Transportation - Cycling

Bicycle Lanes

October 2005

a Sisyphean struggle ...

The Toronto Works Committee at the September 14, 2005 discussed the ongoing Bike Plan and the proposed funding for the next 2, 3, 4 years... They always refer to it as a plan conceived the past 3 years. After all, the excrutiating slow action has to be accounted for and camouflaged by abbreviating the actual time this project has been in the works, (see Introduction).

The ever persistent mentality in prioritizing the importance of the car at Toronto City Hall, shared by both elected officials and staff, is what impedes progress toward an alternative mode of transportation. The government has supported and reinforced car dependency by not investing in and facilitating other modes of transportation. Again that car-culture mentality was expressed by the Toronto Bicycle Committee representatives at the CBN meeting September 21, in their report that: "bike lanes have to be in consultation with the neighbourhood, because they affect properperties..." Why is that? The car traffic and the parked cars do not affect properties? Are they such an integral part of our clogged infrastructure, whereas bicycles are considered to be unimportant additions, undesirable and a nuisance?

A cohesive bicycle network has been a Sisyphean struggle in Toronto... It is further exacerbated by the politically correct City planners who do not challenge our present dismal environment. The emphasis on urban planning has been in marketable buildings and motorized vehicular traffic. The City planners should take a good look at vibrant cities that prioritize the human element in their infrastructure, as in Copenhagen, Portland, Curitiba, Lyons, Barcelona where they all respect and promote human interaction, with alternative modes of transportation in a balanced proportion. We promote, think, and breathe automobile traffic.

STRATEGIES:
(To improve cycling)

1. Cyclists have equal rights to public streets and public funds. Therefore, cyclists as taxpayers who use an alternative (non-polluting) mode of transportation are entitled to lanes on all city roads.
2. Funding for the network of lanes should be incorporated into the Transportation Budget of capital costs for roads infrastructure. The bicycle is a vehicle and it should not be excluded from the transportation budget by separate funding whenever that may be available.
3. Allocate a regular car-lane width to accommodate both cyclists, segways, and skates toward a balanced proportion in transportation.
4. Cyclists have the right to occupy the middle of the right lane for "safety" reasons, until proper bike lanes are implemented on all city roads.
   

Explanation: All highways and roads in Ontario post the maximum speed limit but not a required minimum speed. According to the HTA, Part IX #128 Rate of Speed Section, indicates that no person shall drive a vehicle at a rate of speed greater than posted. Under the section: Unnecessary slow driving prohibited, #132. (1) except when the slow rate of speed is necessary for safe operation having regard to all the circumstances. Therefore, cyclists travelling at 20 km/h are within their rights, for safe operation, to occupy the middle of the right lane on a multiple lane road, or the middle of the lane on a single lane road.