urbandreamer
recession proof
Finally Rob Ford can "cycle" to work.
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General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)
- Thread starter rp07
- Start date
W. K. Lis
Superstar
E-bikes are still banned from bike paths. What about motorized wheelchairs?
the lemur
Senior Member
Anything not muscle-powered is considered motorized, I think. http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_886.pdf
W. K. Lis
Superstar
the lemur
Senior Member
Those might be good on beaches (do we have rules about vehicles on beaches?). The first one would probably work well on the Spit.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
February 28 to March 2, 2014 - Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place
See link.
A temporary Dufferin Street Bridge over the Metrolinx/GO Transit Rail Corridor providing access for pedestrians and cyclists is supposedly now in place. Mike Layton's website (see link) says the temporary Dufferin bridge is open.
Attachments
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RippedLikeStinson
Banned
That looks pretty permanent for Toronto standards.
Rock
Banned
Sorry. I thought this might deserve a separate thread (or not).
Title: Killing off the fossil fuel powered horseless carriage (for personal travels).
Hi. My first post on this online "forum" (any Romans here, BTW?).
I am from a long line of warriors.
(At least one was knighted. See Sir Sam Hughes.)
Many others of the guys in my family were senior military officers.
But the guy I am perhaps most proud (other than my own father), wrote dozens of books (ya can look `em up in the Toronto Library system).
In 1895, his fight was for equal rights for wymen (sp?). 1895??? But he might have been a "silly fool" (like his own younger brother, one of them, maybe).
So today I am pretty much a "no body"...
Never cared much about money. But I figure that as human animals, we have NOTHING to "leave behind us" but a better world for our young folks (I myself have generated two "bright" young wymen (sp?)... that I know of... hehe. OK, I might have had some help along the way.)
And BTW, there have been a few guys in my "family" who have been named for Caroline Laughlin, who ended up herself shacking up w/ some John guy, and they (?) proceeded to squirt out TONS of kids.
The Engrish (sp?) of course spelt it wrong, but my first name is still pronounced the same way as the name the gaelic used to refer to the "strangers" on the land by the "lock" (bodies of water, that often lead to the sea. I guess folks might know who used to sail their long boats around.).
Anyway... I have the name and genetics (see "dupuytren's contracture") maybe of a warrior.
So today, with my last breath, I hope to "kill off" the fossil-fuel powered horseless carriage intended for personal use.
And my "weapon"?
The battery-powered electric bicycle/tricycle.
I actually stumbled onto battery-electric traction over 10 years ago.
My theory is, Canadians might like getting around towns for waaay cheaper (and perhaps faster too) than the "car" (while not blowing smoke in others faces, AKA the air that (some of us?) still breath).
Some others might quibble "But we have winters in Canada!". (Maybe some haven't camped in the snow. But we are supposed to be Canadiens, eh?) Also some might suspect our roads and pathways might be better covered over. And sailors at least know to "dress for the weather".
In my fight, I conceived and raced in perhaps Torontos First REAL "Uphill Bicycle Race", up Brimley Road South (aka the "Scarborough Bluffs") last year.
Anybody here perhaps want to defend the gasoline/diseasal-powered horseless carriage (that has injured and killed so many animals, some of them "human"?
L
PS. (Again, apparently for any Roman eyes) I wasn't being completely truthful about the "no body" bit. In fact I still have 1/2 of my body that mostly works OK. I am currently fighting to get off "ODSP", due to multiple brain injury, broken ribs, shoulder, etc. And while I used to pedal a bi-cycle on and off all my life, I am currently relying on a tricycle to get around. (EG out to Port Credit and once to Bramalea.) Front wheel hub motor of course. Plus a small Lithium battery. (Sorry any Romans, no plumbum involved!)
Title: Killing off the fossil fuel powered horseless carriage (for personal travels).
Hi. My first post on this online "forum" (any Romans here, BTW?).
I am from a long line of warriors.
(At least one was knighted. See Sir Sam Hughes.)
Many others of the guys in my family were senior military officers.
But the guy I am perhaps most proud (other than my own father), wrote dozens of books (ya can look `em up in the Toronto Library system).
In 1895, his fight was for equal rights for wymen (sp?). 1895??? But he might have been a "silly fool" (like his own younger brother, one of them, maybe).
So today I am pretty much a "no body"...
Never cared much about money. But I figure that as human animals, we have NOTHING to "leave behind us" but a better world for our young folks (I myself have generated two "bright" young wymen (sp?)... that I know of... hehe. OK, I might have had some help along the way.)
