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A very good opinion piece by Jonathan Goldsbie is in this week's issue of Eye Weekly.
It starts out like any other pro-cycling and anti-automobile rant about the slow implementation of Toronto's Bike Plan (these rants ignore the fact that politicians have to balance the needs and wants of all their constituents, cyclists and non-cyclists, no matter what is best for the environment or public health):
What if I told you that you could kill a man — or a woman or a child — for the low cost of $110? No jail time. No criminal record. No other fines or fees. Quite a bargain, huh? And you may not even have to pay that much, if you successfully challenge the penalty in court. The offer is not gonna get any sweeter than this. I dare you, find a better deal. Kill a person, pay $110, move on with your life.
When I finished reading the above paragraph, the first in the article, I was tempted to stop. No one really needs another rant about bikelanes (which is what it's about, despite the title). What is needed to get the Bike Plan implemented quickly and properly is rational and logical persuasion.
I was glad I kept reading though, because the article explores the politician's side of things, using Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (himself an avid cyclist, biking to City Hall all year) and his efforts to balance the wants of all his constituents to illustrate:
"There are 200 families that will lose parking [if bikelanes are installed on Brimorton Drive]" he told me. "Staff said the people who are losing parking can park across the street." So why can't they? "People who live on both sides of the road have parking ... Most people, when they have a parking spot in front of their house, they see that as how their family functions. It's been that way since they bought the house in 1950. To take parking away is an emotional issue for many people."
The thing is, these spots are in addition to front-yard parking. These are spots for visitors. Visitors who will have to cross the street, something Glenn was hesitant to ask them to do, as it's "essentially a four-lane road right now" and not everyone is able-bodied enough to be able to navigate that.
I encourage you to check out the full article. It's a good step on the way to rational discourse and progress on cycling infrastructure in Toronto.
Labels: infrastructure, news
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