I Can’t Believe I Have to Make This Video
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- The premier of Canada’s most populous province has doubled down on his anti-cycling rhetoric, promising to remove existing bike lanes on primary roads. He singled out three important routes that had been major wins for cycling in Toronto: Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue.
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References:
Protected intersection at Bloor & St. George: • Bloor Street Reconstru...
Toronto cycling map: www.toronto.ca...
Bike commuting in Toronto by census tract in the 2021 census: censusmapper.c...
Globe & Mail letter to the editor: archive.is/jZL...
Eglinton bike lane upgrades: www.toronto.ca...
City of Toronto cycling survey: www.toronto.ca...
National Post anti-cycling: nationalpost.c...
Doug Ford’s $200 cheques: www.cbc.ca/new...
Bill 212 (submit a comment if you live in Ontario): ero.ontario.ca...
Comments are open until Nov 20, 2024: ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-9266
If you live in Ontario, consider submitting a statement explaining why people need transportation options as opposed to more red tape and bureaucracy.
since fuel tax pays for the roads according to government of Ontario website, bikes should pay a yearly registration fee and also be required by law to have insurance like all the other vehicles on the road , too many cyclists hit cars and ppl there needs to be such laws enacted
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8keLoL. Good one. You almost had me there 😅
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8ke Contributing a minuscule amount to the road budget is not fully "paying for the roads". The vast majority of road construction and maintenance costs are funded by property taxes. People pay the same property taxes regardless of whether they own a car, yet if they own a car they produce orders of magnitude more construction and maintenance costs to municipalities.
I submitted a response that points out that if Doug Ford actually wants bike routes to be built on minor streets, the act would need an exemption from provincial review for streets with low traffic volumes (e.g. 5000 cars/day which is a common rule of thumb for the upper limit of a collector street). Even if we naïvely believe that the province would do a legitimate review of the projects they receive, there's no justification to waste taxpayer dollars with the cost/delay of a provincial government review on a street that would clearly only affect people in the immediate area anyway.
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8ke Not to mention the fact that motor vehicles wear down the road much more than bikes and pedestrians do.
As someone who drives everyday and has no interest in commuting by bike I don’t understand how people think removing bike infrastructure is going to improve their driving experience. Like the number one complaint people have against cyclists is that they ride in the road at low speeds and get in the way. Well obviously if there’s a bike lane that’s not going to be an issue, it’s only when there’s no dedicated bike infrastructure and they’re forced to occupy the same space as vehicles. It’s not like cyclists are getting in your way intentionally just to be dicks, if there’s nowhere else to ride there’s nowhere else to ride, so by removing bike lanes you’re just gonna be exasperating this problem. I really don’t get how people don’t understand this
Totally agree. I think bike lanes made it less stressful to drive and yes, no zig -zagging around cyclists.
Right, that's exactly what I was thinking too!
I think what they want is no cyclists. Perhaps they believe that making the environment hostile to cyclists - by removing bike lanes - will decrease the numbers, because there is the often-used argument for bike lanes that setting space aside will encourage cycling and increase numbers of cyclists.
@cloudmastr8105 it does but only if the entire route is safe. If ppl have to spend half their route on hostile streets they'll drive instead for safety
I agree and disagree as I everyday as well and I feel one of the issues I the quality of the drivers on the road. And with to the bike lane they could have made sidewalks smaller a lot of places so everyone shears in a bit of the madness.
As someone who has lived in Toronto for 20 years, what I can tell you is that before the bike lanes car traffic was bumper to bumper, after bike lanes car traffic was bumper to bumper, if they remove the bike lanes I predict that the car traffic will be... you guessed it, bumper to bumper.
same thing for new york and chicago
I agree it has always been bumper to bumper traffic and drivers skills are questionable
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Chicago is terrrrribllllllllllle for traffic. All those six way intersections and nary a roundabout in sight 🫠
@@innocentnemesis3519 yup a lot of the time I go out of my way to take the lakefront to work
@@innocentnemesis3519And Chicago has a really nasty habit of building right up to those onerous intersections, making it darn near impossible to fix properly.
In 2011, Jarvis Bike lanes were ripped out by Rob Ford because it took cars 2 minutes longer to travel southbound during morning rush hour, and 4 minutes longer northbound during afternoon rush. After removing the lanes, and installing a reversible centre SUPER-LANE that can change directions based on time, an analysis on the roadway found that it's EVEN SLOWER to travel down Jarvis than it did in 2011.
Source: Google - 2018 City of Toronto Major Arterials Compressed
Jarvis is an absolute shit-show. Completely gridlocked during rush hour. The idea that removing bike lanes will solve traffic is so stupid.
@@joeturner9692 And it is typical of Ford decision making.
@@joeturner9692 Jarvis used to be smooth sailing when they didn't impede all the adjacent streets with signalling and laneway removals surrounding jarvis. Jarvis is a symptom of removing arterial roadway for bike lane craze. Put the bike lanes in, but not on the arterial roadways.
@@kimdeans8529 "Even when there are no bike lanes, it's still bike lanes causing traffic." Clown argument.
I am the keeper of the Jarvis Bike Lane remains.
There is also a simple perception issue. 100 people riding past on bikes in an hour makes a bike lane look fairly empty .. but a hundred people in 70-80 cars going by is a lot of traffic and noise.
They were talking about this in the news while standing by one of the bike lanes the other night and there were probably more bikes than cars going by too. Just adds to the irony of this bill. I hate this government so much.
Counts on the Richmond and Adelaide bike lanes pre-pandemic (when there were stronger commuter flows) recorded over 700 bicycles per hour per direction on those bike lanes that Doug Ford also complains about. That's more people than were carried by the car lanes that previously occupied that space (and there are still two car lanes for people who need to drive), but the bike lanes do look empty most of the time because bicycles are small, efficient and quiet.
@@OntarioTrafficMan Another point for The Netherlands.. when we 'test build' these kinds of infrastructure, even the bicycle lanes get automatic traffic detection so we don't rely on manual counting but can actually measure real time real world data.
Policy needs to based on data, not on 'it looks empty'.
the problem is that its 70-80 cars a minute not an hour.
@@ADobbin1 Really... is that a figure you can back up or is this just a 'gut feeling' based argument?
