All Entries Tagged With: "bike lanes"
No Rush To Cycle Downtown
Only two mayoral candidates showed up for the Toronto Cyclist Union-hosted up-close tour of streets with and without bike lanes: “Joe Pantalone and Rocco Rossi were the only two major mayoral candidates who made it out to Chinatown on Monday to ride with other cyclists. Pantalone, who never learned to ride a bicycle, was chauffeured [...]
Kuitenbrouwer: Rocco Rossi’s Bad Bike Booboo
The National Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer admonishes mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi for his position on bike lanes on the city’s arterials: “Mr. Rossi has done an impressive job casting himself as the thinking-man’s right-of-centre candidate. But with this policy he has taken a turn into some very weird policy, and stands to lose many more votes [...]
Rossi Vows To Undo Bike Lanes
Mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi has taken the bold step of pledging to pave over the bike lanes that are being built on Jarvis Street beginning July 24: “They’re drawing lines on Jarvis and I’m drawing a line in the sand,” Rossi said. “I will paint over those lines on Jarvis when I become mayor.” The [...]
James: Stop And Smell The Lilies
Star columnist Royson James weighs in on the bike lane debate and thinks a pilot project on University Avenue make a lot of sense: “Replace a lane of traffic each way with a segregated bicycle lane in each direction, right next to the gardens in the median, and we may tame the thoroughfare, without destroying [...]
Stintz: University Ave Bike Lanes Better Than Process That Created Them
In the National Post, Councillor Karen Stintz offers her view that the University Avenue bike lanes may be much more popular if it had a clear, holistic plan: “Unfortunately, the benefit of transportation initiatives such as this may be lost when the public, sick of trying to figure out a good idea from a bad [...]
Toronto Star Offers 5 ‘Burning’ Election Issues
The journos at the Toronto Star gives their take on the top five ‘burning’ issues currently on the table for the October vote: “Contracting out: Miller foes say the unions have had too much power in his city hall, and more services need to be contracted out to the private sector. Five of the six [...]
Proposal For Bike Lanes On University Avenue Passes First Hurdle
The City’s Public Works Committee approved the controversial plan to place bike lanes on University Avenue, which prompted a response from mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi: “Yesterday, Mr. Rossi reiterated that if elected, he would remove all new bike lanes on arterial roads. “Devoting two lanes of University Avenue to bikes is sheer madness and a [...]
Would-Be Mayors Watch University Ave Bike Lanes Vote
Mayoral candidates will be watching closely as council debates a pilot project to install bike lanes on University Avenue, including current frontrunner George Smitherman: “The issues that face the city of Toronto are a heck of a lot bigger than bike lanes. But I do think we have a transportation issue to solve and bike [...]
NP Election Panel: Ford’s Methods Foul Up Valid Views
The Post’s Municipal Election Panel this week discusses the candidacy of mayoral candidate Rob Ford and the resulting impact on the race: “Selley: But Ford hasn’t really said much of anything, has he? Seems to me this might just be a big, early — and perhaps much-needed — “up yours” to the establishment candidates. If [...]
Gee: Bike Lanes Deserve Better Than To Be Exploited As Election Issue
Globe scribe Marcus Gee chastises mayoral candidates for attempting to anger residents over installation of bike lanes, notably the University Ave pilot project: “Why the over-the-top reaction to such a small and sensible idea? Sad to say, the reasons are purely political. Our ranting candidates are trying to ride what they see as a wave [...]
Star: Up In Arms Over Bike Lanes
The University Avenue bike lane pilot project has garnered a strong reaction from a number of mayoral candidates, who have pledged to either revisit the issue or dismantle bike lanes entirely: “[Mayoral candidate] Giorgio Mammoliti boldly announced Wednesday that if elected mayor, he would introduce a $20-$30 registration fee for bikes. “It’s an agenda that [...]
Bike Lane Debate Heats Up Again
The City’s Public Works Committee will vote on a proposed pilot project to install protected bike lanes on University Avenue: “We’ve thought about it a lot. We’ve talked about it a lot. And this is the first experiment,” said [Councillor Glenn] De Baeremaeker, whose committee will vote on the proposal next week. “People aren’t willing [...]
Thomson: More Bike Lanes, Please
In a recent interview with Toronto Community News, mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson wades into the debate on bike lanes, which she favours – just not on Jarvis Street: “The war on the car is a political issue, a lot of political agendas at play,” [Thomson] said. “When you look at the map, there’s a bike [...]
Plans For New Bike Lanes Rolls On
The Globe and Mail reports that the City has begun to move ahead with a plan for bike lanes along Bloor-Danforth, despite the issue remaining a hotly debated topic in the mayoral contest: “The municipal government quietly issued a request for proposals for an environmental assessment – believed to be a first for a bike [...]
Smitherman Would Pause Toronto’s Bike Plan
Speaking with Toronto Community News, mayoral candidate George Smitherman has indicated he would review the city’s bike lane plans as part of a wider integrated transportation strategy: Smitherman, widely considered a front-runner in the 2010 mayor’s race, maintained that he is supportive of continuing to create bike lanes on city roads – and unlike candidate [...]
NP Election Panel: Does The Mayoral Race Need A ‘Culture War’?
The latest installment of the Post’s municipal election panel has Selley, Furey and Goldsbie talking about Rocco Rossi’s “wedge” campaign tactics: “Selley: First, I’m not sure cyclists are being “singled out” by Mr. Rossi any more than, say, unionized garbage collectors. And I’m not sure he’s trying to start a culture war either — indeed, [...]
Hume: Rossi’s Jarvis Proposals: A Road To Nowhere
Urban Issues columnist Christopher Hume offers his views on mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi’s controversial Jarvis bike lane policy: “Though it’s unlikely he will succeed, his popularity offers clear evidence of the growing backlash against the sort of progressive policies that have made Toronto one of the planet’s most admired cities. Tolerance, the quality for which [...]
