Christopher Hume has a nice article in the Star today about Toronto trailing other world-class cities in the installation of bicycle facilities like bikelanes, and does a rather good job of it:
Hume doesn't just trot out the facts about how the BikePlan is behind, about how there aren't any significant bicycle lock-up facilities integrated (yet) with public transit stations (allowing someone to bike to a subway line instead of driving all the way downtown), and about what the cycling advocates want and the politicians promise.It may be true we have 214 kilometres of bicycle lanes (though that's hard to believe) and that we have doubled our spending on bikes, but the real issue here is the culture.
In the minds of the vast majority of drivers, let alone civic politicians, bikes are for kids. They do not belong on main streets because they are a nuisance. They get in the way of the real traffic, i.e. cars and trucks, and don't deserve to be taken seriously.
The mayor and a tiny handful of councillors have noisily professed their commitment to two-wheeled transit, but the sound of their words is overshadowed by the silence of their inaction. ...
We could add bike lanes to every street in the city and still cycling in Toronto would be scary and dangerous. What's required is a social revolution on the order of what was done about smoking in recent decades. In other words, we need mass change.
How ironic that the report, prepared by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation, should have been released at a time when fuel prices are skyrocketing. Suddenly, the news is full of concerned commuters shaking their heads and wondering how much longer they will be able to afford their lifestyle. For these poor people, cycling isn't an option. Trapped in their vehicular prisons, they are beginning to realize they have been sold an illusion; the car may represent mobility, but it means the exact opposite.
More at the Star.
[image by me, at Spadina & College]
Labels: infrastructure, news