And BTW, there have been a few guys in my "family" who have been named for Caroline Laughlin, who ended up herself shacking up w/ some John guy, and they (?) proceeded to squirt out TONS of kids.
The Engrish (sp?) of course spelt it wrong, but my first name is still pronounced the same way as the name the gaelic used to refer to the "strangers" on the land by the "lock" (bodies of water, that often lead to the sea. I guess folks might know who used to sail their long boats around.).
Anyway... I have the name and genetics (see "dupuytren's contracture") maybe of a warrior.
So today, with my last breath, I hope to "kill off" the fossil-fuel powered horseless carriage intended for personal use.
And my "weapon"?
The battery-powered electric bicycle/tricycle.
I actually stumbled onto battery-electric traction over 10 years ago.
My theory is, Canadians might like getting around towns for waaay cheaper (and perhaps faster too) than the "car" (while not blowing smoke in others faces, AKA the air that (some of us?) still breath).
Some others might quibble "But we have winters in Canada!". (Maybe some haven't camped in the snow. But we are supposed to be Canadiens, eh?) Also some might suspect our roads and pathways might be better covered over. And sailors at least know to "dress for the weather".
In my fight, I conceived and raced in perhaps Torontos First REAL "Uphill Bicycle Race", up Brimley Road South (aka the "Scarborough Bluffs") last year.
Anybody here perhaps want to defend the gasoline/diseasal-powered horseless carriage (that has injured and killed so many animals, some of them "human"?
L
PS. (Again, apparently for any Roman eyes) I wasn't being completely truthful about the "no body" bit. In fact I still have 1/2 of my body that mostly works OK. I am currently fighting to get off "ODSP", due to multiple brain injury, broken ribs, shoulder, etc. And while I used to pedal a bi-cycle on and off all my life, I am currently relying on a tricycle to get around. (EG out to Port Credit and once to Bramalea.) Front wheel hub motor of course. Plus a small Lithium battery. (Sorry any Romans, no plumbum involved!)
RC8
Senior Member
Alan? Eerily similar to something someone I know would say (or how he would say it).
Rock
Banned
And "Alans" bro served in the Canadian "Unified Armed Forces" as an officer his whole life? And his/my father served in the Royal Canadian Navy all his career? And his father was an officer in our Canadian Army? And his father and uncles before him? And HIS mums dad Brit Army? And his dad Brit Army before that? Her father too? And they both had dads that were army? (That's as far back as I actually know about. That was 1815. Canadians make a big deal about 1812, but three years after that the Europeans had a sorta huge "dust up" in some little town in Europe called "Waterloo". Those two dads both fought at Waterloo, but one for the English, the other for Napoleon (the French side. I suspect both were Irish and Welsh, and perhaps not everybody was "onside" with the English in those days.)
So. Sound anything like the "Alan" you know? Might there be *anything* you might contribute ("positive" or "negative") regardling what I said in my earlier/first post???
Tks
calimehtar
Active Member
I bike as my main means of transportation, except during a deep-freeze if the journey is longer than 30 minutes, so I haven't been biking as much this winter. So I am not a casual cyclist.
Apparently I'm in the minority in this city but I think that allowing e-bikes to use bike lanes is a reasonable compromise. Allowing e-bikes to be used as transportation is a no-brainer - they are quiet, efficient, and not as fast as cars. If more people used e-bikes instead of cars or motorcycles it would be good for congestion and the environment.
They are more like bikes than cars, and it's hard to differentiate between the heavy scooter-style e-bikes and normal bikes with power assist. I don't think it's fair to force them to share the road with cars. Sure some e-bike users are obnoxious, but so are some cyclists.
Apparently I'm in the minority in this city but I think that allowing e-bikes to use bike lanes is a reasonable compromise. Allowing e-bikes to be used as transportation is a no-brainer - they are quiet, efficient, and not as fast as cars. If more people used e-bikes instead of cars or motorcycles it would be good for congestion and the environment.
They are more like bikes than cars, and it's hard to differentiate between the heavy scooter-style e-bikes and normal bikes with power assist. I don't think it's fair to force them to share the road with cars. Sure some e-bike users are obnoxious, but so are some cyclists.
Rock
Banned
Yah. Watt he said (above).
Looking around (not really, but reading news via the "internet"), use of the electric bicycle has figuratively "exploded" already in places all over Europe and China, both areas with much greater populations than Canada.
And as the writer Gibson once said, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."
