General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

[Northern Light]

Cycle Toronto executive director Michael Longfield, who is seeking an injunction against the bike lane removals, said the March date is a win.

“This is a pretty good sign that in response to our injunction threat, the government's not going to attempt to move forward right away,” he said.

With great respect to Michael...........removals were not happening this month, or in winter, before any injunction threat.

Erroneous rumours to the contrary.

I was on the record about that here, some time ago.

 

[Northern Light]

Likely late February, as the legislature does not return until March (they're currently on a three-month break, after having the summer off as well).

This entire bike lane saga is a distraction from Bill 212 and Ontario Place. Once the PCs likely win re-election in February they'll probably move on from bike lanes as they won't have to worry about re-election for another four years after that.

I consider this delay until March a small win in what little power we seemingly have in this city when it's run by such a horrid provincial government.

No need to bring back the legislature to hold an election. You just send notice over to the Lt. Governor.

Its possible they'll wait to for a recall in order to get some outstanding bills passed or a new budget....... but the launch of a massive PCPO ad campaign in the last several days is suggestive of an earlier call.

They've got money to burn and they want to burn some off outside the writ period.

 

[Mihairokov]

No need to bring back the legislature to hold an election. You just send notice over to the Lt. Governor.

Perhaps I wasn't clear - they've taken a break from the legislature and will likely call an election before they return.

Its possible they'll wait to for a recall in order to get some outstanding bills passed or a new budget....... but the launch of a massive PCPO ad campaign in the last several days is suggestive of an earlier call.

That combined with policies like beer-in-cornerstores makes it seem like an election is very near. They need an election before the federal election and before Trump does a lot of damage (more than he's already done).

 

[J Bacon]

It's rarely removing road capacity. It may be removing car capacity in certain cases, but that's not the same as removing road capacity. And removing car capacity (and on-street parking) can be justified in a growing city, especially if the space can be reallocated to more productive uses like cycling infrastructure, wider sidewalks, or vegetation.

Moving cars is just one thing that an urban street should do, and often not the primary one.

The point being that you could make it better for all by adding bike lanes on top of the existing network.
Not blanketing every street with bike lanes but actually having a thoughtful plan for traffic movement.

Unfortunately there is no easy or reasonable way to do that. Bike lanes in a city like Toronto with narrow sidewalks need to come out of traffic lanes. Besides part of the whole rationale for the complete streets approach with bike lanes, bumpouts etc., is to slow traffic down to more humane, survivable speeds. The idea that cars should be speeding along unimpeded, with bike lanes stuffed somewhere off to the side is not what anyone should be designing.

But that's the theory, you are assuming that people want to cycle through our harsher seasons.
Most people that I've met in school and then through my career have no interest in cycling when it's raining, cold, snowy etc.

Sure, I've seen very heavily utilized bike lanes in the spring/summer, but the other half of the year cars / trucks / busses are sitting in traffic next to empty space.
(an admittedly limited observation as I do not drive to work, but would not like being in transit bus stuck in traffic)

 

[J Bacon]

If successful wouldn't a side effect be enshrining vehicle lanes for cars "as a right" since bicycles are consider vehicles?

Cycle Toronto is considering a legal challenge to Bill 212, via the thebikinglawyer on Instagram.

 

[MisterF]

The point being that you could make it better for all by adding bike lanes on top of the existing network.
Not blanketing every street with bike lanes but actually having a thoughtful plan for traffic movement.

We have a thoughtful plan for traffic movement. It's approved and being implemented and a large expansion of cycling infrastructure is a key part of it.

Nobody is blanketing every street with bike lanes. The vast majority of arterial roads have little to no cycling infrastructure at all. Even Montreal isn't remotely close to that.

But I'll humour you. A city where every major street has safe bike infrastructure that gets ploughed in the winter is a city that would experience less driving and more biking than Toronto today. That would be a huge win for overall mobility, safety, business, and traffic movement.

 

[evandyk]

Not blanketing every street with bike lanes but actually having a thoughtful plan for traffic movement.

