Canadian comedian and actor Brent Butt took issue with Vancouver’s bicycle culture in a recent installment of the Complaints Department. Ah if only Toronto had Vancouver’s problems.
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Bike Lanes in Toronto as Contested Space
Road space in Toronto, like any other major city, is a highly contested commodity. As new bike lanes come in, why isn’t everyone biking to work? Here’s a light-hearted look at the reasons why.
As bike lanes expand, it is important to note that their usefulness depends on the extent that cyclists can actually use them. When treated as a loading zone / temporary parking / extra driving lane, cyclists will continue to end up in places claimed by drivers and pedestrians.
The Art Of Carrying Things By Bike
What’s the largest or most awkward item you’ve carried on your bike? One major barrier to the expansion of cycling is that cycling is perceived as a mode of transportation only suitable for carrying a single person – and nothing else. See how one can carry around almost anything on a bicycle!
Copenhagen Cycle Superhighways Boost Bicycle Commuting
Long distance commuters can bike to and from Copenhagen on new, specially equipped and almost uninterrupted superhighways. Yes. It is possible. Is this the future of Toronto or just a distant dream?
Portlandia
How to (Not) make friends and influence people when on a bicycle
Ontario Cycling Action Fund
The Ontario Cycling Association and the Waterloo Cycling Club have teamed up to develop a new non-profit fund focused on protecting cyclists who ride on Ontario’s roads. The fund was started to pay the legal costs of riders charged with careless driving after they were hit and injured by a passing vehicle on a regional road.
A Kitchener-Waterloo Record article offers more background on the incident — in which a driver towing a horse trailer struck a group of cyclists riding in a legal “pace line” (training formation)…and both the driver and two cyclists were charged.
Thumbs Up Waterloo Region
Thumbs Up Waterloo Region is a community campaign directed to both cyclists and motorists, and aims to improve road safety through education, engineering, and enforcement while fostering a community culture of sharing the road. With more and more cyclists on the road each year, this campaign emphasizes the importance of working together to create a positive experience for all road users.
Check out Waterloo Region’s Thumbs Up campaign here
NYC Vision Zero
As part of its ambitious Vision Zero plan, New York City recently passed a law that reduced the default speed limit to 25 mph (40 km/h) from 30 mph (48 km/h). The new law reflects the fact that pedestrians are much more likely to survive a collision with a car at slower speeds.
Vision Zero is based on three principles:
- There is no level of acceptable injury and death on our streets.
- Traffic deaths and injuries are not “accidents” but crashes that can be prevented.
- The public should expect safe behaviour on city streets and participate in culture change.
Check out NYC’s Vision Zero webpage here
Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks
Nearly 500,000 young adults each year are injured due to various forms of distracted driving, including texting, mobile instant messaging, updating social media platforms, sending photos, etc. It’s a habit deadlier than drunk driving. We live in a constantly connected world where multitasking is second nature and communicating is instant. Coupled with this compulsion, teens and young adults are overly confident in their ability to ‘safely’ text while driving.
Street Safety Initiative 