Traffic congestion is not increasing in central Toronto: it's a suburban problem

The Mayor has jumped onto the traffic congestion crisis bandwagon: "Toronto’s economy loses billions of dollars every year from gridlock and traffic congestion. We need to make the situation better – not worse." (for example, by adding another car lane to Jarvis). Councillor Parker at least seems to understand the issue by recognizing that we "cannot grow enough roads to accommodate every new resident in a private car; alternative means of mobility will be required" but still figures that we have to be "fair" by making "the most of the motor vehicle carrying capacity that our roads can provide". Presumably this means in order to be "fair" to car drivers Parker would have to oppose any proposal that takes away an existing car lane.

Even though facts never get in the way of the mayor having his way, we can at least investigate this further into this congestion thing. Fact one: traffic into and out of the core has been virtually stable. In-bound vehicles (excluding bicycles) has hovered around 100,000 vehicles and in-bound person trips have hovered around 300,000 during the peak travel time of 7am to 10am between 1985 and 2006. Traffic congestion may be getting worse in other parts of Toronto - the number of in-bound and out-bound trips has increased for city's boundary, but we shouldn't confuse the rest of Toronto with Toronto's Central Area.

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 22:22 - Number of vehicles entering/leaving Toronto's central area ©Number of vehicles entering/leaving Toronto's central area
13 years ago ago by IBikeTO.
Number vehicle trips are stable in and out of Toronto's Central Area.

Fact two: car traffic in the Central Area only made up 33% of those person trips. 46% is TTC and 19% is GO Transit.

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 22:22 - Mode of travel at border of Toronto's central area ©Mode of travel at border of Toronto's central area
13 years ago ago by IBikeTO.
Travel mode into and out of Toronto's Central Area.

The City of Toronto has been conducting semi-regular cordon counts of traffic; the last one href="http://www.toronto.ca/planning/pdf/cordon_count_2006.pdf">in 2006 counted automobiles, TTC and GO Transit. A cordon count is where they count all the vehicles and persons travelling in and out of the boundaries of an area, in this case they have a cordon that is the boundary of the City of Toronto as well as one for the Central Area.

At the borders of the city (the other cordon count they conducted over the years), the traffic mix is entirely different from the Central Area. Instead of having a stable number of vehicles entering and exiting the city, both have been increasing dramatically. In-bound traffic has jumped from 175,000 to about 300,000 from 6:30am to 9:30am, almost doubling in volume!

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 22:22 - Number of vehicles entering/leaving Toronto's border ©Number of vehicles entering/leaving Toronto's border
13 years ago ago by IBikeTO.
Number of vehicle trips into and out of Toronto.

And instead of 2 out of 3 trips being by public transit, 2 out of 3 trips is by single occupant vehicle! So not only have the vehicles increased, a lot of that increase was with a very inefficient means of transportation.

Fri, 07/08/2011 - 22:22 - Mode of travel at Toronto's border (cordon) ©Mode of travel at Toronto's border (cordon)
13 years ago ago by IBikeTO.
Travel mode into and out of Toronto.

This sense of crisis that the mayor gabs on about is perhaps understandable now. Unfortunately we now have suburban politicians ready to "solve" both downtown and suburban traffic congestion by attempting to add more road capacity. If history is any measure their attempts will prove to be doomed. The vast majority of Toronto roads with traffic congestion don't have bike lanes or streetcars. There is just no money for building more freeways and the private sector won't pay for any gigantic tunneling action that Doug Ford is hoping for. And, finally, adding road capacity doesn't actually help at all. The road quickly fills up with the latent demand - people just find reasons to make more trips by car. Most recently it was confirmed a "fundamental law of traffic congestion" in a study by University of Toronto professors:

This law finds that people drive more when the stock of roads in their city increases, commercial driving and trucking increase with a city’s stock of roads and people migrate to cities which are relatively well provided with roads. The study finds evidence that this law may extend beyond interstate highways to a broad class of major urban roads, that is, a “fundamental law of road congestion”.

The 2006 City of Toronto Cordon Count Program didn't count cycling and pedestrian trips in and out of the cordons. So last fall Transportation Services conducted the first cordon bicycle count for the Central Area. They found 19,000 cyclists in-bound from 7am to 7pm. Given that neighbourhoods in the Central Area and directly to the east and west have bike commuter mode shares in the range of 5 to 20%, it's not surprising to find there are many cyclists going into and out of the Central Area. Cycling has grown in popularity in Toronto despite the crappy infrastructure. I've found it a strange phenomenon. Perhaps there are just enough half-decent bike lanes so as to entice people onto their bikes. And it doesn't hurt that gas has become expensive and that travelling by car or transit in downtown Toronto is miserable.

If we want to shift more of the travel mode into the Central Area we can't just shift people to bikes, but according to the law of traffic congestion we may actually need to shrink the road capacity and put a price on the privilege of driving your private automobile in Toronto. All solutions to which Rob Ford is ideologically opposed. Good luck Toronto.

herb : 13 years 11 months ago
Tags: commuting, traffic

Bike vs pedestrian

The Globe, the Star, and 680 news have all reported that the police charged a cyclist with careless driving after a woman suffered a skull fracture from a bicycle vs pedestrian collision Tuesday July 5 at Huron and Dundas. According to the police news release, the accident took place as the woman crossed in the crosswalk with the light.