Congratulations! You have successfully described the process for approving and adding new bike lanes in Toronto! I mean, we'd like the "thought" to consider cyclists interests a little more heavily, but nobody has ever proposed "blanketing" more than 4% of Toronto's roads with bike lanes.

 

[TheGrimSweeper]

"Blanketing every street with bike lanes" is such a nonsense and intentially misleading statement.

Less then 4% of all streets in Toronto have bike lanes.

Something that does not exist on 96% of streets is not "blanketing".

 

[UntitledCyclist]

The point being that you could make it better for all by adding bike lanes on top of the existing network.
Not blanketing every street with bike lanes but actually having a thoughtful plan for traffic movement.

No one is "blanketing every street with bike lanes," but I'd be fine if they did. It's a valid, amazing, useful, accessible and growing way to get around. Ebikes have made it even faster and more useful for more people of different ages and abilities. Riding a bike is something nearly everyone learns to do as a kid, can do througout their lives, and frankly should do either for health, work, leisure or other life tasks. The city has smart people working on movement plans, unfortunately they are dealing with unprecented numbers of cars on the road and unprecedented construction projects, plus a transit system that is aging, failing and taking an eternity to get new projects online. None of these issues are related to bike lanes.

But that's the theory, you are assuming that people want to cycle through our harsher seasons.
Most people that I've met in school and then through my career have no interest in cycling when it's raining, cold, snowy etc.

Now you are just mindlessly parroting anti cycle-infra points about weather. I ride year round. Many others do. Many MORE people ride through the 8-10 months of the year which are eminently ridable. Stating that only half the year is rideable is false, foolish and frankly stupid. We have had less than a dozen or two days with actual snow and ice on the ground in recent winters, and I doubt this year will be any different. On those days we need good bike lane clearing, which has improved in recent years, but continues to be an issue. But again, it's very few days that it actually stops seasoned riders from hitting the streets.

Sure, I've seen very heavily utilized bike lanes in the spring/summer, but the other half of the year cars / trucks / busses are sitting in traffic next to empty space.
(an admittedly limited observation as I do not drive to work, but would not like being in transit bus stuck in traffic)

Sitting next to empty space is a reality for traffic. It might seem crappy to you when you are moving slowly, but remember that you and all the other cars on the road ARE the traffic. If you want to get places more quickly push for better transit, more bike lanes and fewer people in cars.

 

[turbanplanner]

No one is "blanketing every street with bike lanes," but I'd be fine if they did. It's a valid, amazing, useful, accessible and growing way to get around. Ebikes have made it even faster and more useful for more people of different ages and abilities. Riding a bike is something nearly everyone learns to do as a kid, can do througout their lives, and frankly should do either for health, work, leisure or other life tasks. The city has smart people working on movement plans, unfortunately they are dealing with unprecented numbers of cars on the road and unprecedented construction projects, plus a transit system that is aging, failing and taking an eternity to get new projects online. None of these issues are related to bike lanes.

Now you are just mindlessly parroting anti cycle-infra points about weather. I ride year round. Many others do. Many MORE people ride through the 8-10 months of the year which are eminently ridable. Stating that only half the year is rideable is false, foolish and frankly stupid. We have had less than a dozen or two days with actual snow and ice on the ground in recent winters, and I doubt this year will be any different. On those days we need good bike lane clearing, which has improved in recent years, but continues to be an issue. But again, it's very few days that it actually stops seasoned riders from hitting the streets.

Sitting next to empty space is a reality for traffic. It might seem crappy to you when you are moving slowly, but remember that you and all the other cars on the road ARE the traffic. If you want to get places more quickly push for better transit, more bike lanes and fewer people in cars.

I feel like everyone here is confusing "can with do" People CAN cycle in the winter but they chose not to! Even the city website says winter use is 20% of summer so the majority of existing cyclists are choosing not to, and personally I think the temperatures are more of a deterrent than the snow/ice. It's also telling the city has never looked into ridership on rainy days despite there being over 100 rainy days a year!

 

[81-717]

I feel like everyone here is confusing "can with do" People CAN cycle in the winter but they chose not to! Even the city website says winter use is 20% of summer so the majority of existing cyclists are choosing not to, and personally I think the temperatures are more of a deterrent than the snow/ice. It's also telling the city has never looked into ridership on rainy days despite there being over 100 rainy days a year!