If you've ever had the misfortune of reading Fordnation, the book written by Doug and Rob Ford, there's a section where Doug Ford talks about why he hates bike lanes and it gives an amazing insight into not only how Ford views bike lanes but also how he views pretty much everything. His reasoning? He doesn't like seeing bikes pass him while he's trying to get to work. He hates being stuck on Bloor or University sitting in traffic while bikes are zipping by. That's why he's ripping out those specific bike lanes, that's why he's demanding bikes be moved to side-streets! He just doesn't want to see them on his personal commute to work or when going to collect a bribe from some rich friend in Summerhill or Yorkville. It's such a selfish and simple-minded mentality and it's depressing that it's the mentality that is used to determine policy in Ontario.
@@nolifenerdwhohasnevergotten "I hate the lower class, so those lazy bums deserve to suffer in agonizing like the rest of us hard working people who actually deserve wealth and success" sums up his mentality nicely.
What a pathetic human. Also wasn't one of these Ford dudes caught up in a drug scandal?
The Fords are stuck at the mental development of a 5-year-old. Everything is just throwing their toys and whining about "me, me, me" if they don't get everything they want. How the hell did the idiots in this province think putting a spoiled child in charge of the government would be a good idea? Seems like this whole province is made up of bratty children too.
typical conservative - his primary drive is not to make things better but to make them worse for others
incredibly society come that low on stupidity..
"Take side streets". Designers of side streets: "We need to make sure these side streets don't actually go anywhere so that cars won't use them"
Underrated comment 🙏
Feels like I have to work so hard to plan routes. Google maps isn't good enough. My go to is Edgefield Ave in Dallas. It even has a bridge across i30.
Right, but walkways between side streets don't cause that problem, so walkway/bikeways are the solution to non-joining straightaway stretches.
@@kimdeans8529 Ding ding ding. As car centric as Germany is at least we got that concession for cyclists in many towns and it makes cycling at least tolerable.
In the UK these streets are called rat runs.Children can't play and drivers can be lethal taking shortcuts for the sake of a few minutes.This has to stop.
I just don't want my tax dollars being used to rip up infrastructure that not only people use, but we spent a ton of money installing. It's so wasteful
They'll reinstall it too in like 10 years
@Jarrd260 that's a good thing but that makes this move even more of a waste as it's take $4.2b to take them out
@@MaouProductions almost seems like an organized idea for a bunch of large contractint companies to siphone money from the tax payers. Not saying this is what is happening, but wouldn't be surprised if some of these for who advocate for/against these projects own a company that could help.
@Jarrd260 oh it 100% is. The bike lane thing is rolled into the highway 403 bill. Bike lanes are a culture war issue that distract from the bullshit Ford is putting in the 403 bill
They’re building highway 413 which will be a toll highway.
This bill 212 is NOT about bike lanes but that’s all you take from it and that’s what Ford wanted. He’s hiding his actual intention right in front of you because you can’t get past the bike lanes.
You’re being tricked!
Bicycles are only mentioned maybe 5 times in bill 212 on 1 page of a 28 page bill and highway 413 is mentioned more than 90 and you or anyone didn’t mention it once!!
EVERYONE in Ontario and Canada are going to suffer with bill 212.
"You can't justify a bridge by the number of people swimming across a river"
-Brent Toderian
And also note that the proposed legislation mentions nothing about side streets or streets with low traffic volumes.
You also shouldn't judge the value of finishing a bridge by building it halfway across a river and counting how many people use it.
But you can justify a bridge based on the number of people on one side who want to be on the other.
Not that side streets / low volume streets work well. I ride… or did in Vancouver until I was run over by a car ignored a red light… and side street / low volume streets here kinda suck for riding. All the drivers just go to them and some even carry a broom stick to hit the cyclist activated light buttons, they cut you off then slow you down as they crawl over speed bumps, then blast you with exhaust as they gun it towards the next speed bump where you guessed it they’ll slow you down again… all after having almost killed you turning left “infront” of you and completely ignoring the unenforced 30 km/h speed limit. Then you’ll have to detour over because you’re not starting or ending on that residential street, you’re instead going to a business on a street where cars get to just drive along…. So… yea…
TLDR: fight for your Main Street bike infrastructure!
@@timogul Right. And in this case that would be the number of people who would like to cycle more if they could do so safely. Surveys and evidence from places that have built cycling infrastructure suggest that's usually a lot of people.
@@chaoticsequencer They're just a troll, it's not like that data means anything to the person you're responding to.
If it did matter, then they wouldn't have commented what they did. As the video itself even contains polls directly from the neighbors we are specifically discussing.
Doug looks like someone who would hugely benefit from cycling.
Well the hugely part is already accomplished, because he is.
There's an incredible video of Doug riding a bike in TO a few years back. He's singing a different tune then; and his present-day handlers are currently trying to wipe the video from the Internet.
th-cam.com/video/Qs0lWS4O7x0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=XieWLjdxbldlmLIg
Ford may as well be saying "People in wheelchairs never enter this building, therefore we don't need to make it wheelchair accessible." Jee I wonder why...
That is insulting to people in wheelchairs.
The difference is that cycling is a choice. Toronto has transit for people who can't drive.
@@موسى_7 Cycing is never a choice. I didn't choose to live in the area with poor transit connection. I never chose to be poor.
The transit is not quick everywhere, its pretty ridiculous to say that you should just take transit when you can’t drive. People who don’t drive deserve a speedy way to get from A to B and if car traffic is slowing down buses or streetcars you gotta ride a bike
@@PAPADRACOLIN A bike is hardly "speedy transit." It's "walking, with extra steps."
Please keep your advocacy going. I am never political but as I use these bike lanes often (I don't drive often), my life is at significant risk if these lanes get ripped up. And considering SIX cyclists got killed this year and he's STILL ramming this through, it's beyond clear Ford prioritizes saving drivers 2 minutes of time (doubt it as more car lanes don't solve traffic) over human life.
Not being political is a being political for the status quo. Unfortunately bike lanes are not the status quo. Being political isn't supporting a major party (which is corrupt), it's just telling people what you want. The only reasons these lanes are in are because people stood up. They will be ripped out unless people stand up for them. Don't be political about parties, be political about bike lanes.
You're life is at greater risk when a delivery driver has to tie up a live lane of traffic creating a blind spot when they go around the delivery driver they can't see you , it's less safe for everyone on the road including you
If you want to defend your rights. Participating in politics is a must. Because it lives in our lives you can't escape. It is only possible to just delay that responsibility. It finds you one way or another through.
Not being political means you will lose the things you value to the people that are who want to take it away. It's far past time for bikers to get LOUD, and organize with one voice.
