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https://www.reddit.com/r/torontobiking/comments/1emomxv/i_counted_bikes…

WannaBikeThere
OP
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3mo ago
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Hello. First post, still learning about Reddit peculiarities. Forgive me if I sound like a weirdo, for I am.

As the title says, in light of the cyclist killed a couple of weeks ago at Avenue and Bloor, I decided to count cars and bikes there last Monday at around dinnertime.

Spoilers, final count: 519 people on bike (and other micro-mobility) + 839 cars (and other larger motor vehicles) on Bloor, crossing the area just east of Avenue where the cyclist was killed.

Before 2019, Bloor St east of Avenue was still 4 lanes for cars, 2 each way, much like how Bloor/Danforth was from end to end years ago (with cars using the right lane for parking/stopping, regardless of if it was allowed at that time of day or not).

Today, it’s (more or less) 1 lane for car traffic each way. 1 lane is used for parking, where appropriate. And the final lane was more or less divided into the two bike lanes, one on each side.

Some thoughts:

-In terms of (very roughly calculated) efficiency, 1 lane divided into 2 bike lanes transported 519 people, while 2 lanes for cars transported 839 cars, or only 419.5 cars per lane. Meaning that at least about a quarter of the cars need to have double occupancy to match the efficiency of the bike lanes at transporting people.

-My initial impression was that far fewer bikes were passing than cars, but was surprised to count so many bikes in the end. Perhaps cars simply take up more space and idle around longer, making it seem like there were more of them.

-That part in front of the church is no bueno. Some cyclists go right of the right-turning cars, others go left. It needs the same treatment as what’s happening west of Avenue: Raised and separated bike lanes.

-While the eastbound bike count is about the same as the westbound count, it seems that significantly more cars head west at this section. Westbound Bloor thus widens into left-turn, straight, and right-turn lanes for cars.

-There are some really cool-looking bikes out there. :)