How many of you ride downtown on a regular basis?
I do it now and then (such as riding to work) and it makes me question why i bother. You can never get any speed, the pavement beaten to sh1t, streetcars and their tracks, hobo jaywalkers, hipster byciclists, crazy taxis, idiot SUVs, etc etc. Its an efn wild west.
I did the car commute to the core from 1999-2014, added the bike from 2006-2014. While generally atrocious, the quality of Toronto's drivers/pedestrians/cyclists AND riders has stabilized, though volume has increased. People can't text AND talk at the same time, thank God. In a nutshell, DON'T SPEED and don't outride your sight-lines. Speeding only encourages people behind you to do the same and oncoming traffic will take chances you don't want to take. Sounds obvious but having more reaction time is really necessary to deal with the often hilariously improbable obstacles that appear. The answer to "What are the odds?" when riding in the GTA is ALWAYS "Pretty Good!" The rules make us predictable. Don't throw them out so you can cut a few minutes off the commute. There are enough numb-nuts riders with zero lane discipline using bicycle lanes, shoulders or otherwise wobbling their way to wherever.