@@maxeuker2949 Make some NOISE so that they hear what you say!
I emailed my local MPP for Etobicoke - Lakeshore; Christine Hogarth. She was extremely rude and straight up lied about tearing up the bloor at bike lanes.
If there is an upcoming election we need to vote her out.
Vote her and Ford out, tell other people all about them as well ;)
I live on Bloor and hate the bike lanes - could 100% be a street north or south of bloor
@@jocelynsmyth6604 what street do you propose? Iooking at a map there no alternatives
@oldgreg506 you looked at a map and couldn't find one possible alternative? To the north, dupont is already in the works, Harbord, Wellesley, and I think College is in the works too. About a month or so ago, I had to walk an hr and a half home because the subway broke down, and they couldn't even get the shuttle buses in because bloor was a parking lot, and I didn't see one cyclist, and when I do see them, a lot of them treat traffic lights like a suggestion.
@@gabe6646 yeah more comunists
Conservatives being anti-big government when something benefits everyone, but then being extremely pro-big government when it benefits themselves at everyone else's expense will never cease to amaze me. It takes an exceptional lack of self-awareness to not see through that grift.
Conservatives in a nutshell. They never understand their hypocrisy. Here in NC, before Helene, Conservatives hated ROY Cooper, After Helene, they still dislike him, but also want the states money to help THEIR communities out west. But if anyone else needed the money, they'd be communists or something.
The name "conservative" is a joke anyway. It is meaningless.
They are all about controll and abuse
@@anrmlumlwundlistr7620In this issue trying to rip out cyclelanes
They don't have any consistent values or goals. It's all about sticking to whatever your gut says, following whatever preconceived notions and social norms have been ingrained into your head. Never self-reflect, it is how it is, everything should stay "normal," just follow whatever ignorant garbage your lizard brain makes you feel, and maybe go back and try to retroactively rationalize some of it. We only have facts and logic here, such as "cars are the supremely superior form of transport, everybody knows, you don't even have to think about it" or "Judeau Christian values" or "states rights"
Kills me that the whole thing isn’t viewed as a matter of freedom of choice. What if you just don’t WANT to drive everywhere?
but that's an american troupe.... why are you using our troupes, we only get to use them when we don't want to deal with real life, why would you take that simple pleasure away from us
Yes inba democracy the majority rule , and the majority drive , democracy has spoken
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8ke
Exactly. Also the majority own their homes.
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8ke yeah that doesnt work like that
It's not even a matter of choice for many people. People cycle year-round because it's the only affordable way of travelling. Also, many people can't get a driver's license because they have certain disabilities, but can still safely bike.
I can't imagine how it must feel for Ontarians in regions like Thunder bay watch the Premier obsess over 3 roads in a single city over a thousand kilometers away
And using their tax money to get rid of them
right?? isn't that what the municipal government is for? like go back to being a city councillor for christ's sake
@@redwingsgo12its not like Toronto is by far the biggest tax base, and it's not like Thunder Bay is a net gainer when it comes to provincial finances or anything...
How are 2% of people using vehicles far smaller than the average car able to clog a complete city? Cyclists must be really powerful if they can get traffic to stand still in such small numbers.
The bicycle commuting rate in the parts of the city where there is actually bike infrastructure is over 10% and that doesn't even count people who bike to/from transit.
Once we're all back cycling in the car lanes, traffic will certainly speed up and begin to move more freely!
The issue is that bike lanes take up space that could be used on an entire additional car lane. Having an additional car lane would reduce traffic in many cases.
@ nonsense. The amount a bike lane takes is small in comparison. And the myth that one more lane will fix it has been dispelled to death. Allowing more space efficient alternatives (and everything is more space efficient than a car) reduces stress from the street.
@@dogsandbicycles When discussing city traffic, it is rare that a bike lane does not take up at least one full car lane to produce. Either the travel lane itself is wide enough for a car, or it has barriers along one side that take up the remainder. Most urban bike lanes already were a car travel lane at one point. Bikes are more space efficient than cars, but only for those who use them, and a relatively small number of people choosing to use bikes does not remove as much traffic pressure as having an entire lane available for cars to fill.
"I want people to die so that I can go vroom-vroom" That's literally all I hear when I hear people talk against bike infrastructure.
or: i don't like cyclists to not be stuck in traffic like me, if i have to get stuck in a long line of idle standing cars, so should everyone else.
You fail to mention the only fatality mentioned in the video occurred within a bike lane.
most of the vocal cyclist are menaces
The lanes make more traffic and make the roads more unsafe for everyone especially delivery drivers and ppl that have to deal with the traffic that is caused by them
a lot of it is just: I've fallen for automobile propaganda and believe that cars = freedom, bikes are only for children and athletes, public transit is for the poor only, etc:
So sorry to hear about this happening in Toronto.
Bike advocacy is tough. Thank you for your effort!
Supporting your work from Singapore!
The excuse I see a lot is that Toronto is too cold for a biking culture. Even if we ignore scandanavian cities, why do people pretend like Montreal doesn’t exist? A city that is substantially colder than Toronto
Half of Montreal is a car centric hellscape as well, I'll have you know.
@@Dexter037S4 thats true, but it says a lot that they’ve still done a better job than us
The funny thing is that the biggest problem with biking in Southern Ontario is that it's too warm - in colder places they don't put the road salt that results in your gears being a consumable every winter.
Epic fail again remember as well you whining wimps in Toronto called I the military due to SNOW... but no one else did including Montreal or hamilton and that storm hamilton got over 3x the accumulation of snow that TO did
And yes bike lanes in canada asa while even in the warmest places still are virtually deserted overall even in summer bpnevermind winter where the actual use is a infinitesimal fraction of summer weather
Scandaniavian cities often used as examples as well are far more temperate and also see major reduction in colder weather nevermind the fact that typical distances traveled by cyclists in such is a mere fraction of typical commutes in Toronto
The constant same lame excuses and lies trying to justify bike lanes does NOT wash esp since better more effective and infinitely cheaper alternatives already exist. But those dont push forth the other agendas many try to shove in with this nonsense
@@konnorj6442 Are you talking to me?
Removing bike lanes in 2024 is strictly speaking, insane.
It is. We gotta protest this. I already wrote to my MPP but her staff will likely just throw it in the shredder. She's useless
@@nicthedoor Doug and Rob ford both seem to be Detroit Petrol heads by religion and anything that gets in the way of their philosophy is forbidden fruit.