Looking around (not really, but reading news via the "internet"), use of the electric bicycle has figuratively "exploded" already in places all over Europe and China, both areas with much greater populations than Canada.
And as the writer Gibson once said, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."
reaperexpress
Senior Member
I think it's great that they're including limited-speed electric scooters and e-bikes in the bike lanes. The more people we get using bicycle infrastructure, the more demand there will be for more and better cycling infrastructure.
The fact is that there are many people, such as elderly people, for whom bicycles are not ideally suited due to the physical effort required. All joking aside, this really does allow people like Rob Ford to "cycle", which give them a stake in the infrastructure. It also forces transport engineers to accept that bicycle infrastructure needs to be designed to a high enough standard that people can travel at 30 km/h while safely co-existing with others who are travelling as slowly as 15 km/h. Note that even if we forbid electric scooters from the bike path, we still have many people whose comfortable cycling speed is 30 km/h or even higher.
Take, for example, our flagship cycling street: College Street. Even with more bicycles than cars during warmer months, College street only has narrow painted bike lanes that are not separated from traffic and are often in the door zone of parked cars. Statistically, it is already easily justified to repurpose space from car lanes to provide better bike lanes (separated from traffic, and doubling the width to increase capacity and allow passing). But politically, it would be challenging because bike lanes are seen as only being for a certain group of the population. Allowing electric-assist bikes and electric scooters into the lanes would likely not make much difference in the total number of people, but demographically it opens up the lanes to a huge proportion of the population. With that backing, it will be much easier to reorganize the street to provide much more space for bicycle infrastructure.
The fact is that there are many people, such as elderly people, for whom bicycles are not ideally suited due to the physical effort required. All joking aside, this really does allow people like Rob Ford to "cycle", which give them a stake in the infrastructure. It also forces transport engineers to accept that bicycle infrastructure needs to be designed to a high enough standard that people can travel at 30 km/h while safely co-existing with others who are travelling as slowly as 15 km/h. Note that even if we forbid electric scooters from the bike path, we still have many people whose comfortable cycling speed is 30 km/h or even higher.
Take, for example, our flagship cycling street: College Street. Even with more bicycles than cars during warmer months, College street only has narrow painted bike lanes that are not separated from traffic and are often in the door zone of parked cars. Statistically, it is already easily justified to repurpose space from car lanes to provide better bike lanes (separated from traffic, and doubling the width to increase capacity and allow passing). But politically, it would be challenging because bike lanes are seen as only being for a certain group of the population. Allowing electric-assist bikes and electric scooters into the lanes would likely not make much difference in the total number of people, but demographically it opens up the lanes to a huge proportion of the population. With that backing, it will be much easier to reorganize the street to provide much more space for bicycle infrastructure.
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Rock
Banned
Yah. The sadist thing for me to see? Any automobile etc. carrying a bicycle or two on a rack (not to be confused with a torture device - it is the "car" actually that appears to be a "torture device") on it's back or top, etc.
Perhaps the second sadist thing? To watch chubby little children pour out of a vehicle, that appears to have no pedal option built in. (Pedaling consumes "junk" food calories, and warms up the human body.)
I understand from recent news the race is almost neck and neck between Mexico and the US, which "culture" had the largest % overweight persons. Some might suggest Canadians are also in this "race to the top".
But, I find it interesting that in over two days since I first posted here only one person has questioned what I said. (and not what I said, but to question who the author really is.) I understand that many Canadians are "expert whiners", but I am personally more interested in SOLUTIONS? Given the title of this thread ("Cycling in Toronto (Is Toronto bike friendly?)"), some might rudely suggest folks in Toronto are "asleep at the wheel"... in more ways than one.
Perhaps the second sadist thing? To watch chubby little children pour out of a vehicle, that appears to have no pedal option built in. (Pedaling consumes "junk" food calories, and warms up the human body.)
I understand from recent news the race is almost neck and neck between Mexico and the US, which "culture" had the largest % overweight persons. Some might suggest Canadians are also in this "race to the top".
But, I find it interesting that in over two days since I first posted here only one person has questioned what I said. (and not what I said, but to question who the author really is.) I understand that many Canadians are "expert whiners", but I am personally more interested in SOLUTIONS? Given the title of this thread ("Cycling in Toronto (Is Toronto bike friendly?)"), some might rudely suggest folks in Toronto are "asleep at the wheel"... in more ways than one.
I just drove 2500 Km with my bike on a rack. I didn't think it was a sad sight 