Aside from the few people who read this blog, who out there would willingly ride on the road up at Finch and Sentinel? The eastbound image from Google above shows just how unfriendly the roads are: potholes, speeding cars. The sidewalks, however, are quite inviting - few walkers and separated from the roadway.
Breaking news is that a cyclist on the sidewalk at Finch and Sentinel killed a pedestrian recently (and how many peds died by cars this year alone?). I'm thinking it must be a special kind of asshole who is riding on the sidewalk in such an unsafe manner that they could kill someone, though granted I don't know the specifics of how this happened. It's a terrible thing, no matter the instrument that contributed to the death. But these bike/ped crashes always bring out the worst in politics and allows us to ignore all the big picture.
The Star claims that there are "moves" to get cyclists off the sidewalk, which is just code for streamlining the fines so they are $90 across the city. “There isn’t enough teeth in the law,” claims Sgt. Angelo Costa, the traffic sergeant in 31 Division. Yet he ignores the fact that the police can charge cyclists, like drivers, with charges like careless driving ($300 fine) or even with manslaughter.
The article even claims that e-bikes are allowed on the sidewalk because the by-law specifies wheel size. The wheel size issue is a red herring, since this has been addressed a long time ago by cops tacking on careless driving charges, which they started doing when bike couriers tried to circumvent the by-law.
All this hand-waving and moaning completely overlooks the root issue: why cyclists would prefer to ride on the sidewalk instead of the road. Sidewalk cycling is much higher in the suburbs and it's higher on streets with no bike lanes. It's just simple logic. Put in a bike lane, provide safer, comfortable routes for cyclists and they'll willingly stay off the sidewalk. From Andie Garcia of the Bike Union: “A lot of cyclists will tell you that they feel extremely unsafe on the road and therefore they choose to bike on the sidewalk. That ends up creating a second set of problems.”
This all begs a question: Why is it that we are so opposed to sidewalk cycling (especially in the suburbs where many sidewalks are mostly empty) but we are okay with sharing a multi-use path? Aren't they the same as far as walkers and cyclists are concerned? Where we have installed bike paths alongside roads such as Eglinton, they are often shared between pedestrians and cyclists (even with a separate sidewalk).
From the Star:
Khemraj Ganga rides his bike on the Finch Ave. W. sidewalk on a regular basis to get to work as a security guard.
“Nobody’s going to make me ride on the road. If I can’t ride here, I’ll stop riding because it is not safe for me,” he said.
Ganga, 55, claims he is a safe cyclist, especially when pedestrians are near.
“When I’m close to pedestrians, I come to a complete stop. No pedestrian is going to tell me I’m going to hit them. They’re going to walk into my bicycle. I’m not going to hit them, though.”
Another cyclist — who declined to give his name — cited poor road conditions and cars travelling up to 80 km/h as the reasons he rides on pedestrian walkways.
Let's keep in mind, that these people aren't "cyclists" as if they were something alien from "drivers" or "pedestrians". The labels serve to cover up that many of us are any of the three at any one time. The one fellow would just as well stop riding altogether if he can't ride on the sidewalk. That might be just what some politicians want.
Comments
Maris (not verified)
Installation of a bike lane
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 14:11Installation of a bike lane alongside a park in New York City cut sidewalk riding by 80%. See details at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/20110120_ppw.pdf
Your message is entirely true - cyclists aren't irrational. Cyclists will ride where it is safe to do so. If the community doesn't provide safe infrastructure for cycling, then cyclists will find an alternate way to keep themselves safe.
The way to change the thinking of those that see the solution to be to ticket cyclists is to take them for a bicycle ride on this stretch of road. Invite them to follow the directions that they ask others to do. Challenge their conviction when they decline your offer.
Random cyclist (not verified)
Cycling on the sidewalk is
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 16:33Cycling on the sidewalk is usually less safe than cycling on the road. Drivers are not looking for objects moving any faster than a pedestrian, and may hit you as you ride through. This problem is compounded if you happen to be riding against traffic.
Specially marked pathways are an improvement, because the driver gets a cue that there may be fast-moving bicycles coming by as they attempt a turn.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=201254
Separated bike lanes should still be the goal.
W. K. Lis
One problem I would have with
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 19:17One problem I would have with bicycle paths are the motorized wheelchairs and pedestrians using them, instead of the pedestrian pathways or sidewalks.
fabien (not verified)
Road access, phone service
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 19:52Road access, phone service and now internet service are generally considered basic rights, not privileges. We have to get it into canadian politicians' heads that bike transportation in an urban setting is a basic right.
David Juliusson (not verified)
I agree, people ride on the
Fri, 09/02/2011 - 20:29I agree, people ride on the sidewalk when they feel the roads are not safe. I don't like when cyclists are on the sidewalk when I am riding wither. Last night I was walking a friends two year old and nearly got hit by a cyclists texting. Not good.