No its not. Its causing traffic
@@kylepastabike lanes are causing traffic!? What about the cars?
@@kylepasta No, that is cars.
One of the most confusing trends I have seen over the last few years is how much US state and Canadian Provincial governments are trying to prevent big cities from solving problems autonomously.
"Why don't food delivery riders count as cyclist?" Because to them, they also don't count as people
This kind of thinking is obviously "us versus them".
That's what everyone says.
I think it is more like "US vs who !"
"Why don't food delivery riders count as cyclist?"
racism.
@zehan2316 The " other" , a way of dehumanizing certain people; this is the first step in the process.
@@dcb8531 sort of - it is just "anti-social".
And that is not the kind of people who should be in charge of "public space".
I used to have a friend who was a bicycle messenger. He was killed on the job, hit by a truck, at the age of 22.
Did he drive as recklessly as the messenger who attacked Michal Bryant, a former Attorney General years ago? We all saw that this messenger literally chased down the car to attack it and died because of his road rage.
@@appletile2887Michael Bryant murdered Darcy Allan Sheppard with impunity. Make no mistake about it, you or I would be in jail right now if we did what Bryant did. Bryant had likely been drinking but was not subjected to a breathalyzer test like you or I would be in the same scenario. There is witness testimony that has since come out documenting how there was no way to interpret Bryant’s actions other than he revved his engine aggressively and then intentionally drove into Sheppard. Next he took off again, veered into the opposing lane, dragging and killing Sheppard, then fled the scene. These actions warrant a manslaughter charge at bare minimum but sadly we have a two-tiered justice system in Canada so he was let off without ever even having to face trial. Sheppard’s actions were reprehensible as well but our justice system allowed Bryant to be the judge, jury and executioner in the middle of the street
Sorry for your loss... but another example that mixing bikes with cars is a terrible idea. Adding bike lanes makes sense...but not the way Toronto does it. Painted white lines or a 6" curb doesn't make the bike lane safe. We can't do it safely, like in Europe, so IMO we shouldn't do it at all.
@appletile2887 what is wrong with you
@@77777gracie While walking downtown years ago near Adelaide & Yonge street we were almost run down by a cowboy courier on a bike while we were walking on the sidewalk. The icehole started yelling at everyone on the sidewalk.
That's why!!!
Every cyclist is someone who has achieved car-like / transit-like mobility with nothing more than a bit of asphalt and fencing and the simplest of mechanical devices. Removing bike lanes because cyclists are "only 2% mode share" is like saying we should get rid of universities because PHDs are "only 2%"
Not even close to a proper comparison
Such is a disengenus FAIL by you from the start
Its litterally a sad attempt to compare apples to oranges by you and trying to argue they are the same
@@konnorj6442 elaborate?
In any case 2 percent doesn’t really capture it and if people want to understand the real numbers they should watch the whole video and see the numbers for the various parts of the city.
@@dumb214
Don’t bother, the dude is obviously a carbrain/auto lobbyist based on his comments throughout this entire video
Opportunity cost. Its not about removing bike lanes, it is about what is the most useful purpose of the space. If we have something more useful than universities that needs to be placed where the university is, then it would make sense to replace it too. But that's silly as there is plenty of land to have both.
Even if by some backwards logic, the claim that "Bike lanes slow down traffic in the city" was true. What's still the better outcome here?
Drivers arriving at their destination 5 minutes faster OR Cyclists arriving at their destination alive?
Motorists don't care when cars kill people, as long as it doesn't affect them immediately. If they cared, our cities would look very different.
You don't need to ask the question, Doug Ford's already told you the answer
They honestly believe that if they just prevented anyone from cycling, all problems would be solved. They are unable to empathize with anyone who is unable to drive.
@@OntarioTrafficMan If someone is medically unable to drive a car they probably should not be riding a bicycle either.
Dont make me choose. lol
it should be truly embarrassing for a city that ~61% of commuters use a car
In Baghdad, it's basically 100%
Especially in a place like Toronto where we have a public transit system for a long time. Our transit system is in the 70s when it comes to expansion.
@@toade1583 and the subway is falling apart - I take it every day, in the 15 years, it's gotten so bad
How else are you supposed to get around?
@@mikehorrigan7806 Horses and carriages and stagecoaches of course. People who are all anti cars like to forget that this is how people got around before cars. Bicycles are a pretty recent invention as it public mass transit. There wasn't a utopia of bicycles and subways before cars. People used animal powered vehicles.
I live in Croatia (EU) and recently I saw that our local politicians also started referring to bicyclism as something "left".
I travel by bike to work in the city center and our cycling infrastructure is bad, but the last few years have seen small steps for the better.
Given that we import everything, including political processes, it makes me sick that we will see the issue of cyclists as an identity issue and a conflict between the left and the right...
We humans are indescribably stupid...
Well, some of them are. That left and right crap is definitely a tool for manipulating people. Control-freakery is on the rise, while analytical thought and autonomous action are discouraged.
Svaka čast ak je po centru voziš bajkom, svakodnevno se vozim biciklom ali u centar ne bi nikad.
@@l_h_2 Ako misliš na Zagreb, da, nigdje nema nekih uvjeta, ali centar je baš koma. Na mojoj dionici ima nešto traka (makar na nogostupu, dijeljenih s pješacima), a nešto ih još i rade, tako da ima nekih pomaka u dobrom smjeru. Da naprave biciklističku magistralu od Glavnog prema zapadu, kao što su prema istoku, prepolovilo bi mi se vrijeme puta na posao...
@drot13 da, mislim na Zagreb zato i velim da tam biiciklom ne prilazim iako je da se poboljšava. Savska mi je recimo koma... novi zg i nasip mi se čine najbolji za bicikle, baš me zanima kak bu na nasipu ovo kaj sad delaju zgledalo.
As a Dutch guy, I would like to extend an invitation to this politician to come visit The Netherlands so he can get on his knees and apologize.
@@hockeyaddict7007 As a Canadian who has lived in both South Holland and Toronto, I can tell you that the Randstad Region is far bigger and more populous than Toronto. (Not that being Canadian makes one any more able to do a two-second google search)
@@hockeyaddict7007 I know you lack any kind of relevant education or basic knowledge, so let me just laugh in your face about you having an 'opinion' buddy
@@hockeyaddict7007 Randstad is approx 8.5 - 9 million people out of those 20 million in total, utilizing a land area of 4,391 square miles approximately.
This is the reason as a country we still have a high population density, even while outside of the Randstad conglomerate we don't have many big cities.
