cycling infrastructure

Humans, it seems, all love to watch a fight.

[img_assist|nid=3717|title=|desc=|link=node|align=none|width=500|height=333]

[img_assist|nid=3713|title=|desc=|link=node|align=none|width=500|height=333]

[img_assist|nid=3714|title=|desc=|link=node|align=none|width=500|height=353]

West Toronto Rail Path last night. Somehow I thought it might be free of ice or snow.

Wrong.

Well, it was a lot fun to ride. Kinda like mountain biking on sandy soil.

Mayor Miller got the chance to spin around on a "Copenhagen wheel" while at the global climate change negotiations. The Mayor is reported as saying he'd like to make biking and walking a priority for Toronto. What that means: bike lanes, snow clearing for cyclists, and priority green lights for bikes:

Lay down a sewer pipe and there are myriad standards dictating dimension, clearance and placement. Lay down a bike lane and sound design precepts are optional, more often recognized in the breach than in the application. How is it that conduits for sh_t are typically subjected to greater planning rigor than conduits for human beings on bicycles?

Photo illustration by Rick Conroy

Angela Bischoff sends us this update:

We know cyclists' lives are considered cheap. Jonathan Goldsbie in the Eye Weekly's "Kill a cyclist, pay $110", explains well cyclists' frustration and anger that their lives are worth little once they step onto a bike. And, to add insult to injury we pay $110 if we don't have a bell. Where is the proportion in that?

Only since Metrolinx started calling for secure indoor bike parking at all "Mobility Hubs" has the city and the TTC have finally gotten the message that cyclists would like safe and secure bike parking at subways stations. The fact that it's been in the bike plan for years, and that the entrances to the subways stations are littered with bikes locked to every available surface just wasn't getting the message across well enough for them. So allow me to pass on my thanks to Metrolinx.

Bikes on a GO BusMetrolinx' massive, $50 billion draft transportation plan was revealed this last week. "The cost of not proceeding with this plan would be higher than the cost of proceeding with it.

Ottawa celebrates a victory for cyclists today, as Council will finally vote on adapting the City's official Bike Plan.

So, how was your year on two wheels this year? I had fun although I wonder where all those promised bike lanes are. Eh, Mr. Heaps?

Next year? Right.

Happy Holidays.

Ride on,

Tino