Pretty in Pink

Update - The Squad's pink lanes got some props in New York City on Streetsblog!

A few pretty pink Penny Farthings showed up on Bloor street last week along with a lovely matching stripe.

This new pink bike lane is in homage to female cyclists in Toronto, and comes to you courtesy of the Other Urban Repair Squad.

Studies have shown that although both men and women would rather not ride on roads without bicycle facilities, women are much more uncomfortable on roads with no bike lanes.

The Toronto Star gave the new lane some ink on Monday, which generated some great letters to the editor today. Here are just a few:

I applaud the activists who are stencilling their own bike lanes on Toronto streets. The city, with an ample budget for bike paths but without the leadership to implement a plan, needs a good kick in the pants for its abject inaction. Bikes are great for the environment and for our health, so what’s not to like? It’s time to protect bicyclists with bike lanes. - Don Tai, Toronto
After 10 years of fighting off aggressive and inattentive car and SUV drivers and risking my neck for a couple of feet of pavement, I have become almost ready to give up my daily bicycle commute to work. So I welcome actions, like lane painting by the Other Urban Repair Squad, that highlight the outrageous fact that drivers continue to be given priority over cyclists, even as we face a smog and climate crisis. - Michael Polanyi, Toronto
While I don’t condone vandalism, I must applaud the creativity of the Other Urban Repair Squad. Toronto is years behind other cities in becoming cycling friendly. For a city with a poor environmental report card, this is an area where it could improve upon. Now, if only the activists had painted a bike lane on Yonge St., I would be ditching my Metropass in favour of my bike this summer. Until that happens, I fear for my life any time I try to bike to work. - Colin Haubrich, Toronto
Does the Other Urban Repair Squad take requests? We sure could use a bike lane on Bayview Ave. No rush – any time this summer would be good. Many thanks. - Marjorie Nichol, Toronto

Clearly, cyclists are tired of waiting. The squads see implementation of cycling infrastructure as a survival issue. The streets are no longer safe for cyclists — especially new cyclists. Here are the most recent statistics from the Toronto Police. A cyclist is injured (or, more accurately, reports being injured) approximately every 9 hours in Toronto.

Although I am not a member of any of the squads, I completely understand their frustration.

I see this political act as a dynamic and creative way of expressing that frustration — and providing a solution. (Note that cyclists are riding in the bike lane in both pictures.)

Implementing cycling infrastructure would provide the most immediate and cost-effective solution to air quality and transportation ills in our city.
You want to ease traffic congestion? Install bike lanes and make provisions for bikes on all transit. The Bike Plan is only the beginning. And, I understand that the squads do plan on filling in the oft-noted “gaps” in the network set out in the Bike Plan.

You want to decrease smog in the city? Install bike lanes and provide clean air corridors on days when the air is bad.

Recently, the executive director of the League of American Bicyclists testified before U.S. Congress to emphasize how bicycling can help solve America’s climate change issues. There are huge air quality benefits in converting short trips by motorized to non-motorized forms of transport.

In Toronto, money has been allocated to the Bike Plan for years and it has simply not been spent. The Mayor vowed that the Bike Plan would be top priority, yet cycling was not recognized in the 2007 operating budget.

So after years of inaction and broken promises by the City, cyclists aren’t left with many choices but to do the work for them. The Urban Repair Squads are just showing the City how easy it can be.

Top photo courtesy of the Toronto Star. Bottom photo courtesy of the bikelanediary.

tammy : 18 years 6 days ago
Tags: bike infrastructure, bike lanes, politics

Toraanisqatsi - Toronto out of balance

For some visual stimulation see Leif Harmsen's TORAANISQATSI (music score by Bob Wiseman), a "remake" of Koyaanisqatsi, the film name comes from the Hopi word, meaning life out of balance. The film shows slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and the U.S. landscape, meant to depict the increasingly fast-paced modern lives.

Toraansiqatsi obviously hopes to live up to the same vision of depicting the fast-paced Toronto living, though its not-so-subtle subtitle of "Shit out of balance" detracts from the whole effect.

From the Koyaanisqatsi website:

As the general focus of the QATSI Trilogy is the technological milieu, it is the purpose of this site to foster a web-dialogue on this little understood, yet ubiquitous subject – the nature of technology. What we know about the subject is vastly promotive, over-the-top positive, coming to us from the producers of global technology. A glowing wonderland of unlimited opportunity is promised by the good life of the technological order. Infinite capacity, virtual immortality, super human cognition – attributes that have until now been reserved for the divine are indicated for technology. A new technological pantheon has been established in the horizonless world of the Blue Planet.

