Zipper merging works if everyone does it properly. It all goes sideways when some self entitled Teshole(s) with questionable driving skills races to the end of the merge lane's lines and beyond then jams his/her nose in front of someone.
Cycle Mafia scores a win!
- Thread starter Mad Mike
- Start date
Zipper merging works if everyone does it properly. It all goes sideways when some self entitled Teshole(s) with questionable driving skills races to the end of the merge lane's lines and beyond then jams his/her nose in front of someone.
If you do it right only one vehicle merges in front of you right where the lane ends. It goes sideways when Good Samaritan lets everyone and his brothers and sisters in before they get anywhere near the merge point. I find the difficult part is discouraging people from merging early. Some get really ******.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Congestion has a lot of reasons. In my hood, it’s a plethora of things that congrats the roads. The biggies:
- too many cars
- too little traffic enforcement
- Multicultural driving behaviours ( rules and etiquette are supposed to be Canadian, and not like conventions followed in other places.
- Bad drivers. It’s too easy to get a DL IMHO.
- Poor civic management of traffic flows. Way to many unnecessary lights and stop signs, unsynchronized lights on main roads, and too many no-right-on-reds
Gaoler
Well-known member
sburns
Well-known member
So half the congestion is just because of bad drivers?? Really, has nothing to do with volume, or badly implemented infrastructure.
C'mon you can't be serious.
The shift in policy at this point is going to have to be massive.
Toronto is basically a city without a plan (we have a thread on that). I've lived here my entire life and not much has changed, other then things going down the tube and more congestion. I remember as a kid them finishing Kennedy station in the 80's. Then nothing since then, yes we got the Sheppard line many years later (thanks Mel). But really nothing. To me this was a turning point for the city, why they shifted things instead of building out more transit, and other infrastructure to help the city. The writing has been on the wall since then, and now suddenly the congestion is a problem they can't ignore any longer. Bike lanes and reduced speeds are what I see as limited solutions, they are also the most basic and inexpensive options, the city isn't serious about dealing with it.
How many of the above are driven by economics?
A 2-1/2 story renovated house in little Italy is $1.9M.
Everything looks nice until you see the basement and realize the place is over 100 years old with a low ceiling. The hidden block foundation may be crumbling (How much is underpinning and a new foundation?). Corner lot. No central air. One parking spot. 17 X 88 foot lot. No back yard. Close to TTC and bike lanes. Who needs a car.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a new four bedroom, four bath house with a two car garage, back yard, three times the land at half the price. Buy to the maximum and inflation will make you rich. Go for it and stretch the mortgage limits.
Move to Barrie. It's only an hour drive on a nice Saturday afternoon. Leave at 7:00 AM get to work at 8:00AM in Toronto. Leave work at 5:00PM and home at 6:00PM they think. Reality is leave at 6:00 AM and get home at 7:00PM.
Then kids come along further stretching the budget. Day care costs and there are surcharges for early drop offs and late pickups. If you drive fast and cut people off, you can save $20 a day. That's $400 a month and your mortgage is due for renewal at ?%
Hubby and wifey could take separate cars to gain some time flexibility but then there's an extra car on the road burning gas.
If hubby drives a dump truck and can get in an extra run, it takes off some financial pressure so drive fast and cut people off.
Rights on reds can cause problems with through traffic. You're at a red in heavy traffic and there's only space for one car on the other side of the intersection so you're ready to go for it when you get a green. Then someone does right on red and the space is gone when you get a green. If you proceed into the intersection, you cause grid lock.
If driver's licenses were hard to get and keep it would be harder for developers to sell houses on the fringes of the GTA until public transit was in place. (submit Eglington Cross Town jokes now)
More law enforcement is more cost effective with photo charges at a couple of hundred or more per shot. Go to the above mortgage comments.
At some point photo charges will affect insurance rates. No, you aren't necessarily a bad driver, but you let someone who is, drive your car.
