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The changing commuter picture in the city

Submitted by simplicius2wheels on April 13, 2012 - 8:48am
in

A lot of things have changed in TO that indicate cycling is here to stay: just look at the hundreds of bikes parked near downtown office buildings, the many bikes chained near their homes in the residential districts, condos going up without parking spaces, and the continued support from some councilors and City staff.

An interesting article in today's Star hints that even the very well-off are part of that movement away from the car: in a discussion of trends in luxury home preferences, the article states:

Increasingly the wealthy want to be close to subways so they can leave the Lexus in the driveway and walk to restaurants, schools and other amenities, he added.

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1160685--toronto-luxury-r...

I think we could use similar arguments for our cause: the proximity of a good bike path makes a neighbourhood more attractive and thus raises the value of the homes. This argument would play out well in the burbs where it's sometimes a hard sell when asking for cycling infrastructure....

‹ Bike rings busted! Sheppard LRT and cycling ›

Another angle, written by Christopher Hume.
It points out that the young folks are key to changing the picture:
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1160457--hume-how-the-...

....

Here in Toronto, where the War on the Car ended with the municipal election of 2010, more people than ever are using transit. On Sept. 15, 2011, 1.71 million passengers rode the TTC. Since then, the price of gas has shot so high, the mere whiff of cheap fuel is enough to set off a run on the pumps.

No wonder getting that car is no longer the first thing on the mind of every kid who’s about to turn 16. For those lucky enough to live in a city, especially one with decent transit, the prospect of life without wheels offers the same promise of liberation that car ownership did decades ago.
....
Once the great symbol of individual freedom and personal mobility, the car has become a ball and chain. Slow, expensive, and surrounded by endless others, automobiles have taken us as far as they can. At this point, there are so many vehicles on the roads, they exist in a state of perpetual congestion.

.... transit here has fallen 25 years behind the times. The damage cars have inflicted on cities seems so ordinary now, we take it for granted. The rage unleashed by the addition of a bicycle lane to Jarvis St. and the subsequent loss of a traffic lane is a symptom of a city and society unwilling to restore some sort of balance to our streets.

But as the figures tell us, it will be the young who get us there. They’re also the ones who occupy the condo highrises that now define downtown, the whole purpose of which is that you don’t have to spend your life paying for insurance and searching for a place to park. Duh.

Public transit, bicycles and pedestrians are as much a part of a 21st-century transit system as cars. Each has a place. To privilege one over the others is counterproductive and inefficient.

Yet we persist. If Charlton Heston had been a Torontonian, we would have had to pry those cold dead hands from a steering wheel, not a rifle.

simplicius2wheels April 13, 2012 - 11:51am #

Strachan Ave is to be closed June 11. Includes the bike lanes.

I saw this in the bulletin of the Georgetown Metrolinx project office.

Construction of the north and centre retaining walls of the Strachan Avenue Overpass continues. The tunnel boring machine for the sewer (siphon) tunnel broke through on May 9, completing the 540-metre tunnel between Fleet and Douro Streets. At Douro Street, work continues to build the diversion chamber to connect the existing storm sewer underneath Strachan Avenue to the north shaft of the new tunnel. A full road closure of Strachan Avenue is planned between East Liberty Street to just north of the intersection of Douro and Wellington Streets from June 11 for up to four to six weeks. Construction of a retaining wall near Western Battery Road has now begun in preparation for the temporary realignment of Strachan Avenue to the west.

For more information on the Strachan Avenue Overpass, please contact Erik at 416-581-1300.

David Juliusson (not verified) June 1, 2012 - 1:07pm #

aside from these spam like posts, I'd like to add that sometimes it almost seems like people are taking up biking or other activities just because I am doing it. I've lived at a place recently for 5 years and it is only now when I am established at biking that I see others picking it up around me.

It is really strange, the power of leading by example. It makes me feel like I can make a difference by holding myself more properly out there as a cyclist.

Random cyclist (not verified) July 8, 2012 - 3:17am #