For the past three and a…

For the past three and a half decades I have resided in Bloor west and taught at the UofT St. George campus. The most convenient commuting in earlier times was via car but was fraught with erratic traffic due in large part to haphazard travel patterns and varying non-conforming speeds resulting from traffic occupying two lanes in each direction. Bicycle commuting on these routes was simply dangerous. Too often and regularly, motorists would speed in the curb lanes in an attempt to get the advantage of a mere car length on another vehicle. During this time I was involved in two not-at-fault collisions on the Dupont/Annette route and once, while cycling on Bloor, won the “door prize” due to the inattention of a motorist.

Recent traffic improvements, doubtlessly informed by concerns for the welfare of all roadway users among other criteria, have created safe passage for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. These positive changes include an increase in parking opportunities subsequent to the dissolution of morning and afternoon rush hour(s) parking restrictions. Storefront shopping experiences have improved in the various business areas. Gone too are the inevitable tow trucks and enforcement officers that contributed to traffic slow downs at the same time they were trying to ensure clear passage. Indeed these changes have taken the rush out of rush hour. Traffic of all sorts now flow in organised and predictable patterns. Users have proven to be remarkably adaptable. The re-design of these roads throughout Ontario has not emerged from whimsy and certainly not from spite but rather from a consultative, deliberate process. Results demonstrate high degrees of successful integration among all users indicating general public acceptance.

However, the provincial administration, particularly by identifying roads and specific areas of the city, seems to have taken inordinate interest in the civic matters of Metro Toronto. The use of skewed data is duplicitous and while it may temporarily sway some opinion, ultimately it will be unmasked as political opportunism rather than practical concern. The government’s urgency to prioritise private vehicles in our public spaces is both exclusionary and decidedly myopic. Threatening to rip up and destroy already proven safe and successful multi-use roadways – in addition to the monumental and unnecessary waste of precious community resources – reeks of a parochial paternalism pandering to a very small but obviously vocal section of the population. Such senselessness would disenfranchise more than it could possibly help, and mocks the idea of community where we, as neighbours, commit to common rather than self-serving goals. Indeed, if Toronto is the real target of the proposed legislation, then it is well to remember that the idea of neighbourhoods is integral to the multi-cultural communities imbuing Toronto with its unique identity. The main purpose of our roads is to connect our communities and neighbourhoods, not transit them in the fastest time possible.

Now retired, I do more cycling than driving in the city. Recently I cycled from home to a Danforth café and back (a distance of approximately 26 km) with virtually the entire route serviced by multi-use roadways. The following day in a similar manner, I travelled to a business at Ossington and Bloor. All traffic flowed readily and easily during these two cycling days, marred only by a food delivery car stopped in a bike lane. My most recent driving experience, from home to the UofT campus, was also uneventful except for a car (not unlikely from a ride service) doing a U-turn against oncoming traffic. These are personal accounts yet they demonstrate the efficacy and safety of intelligent innovation. Multiuse and safe efficiency are not mutually exclusive. Safe efficiency (or efficient safety, if you prefer) for all constituents must undeniably be the goal and can only be derived from fact based analysis.

For another constituency – much larger, more populous, and certainly more traffic challenged than Toronto – it should not go without mention that in the interest of safer and more efficient traffic flow the iconic Brooklyn Bridge has just opened a completely re-imagined multi-use thoroughfare to the delight of its thousands of daily users as well as the city’s traffic commissioner. It appears we’re in good, progressive company.

The apparent overreach and intrusion and inequity underlying the proposed legislation is as disturbing as it is disappointing. I am opposed to the implementation of Bill 212.