I hope the woman injured in this tragic incident makes a full recovery. I hope the cyclist behaved more responsibly than the press and police reports make it appear. I hope the public and politicians keep their sense of proportion when discussing cycling issues. I know that I make my share of mistakes as a cyclist, as a driver, and even as a pedestrian. I know how easily a misjudged distance, or a vehicle not seen clearly at night can turn into a crash.

BUT...

I also believe the cycling community has to start looking at the way we talk about riding. Many of us appear to have an us against the world attitude, in which we refuse to criticize anything another cyclist does. Anything goes, we tell ourselves, as long as we make it home at night. And I understand that: anyone who rides in Toronto will inevitably meet some driver convinced they know what the Highway Traffic Act says, or at least what it should say, and use their two-tonne steel bomb to enforce their idea of the law. After enough close passes, enough drivers deciding they have a right to drive and park wherever they want, even if they have to drive through bicycle lanes and cyclists, after enough threats, abuse, and profanity, I certainly concluded that the car culture in this city simply doesn't deserve respect.

But I would argue that still doesn't absolve us of the obligation to cycle as respectfully and safely as we possibly can. I accept that cyclists may not owe anything to drivers, not even our allies, not even to fellow cyclists who drive. But I believe we do owe something to other vulnerable road users.

Everyone will agree that we shouldn't hit pedestrians. I would like us to have the more difficult conversation, and talk about the relationship between the laws cyclists often break and pedestrian safety. I don't mean that we should obey every ritual detail in the traffic laws, still less that we should show respect to a motoring culture that does not deserve it. But when cyclists ignore stop signs, when we roll at full speed through red lights, when we ride on the sidewalk, we don't just endanger ourselves. And when we in the cycling community talk about these things, we don't just decide for ourselves how to act. We set the tone for other people, people who may or may not have our level of skill or even our reflexes. The rules of the road aim to give everyone a margin of safety. By riding right to the edge, sometimes in defiance of the laws, we narrow that margin considerably. Some cyclists may have the ability to operate right on that edge without ever harming themselves or anyone else, but what if the people who imitate them do not?

I can attest from experience that safety does not come easily. In the complex and changing street environment, populated by pedestrians who often walk around lost in their own thoughts, drivers determined to claim every inch of the road and more, riding, driving, or walking safely takes work and commitment. It doesn't just happen. And I can say from my own experience that even a serious commitment to safety doesn't always succeed. I have had incidents when I have done everything I can to operate safely and still misjudged someone's speed, missed a car in a shadow, not seen a pedestrian step out behind a group of people on a sidewalk. Thank goodness, none of these incidents of bad luck or bad judgment have yet led to serious harm, to me or anyone else. I pray they never will. But I give my hopes and prayers an edge by staying basically within the rules. And I have to say, reluctantly, that I think the time has come for us as a cycling culture to have a conversation about doing the same.

locutas_of_spragge : 13 years 11 months ago
Tags: accidents, bike culture

Modifications to Rogers Road bike lane will not allow parking in bike lane

Daniel Egan, Cycling Infrastructure and Programs Manager, Transportation Services, has clarified the modifications to the Rogers Road bike lanes, stating that it does not mean, as some have thought, that drivers will be allowed to park in the bike lanes (Councillor Layton, in particular, had expressed his concern in a letter to Councillor Palacio and staff):

"It has come to my attention that there is a public perception that the proposed modifications to the Rogers Road bicycle lanes will allow drivers to park in the bicycle lanes. I want to clear up this misunderstanding.

For those who don't know Rogers Road, it currently has a wide painted centre median in the sections where there was left over space when the road was restriped with bicycle lanes. We're proposing changes at two locations to improve parking and/or traffic flow. Just west of Bronoco Avenue, we are removing the painted median and shifting the bicycle lane over so that we can provide some short term parking spaces in front of St. Nicholas Di Barri School. This change will enable parents a safe place to stop to pick-up or drop-off their kids without obstructing the bicycle lane. There will also be a short left turn lane added to facilitate turns onto Bronoco Ave.

At the second location, we are eliminating one parking space just west of McRoberts Ave and the painted centre median east of the intersection to provide a short left turn lane. In both locations the bicycle lanes are being maintained with minor adjustments. And parking will not be permitted in the bicycle lanes.

Cycling staff have worked with Councillor Palacio over the past few months to develop design modifications to resolve the local traffic issues while maintaining the integrity of the bicycle lanes. Unfortunately the issue was not resolved in time to be included in the staff report considered by Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on June 23. As a result the motion to approve the modifications was introduced at committee without accompanying text explaining the purpose and the fact that they will not impact the bicycle lanes. Generally these types of changes would be included in a staff report which explains the purpose and any impacts.

It's unfortunate that some have jumped to the conclusion that the Rogers Road modifications are detrimental to the bicycle lanes without taking the time to contact the Transportation staff responsible for developing the design modifications."

Looks like this one of few cases where the reality is not as bad as it seems.

herb : 13 years 11 months ago
Tags: bike lanes, parking, urban planning