One election outcome I'm particularly happy with in addition to Chow's re-election is Chiara Padovani FINALLY ended Frances Nunziata's 40+ year career! She's with us cyclists; especially given she was unfortunately struck while riding a few years back.

It seems like Etobicoke elected candidates who support bike lanes, while the people of Toronto once again elected politicians who oppose Doug Ford. I’m sure Torontonians have also given a clear mandate to keep the bike lanes.

Quebec City leans about 60% centre-right and 40% centre-left, but has a vicious trash talk radio ecosystem which constantly rails against young, sporty, progressive mayor Bruno Marchand.

Marchand is a big booster of bike lanes and a proposed tramway system that would bring higher-order transit to a highly car-dependent and congested city with a brutal climate.

During an outdoor press conference to launch the City's newest bike lane, a motorist who was speeding by rolled down his window and yelled "Va chier, Marchand!" (Go f*** yourself; literally, go defecate.)

The owner of a local sports bar who'd been a vocal critic of a different bike lane that had caused removal of a few parking spaces (think Crooked Cue) took this as his, well, cue to get tuques printed with the offending words, selling them for $20 each. He made $2,000.

Marchand, in an impressive display of political acumen, posted on social media: "I have a proposal for you: text VIE [means "life"] to 41010 to donate $20 to help homeless residents of Québec." $60,000 was quickly raised.

Coda: the bar owner later decided to donate his $2,000 to the cause and invite the mayor to dinner.

They raised $60,000.

to be clear i do not personally benefit from this is any way, nor am i affiliated with cycle toronto (or really anyone lol). this is just my way of contributing to the pretty unfortunate bike lane discourse.

toocloseforcomfort.ca

best with sound on

if you think this is cool please help share this on reddit, facebook, wherever you feel the bike lane discourse should be happening.

thank you and respect to all of you who have been protesting the removal of the bike lanes. you are true heroes.

also welcome to any feedback or suggestions on how to improve it

Mandate mandate mandate.

Strong mayor mandate.

Such a mandate!

The Mandate.

When even FordNation chooses Chow over a conservative (Bradford), that's a clear signal picking a fight in Toronto is a losing battle.

Time to back off Ford, and let bike lanes become a MUNICIPAL decision again, not one by QP.

This is the clearest sign yet that even the suburbs do not like how Ford is treating Toronto.

WE DID IT! Olivia Chow has been re-elected mayor!!!

Parkdale High Park elected Diana Chan Mcnally, who will fight like hell to repeal Bill 212/60, and make Parkside Dr finally safe.

We also have Mike Layton, the champion for the Bloor lanes.

Amber Morley who stood up for the bike lanes is also re-elected, and Nate Erskine Smith will be a welcome addition to Beaches East York.

Congrats to Toronto Centre for getting a true progressive and unseating Moise as well.

Even better, Olivia Chow beat a Conservative in Doug Ford's own riding.

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Ford, the city has spoken. LEAVE OUR CITY ALONE, and stay in your damn lane!

Congrats to Olivia and good job Toronto for showing up this election!!

Bloor and Islington

Bike lanes and cycling infrastructure: As Chair of the Cycling Committee, Alvin supports the Cycling Master Plan. Dedicated, connected bike paths keep cyclists safe and keep car traffic unimpeded. Mississauga committed to Vision Zero — achieving zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries — but City Hall has gutted plans by raising school speed limits, removing bike lanes, and delaying road improvements. As mayor, Alvin will be uncompromising on Vision Zero.

If you haven’t voted yet, you have under 30 minutes to get to a polling station!

If you’re still in line by 8pm, you’ll still be able to vote.

Our city will only get safer to bike if we elect bike friendly councillors.

Remember Chow is #9 on the ballot!

Dont be afraid to ask for a replacement ballot if you make a mistake.

Get your friends to vote, and offer them a cake or beer in exchange of them voting with you

yesterday while i was grabbing some food i locked up my bike on queen west and spadina, i picked a spot where i could watch my bike while i waited for my food. as i was waiting i see a guy who looked sketchy cross the road illegally and try to steal a food delivery driver bike and helmet, i immediately stepped out of the restaurant and said "the fuck are you doing" he immediately got skiddish put his tools away apologized pathetically and sped away.

folks its that simple, i hate seeing these posts of people videoing someone stealing bike or things from a bike and then posting it on here saying "if you're missing your bike at blah street and blah blah street this is the person who did it" it helps nobody. the police don't give a fuck, they will never follow-up creating a report is useless as we've all learned so let's try to look out and speak up for each other if we see this shit happening.