But is technology what it appears to be? Have we looked behind the shimmer of its glowing surface? Very little, if anything, reveals its meaning through mere appearances. Most everything is more complex, full with a universe of hidden dimensions. Is technology an exception to this common experience? Or, have we accepted its truth as the truth? Is technology a new and comprehensive environment, the host of life, that has replaced the natural order? Is technology the new universal religion? Can faiths unquestioned become our prisons? Should we place blind faith in the techno-clergy of the new order? Does the computer reproduce the world in its own image and likeness? Is technology a mere tool, as we are told, that can be used or misused depending on one’s intentions? Is technology neutral? Does it possess a life of its own? Is it the effect of technology on this or that (the environment, etc.), or is it that everything is situated in technology? Has technology become an addiction, an altered state that we cannot live without? Is technology a way of living? Do we use technology or do we live technology? Is it our consciousness that informs our behavior or is it our behavior that informs our consciousness? Do we now live in a world beyond the senses, in a micro-universe, where small is dangerous? Is technology synonymous with the machine or has it become ordinary daily living?

herb : 18 years 1 week ago
Tags: cities, education, sprawl

Cyclist Profile - Clay the music teacher

Name / Occupation / Age

Clay Puddester, music teacher, 35

What do you use your bike for?

Well, I use it for pretty much everything. But, I guess the main reason for this profile is that I teach music lessons and go from home to home on my bike, in the beaches.

How often do you ride?

I ride pretty much every day of the year.

How long have you been commuting by bicycle and what made you decide to do it?

Well, I came to Toronto in 2003 to do my Masters at U of T. I was already doing triathlons at that time, so it just made sense that I would commute by bicycle. I was riding all the time anyway.

Can you give a brief description of your route?

I teach lessons basically between Coxwell and Victoria Park, so I try to concentrate the lessons for each day in a particular area, but, basically all of the Beaches.

The terrain in the Beaches is very hilly – more than downtown -- so it makes the riding more difficult in the winter.

What's the best thing about commuting by bicycle?

For me I think at times it is faster than car, and TTC obviously. Because a lot of the lessons I teach are around rush hour, I am able to avoid traffic. Also, it is nice ot have a little break between lessons –that is, a mental and physical break.

Any advice for new riders?

Don’t wear your iPod while you're biking.

I think one thing that really bothers me – my pet peeve if you will --is other cyclists endangering cyclists. I mean, it is bad enough to have to deal with cars, so other cyclists driving recklessly is just not good. There are lots of examples I could give, but they are all long involved stories.

What would you say to convince someone who is considering commuting by bicycle to get on board their bike?

I would say, that the thing I like most about it, is it’s just so fast and convenient. Also, you know if you are taking the TTC you have to get to the station and then wait, and pay. If you are driving you have to pay for parking and gas and all the expenses with the car. Biking – especially in the summer – is just really nice!

What do you like about biking in Toronto?

I come from Newfoundland so cycling there is completely different than here – obviously the roads are more congested here than St. John's.

In general, Toronto drivers are aware of cyclists and cyclists rights. In St. John’s there are almost no commuter cyclists, but on the other hand there are far more roads that don’t have traffic on them.

And dislike?

Having to deal with people endangering my life.

Where is/are your favourite place(s) to bike in Toronto?

I actually really enjoy riding in the Beaches. The traffic gets bad around Kingston Road and Queen Street, but out here people are generally more relaxed when they are driving.

I think it is because it is a much more residential area. You know, just people coming home from work, picking up their kids and things like that -- doing fewer business-related errands.

Least favourite road to bike on?
That's easy: Kingston Road between Victoria Park and Warden. It is just full of pot holes and the pavement is just totally crumbling. It might as well be on a dirt road.

Scary bike stories?
My scary bike stories usually involve someone in the left hand lane crossing over to the right lane and not checking their blind spot and not seeing me. That happens quite a bit.

How could the City help you enjoy riding more?

I think, in general, the roads should be wider.

How did you start biking?

I’ve been biking my whole life. I started really seriously back in 2002 when I started doing triathlon.

What sort of bike do you ride?

I have four bikes. My main commuter is an old Bianci from the 80s. I have two Giants; one is mountan and one racing. And my fourth is a Trek Y-foil -- it’s a fancy bike.

Helmet or no helmet?

Recently converted from never wearing a helmet to always. I just realized the odds were against me because I ride so much. I've never been in accident, but I think the helmet could mean the difference between getting up and saying "ouch that hurt" and continuing on or going to the hospital.

Bikelane or no bikelane?

A bit torn about that one. I think it is because I do enjoy a good bike lane to ride in, but I’m afraid of what kind of message they send to automobile drivers. If you are driving along in a bike lane and a car is next to you it is almost like that is theirs and this is yours, so when the bike lane ends the driver of the car could perceive that that is still their lane – your lane ended so too bad for you.

Just in general, all the roads should just be wider and it should be understood that a portion of the road is for cyclists.

Crossposted to Spacing

tammy : 18 years 1 week ago
Tags: profiles