Trickle-down economics only trickles down poverty.
The saturation point is like putting a 13th egg in a carton and closing the lid. However the area I watch the most the percentage of cyclists to cars is more like 0.5% and that is for less than half the time so more like 0.25% change in numbers. Decent drivers would have a greater effect.
I don't know if the $158 million patch is still planned for the bicycle path from Dundas to King Street. What? A minor detour for 100 cyclist for half the year (I've scouted the detour) or 158 families get fully paid for starter homes 365 days a year forever.
I used to live 8 km from work. It would take 8 minutes door to door and 12 to cross the city. Then we tore down the Gardiner. It went to half an hour or more. Since they’ve reduced the lanes from three to two near Marilyn Bell Park, it’s closer to an hour, even at 06:30. I rode my bicycle for a while and even took the twins to downtown daycare in a trailer. That worked until a double length TTC bus tried to turn me into meat paste. Any decent driving roads after the Gardiner stupidity, have been hamstrung by bike lanes. e.g. Eastern Ave. West end is even more ridiculous as it also streetcars on the main streets.
AllistonGT
Well-known member
Can't have much of a plan when not one Toronto Mayer has had the balls to raise property taxes. Until recently.
sburns
Well-known member
I've never felt giving more money to our gov (any level) is the answer to anything.
Hey I wish my property taxes where the same as when I bought my house, they arn't, plus all of the new development over the years has to be filling the city's purse somehow.
AllistonGT
Well-known member
You and I would think so........
That is the problem. Development fees should have been banked to pay for infrastructure, immediate and future. Instead, they bought beer with grocery money and cried "Poor"
That's about the only thing Chow has done right. In essence, we're paying back taxes with interest. Taxes should go up with city inflation rate, whatever that is. They don't buy a lot of groceries, but staffing, utilities, and infrastructure add up.
markopas
Well-known member
Since I got my PAS e-bike back in late 2022 (had to replace my ancient 18yr old pedal bike and didn't want to spend $3500-$5000 on a full on e-bike), I've been biking to work everyday (as much as I can) with the exception of rain days and extreme cold weather (lucky to have the GO and TTC at my doorstep within 5-10min walking distance). I do bike in the cold just bundle up and wear proper warm gear but never in the extreme cold or snow. I cut the line at negative temps because it can become unbearable.
Things I've seen in the city in the last 3.5yrs of constant biking in the city since I got my new bike and riding my older pedal bike.
My commute is 11km each way from east end Toronto and takes me 25-30mins to get in (don't matter which path I take in, typically I'll take Eastern or Dundas with the odd day on Queen and jump to Richmond all the way down). I rode in yesterday to compare times and it takes me roughly the same amount of time (and on the odd days it could be really bad for motor vehicle transport and downright frustrating getting stuck in rush hour traffic (used to drive and motorbike in to downtown a lot with the wife) as I zoom by in my bicycle and those pain points are all the same and have not changed in the last 18yrs and gotten worse since they tore down the Gardiner
(I hope they plan on getting this back up and fixed because exiting Lakeshore is so helpful and helped with traffic congestion). Certain days carry longer traffic times where the bike times are consistent and nothing really changes so those times are just how much I push it to get into work or get caught up with other bicycle traffic and red lights. Best time so far is 21mins.
As long as I've lived here, things that I feel need to be regulated:
If bike lanes were setup how they were before then vehicles and drivers would have more visibility vs being hidden behind a large ass vehicle giving the turning vehicle zero visibility.
Last thought, the Danforth has ALWAYS been a **** show especially in the Greek town as they have always had street parking so when they added bike lanes this has not taken away anything for anyone and traffic always been the same. The traffic further after Parliament has obviously changed and gone from 4 lanes to two lanes to accommodate on-street parking and bicycle lanes and I think they even expanded the side walks to include the bike lanes but think the traffic has always been a pain point for this stretch going in either direction.
