Two studies dropped last week, which should give politicians like Ontario Premier Doug Ford something to think about, if he could think. One is very local: a traffic count in Toronto’s Bloor Street bike lane, which he intends to rip out because he claims it causes traffic congestion and slows his drive to the office.
On June 11, the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition set up cameras on the second floor of Curbside Cycle and counted every vehicle that passed over an imaginary line in the road during peak travel times. While Doug Ford claims that only 1.2% of Torontonians commute by bike, the study showed that during the afternoon rush hours, bikes, including e-bikes and other micro mobility devices, represented over 50% of all vehicular traffic.
I had to drive the other day and was stuck in what should have been 15 minutes for 2.5 hours. People were doing illegal shit like driving on the wrong side for 2 intersections and blocking the third to get ahead. There are no bike lanes along that road at all and to get through that area I usually bike the trails and it takes me 25 min. Bike lanes just work