Outside of the Paris Metropolitan area, The Randstad is also the most productive region in the European Union.
So, no, we're not the one's who are wrong you are. Not only do we show population density does not make car focused city design a necessity, we also show that not emphasizing everything around car traffic actually makes a more productive environment.
@@hockeyaddict7007 If I stand on a chair you'll be talking to my knee, don't you know Dutch people are the tallest in the world ;)
Can't believe your comment didn't show up while I was making the other one, it's older then mine. Must have been typing at the same time.
Anyway, as you might have figured out from my other post, besides some smug talk I can actually substantiate the claims I'm making.
The car dependency in the US and Canada is more a cultural one then a real world application kind of one.
We don't have your congestion problems, and we're moving just as many people ( in some places ). And where there would be bottlenecks, we design and implement viable alternatives through a ( mostly reliable ) public transport systems. And we do this while also offering quite the safe / protected cycling infrastructure.
What this politician doesn't get, is that the reason only 2% of people commute on their bikes, is not because there is 'to much' bike friendly infrastructure, but rather not enough. And what this politician also doesn't get, is that when you build safe infrastructure for cycling which invites people to take a bike instead of a car when possible. those who really do need to take their car are driving on far less contested roads. This is not just me talking smug btw, this is why municipalities from all over the world are sending their civil engineers to come here and follow some of our courses on a better infrastructure design.
edit: I wrote 'rather way to much' instead of 'not enough' when talking about the effects of safe bicycle infrastructure on the percentage of people cycling for their commute.
@@OntarioTrafficMan The Randstad and the Greater Golden Horseshoe is actually pretty decent equivalents in size and population. Enough so that you can compare the difference of transportation infrastructure between them and weep.
through traffic is what destroys businesses.
Not only that but taking out parking so a bike lane fit's killed our downtown, Sure the sidewalk is twice as big and the bike people who wanted that lane are happy the car's don't go down town now but since they don't go shopping with a bike it ended most of the stores downtown, Even the walk in pizza shop that sold by the slice '' I used to go there '' closed because most people can't get to it '' like me I haven't been down town in years, And with the radio almost daily talking about another biker got hit there is no way im going down that street,
@@ImigrentfromMars Except they do go shopping on a bike, that's been proven numerous times. Business *improves when bike lanes and traffic calming is installed.
@@cmmartti Buy a pack of smoker or drink in not shopping, If you go shopping and come out with a few bags then try to ride home your a hazard to yourself and everyone, I used to ride a bike you are preaching to the wrong guy,
@@ImigrentfromMarsWhat would you know? You’re from Mars.
@@ImigrentfromMars
There’s this thing called a “cargo bike” that solves that “carrying bags of groceries” problem.
This is Doug's war on physical fitness.
By the looks of him, he doesn't like much of anything to do with "Physical Fitness". He's like the Canadian version of Kim Jong Un
@@TomM2727 I think that means he's winning the war.
See you next Tuesday Ford.
Toronto is the city where I became an urban cyclist. I started in 2015 and watched the Bloor lanes come in and the popularity of cycling explode downtown. In an era of political division, it was the one area where I felt unambiguous winds of progress were at our back. Crazy to think that now this all may be stripped back to score political points among people who don't even live in the affected areas. I encourage everyone to make their voices heard on this. Fill out the survey. Share your frustrations among friends and family. As cyclists, our numbers may be small overall, but we can still have impact
The core of Toronto is an anomaly and should always have dedicated lanes for bikes, I cycle in Durham Region and it's a nightmare in the bike lanes, I'd prefer they stop building them and just make more wide asphalt sidewalks, there's a lot of fantastic smooth concrete sidewalks too in Ajax, it blows my mind that we're still trying to put bicyclists on the same surface as vehicles, with or without dedicated lanes.
The PCs don't care care. They have NO SUPPORT from downtown Toronto. The affected areas are NDP and Liberal. Ford can stomp downtown Toronto all he wants and it doesn't affect their political support. Toronto should secede from Ontario.
@masaharumorimoto4761 I dont like cycling on sidewalks because of the discrepancy of speed between cyclists and pedestrians. Have that issue on multiuse paths too
@@seriousbees Its perfectly fine as long as the sidewalk is wide enough. I find the elevated ones much safer in Germany (a country not even known for bikes but also obsessed with cars BTW).
exactly.... your numbers are tiny, insignificant in the face of people who drive cars. so lets focus on the infrastructure with roads for cars first since we are the overwhelming and absolute majority. or do you not like how democracy works when its not in your favor? tell me how it is there mr. cyclist? let me know how the survey goes lmfao
I can't really get around by bike anymore, so I almost entirely rely on my car. Alternative transportation infrastructure RELIEVES traffic for cars. Bike lanes and bus lanes gives people options and lets those folks leave their car at home. Separate infrastructure means I'm not stuck behind a bike using the same lane as me. Separate bus lanes means I don't get stuck behind a bus stop after stop.
All Conservatives ever do is undo the good that gets done and then say "These guys can't get anything done"
He's been the leader for ages now. So many issues have gotten worse during his time. Now that an election is coming. He needs a quick scapegoat. On the congestion front... blame bike lanes of course.
Is that a way to wish congestion on that Ford guy.
Say like conjected heart failure !!!
@@Astr0b0y8 We need term limits like they have in the US
@@weldonyoung1013
That was nasty
As a year round cyclist in downtown TO I can tell you the problem with traffic is the construction of condos taking lanes away.
Please Ontario, please don't keep the moron in power.
These drivers don’t understand that yes, the entire point is to actually strip back the ubiquity and hegemony of car infrastructure by prioritizing other transport modes. They can’t imagine relinquishing any of that entitlement to share space with other commuters. It always amazes me that these people seem to spare no thought for the emissions of driving, let alone the other externalities; all they care about is their own personal convenience.
It's almost as if organizing society around individually owned, publicly subsidized and dangerously lethal metal boxes that simultaneously isolate you from the environment and community while destroying both is detrimental to every facet of personal and societal wellbeing 🤔
The sheer amount of cognitive dissonance and mental gymnastics evident in the carbrain psychology is astonishing...
The irony is, removing the bike infrastructure will simply add more car traffic. It's a self-defeating idea to think this will improve car traffic. It would be better if we get ahead of it and save the moronic drivers from their own peril (btw I drive and bike - I will be clogging up the street with my car for the other drivers if they remove the bike lanes)
If you're so worried about emissions then you support easing the flow of traffic
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8keif you prioritize car movement other other potential transportation options more people will drive and you will have more emissions, even if each individual trip is more efficient
If you care about emissions, you want to reduce the least efficient means of transportation, the car. If you facilitate the use of cars, their use will increase. That is, traffic.