I really don't think city planning team has really done enough study to determine what implementations will do in the cause and effect relation. I've biked all over this city and having bike lanes or not is not going to change the habit of drivers and will not make anyone more safe by putting these in (you can see there have been accidents even with bike lanes installed, you see it on the news all the time). I love driving my car, riding my motorbike and commuting in the city with my bicycle. Driving in the city is great to get around and deal with errands and things that need to be picked up as you are extremely limited to doing these things with bicycle, motorbike or transit as they just aren't feasible and I refuse to take an Uber/Lyft.
Also, I never voted for Chow (can't stand her or her rhetoric) and don't know how these politicians who were in provincial politics end up being mayors. It's like a vicious cycle and we need to stop voting for idiots who couldn't make it in provincial politics and immediately vote them into municipal.
Things I've seen in the city in the last 3.5yrs of constant biking in the city since I got my new bike and riding my older pedal bike.
My commute is 11km each way from east end Toronto and takes me 25-30mins to get in (don't matter which path I take in, typically I'll take Eastern or Dundas with the odd day on Queen and jump to Richmond all the way down). I rode in yesterday to compare times and it takes me roughly the same amount of time (and on the odd days it could be really bad for motor vehicle transport and downright frustrating getting stuck in rush hour traffic (used to drive and motorbike in to downtown a lot with the wife) as I zoom by in my bicycle and those pain points are all the same and have not changed in the last 18yrs and gotten worse since they tore down the Gardiner
(I hope they plan on getting this back up and fixed because exiting Lakeshore is so helpful and helped with traffic congestion). Certain days carry longer traffic times where the bike times are consistent and nothing really changes so those times are just how much I push it to get into work or get caught up with other bicycle traffic and red lights. Best time so far is 21mins. As long as I've lived here, things that I feel need to be regulated:
- E-bikes with throttle assist, these Uber delivery guys have NFC and just clog the **** up of the streets and bike lanes (a lot of them dont even live in the city, they actually commute in with the GO Train from the burbs), I've had multiple close calls and they have zero bike etiquette. These guys are as bad road cyclists and think their ebikes need to licenced (I think anything that is throttle only should be). I rode home on Tuesday and buddy was pulled over by the cops probably because he had no peddles and riding an e-dirt bike on the bike lane). If the bike can take off with no peddling it should be regulated because they can go a lot faster than the 32km/h limit. They are also weaving in and out of the bike lane and onto regular road traffic with other cars. They only use the bike lanes because they know they can avoid dealing with road traffic.
- Road cyclists, complete asshats, have zero regard for anyone else but themselves, run red lights every chance they get (already seen 3 near misses this week because of their stupidity) and don't ring their bells or say they on your left if no bell is present, these guys can be as bad as these Uber delivery guys or worse.
If bike lanes were setup how they were before then vehicles and drivers would have more visibility vs being hidden behind a large ass vehicle giving the turning vehicle zero visibility.
Last thought, the Danforth has ALWAYS been a **** show especially in the Greek town as they have always had street parking so when they added bike lanes this has not taken away anything for anyone and traffic always been the same. The traffic further after Parliament has obviously changed and gone from 4 lanes to two lanes to accommodate on-street parking and bicycle lanes and I think they even expanded the side walks to include the bike lanes but think the traffic has always been a pain point for this stretch going in either direction.
I really don't think city planning team has really done enough study to determine what implementations will do in the cause and effect relation. I've biked all over this city and having bike lanes or not is not going to change the habit of drivers and will not make anyone more safe by putting these in (you can see there have been accidents even with bike lanes installed, you see it on the news all the time). I love driving my car, riding my motorbike and commuting in the city with my bicycle. Driving in the city is great to get around and deal with errands and things that need to be picked up as you are extremely limited to doing these things with bicycle, motorbike or transit as they just aren't feasible and I refuse to take an Uber/Lyft.
