Inspiration from the US Midwest

IBikeTO user Anthony submitted this story to us from the Victoria Times Colonist: Bike Town USA. The writer, John Lutton, a cyclist from Victoria, visited Madison, Wisconsin for the Pro-Walk, Pro-Bike conference. He was impressed with what he saw.

From the airport in Milwaukee, I'd covered almost 160 km on off-road trails and for the first 50 km, the route is paved, too. Rail trails reach another 70 km past Madison to Dodgeville, more than half way across the state.

Having a quick look at the cycling maps around Madison, the thing that struck me is the network of trails and paths stretching out from the city. It looks like it's actually possible to ride between two towns on comfortable routes.

Anthony has been kind enough to maintain a forum thread with links to cycling stories in major newspapers. Many thanks, Anthony. To anyone not using it already, it's definitely a handy way to keep on top of the news.

darren : 17 years 11 months ago
Tags: bike infrastructure, bike paths, international

The Real Solution

While the conversation in Toronto is bubbling over with talk about cutting pay raises and closing subway lines, the real solution to the city's budget problems is barely getting mentioned: congestion charging. What Toronto needs is an expansive and intelligent road pricing system that would charge motorists an appropriate amount every day for the luxury of driving in our city. The charge could be different depending on the time of day, the day of the week and the part of the city.

The problem with our current tax system is that it is based on the assumption that everyone will use a car to get around, so everyone will pay somewhat evenly for the road system through property tax. This system doesn't work in an age when reducing car use is critical to our future. (Consider global warming and high oil costs predicted by the IEA in 2012).

On a provincial level, the budget for transportation is similar to the gas tax, about $3 billion (although there is no direct connection). However, the majority of the roads covering our cities are funded by municipal budgets, which get most of their income through property tax, something we all pay, renters and owners, whether we drive a 1 ton vehicle every day or not. The system practically begs people to drive so they get their money's worth. If you want to see more numbers that show how this system is unfair and regressive, read this study from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

The key feature of a congestion charge is that it encourages every car owner to consider whether or not to use a car every morning. If a car gets used, the owner pays the 2 or 5 or 10 dollars. If the car stays parked at home, the owner can spend the money on a TTC token or maybe a bike. This is where the $60 annual tax on car registration was weak. Once the registration fee is paid, it won't do anything to encourage people to leave their cars at home. With a congestion charge, the motorist directly associates car use with the cost of the limited road space.

Other cities around the world have already demonstrated how to do this. In London and Stockholm, and now New York, people have the same complaints about not having an adequate transit system. Mayor Bloomberg addressed this. Toronto is not the first. If we wanted to do this, we could quickly implement express bus routes covering the city, and even dedicate portions of our roads to the bus and bike.

A congestion charge makes so much sense on so many levels, it's painful to see it ignored.

darren : 17 years 11 months ago
Tags: city hall, congestion charge, road pricing

Lack of political will killed Bikeshare, not bike theft

In the Globe and Mail article, Bicycles made for vous, Susan Sachs illuminates the new bikesharing program in Paris (earlier reported on by Darren). She does a reasonable job recounting the various bike sharing projects in Europe and North America, including Toronto's Bikeshare program which was run by the Community Bicycle Network for 5 successful years:

Toronto's BikeShare project, run by a non-profit group and funded by the city, closed last year after five years of operation. At its peak, it offered 150 yellow bicycles from 18 pickup and drop-off points, but the program suffered from a high incidence of vandalism and theft.

I could perhaps forgive Sachs for getting the facts wrong since only volunteers are checking CBN phones these days and they probably missed her fact-checking call.

Susan: Bikeshare was NOT funded by the city. CBN was trying to move away from private funders who would only provide one-off funding on a year by year basis. It was just too unstable, administratively onerous, and the funds were slowly dwindling as funders got bored with the successful program. Bikeshare ended not because of bike theft or vandalism, it was because the money ran dry from private funding sources and the city wouldn't pick up the tab.

Bikeshare was quite popular among users, politicians and business folk. This last year was a big struggle for the board and staff. As they realized that there was just no political will in Toronto to keep it going, they just had to come to the conclusion that Bikeshare couldn't survive in this climate where the City is just not willing to make a substantial commitment to a more economically and environmentally sustainable transportation system based on transit and active transportation. So far, the city isn't making car drivers pay their share of the costs. By that I mean, if drivers actually paid their share for the road, health and environmental costs that cars impose, there would be more money for cheap and useful programs like Bikeshare.

herb : 17 years 11 months ago
Tags: Bikeshare, Community Bicycle Network