automobiles

An open letter to the Wheels Section of The Toronto Star by Hamish Wilson:

There is no reason to celebrate the gross waste of resources and environmental destruction of automobility, so aptly pictured on the cover of the Wheels 25th anniversary section.

There's a massive parking lot leaching salt, wiper fluids (perhaps with TeflonTM?), spilt oil and radiator fluids directly into Lake Ontario and our drinking water; energy hog power cars are spewing their exhausts and fine burnt particles from tire-burning starts to sensationalize often-deadly speed; and valuable urban land is covered only with asphalt, not houses.

And while the Star doesn't really notice such anomalies as near-record warmth and rain on this 25th Anniversary, let alone draw dots from billions of particles of fossil fuel combustion to climate change, at least we know of a lot of extreme weather events going on in the world, and some media are less "carrupt" to at least mention that these extreme events are consistent with climate change. But any message of conservation might be less "seasonal" as it could mean buying less, and interfering with profits - and not just yours.

It had to happen sooner or later: it was only a matter of time that we'd start seeing the roadside memorial be streamlined and go mainstream. Thanks to Bob Fuller for helping all those drivers out there who will find themselves in a sticky situation after hitting a jogger, veteran or a kid on a bike.

Bob Fuller provides you with a handy 1-800 number to call after you've hit someone and would like to quickly put up a memorial.

Nothing says "I'm sorry" like a $20 memorial. Now you too can get quick roadside assistance after someone gets in the way of your car (as long as you live in Chicago). I hope we can start seeing this coming to Toronto some day soon!

On November 22nd, Dave Meslin of the Toronto Cyclists Union and Bonnie of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition appeared on CBC Radio's The Current. You can hear the interview here: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/current_20071122_3968.mp3. As is typical of media, the focus was on the road rage incident of the motorist recently attacked by cyclist with a screwdriver. They also fielded their opinions on the idea that cyclists should be licensed.

The CBC Radio file on "Bicycles versus Cars" is an 11 MB download in MP3 format and runs 23:46.

"In the average big city, cyclists and drivers have trouble getting along. The Current takes a look at efforts to improve that relationship."

There were some good responses. Dave mentioned that to focus on the cyclist aspect of the attacker is akin to focusing on shortness as a factor in being aggressive. There's no reason to think cyclists are inherently aggressive.

Likewise, the notion that licensing cyclists will "solve" these problems is short-sighted and ignorant. It would require new cyclists to go out and get a license before stepping on a bike and would possibly prohibit children from riding their bikes.

Via blogTO we have a great video about what most cyclists will eventually harbour in their minds. Is it too radical for I Bike T.O.? Is it not accommodating enough? Should we be prefacing this funny video in saying that we don't condone violence against person or property? Perhaps. Let the readers decide.

I started looking for some good quotes in a good book on my shelf, The Art of Urban Cycling, by Robert Hurst (a must-have for urban commuters), but I got distracted by his summary of why our cities are like they are. There are numerous books that cover the topics of sprawl, auto-domination. One example is the fascinating story of The Power Broker, Robert Moses, who was at the head of powerful forces who transformed New York for the benefit of the car and tore up many, many neighbourhoods for freeways and bi-ways intersecting the city.

The rest of the book is packed full of well-reasoned choices and explanations of how to make an urban cycling commute safer and more enjoyable. I'll get to those quotes in a later post.

Now on to the juicy explanations of how the car came to rule:

A lot of words and concepts have been thrown around in the interesting Lansdowne reconstruction debate that we've had here and here. I hope to clear up what I think are some of the misconceptions and misrepresentations.

<br/>All modes of traffic are represented on this section of the waterfront, but guess which one gets priority?

(Note: Another long post, because a seemingly simple thing as a single road reconstruction brings up lots of interrelated issues that are even here haphazardly dealt with.)

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