Also, I never voted for Chow (can't stand her or her rhetoric) and don't know how these politicians who were in provincial politics end up being mayors. It's like a vicious cycle and we need to stop voting for idiots who couldn't make it in provincial politics and immediately vote them into municipal.
What does one expect when people making from $170,000 to $230,000 per year are telling people with average incomes of ~$60,000 a year, what to do with their money.Since I got my PAS e-bike back in late 2022 (had to replace my ancient 18yr old pedal bike and didn't want to spend $3500-$5000 on a full on e-bike), I've been biking to work everyday (as much as I can) with the exception of rain days and extreme cold weather (lucky to have the GO and TTC at my doorstep within 5-10min walking distance). I do bike in the cold just bundle up and wear proper warm gear but never in the extreme cold or snow. I cut the line at negative temps because it can become unbearable.
Things I've seen in the city in the last 3.5yrs of constant biking in the city since I got my new bike and riding my older pedal bike.
My commute is 11km each way from east end Toronto and takes me 25-30mins to get in (don't matter which path I take in, typically I'll take Eastern or Dundas with the odd day on Queen and jump to Richmond all the way down). I rode in yesterday to compare times and it takes me roughly the same amount of time (and on the odd days it could be really bad for motor vehicle transport and downright frustrating getting stuck in rush hour traffic (used to drive and motorbike in to downtown a lot with the wife) as I zoom by in my bicycle and those pain points are all the same and have not changed in the last 18yrs and gotten worse since they tore down the Gardiner
As long as I've lived here, things that I feel need to be regulated:
The infrastructure was not designed properly and the current design on Bloor/Danforth has not made it safer for cyclists, I've had more near misses with vehicles trying to make a turn and not paying attention or pedestrians completely just not paying attention or occupied with their phones. They put the bike lanes on the curb to prevent drivers dooring people but I am constantly seeing passengers or people helping passengers and getting into the bike lane or Uber drivers pull off to the side to drop off a passenger right in front of you and block the lane.
- E-bikes with throttle assist, these Uber delivery guys have NFC and just clog the **** up of the streets and bike lanes (a lot of them dont even live in the city, they actually commute in with the GO Train from the burbs), I've had multiple close calls and they have zero bike etiquette. These guys are as bad road cyclists and think their ebikes need to licenced (I think anything that is throttle only should be). I rode home on Tuesday and buddy was pulled over by the cops probably because he had no peddles and riding an e-dirt bike on the bike lane). If the bike can take off with no peddling it should be regulated because they can go a lot faster than the 32km/h limit. They are also weaving in and out of the bike lane and onto regular road traffic with other cars. They only use the bike lanes because they know they can avoid dealing with road traffic.
- Road cyclists, complete asshats, have zero regard for anyone else but themselves, run red lights every chance they get (already seen 3 near misses this week because of their stupidity) and don't ring their bells or say they on your left if no bell is present, these guys can be as bad as these Uber delivery guys or worse.
If bike lanes were setup how they were before then vehicles and drivers would have more visibility vs being hidden behind a large ass vehicle giving the turning vehicle zero visibility.
Last thought, the Danforth has ALWAYS been a **** show especially in the Greek town as they have always had street parking so when they added bike lanes this has not taken away anything for anyone and traffic always been the same. The traffic further after Parliament has obviously changed and gone from 4 lanes to two lanes to accommodate on-street parking and bicycle lanes and I think they even expanded the side walks to include the bike lanes but think the traffic has always been a pain point for this stretch going in either direction.
I really don't think city planning team has really done enough study to determine what implementations will do in the cause and effect relation. I've biked all over this city and having bike lanes or not is not going to change the habit of drivers and will not make anyone more safe by putting these in (you can see there have been accidents even with bike lanes installed, you see it on the news all the time). I love driving my car, riding my motorbike and commuting in the city with my bicycle. Driving in the city is great to get around and deal with errands and things that need to be picked up as you are extremely limited to doing these things with bicycle, motorbike or transit as they just aren't feasible and I refuse to take an Uber/Lyft.