Car dealerships donate huge amounts of money to conservative parties across the country every year, they won't do anything that could jeopardize the profits of one of their biggest donors. They want more cars on the road, more oil to burn more profits for them, they don't care about people at all.
I really hate when politicians try to turn things like this into a culture-war issue.
YIMBYism is one of the few non-partisan issues in North America!
Best of luck to you in fighting back against these regressive measures.
Would be counter culture or normalizing things.
"YIMBYism is one of the few non-partisan issues in North America!"
You live in an alternate version of North America from the rest of us, then. Bicycle infrastructure is almost exclusively a left wing issue.
@@willythemailboy2my deeply liberal Ward in Ottawa fights just as hard or harder than any conservative ward against any construction of housing or zoning changes. The result is swathes of single family homes a 5 minute bike ride from downtown and thousands of people unable to afford housing.
@@nick2555v6 You're seeing that as overall leftist vs overall rightists when you should be looking at the individual issue of protecting home values and way of life. Almost any sort of NIMBYism is going to be conservative and almost any form of YIMBYism is going to be liberal. It's just that one particular issue may be conservative in an otherwise-liberal area.
@@willythemailboy2 Look up "Strong Towns" if you want the right-wing justification for Urbanism.
It was touched on in this very video: it is about living within your means.
Cycling infrastructure is very cheap. Car infrastructure is so expensive that Strong towns calls it "The Growth Ponzi Scheme".
I've lived in Toronto my whole life. Biking here has sucked for decades and these lanes are/were a great step forward. I hate that we have kneejerk reactions like this that only see the needs of drivers and are so short-sighted as to remove what we just built, before we can even see the improvements. The wrong people are in charge and this proves it.
I guess without the bike lanes all bikers are forced to ride on the car lanes instead.
Preferably very slow and in the middle.
I live and work in Toronto. I love to bike... but those bike lanes are badly designed. For ex. after C19 there is more and more home food deliveries. There are people working in service industries: telecomm, cable, plumbers, electricians, etc, etc. And because those concrete curbs installed in the middle of the roads, those workmen cannot park safely next to their worksites. Whoever drive their full-size pick-ups or full size vans for living, know what I'm talking about. With Winter and snow coming it will be even worse...
@@tjblues01 Agreed, I ride wherever I feel safest, if that's the sidewalk then I'll go slow and be respectful to pedestrians, there's no need to be whipping around at mach 4 running people over eh :)
@@tjblues01 Construction sites along major roads should not be blocking traffic with idle construction vehicles and workers' trucks just parked there. This is bad project management. Other cities don't allow this and neither should Toronto. Deliveries should be made in off-peak hours if necessary.
@@roberthanks1636 Sir, grab OTM Book 7 because you don't know what you're talking about.
You used also some terms that not necessary apply. For ex. "major roads". This is not a language used in Ontario Traffic Manual. Instead they talk about traffic volume (# of cars per day), speed limits, road cross section (how many lanes, divided or undivided), duration of the work. You have no say in regard if I'm idle in my truck or not....
> trucks just parked there. This is bad project management. <
LOL, Right, a gas leaks or power outages are very bad project managers and they dare to happen in rush hours or at any random time of the day.
>Deliveries should be made in off-peak hours if necessary.<
You mean "if possible", right? But, guess what, ppl don't like cold pizza and out-patients will NOT wait for their oxygen till next weekend. Store delivery usually are done at early mornings...
Your rights to bike are NOT greater then rights of other people to receive their services.
It's SO weird that good urbanism is seen as a leftist thing. You'd think the right would be all in on fewer rules (zoning laws, min parking requirements, etc), less government interference, fiscal responsibility, efficiency, freedom of choice, etc. As Strong Town says, good urbanism should be desirable no matter what your overall political views are.
Taking away bike infra for "low use" is like being naked and cold, putting on underpants, saying 'I'm still cold. These underpants don't work!' and then taking them off.
Ask him if he thinks the same about wheelchair infrastructure. After all, a lot less people use those than the 2+% of bikes he quotes.
Bike infrastructure is neither a Left nor Right issue. It's a logic issue. The best way to reduce congestion on streets is to reduce the density of cars on congested routes. Getting people out of cars and onto bikes or onto public transit are the most efficient and least expensive ways to do that. History shows us that creating more lanes for cars has one reliable effect -- more cars.
it is in fact the logical thing to do. unfortunatly, conservatives are not known for their logical capabilities
@@mikeymullins5305 Ironic you would say that in response to me -- a conservative. And therein lies the real problem. We've descended into a hyper-polarized, us vs. them, get my way no matter what culture instead of working together to develop actual solutions. You agreed with me when you thought I was a Leftist. Do you still?
Why is Doug Ford against common sense?
@@TheJoshuacheng Who knows? I suspect he doesn't really want to solve the problem of congestion; rather, he wants to maintain his seat in office, and to facilitate that he's advocating for automobiles because most voters are drivers but most voters are not cyclists.
@@TheJoshuacheng
The automobile industry is likely paying him for this.
I drive everywhere. Do I want to be paying hundreds of dollars every month on car costs and maintenance? No. That’s the kind of stuff keeping me poor.
Make the title more specific! Doug Ford needs to be shamed internationally! Also the idiotic and selfish Etobicoke/GTA suburbanite residents who Don't realize that most people there don't own cars. Doug Ford needs to be voted out, he is such an embarrassment. After living in Montreal, I've grown to appreciate bike lanes, But Corrupt Doug Ford, as well as the Corrupt minister of Transportation Prabmeet Singh Sarkari, are trying to keep Ontario in the past! Also the environmental assessment they're trying to remove so that they can endlessly expand the highways, and dig stupid tunnels!!!
He's giving every Ontarian, including children and people living abroad, $200. He's going to win. People tend to respond well to bribery.
@@agentzapdos4960 instead of putting it towards housing, education or healthcare. This culture war bullshit is tearing the world apart!
This!
@@MsMarmima Yep. The nukes can't fly soon enough.
@agentzapdos4960 The province is already running 6 billion+ deficits this year, I like how conservatives is always saying small government but ran the whole the government in debts.
Foug Dord is an overgrown baby just like his brother. He just needs his pacifier
Make sure to dip it in some crack first.
donut maybe?