I want more bike lanes too, but they don't always need to be on the road. Look at the picture Herb included. Look at the green strip between the sidewalk and the street. Could that be turned into a bike lane? I don't know the street Herb is showing so maybe not. It could even be seen as cost saving. Parks wouldn't have to come out and cut the grass etc.
I have been on streets where this is more than possible, particularly in the west of Toronto. West Mall is an example. Long grass strips up the road from Sherway Gardens almost to Etobicoke Civic Center.
It would meet some of the goals of the city. The increase in cyclists would offset the environmental loss of the grass. Bike lanes would be created without inconveniencing car drivers. Pedestrians would be safer, so would cyclists. Because most roads follow the most convenient route, the bike lanes would too.
Just a thought.
Random cyclist (not verified)
More bike lanes won't work. I
Sat, 09/03/2011 - 07:51More bike lanes won't work. I live near Jarvis and Wellesley which both have bike lanes and am constantly dodging cyclists tearing down the sidewalk. I think we need a better infrastructures that cyclists will use them. I never ride on the sidewalk because it's not safe. Unfirtunately most that I encounter show little care or concern for pedestrians.
herb
Excuse me if I don't take
Sat, 09/03/2011 - 20:13Excuse me if I don't take your word for it, Random.
The problem with your line of thinking is that you take one snapshot in time, then derive a conclusion from it. Why don't you try that line of reasoning with something else, like say thefts or murders. We've still got people stealing and murdering yet we've got police and prisons. Would you conclude that the fact that people continue to steal things that police and prisons don't have any effect? Why don't we just get rid of them all then? No?
How about this instead: let's have at least two pieces of data so we can compare. If you care to download this report by the city on bike traffic downtown, you'll see on page 16 that "Cyclists riding on a street with a bike lane were less likely to ride on the sidewalk than cyclists riding elsewhere (3% versus 6%)".
It wouldn't hurt to get more evidence, but what we've got makes intuitive sense: if cyclists get a safe space on the road, then they're more likely to ride on the road than the sidewalk.
A.R. (not verified)
More bike lanes will
Sat, 09/03/2011 - 13:45More bike lanes will certainly work! Most cyclists will in fact use them when they provide a safe and convenient way to get around. The moral of the incident of a pedestrian killed by cyclists is that more bike lanes should be built quickly in the suburbs where people are cycling: along major streets. It should be a point in every newspaper article covering the story.
Look how easy it is to build bike lanes in the suburbs with all those green strips along roads. Start with the major destinations like the suburban city centres and university and college campuses and dense apartment neighbourhoods and connect it with the core network. Why aren't our planners embracing such efficient and uncontroversial routes towards quality cycling infrastructure in the suburbs? Granted, some bus stops and poles would have to be relocated, but it's really not such a challenge in the greater scheme of things. Poles have to be replaced and revitalization efforts happen on a yearly basis.
locutas_of_spragge
I know parents who live near
Sat, 09/03/2011 - 21:44I know parents who live near Finch; they would never think of allowing their children to ride on the main roads out there. They ride on the sidewalk themselves, having no other alternative to the road, and have told me plainly that they thought me mad to ride on Finch. And I can see it from their point of view. Riding on the roads in the outer suburbs frightens me, and I have forty plus years of experience on two wheels.
Still, I would say to my fellow cyclists that riding on the sidewalk does not make you safe and it does endanger pedestrians. I have said this before and I will say it again: I believe cyclists have a moral responsibility to do everything we can to avoid harming ourselves or our fellow road users, particularly vulnerable road users. Goodness knows, this does not mean we will always succeed: given the complex and hazardous environment on Toronto streets, we will always have accidents. But it makes sense for us to try, always, to stay safe and avoid harming pedestrians. And that explains why, though I have every sympathy for cyclists, and particularly the parents of teenage cyclists, who find the traffic on Finch terrifying, I insist that for older teenage and adult cyclists, sidewalks offer only the illusion of safety, and they offer that at a completely unacceptable cost to pedestrians.
fabien (not verified)
Random, Random, the problem
Sat, 09/03/2011 - 22:08Random,
Random, the problem is a little more complex than you make it seem:
some cyclists ride infrequently and may not be familiar with Toronto by-laws (no cycling on sidewalk). Not knowing the law is no excuse, but with the number of newcomers coming to Toronto every year, can also be expected to some extent. There is clearly some education and awareness-raising to be done in this area.
some pedestrians (most) are also unaware about the by law. While I ride my 20 inch wheels bike primarily on the road, I am entitled to ride in on the sidewalk (any wheel smaller than 24 inches is). Yet i often get bad looks and the occasional comment.