Also, I never voted for Chow (can't stand her or her rhetoric) and don't know how these politicians who were in provincial politics end up being mayors. It's like a vicious cycle and we need to stop voting for idiots who couldn't make it in provincial politics and immediately vote them into municipal.
In Holland they do blah, blah, blah so let's copy them.
Problem #1 is that Toronto never had a cycling culture and infrastructure to go back to.
Uber deliveries are mini dump trucks. They get paid per delivery. Following the rules hurts their bottom lines.
The dumbification of the public has past the point of no return.
sburns
Well-known member
Lots of great observations here, I am not sure why any of these politicians don't see it. They must, but they keep implementing all these bad, and low cost ideas, just to prove they've done something and it feels like they funnel the money elsewhere.
Toronto, GTA, Golden Horseshoe has what almost half the population of Canada, and we are all expected to use the same highway at the same time to get around. It's so dumb, Street cars, car lanes, street parking, and bike lanes all on the same limited width road. It's also dumb. Decades long construction on a new LRT system with no explanations, and well over budget, just amplifies the political raping of taxepayers and how projects cannot get done without what seems like severe corruption in the industry.
Toronto, GTA, Golden Horseshoe has what almost half the population of Canada, and we are all expected to use the same highway at the same time to get around. It's so dumb, Street cars, car lanes, street parking, and bike lanes all on the same limited width road. It's also dumb. Decades long construction on a new LRT system with no explanations, and well over budget, just amplifies the political raping of taxepayers and how projects cannot get done without what seems like severe corruption in the industry.
Go back to my previous post. People with high incomes setting the rules for those making less than half the amount. Those in the upper crust don't have housing problems, they drive company cars, dine on expense accounts and get lavish perks.
Civil servant underlings don't bite the hands that write their annual reviews. Whistle blowers don't do well. Paper shredders are heavy duty.
FWIW there's another St Catherines to Toronto hovercraft pitch being aired. Any bets?
Nanny state socialism has made a huge part of the population simple minded.
Bike lanes sound great. Everyone rides to work saving money and the environment so let's throw billions at it without THINKING:
It's too cold for many for over half the year.
It's too hot for many for over another 10% of the year.
35.5% of us are overweight and 30.2% are obese = 65.7% not likely to enjoy the bike parade.
Unlike many European cities, Toronto (And most of America) never had a bicycle culture to go back to. Our infrastructure is car-centric and cast in concrete. We will not become Amsterdam N.A.
Bicycle theft is rampant and here are no large bicycle parking lots to securely accommodate the issue. A few individuals might be able to stash their ride in the office or plant but a Trek bike parked at every desk isn't going to work.
Fashionistas will need a half an hour or more to shower, do hair, makeup and change attire to look their best.
The shower and change times comes out of someone's time budget. Who picks up the tab? Does the company swallow three or four hours a week for each of their hundreds of employees or do the employees take the hit by spending less time with friends and family.
(Hey, why not let the employees sleep overnight on a cot by their beds. It eliminates bike lanes, housing and car issues all in one.)
Weather changes mid-day means carrying a spare wardrobe in a backpack.
Commerce today requires flexibility. Once outside of the downtown core, bicycle flexibility declines if there's an urgent problem in Peterborough, two hours away by car.
There's more but one has to look further ahead than the next election.
sburns
Well-known member
Of course these people are out of touch with the "common" folk.
Chow herself touts riding her bike to the office, but I'm sure she get's shuttled to all these meetings across the city, and all the events later at night. I doubt her staff accompanying her are all biking it everywhere. I've seen her at events, she pops in for about 20 min's and takes off, and I highly doubt with the way she is dressed is biking it to the next event. Hey I could be wrong and she truly lives the life she preaches.