He needs a drug test
@@evanrunning9770 dunk his pacifier in some krak first
You are children, no wonder you ride a bicycle
I’ve lived at St. George & bloor since 2014, imo the new bike lanes/traffic lights are an amazing addition for safety, it give bicyclists a safe lane to ride and gives me peace of mind driving, it also stops drivers from pulling over and illegally blocking the bike lanes. Also I was there in 2018 when that women was hit by the flatbed outside of rotman, these new bike lanes are long overdue..
I take it that nobody on this man's staff has ever heard of induced demand, and doesn't realise that this approach is basically guaranteed to *increase* congestion.
They don't care. It will increase votes, according to their political calculus. They can flush hundreds of millions down the drain to get booze in stores faster, hand-out $200 cheques, close the Science Center for dubious reasons, hand Therme and Live Nation hundreds of millions (estimated) in a sweetheart deal with the help of the same Conservative operator who helped bring casinos to Ontario under Harris, all figuring that none of it matters because they will still get votes.
Politicians don't do sensible things for rational, long term benefits. Once they are out of office, it's somebody else's problem. The concept of legacies is meaningless. It's like having a private equity firm run things. Pump and dump, some suckers will clean-up the mess and take the political hit. Just imagine the cost and indirect impacts of cleaning-up Alberta when the oil companies are done extracting profits. That's going to be, well, a huge mess. Yet, we - collectively - keep electing these folks, and likely will at the federal level.
I expect that - much like the Tories here in England - he won't care, as he will think punishing cyclists will be a vote winner among his suburban base. But what makes me laugh is these same voters always moan that things were better in the past when kids could play out in the street...
They have their logic and that's all that matters to them.
induced demand is not an argument against increasing road capacity. I'm against removing bike lanes, and I'm definitely for creating other options of transportation, but induced demand exists in every form of transportation. Add more railroads, more people will use rail. The point of adding lanes, or railroads, or bike lanes, is not to reduce traffic, because none of them accomplish that. The point is to increase how many cars can use the road, or how many people can take the train, or how safe biking is.
Even if adding more lanes doesn't reduce traffic, it still increased the capacity. It doesn't make traffic worse, as many people say, as the traffic will just reach an equilibrium, the point where traffic tends to stay at.
The real argument is, do you really want large roads and large parking lots to deal with the traffic? Trains are a lot easier to scale up, and they can go faster too. Well, if the infrastructure is there, which it isn't in Canada. They cause less emissions. Same with walking and cycling. The argument for bike lanes is that it provides another safe option for travelling, that's 0-emmisions. Safety is the reason for adding bike lanes. Very few people will bike if they don't feel safe.
Induced demand is not an argument against increasing car infrastructure. That's because every form of transportation induces demand.
@@FastKnight401 Yeah, the point is that it doesn't make it better qualitatively. It just makes it as bad or worse for more people. If it's expensive to expand, than why build a system for more people to use a bad, expensive thing? And capacity of roads is abysmal and typically constrained by intersections and not travel lanes, so the return on investment for adding more traffic lanes is always super questionable past a certain initial investment.
We’ve fought for 25 years to get these lanes. If Ford calls an election, we must demand that the NDP and Liberals to cooperate, and replace this government.
You can't have any meaningful cooperation when the total number of their seats is not more than that of Conservatives (even though the percentage of votes is). Unless we have electoral reform some day, FPTP will keep on pushing Canadian politics into U.S.-style or BC-style two-party politics.
Toronto's streets were originally made for walking, bikes, and horse-drawn vehicles; they were never originally made for automobiles.
Riding your bike on the sidewalk is illegal, and riding your bike on the streets means sharing space with vehicles that weigh 2 to 6 tons and move at 40+ kph.
Bike lanes in cities help reduce congestion and pollution; removing them will do the opposite. We can only blame the city for its lack of TTC subway expansion. In the last 20 years, we have made such minimal progress in this area. Part of the delay can be traced back to former Mayor Rob Ford’s decision to halt parts of the Transit City plan, which aimed to expand rapid transit using light rail across the city. Ford’s administration shifted focus to subways, causing delays and political gridlock that left Toronto’s transit system lagging behind the needs of its growing population.
If Transit City had gone according to plan, we would have had a well-connected transit network, making it easier for residents to choose public transit over cars. In that scenario, there would likely be less pushback on bike lanes, as robust public transit options would reduce the need for car travel and create a more balanced transportation system. Effective transit and cycling infrastructure are ultimately essential for a sustainable and efficient city.
And they also must acknowledge that cities cannot have unlimited growth. Piling people on top of each other in more and more highrises is utterly stupid. There may be room vertically, but what about squeezing them all onto the TTC or the roads? There is an optimum population size for a city but they proceed as if growth can be unlimited.
It's worth noting that this same Act includes many measures to exempt the Highway 413 construction project from many forms of environmental regulations, make it easier to expropriate people's land, and prevent municipalities from influencing the project that goes through their jurisdiction. The bike lane elements of that act have succesfully distracted transportation advocates from those changes which would otherwise have created a big outcry.
There's the REAL comment that matters, 99% of people have zero clue about the land appropriation taking place, those land owners have been waiting for DECADES for their land value to increase, for some sub division developer to come along, then the provincial government comes along and says "Here's 800k, there's nothing you can do, it's a done deal".
Ford has a real reputation for burying his plans in a big omnibus piece. He’s a friggin out of control and out of touch BULLDOZER.
Woah you’re right! That’s a gross political play on their part. Sneaky and corrupt politicians that are only in it for the money, no matter what the consequences to the people could entail.
That's horrific. It should not be possible to exempt ANY project from environmental regulations. Could he be more corrupt?!
I dont know how the rest of the province votes for Ford. He's acting like he's the mayor of Toronto when he should be focused on the entire province.
That should be the political messaging from his opponents. He is obsessed with Toronto and the current PC held ridings outside the 416 should hear this over and over until they realize they are being played for fools.
He’s been ticked off at Toronto ever since he lost the mayoral election, after Rob dropped out. It is sheer pettiness.
@earthwormjim6962 the premier of the province should not be busy with what streets have bike lanes in any city. Toronto city council has studied the affects of these bike lanes for many years and there's a benefit to the city for having them. As usual, ford is being populist and ignoring facts/evidence while prioritizing his own unsupported opinions.