Many drivers are HOPELESSLY clueless about bike lanes. Bike lanes downtown are used to deliver goods, park while you wait for someone or, as I witnessed recently, apply makeup. You may not realize it but this creates extremely dangerous situations for cyclists who have to gonaround the obstacle, swith lanes and risk being hit by a vehicle Why does our fine police department nor run a blitz to get the word out? Bike lanes are for bikes people.
I always strive to be a law abiding cyclist but keepnin mind I am a citizen, a tax payer and am also entitled to reasonable safety afforded by the local government. The city of Toronto does not have the moral right to put me at risk while riding a bike in Toronto through its negligence and lack of provision for bike lanes. In the short term this means cyclists may occasionally have to ride on the sidewalk to guarantee their safety. In the long run, I hope bicyclists are treated fairly and given the infrastructure they require for safe and efficient transportation.
RANTWICK
I'm guessing that bike lanes
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 01:01I'm guessing that bike lanes do help. On sidewalk riding though: If you are as old as me, you might remember a time when there were no curbcuts that allowed for the easy passage of wheelchairs, etc. That made riding on the sidewalk a totally bothersome, rim-slamming kind of experience, so bikes generally stayed on the road. Curbcuts made it much easier to ride on the sidewalk. I find it kind of ironic and sad that improvements made for one good reason have created an entirely different problem.
Kevin (not verified)
Random Cyclist wrote: "I live
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 01:35Random Cyclist wrote:
"I live near Jarvis and Wellesley which both have bike lanes and am constantly dodging cyclists tearing down the sidewalk."
Kevin's comment:
This is because the Jarvis and Wellesley bike lanes are incredibly crappy and unsafe. They are unprotected lanes that fail to meet the CROW engineering safety standard for bike lane width of 2.5 metres.
On Wellesley, there are even areas, for example westbound between Yonge and Bay streets, where the bike lane is in the door zone. The most dangerous place on the entire road to ride a bike is in the bike lane!
Although there are several schools and other child facilities along Jarvis, there is no way that I would allow my 9-year-old daughter to cycle to school in the Jarvis bike lane. On the other hand, virtually every elementary school child in The Netherlands walks or cycles to school. Why? Because they have proper protected cycle lanes that meet the CROW engineering safety standards.
That is what we need in Toronto. And I, for one, absolutely refuse to ride in the door zone or endanger my precious life by using dangerous, sub-standard bike lanes that fail to meet the CROW safety engineering standards. You will see me exercising my legal right to take the lane in the general traffic lane. Car drivers can honk all day long, but I'm not budging from the centre of the lane. That's the safest place to be.
Kevin (not verified)
Thanks to the Cycling Embassy
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 07:36Thanks to the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, there is a description of the CROW safety engineering standards for cycle infrastructure here:
http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/node/226
And some research on sidewalk cycling here:
http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/sites/cycling-embassy.org.uk/files/doc...
Clay the Suburban (not verified)
In Mississauga/Brampton they
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 11:21In Mississauga/Brampton they use asphalt paths instead of concrete sidewalks in many places. These are multi-use, the bike and peds share. This works were there are few peds and cyclists. I have always T.O. should do this too, out here on Finch. The Finch corridor trail is great but we still need local cycling options.
W. K. Lis
According to the all-knowing
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 13:22According to the all-knowing and wise Rob Ford, bicycles belong on bicycle paths in ravines or hydro corridors, and not on roads using part of the roadway as a bicycle lane. Apparently, he thinks they are for recreational purposes only, not transportation.
Kevin (not verified)
In a way, Rob Ford is right,
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 22:50In a way, Rob Ford is right, but not in the way that he thinks.
In the beginning, a long time ago, car-only segregated expressways were justified by saying that they would take cars off local roads.
Of course, car-only expressways put a lot more cars onto local roads because all expressway trips begin and end on local roads.
The same logic applies to cycling. If we can get an excellent network of off-road cycle expressways, I have no problem with bike-haters justifying funding it on the grounds that it will take bikes off of local roads and free them up for cars.
As we see in The Netherlands, effectively building such a network is a key element in building cycle mode share. Which will, of course, put more bicycles on local roads. Because all trips start as local trips.
hamish (not verified)
Clay didn't mention something
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 21:45Clay didn't mention something that he told many of us about years ago: the installation of the centre lane for turning vehicles as per the photo at the top, took away width in the curb lanes that made it safe for cyclists - or relatively safe. I don't know how widespread this pattern is, but there's usually far more room on the road allowances north of St. Clair than south. So, it's all an allocation issue...
Metro spent umpteen hundreds of thousands installing rose-coloured concrete in the splash zones rather than doing anything for bike safety adjacent ot the sidewalk with that concrete. So the traffic helicoptors could tell which roads were Metro roads, but the Metro level just didn't see pedestrians and cyclists as worth bothering about, and Ford and the Caronies around him are of that illk.