I do cycle in the winter, and the snow/ice is definitely the only problem for me. As long as the road is clean and dry (no splashback and most importantly no danger of slipping), I'd bike even if it's –10 (like a few days this past January), just need to dress warmer. Unfortunately, this December has too many messy days, and my presto card got autoloaded twice within the span of 10 days already ( ), after having been autoloaded less than once a month for the past year.

 

[Natika33]

I feel like everyone here is confusing "can with do" People CAN cycle in the winter but they chose not to! Even the city website says winter use is 20% of summer so the majority of existing cyclists are choosing not to, and personally I think the temperatures are more of a deterrent than the snow/ice. It's also telling the city has never looked into ridership on rainy days despite there being over 100 rainy days a year!

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Aren't some also confusing "chose to take a bike" with "strongly incentivized to take a bike"? There's a growing segment of the population that can't afford a car and lives where the TTC doesn't really provide them a straight path to get to work. For them, the choice to take the TTC rather than bike means they sacrifice both time and money. As more and more people start making that connection, I think you'll see ridership go up. That's certainly been the case in other cold countries like Denmark and Finland, so I don't see why Canada would be so different.

Furthermore, 20% is still a pretty sizeable amount! It doesn't surprise me at all that you'd see more recreational cyclists during peak tourist season, but shouldn't the streets be designed for those who live here too?

 

[Midtown Hank]

Now you are just mindlessly parroting anti cycle-infra points about weather. I ride year round. Many others do. Many MORE people ride through the 8-10 months of the year which are eminently ridable. Stating that only half the year is rideable is false, foolish and frankly stupid. We have had less than a dozen or two days with actual snow and ice on the ground in recent winters, and I doubt this year will be any different. On those days we need good bike lane clearing, which has improved in recent years, but continues to be an issue. But again, it's very few days that it actually stops seasoned riders from hitting the streets.

To suggest that reduced cycling due to inclement weather is mindlessly parroting anti cycle-infra points does not boost your case. It's an inconvenient fact that is noted by turbanplanner in the very next comment. Only 20% of cyclists continue through the winter. That's an 80% drop, so that could only fairly be described as "most people....have no interest in cycling when its raining, cold, snowy etc". turbanplanner makes clear that it's not only most people, it's most cyclists (which is a much smaller subset). While you are free to state your opinions, I don't think it's fair to call J Bacon's comment "false, foolish or stupid". You may not like it, but that does not make it so.

 

[nfitz]

To suggest that reduced cycling due to inclement weather is mindlessly parroting anti cycle-infra points does not boost your case. It's an inconvenient fact that is noted by turbanplanner in the very next comment. Only 20% of cyclists continue through the winter. That's an 80% drop, so that could only fairly be described as "most people....have no interest in cycling when its raining, cold, snowy etc". turbanplanner makes clear that it's not only most people, it's most cyclists (which is a much smaller subset). While you are free to state your opinions, I don't think it's fair to call J Bacon's comment "false, foolish or stupid". You may not like it, but that does not make it so.

I don't think quoting turbanplanner on bike issues does much to boost one's case! How many times has he been censured for anti-bike trolling?

 

[Frankietls]

To suggest that reduced cycling due to inclement weather is mindlessly parroting anti cycle-infra points does not boost your case. It's an inconvenient fact that is noted by turbanplanner in the very next comment. Only 20% of cyclists continue through the winter. That's an 80% drop, so that could only fairly be described as "most people....have no interest in cycling when its raining, cold, snowy etc". turbanplanner makes clear that it's not only most people, it's most cyclists (which is a much smaller subset). While you are free to state your opinions, I don't think it's fair to call J Bacon's comment "false, foolish or stupid". You may not like it, but that does not make it so.

20% of cyclist is a exponential growing number.
There are as many bikeshare trip taken in winter of 2024 as in summer of 2018.
It's fully expected that number of people cycling in summer of 2024 will be surpassed by those in winter sometime before 2029.

Bikeshare Toronto stats: