. The only thing to address that is more enforcement. And we're yet to see any enforcement of the Bloor cycle lanes.

Another answer, if they insist on parking, is one-way, but that's something we discussed here last week. Yet another compromise to making this work, some compromises are worse than others.

Reaper had an excellent point though a few posts back, and as much as there might be quibble with his detail, I think the gist is what is going to have to happen: The present painted markings are going to have to be rejigged, and soon! What is not sustainable in any form is getting doored by passenger doors swinging into the parking side cycle lanes.

 

[Northern Light]

I rode the Bloor lanes a few times this week, and the general premise is really good, but I found two main issues.

1. The parking lane is not wide enough for a car to park in. As a result, where there are no bollards, drivers park into the buffer and consequently their doors can infringe on the bike lane. Even where there are bollards they still park a bit beyond the demarcated parking space.

2. West of Spadina, the bike lanes are also way too narrow for overtaking, which results in queues building up behind slower riders until intersections where people overtake using the absence of bollards in the buffer zone. It seems to me that that's the least safe place to be overtaking since there's other stuff to be watching out for.

Both of these issues would be resolved by a simple change: eliminate the buffer and bollards on the side of the street without parking, and reallocate the freed-up space to the bike lane and parking lane on the other side of the street. The side of the street without parking would now have the opportunity to overtake in any gap in traffic and the loss of separation isn't really a comfort issue since traffic on Bloor tends to move slowly anyway. Meanwhile, the side with parking would be wide enough for overtaking within the protected lane, and there would be less risk of car doors infringing into

Current (estimated dimensions)
View attachment 84053

My proposal:
View attachment 84052

Good proposal, I might suggest a further alternative; non-curb driving lanes are often scaled to 3.0M, rather than 3.2 (or.3) for a curb lane.

Extra large curb lanes have to do w/not having cars run over the drains or in the drink during/after heavy rain. As both of these are a non-issue in this configuration (where bike lanes abut the curbs) why
not scale out .4 M from the drive lanes?

That space could then be added to the narrower bike lane and/or to restore a buffer adjacent same.

 

[steveintoronto]

Good proposal, I might suggest a further alternative; non-curb driving lanes are often scaled to 3.0M, rather than 3.2 (or.3) for a curb lane.

Extra large curb lanes have to do w/not having cars run over the drains or in the drink during/after heavy rain. As both of these are a non-issue in this configuration (where bike lanes abut the curbs) why not scale out .4 M from the drive lanes?

That space could then be added to the narrower bike lane and/or to restore a buffer adjacent same.

This is exactly the line of discussion needed to address many of the present safety conundrums. I thought much the same cycling there yesterday, when with the 'Open Streets' event, there was time to loiter in sections to get an idea of what would work, and what wouldn't. I also considered your suggestion, for *almost all cars and p/u trucks* the lanes are more than wide enough. Where it might be problematic is with delivery trucks. As cyclists, we already know that even when parked against the curb legally, trucks often leave no spare space in their lane to pass.

There might be ways to address that, suggestions? (Again, compliance with the HTA might confound some obvious and reasonable compromises).

One thought I've had from reading through the Ontario and other HTAs (US included, Ontario is remiss in fully defining solid white line markings) is the the use of *double solid white lines*, again, Ontario allows exceptions others don't but it is far more restrictive than just a single white line for protecting the cycle lanes from incursion. The deterrence though, remains contingent on *enforcement*, as many drivers appear oblivious as to the meaning of the pavement markings. Curbs might still be the only way to safeguard the width of the parking side bike lanes, or solid, rather than bendable, bollards, allowing cyclists a safety diversion if a pedestrian or egressing passenger suddenly blocks the lane.

Edit to Add: " Curbs might still be the only way to safeguard the width of the parking side bike lanes". This is done, or at least used to be done in parks, delineating the cycle lane from vehicular traffic when cycle routes shared the entrance roads to parks. The Humber and Lakeshore paths immediately come to mind, although I can't remember seeing them recently.

What I'm alluding to is the *precedent* already established in Toronto to protect cycle lanes/tracks from incursion by motorized vehicles. Council's sensitivities are (apparently) not to blaze much new ground with this project, so existing precedents should be much easier for them to apply. The parking side, and non-parking side, as nuanced by Northern and others, present a different requirement to affect safety.

 

[steveintoronto]

Northern Light said: ↑

Good proposal, I might suggest a further alternative; non-curb driving lanes are often scaled to 3.0M, rather than 3.2 (or.3) for a curb lane.

