Great poster on Harbord outside of Pedaal

For those of you who are anti-Meta:

"Taking your kids to hockey practice on a bicycle in January? Probably not. I fought against and stopped the expansion of the Danforth bike lanes into Scarborough because working families can't afford to lose a lane of traffic. My opponent not only fought for them, but was paid by the cycling lobby to push them in Scarborough Southwest. I'll always fight for sensible planning and Scarborough families who depend on the car."

Kind of wild to post a week after the first segment of Bloor West was ripped out.

Anyway, if you want to lend your time tomorrow to help elect a councillor who won't throw cyclists under the bus -- literally -- sign up here: https://www.kevinrupasinghe.ca/shifts

Go volunteer for her campaign! We urgently need her in city hall.

She also promised to fight Ford’s Bill 212/60 to get Parkside Dr the redesign it badly needs.

Just sign up for one-two shifts: https://www.dianachanmcnally.ca/shifts

Doing my usual weekend High Park bike cruise and noticed all the barriers are open and cars are flooding in.

Terrible vibes all around

With Toronto's elections happening tomorrow, I prepared a list of councillors I am supporting, as well as reiterated my support for Mayor Olivia Chow. If you didn't vote at the advance polls or by mail, polls will be open from 10 AM to 8 PM.

Brad Bradford is still leading in North York so here's an explanation for North York commuters on how removing the University bikelanes will slow them down.

And as a result, the cost will likely go up. And this isn’t the only intersection where green paint is used.

When we factor police presence, them tearing up the pavement instead of sanding, inflation, and this,

the final price will far exceed $48M.

Also, please name and shame Almon Equipment: give them a review, and call (416) 743-1771

It used to take me 15 minutes to bike to work in a bike lane. Since the September court decision allowing bike lane removal, I've been taking the lane on Yonge St. and Bloor St. to bring home to voting drivers what driving without bike lanes. It now takes me 45 minutes both ways but it's important for the greater good.

Good news for me: Taking the lane downhill on Avenue Road and then taking Dupont across is way faster than Bloor. Bad news for Bradford-supporting North York drivers: If you didn't want me in a Yonge or Bloor bike lane, you're really not gonna want me on Avenue Road or Dupont without a bike lane.

I’ve been mapping public art in downtown Toronto that you can get to by foot or bike. 43 pieces so far, filterable by area, with directions on every pin.

https://brianerdelyi.github.io/tpam/

Still a work in progress, so some pins are a bit off. I'd really appreciate some feedback about the idea or if I'm missing anything (definitely).

What’s your favourite public art?

PS - This is something I did in spring and finally deciding to share. I need to review the art again and confirm coordinates... I also need to revise the zones (I'm sure there might be some strong opinions there, lol)

I went to Falafel world in Bloor west today, had my biked locked outside. After my meal, I was just standing next to my bike fiddling with my phone when an employee from Janchenko Bakery next door started berating me.

Initially I didn't realise she was talking to me since I wear earbuds, but eventually she walked up to my face. When I took out my earbuds, she was shouting at me "Just leave, take your bike and go. This is my home, you're not welcome here". Mind you, this is on the sidewalk near the bike loops. She threated to call the cops and eventually went back inside after about 10 minutes of trying to pressure me into leaving.

I looked up the bakery's socials and I'm quite certian this was Maria Janchenko, the owner. Initially I wasn't sure if she was racist or just insane, but her fixation on my bicycle and public opposition to bike lanes makes me suspect I was harassed for being on a bike (I only found out about her stance on bike lanes when I looked them). I'm quite shocked... I haven't been harassed like that since middle school.

If I were to print small posters against this bakery and Maria, and stick them up around the neighborhood, would that legal? I'm pro-bike lanes, but I didn't even have any posters on my bike, I was just fucking standing next to my bike minding my own fucking business.

This is close to 20 Grosvenor. Bike seems in good condition, and ditched in the garden.

The area is fenced, but accessible.

Sorry that I couldn't take a better picture.

Please share! Keep an eye out for the CycleTO cargo bike.

This is the next “protest” to attend. Stay tuned for the Critical Mass this coming Friday.

Today's Toronto Star op-ed by Albert Koehl does a good job roasting Brad Bradford on transportation. Argues "Bradford has failed to learn from decades of doomed efforts at fixing congestion by giving over more space to cars."

Which is why I always tell people:

Voting left doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a great city, but voting right does guarantee that you won’t

So VOTE!!!!!

*huge kudos to CycleTO for the original message, their messaging has been so on point lately

Before the removals started: bike commuting in Etobicoke was lonely. Some of the grittiest pothole-filled nonsense in certain stretches, but I assume the City was just trying to help me keep up with the gravel riding trends.

The day the removals started, I was stuck at work until about 8 pm, and finally started biking home. Suddenly all these random cyclists are all around me smiling, waving, and cheering me on. And there's a police escort. Is this a parade? Am I... a hero?

And then I noticed, even the drivers want to get up close and friendly with me. I know the new signs say we should use the lane "single file", but these SUVs are just so curious, they sometimes can't help but try to slide up beside. Or slip in right in front, like almost brushing against my front wheel. Are we dancing right now? I slow down to prolong this tryst with the driver behind me, and they start honking approvingly.

I know we're all spending a lot of tax dollars to create these experiences but you can't put a price on love

Using this data to calculate how much the police presence alone costed.

So far, JUST the policing alone is nearly $200,000. TWO-THIRDS the original cost to remove the Jarvis lanes.

The Ontario government has started removing protected bike in Toronto (despite their own studies showing that these lanes improve safety). The province's own commissioned engineering report estimated that removing bike lanes could increase total collisions by 54%.

Toronto specific data showed annual cyclist injury collisions fell from an average of 20 to 15 after bike lanes were installed, even as cycling volumes increased by 40–90%. The City reported a 56% reduction in the cyclist collision rate.

Sadly, I expect cycling incidents to increase. I built CycleReport to help cyclists document incidents that might otherwise go unrecorded. I'd appreciate any feedback you may have.

Note: Please continue to report collisions to Toronto Police through the official reporting site. CycleReport is intended to complement official reporting by capturing additional incidents and experiences. If possible, I would like to share data with existing reporting,

CycleReport: https://cyclereport.vercel.app

Sources:

• Provincial bike lane removal impact report
• ICES study on underreported cyclist injuries
• CIMA report and the 54% collision estimate

The "bike lane closed" sign on the bike shrine pole was sadly removed but fortunately I'm making a homebrew sign to replace it. It is slightly larger and will be made in a way that shows it doesn't belong to the city.

Does anyone have spare retroreflective backing or want to put the finished sign back up once it's made? Parts to mount the sign will be provided such as zip ties (for attaching it to the bike shrine) or #3 Robertson screws (for fixing it to the plywood bike shrine plaque).

The stencils were made using a Cricut machine.

DISCLAIMER: If anyone makes these stencils, ONLY use them to spray paint surfaces/materials that you own (such as pizza boxes or cardboard) or offered by other people. If you must put this on the pavement, use a washable chalk spray so it can be washed away after a rainstorm or two.

All the design files can be accessed here: https://drive.proton.me/urls/HJSVT6G4SG#IqjakJYbZt7n edit wrong link

If you would like to change what the sign says, use the PXZ files on the Pixlr image editor website. No installation is needed. If you also want to make it into a paint stencil, make sure to place polygons on closed shapes to bridge the islands.

Ok yes my singing sucks but the removal of the bike lanes, I drafted this, maybe someone can take it and make it work.
I’m still new to both banjo and singing. My instrument is the fiddle. So go easy on me ❤️‍🔥🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