Oh, a truly funny Ford Follies in the Sunday Star today - but online isn't too legible, get paper.
Random cyclist (not verified)
Biking in Toronto is very
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 23:43Biking in Toronto is very dangerous. I've had drivers cut me off and park right in front of me and also pass right me leaving very little space. Having a bike lane definitely makes me feel a lot safer riding in the city. If people take a look at Waterloo, most arterial roads especially around the universities have bike lanes. Riding to school everyday, I see a lot more people riding on the road than on the side walks. How many more pedestrian/cyclist accidents would one see on Jarvis once the city eliminates that bike lane? While I like Rob Ford's idea of having bike lanes on the roads parallel to arterial roads, but you must make those roads fast enough for commuting for bikers as commuting bikers are like commuting drivers, they want to get from A to B in the quickest time. One way I can see this happening is sacrificing a few two-way arterial road into one-way streets for motorists and have opposing directions on opposite sides of the road. The opposing bike lanes on the should either be separated or partially separated.
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Now, there is the law about the 26 inch rule which is absurd. Are parents who are biking with their kids below the age of 10 expected to ride on the road while the kids are on the sidewalks? Rather than having a size rule, why not have a speed limit for cyclist on the sidewalk (such as 15kph)?
People don't like cars speeding past pedestrians in a car park, so what would make people think cyclist feel they are safe on the road with them as well? Bikes can range anywhere between 5kph on a steep uphill climb (walking pace) to 70kph downhill (tucking down a very long and steep hill). That difference is why pedestrians should not share the road with bikers. The majority of people on sidewalks are on heavy Canadian Tire supercycles and they are not as fit as people who have $3000 Specialized S-Works bikes. Therefore the average person with of 10-15kph would definitely be a hazard on the road with vehicles of all sizes. In most of Toronto's roads, 60kph is the speed limit and cars are expected to be at the speed limit (which is a oxymoron, because limit is what you are expected to to not cross). Even Tour de France average speeds are less than that.
Furthermore, what is the percentage of population of drivers actually know the whole Highway Traffic Act? How many people actually know how to drive (IE shift down to a lower gear when driving in winter)? I'd say it is too easy to get licensed in Ontario as even taking a driving course. In terms of a food prep simile, the average person has the skill and ability to cook food as a McDonald's fry cook (no offense). There are speed limits, stop signs, licensing for motorist reminding them about the laws, how could the governments justify prosecuting people for breaking the law if people are not up-to-date in the laws and there are no obvious signs for them? Do people remember first using the computer? How many people knew how to use a CD-Rom drive at first?
Andrewpmk (not verified)
We need more side-of-road
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 00:49We need more side-of-road bike paths like the new bike trails that have been built on short sections of Ellesmere Road (near Orton Park Road), Morningside Road (near Sewells Road) and on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard near Exhibition Place. These have bicycle traffic signals which make car drivers more aware of bicyclists' presence. Many suburban arterials (like Finch pictured above) have only 4 lanes but room for 6, so there is lots of room for a bike path like this.
Bicycling on the road on busy arterial roads like Finch is extremely dangerous. I don't think that on road bike lanes are really any safer (e.g. Finch between Neilson and Morningside). In my opinion biking on the sidewalk on main roads, when there is no bike path, is much safer as long as you (a) yield to pedestrians and (b) watch for turning cars at intersections, which is a major cause of accidents when cycling on the sidewalk.
Random cyclist (not verified)
It's a complete myth that
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 15:19It's a complete myth that sidewalks are safer for cyclists. Sidewalks are more dangerous.
anthill
The strip of lawn between the
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 16:01The strip of lawn between the sidewalk and road pisses me off the most. Grass is more valuable then people's safety on bikes.
W. K. Lis
Unfortunately, the strip of
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 16:50Unfortunately, the strip of grass is used for windrows (snow piled on the side of the roads) in winter. Of course, there are drivers who would be okay with using the bicycle lane for windrows, but I would prefer the snowplows to continue using a separate strip of grass instead of the bike lane.
David Juliusson (not verified)
Two years ago in Ward 6, the
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 18:24Two years ago in Ward 6, the Birmingham bike lane was used for windrows. Now it is simply not plowed very well. Even if the grass strips were a three season bike lane it would be better than what we have now. They do that in some areas of Montreal.
locutas_of_spragge
Last I looked, the Toronto
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 17:28Last I looked, the Toronto Star had three stories on this tragic mishap, complete with the associated call for harsher regulations banning cyclists from sidewalks. Oddly enough, none of these stories managed to fit in a quote from their chief auto correspondent, Jim Kenzie, who wrote last year, that
Larry (not verified)
If you look at that stretch
Tue, 09/06/2011 - 09:17If you look at that stretch of Finch on Google Streetview, there is no reason that strip of grass could not be turned into a bike path, or that the existing sidewalk could not be divided.