car culture

Photo by phototouring.

I'm no fan of privatizing government services as a panacea, but when it comes to the Toronto Parking Authority I waver. The TPA, as the Toronto Star notes, was explicitly created to undercut the prices of private parking lots. The TPA was created in the '50s "after department stores complained customers weren't shopping downtown because of price gouging by private parking lot operators". I wonder if they bothered to measure and define "price gouging" versus a fair price, or if drivers just felt they were paying too much.

But then driving is not a cheap pastime and parking lots downtown aren't built cheaply. A parking operator downtown must purchase the expensive downtown land, and must make enough money off of parking to make it worthwhile. The owner of the land would probably also consider the alternative uses of that land. We can see that parking is just not as profitable as alternative uses by seeing just how many downtown parking lots are being turned into condos or commercial buildings.

The City has a by-law that limits what the TPA can charge drivers for on-street parking at $3.50 per hour. There is no such limit for public transit fees.

Warning: this video is graphic in its portrayal of the "war on cars".

If only these drivers were licensed! Oh wait. I can't believe just how many of the red light runners aren't slowing down at all. See scary, graphic video

I find it rather interesting that after a summer of fuel provided by our media of the "war on the car" that it took so long for yet another case of Road Rage involving a motorist and a cyclist to occur. After all, this city is known for its Bike Rage, as evidenced here:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bike_rage

Toronto is at the top of the list for both "Drivers attacking cyclists" and "Cyclists attacking drivers." How's that for notoriety?

And now, the media's coverage of the Bryan/Sheppard incident is yet another example of Bike Rage that the world sees, like this:

• In Toronto, Bike-Car Road Rage Escalates (NPR, September 7, 2009)

Which leads to believe that the cyclists in the city aren't seeing the love that they've been promised by City Hall or from Queens Park, and that there are forces out there to keep cyclists "in their place." Meanwhile cyclists aren't content to put up with the awful excuse and behaviour that motorists call "driving" on our city's roads. I thought drivers are licensed, but not that you can tell. Motorists act like maniacs, and are constantly risking the lives of pedestrians, cyclists and each other. They have a deadly weapon under their control yet refuse to acknowledge it. No wonder when a motorist hits a cyclist (as Bryant is alleged to have to done to Sheppard) the cyclist "freaks on their hood" (as Sheppard is alleged to have done to Bryant's car).

Goofy as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde characters, Mr. Walker and Mr. Wheeler. As revealing of motorist behaviour and temperament now as in 1950. Admit it: even us cyclists get a bit rabid when behind a car wheel!

Very few Torontonians attempt to bike across the 401. riconroy has crossed and has survived to give us a video of how little you'd want to repeat that experience. That being said, I've crossed it many times - I hate doing it every time but I can do it well.

This interactive on-line “Driving Challenge” from the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport raises some great points about driving distractions, especially the widespread usage of mobile phones.

I missed 8 questions and 5 pedestrian points… think you can beat the Marginator?!? Take the test and post your score in the comments area. No spoilers please! Thanks to Anthony for bringing this link to my attention. Drive safe!

This advertisment is meant to offend. It is meant to insult everyone who rides a bike as having made an inferior choice to driving a car, and to insult cyclists' ability to pay for driving as if they were too poor.

It also insults cyclists' aesthetic sensibilities for wearing spandex. And it suggests that there is little or no choice for cyclists but to wear spandex. As is if the fashion industry has never before looked at cycling fashion, and there there is lack of choice of clothing that is comfortable and looks like anything resembling "normal". Or that cycling "sport" fashion is all there is for cyclists.

State Farm insurance has a reason for running an ad like this. They are scared that many people will actually like cycling, and that they won't have as many drivers/cars to insure. Since they don't have an insurance plan for cyclists, that means 100% lost revenues.

Driving, car ownership, even car culture is starting to wane. For many cycling has taken it's place. Cyclists are becoming better organised and are starting gain a voice. We are now the threat.

And I think that we will see more of this kind of defensive behavior from various areas of the motoring industry.

What do you think?

Leiden University, Netherlands

In Friday's Star, Christopher Hume looks "beyond gridlock" as a sort of finale to their series on commuting in cities around the world.

We so often hear that we need to have better public transit and better bicycle infrastructure before people will be convinced to park their cars. Hume's take is that improving non-car transport will never be as effective in changing people's mindsets as increasing the costs of car transport. He says it well, and it's worth a read.

Hume gives us a solution, but there's a certain incompleteness to it that he acknowledges. He points out that no current politicians would implement what we need to do: taxing cars and tolling roads. We won't make progress until the majority of the population is reading and being convinced by people like Hume. As one cyclist said to me a few weeks ago, "People want to be sustainable, but they have absolutely no idea what sustainable is."

We have scientific and economic solutions to our problems, but we still don't have the political one. Since all our solutions need some type of high level coordination, a political solution is key. Even the bicycle's popularity in Scandinavia, Hume attributes to a high car tax that would be considered sacrilege here.