Not Your Lane

12/30/2017

An ongoing photo gallery of cars blocking Toronto's designated bike lanes.

Let's start a conversation through photos.

Add to our gallery by tagging to photographs of your own encounters with cars.

Convenience should not come at the expense of cyclists' safety!

11/13/2017

Let's not pull any punches - cycling infrastructure, education, and respect has a long way to go in a city that is otherwise heralded as a progressive and sustainable safe haven.

“This is about cities being better for everyone: healthier, more sustainable, much more cost effective, and just able to move more people in less space ... Urban biking, like transit, is critically important for cities to work better for everyone, including drivers.”

Wise words from Brent Toderian, former chief planner of Vancouver.

Let's work to make bike lanes more of a thing here! Public advocacy is the least we can all do!

Toronto’s political system has gotten in the way of creating a much-needed citywide network, urban planners and cycling advocates say.

11/08/2017

36 - 6 - A great victory for cyclists in Toronto!

But the need for greater bike lane awareness is still rife. We're far from being a city in which cycling is totally safe, and overcoming that will be realized in separating bike paths with more than a plastic bollard.

So long as 'Ontario seems totally uninterested in demanding any technical or mental facility behind the wheel' (see any one of the photos in our album), we won't be moving forward.

Where do we go from here then? Start with Chris Selley's bit for the National Post for some great insights into first steps to get us all along.

Hard evidence won’t end the battle between motorists and cyclists all by itself. But the battle will never end without hard evidence

11/06/2017

Here's a great Toronto City information resource regarding the , including diagrams and statistics showing the positive effect they've had on the area.

The final vote on making them permanent is TOMORROW - Tuesday, November 7. Head over to Cycle Toronto for information of how to make your voice heard, now.

11/01/2017

'The bike in front of you or beside you is the car that isn't'

Profound words from Eleanor McMahon (Ontario Minister of Tourism, and Culture and Sport) and a pertinent statement if we are to realize the need to develop our streets for alternative transportation.

Bay Street is one of many main artery roads that will benefit huge numbers in it's creation of bike lane infrastructure!


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The city has officially opened the new Bay Street bike lanes Friday.

10/30/2017

'Motor vehicle traffic is the largest source of air pollution emitted in Toronto [...] Toronto Public Health estimates that air pollution still contributes to 1,300 premature deaths and 3,550 hospitalizations in Toronto each year'.

In a post car-centric city, thinks motorists should be heavily taxed for their use of roads and their share of pollution that affects us all.

The time to enact transportation alternatives is now.

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Toronto’s medical officer of health estimates dirty air causes 1,300 premature deaths and says vehicle emissions are the reason.

10/28/2017

Evidence enough that biking in this city is a bigger issue than currently perceived.

"The driver and the cyclist agree on one thing: more separated bike lanes are needed in Toronto to prevent this sort of altercation"

A cyclist who says a driver nearly killed him Thursday on Danforth Avenue during the evening rush hour has posted a video of the altercation on social media to raise awareness of the dangers of cycling — but the driver involved has told CBC Toronto it was the cyclist who was too aggressive.

10/27/2017

[Repost from June, 2017]

A pretty pertinent short doc about Toronto's need to make changes towards greater pedestrianization of roads and high-density urban areas.

"We’re at a turning point, and we’re seeing now more than ever this desire for cities to take back streets for people […] It’s a convergence of a lot of things: our population is moving back into the cities - 80% of Canadians live in Urban Areas, so we are vying for a type of livability. We’re trying to create community, and urban villages. It’s difficult to do that when most of the space is dedicated to vehicles” - Cherise Burda, Executive Director of Ryerson’s City Building Institute

In "The Streets of Toronto" Christopher Hume takes an in-depth look at how our city's streets have evolved. For almost a century we've been told they belong ...

10/26/2017

Had the chance to speak with Daan Roosegaarde when he spoke in Toronto at The Bentway a few weeks ago.

His Glowing Bicycle Path project that he launched in Eindhoven, Netherlands is a really cool and interesting example of where practical urban design and art meet to make public services like bike lanes safer, more practical, and ultimately beautiful.

Do you think art and design should influence our public services - like bike lanes and roads - more, here in ?

This video shows Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde's cycle path, illuminated with patterns based on Vincent van Gogh's painting The Starry Night, in Nuenen. Th...