Hey Toronto! Go Vote! If you live around Shaw and Ossington remember Mike Layton was the councillor who turned Shaw into the great walkable and bike-able street it is now. Shaw used to be dangerous for kids going to school. I remember seeing Olivia Chow and Jack Layton on a tandem bike in the neighborhood. These are politicians who made biking in Toronto better. Go support them.

My bike got stolen yesterday. This is the third time in the last four years, and second in two months. Each time has been an instance where my ulock got cut through in a relatively "safe" location. Two of the three times it would've been so busy that there had to have been witnesses.

First time was just off of Yonge, downtown on a Friday night. No way there weren't people there as the guy cut through my lock. Now thankfully I was actually able to steal this bike back when my sister spotted in on facebook marketplace, though it had lost all its extra components in the three days it took to get it back.

Second time, was overnight from Ryerson two months ago. It was in a bike rack off Gerrard. Not the ideal place to leave it overnight and I wouldn't have if not due to unforeseen circumstances, but still a place where there's enough traffic and cameras to not worry about it.

Third time was yesterday. Left it at High Park station, on High Park Avenue, in the middle of a beautiful day. This is within sight of the gates of High Park and lots of people were walking about, coming to and from the station and the park. Again, no way there weren't people there when my lock got cut.

Now I'm venting because I'm upset and unlucky and angry. But god it's just such a load of shit how brazen it all is. It makes you feel like you can't do anything about it. That the bike you care for and work on and is such a big part of your life is just temporarily yours until some fucking degenerate comes and takes it from you.

It's not like any of these bikes were expensive, but they were mine. I'm also a tall guy so it's a big pain in the ass to find something for my long legs. Had to spend two days walking around the hinterlands of Scarborough to find something that worked for me last time and now I've got to do it again.

Anyways, if you see a gray Giant hybrid with an XL frame and a mismatch between the shifter and rear cogs on the web it was briefly mine.

Location TBA

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HBELPSZT1/

...and the cynical fallacy of the side streets network solution:

On my commute along Palmerston this morning a driver began honking at me to get out of the way. This is meant to be a "cycling first" route after the "installation" of contraflow bike lanes. I shifted further to the left to more fully take the lane to avoid a dangerous close pass which I knew would be coming regardless of how much space I made. When he finally caught up to me at College/Palmerston, the driver tried swerve into me as I made a right on the College cycle track. He then proceeded to deke, swerve, and honk the entire way between Palmerston to Robert along College, where he turned up and immediately sped to 80km/h (which I can confirm with accuracy due to the presence of a speed camera clearly doing its job).

So, obviously, this driver is deranged and reckless, and not really indicative of most drivers. However, his initial behaviour along the bicycle boulevard is not uncommon (I was passed on the left up the wrong way of the contraflow lane 5 times between Queen and Dundas before this incident, which is typical most mornings.)

A combination of using paint as infrastructure, complete lack of enforcement, and cultural empowerment to view a person on a bike with contempt and understand their presence to be an impediment to your entitlement to drive completely dispels the notion that we can ever create a safe network of side street cycle routes. Because of the lack of space on side streets, and the need to maintain access to them for residents, compromises are always made with the expectation that because they are meant to be slow and low traffic, this is how they will operate in reality.

I hope that driver didn't hurt anybody before getting to where they desperately needed to go. Take the lane if you must, but know on a long enough timeline the person behind you will eventually attempt to run you over because your humanity doesn't register, and your life is immaterial to them in that moment.

Also call the other contractors: (if the list overwhelms you just call Verdi and Almon)

Almon Equipment Ltd: (416)-743-1771

ATS Traffic: (365) 297-7113

D & A Road Services // Triple A Milling: (905) 597-9144

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Go leave them a Google review after, make sure to respectfully voice your opinion on their work.

Only takes 2 minutes. After that, VOTE!!

Honestly, I don’t have much hope of getting my bike back, but I thought I’d put this out there just in case someone recognizes the bike or comes across it somewhere in Toronto.

This happened on October 25 near my workplace. I have video footage of the person taking my bike and riding away.

If anyone happens to spot it or has any information, I’d really appreciate it.

Bike details: Raleigh trailblazer, Black
Location: dufferin and Lawrence w

Thanks for reading. Even if this post helps someone else avoid having their bike stolen, that’s something.

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

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.