Extra large curb lanes have to do w/not having cars run over the drains or in the drink during/after heavy rain. As both of these are a non-issue in this configuration (where bike lanes abut the curbs) why not scale out .4 M from the drive lanes?

That space could then be added to the narrower bike lane and/or to restore a buffer adjacent same.

I replied:

...for *almost all cars and p/u trucks* the lanes are more than wide enough. Where it might be problematic is with delivery trucks. As cyclists, we already know that even when parked against the curb legally, trucks often leave no spare space in their lane to pass.

There might be ways to address that, suggestions?

The trucks are the spoiler...as is "Bloor becoming all one way" (cycle lanes excepted)....but how would this work?

*Trucks* would be one way only on Bloor on vehicle lanes that are wider than the 'non-truck' side. So the vehicle lanes aren't symmetrical in width. This releases that ".3 - .4 metre" extra width for the parking side bike lane buffer or bike lane itself (worthy of further discussion). This is complicated somewhat by the parking side jogging side to side on Bloor (a questionable policy to begin with, but perhaps a necessary compromise for businesses) which happens six times along the present stretch.

What would have to happen for each jog section is that trucks beyond a certain width must access their delivery from one direction only, in the direction the wider lane travels. (This wider lane would reverse direction with each jog making the wider lane the other side of centre. Access from side streets to this wider lane must be available for this to work) There are other possibilities to accommodate Northern's proposal, like a varying centre line marking, but seeing how drivers are already badly failing in observing marked lines, that ambiguity would inevitably cause accidents.

Clear pavement markings would be necessary with arrows a la: "Trucks this way only" or "No Trucks". An obvious problem arises for deliveries the 'other side of the street' , but that is moot, as the one-side parking against a bike lane already produces same.

I'd suggest the wider side vehicle lane be the side opposite to the parking side, as it then allows extra width for cyclists to overtake *outside of the bike lane* when gaps in the vehicle lane that side permit.

There's a way to address the conundrum of cyclists following the HTA when doing that from the cycle lane: Close-spaced double lines: Dashed on the cycle lane side, solid on the vehicle side. That double line also denotes a buffer for the cycle lane by default. It would then be an HTA offence for cars to park on or beyond that double line, both sides of the road, not just a By-Law infraction. Cyclists have the dashed line on their side to allow crossing the double line to pass.

Demerit points would, I believe from memory, also be lost on the HTA offence of illegally crossing a double line. (The Ont HTA exempts "legal turns" to cross single and double lines)

There's another option for the truck width lane being the parking side, but accommodation for many better scenarios is presented by the 'asymmetric width vehicle lanes' manifest in a number of ways.

 

[UserNameToronto]

I would like this thread to become readable, again.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From the bicycle "rules" in San Francisco, at this link.

 

[steveintoronto]

From the bicycle "rules" in San Francisco, at this link.

Indeed! Depicted exactly same in the Ontario Cyclist's Handbook. I used to do the first example posted, until having some really close calls. It's like a roundabout, you can do everything by the book, and get yourself creamed doing it. I'd much rather do the second instance, unless traffic is light.

There is a small problem now at more modern intersections, and this is what got me into trouble with the Guelph cop: The radius on the corners is so increased now that the outside lines denoting the pedestrian crosswalks don't touch the pavement at their corners. If you go right to the corner so you aren't blocking traffic, some cops construe that as "cycling within a crosswalk"...which is not the case in the Ont HTA, which specifically excludes that "if there are crossing lights".

If traffic is really chaotic and beyond predicting, I get off the bike and just walk as a pedestrian through the intersection, I can always make-up time in the long-stretch.

I note that the pic shows *three car lengths* for broken line of the bike lane to allow cars to attain the bike lane before turning. That is the way to do it, where possible.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The "Dutch" design for intersections.

As mentioned in the above image, the corners for motorists is "tighter" to force them to slow down when turning.

 

[W. K. Lis]

About those "Dutch" intersections.

Look at this article from this link.

How piles of snow paint a picture of what’s possible for city streets

As snow piles up, the street’s true use is revealed.


This Ossington Ave. and Foxley Pl. intersection is a prime example of the most common downtown sneckdown, he says. “I’ve lost count of the number of sneckdowns I’ve seen when one-way residential streets, typically with a seven metre right of way, intersect with major streets.”