@@Nebula490 I completely disagree. Toronto is the biggest city of the province. In the country! With the mayors being basically a string of failures ever since Rob Ford died (Chow being the worst of them so far) this definitely warrants the province interference. Plus, the province is paying billions for Toronto's infrastructure, so it has a full right to interfere. Also, bike lanes pretty much ruined Toronto's traffic, which wasn't good before, but it's much much worse now.
@earthwormjim6962 I see someone skipped civics class in school. Ford is the premier of Ontario, not the mayor of Toronto. He needs to act like it and stop ignoring the rest of the province while he makes changes to the Toronto that he wants. One might even allege that Ford is doing it out of self interest because he lives in Toronto. Doug Ford is not a man of the people, he's a man in it for himself.
I live on Bloor. They just installed lanes past my apartment a year ago. It's been wonderful. I can't believe DoFo is doing this. Time to organize. Time to fight. We can't let this happen!
Guy, the rest of the province is with you.
I believe they want a Premier not a Mayor !
I live on Bloor, and I hate the bike lanes - could be which parts we're in.
I rarely drive in Toronto now because of the good bike lane infrastructure - like separated lanes. I was so happy to see the new University lanes. Submitted a detailed comment to the petition link.
What the heck is he even fighting against? Never hear people say: "Nobody is driving on the bridge we haven't fished yet!"
Sad to see these regressive movements are happening in other cities and countries. I live in Culver City (part of Los Angeles) and a few years ago protected bike lanes were installed adjacent to a dedicated bus lane. Non-car travel was greatly boosted, local businesses did better, and commutes were minimally impacted by the lose of a lane (-1 min morning, +2 mins afternoon). Despite that, the local council, including a member who was funded by the landlord of a major parking garage, voted to roll back the program. Traffic is still bad and now there's no protected bike lane, we have to share the bus lane.
5:07 "I don't see why delivery drivers 'don't count' as cyclists"
I can tell you why that writer thought that the needs of delivery riders somehow 'don't count'. It's because their argument is driven by racism.
The vast majority of delivery drivers/riders are usually immigrants due to the low barrier for entry for finding work. Thus this person has to dehumanize them to try and justify their argument. Cause poor Karen is so afraid of all the brown people riding around that pose a threat to her gigantic SUV.
I saw a similar argument being levied a week or so ago on another video on TH-cam about the potential removal of the Bloor street bike lane where someone claimed that "The only people who use these lanes are Indian Delivery Drivers" As their reason for why they should be removed.
It really also highlights the classist arguments of the Anti-Bike lane people in general. As they think that only they in their expensive vehicles should be allowed to use the main streets, while the 'poor bike riders' are stuck with the scraps of the incomplete side streets. Even if their destination is on a main street.
Yes. I've seen this numerous times in various places. Outright more-than-racist "expendables" language surrounding bike-using delivery drivers. It's really telling and also really chilling and horrible. Some delivery drivers are, say, somewhat more cavalier in their use of infrastructure, but that's not going to improve through the reduction of it, but through the improvement of it so it makes sense for them to use it.
Damn, I always thought Canada was our sensible northern neighbor but this plan is fucking idiotic.
That’s the great Canadian fallacy. 🥲 Canada is really not much better than the USA.
Yeah, Doug Ford is probably the dumbest politician Canada has had this century
@@afirewasinmyheadIt really depends on the issue. The error people make is thinking the issues that cluster together in the US, cluster the same way in Canada.
Us Americans have a deep love for our neighbors but that leads to us thinking that they have a utopia. They really don't. A lot of their issues mirror ours and they have their own unique issues as well.
Ford is a populist who got elected on the hatred of his incumbent opponent, his name, and promising $1 beers. His vote base is entirely suburban, so it's not surprising that he's appealing to their car-centric worldview.
As a Torontonian, i dont see any bikes when I'm on the Gardiner taking 45 mins to drive 5 kilometers
One of the reasons it takes cars so long to empty off of the Gardiner onto city streets IS because of the bike lanes and all the anti-car accoutrements that came with them, like no-right reds, timed lights that disfavour cars and turning traffic, narrow lanes, single lanes, lowered speed limits, obstacles, errant lanes within the roadway, blocked advance turn lanes, etc etc etc
@@GrahamLT literally not true at all lmao, I drive on them all the time and it's simply because of too many cars trying to fit down a single road, not because of bike infrastructure. Most of these 'single lanes' you speak of are because there are buildings on both sides of the lanes the roads are going down
@@GrahamLTsure, you are describing gridlock. So why is the Gardiner so damn slow when leaving the city?
If they take bike lanes out, I will be cycling on the road and taking up the ENTIRE right lane (as I am legally allowed to do). Want to pass me? Tough sh*t, you'll have to merge fully into the left lane to do it. #stayinyourlane
@@hockeyaddict7007 Out of curiosity, how did you find this video? Surely it's not in your recommendations
@@hockeyaddict7007 If I'm on the leftmost side of the right lane, you'll have no choice but to hit me or merge onto the other lane.
@@hockeyaddict7007You're funny
Time to ban bicycling in general, then.
stay safe out there
Amazing video, and incredibly important as you state, bicycles aren't a conservative or liberal issue. They're transportation issue and a quality of life issue.
they are a progressive issue. the conservative position is the status quo. cars are the status quo. bike infrasturture requires a change in the status quo
@@mikeymullins5305
And then become the status quo it sought to change.
@@mikeymullins5305 the conservative position is waiting until you have all the privilege and then sticking your fingers in your ears whenever anyone wants to make any changes that might affect you personally
@@shauncameron8390
Nice concern trolling.
Bikes are a lot less expensive to buy and maintain than cars and often enough don't require a license to operate, which is another cost when it comes to operating a car.
Transportation and quality of life are liberal issues. Health care, education, safety, infrastructure, clean air and water... liberal issues.
I'm not sure why conservatives have decided to oppose these things and turn them into issues, but we liberals are 100% the people on the side of common sense and the common good.
If I'm gonna be honest, I had no idea Doug Ford and Rob Ford were 2 different people until watching this video. I though the current premier of Ontario was the former Mayor of Toronto.
the reason by bike lanes are left-coded is because car-dominance currently represents the status quo and bike lanes are, in some way, a break from that. its basically the same reason a lot of conservatives hate electric cars. there are in fact very good reasons to be against electric cars but they're mostly the same reasons for being against gas cars, and conservatives aren't against EVs for any of those reasons, they just hate it because its new and different and people on the left seem to like it
Yeah it's really not even being conservative, it's just that people who have conservative ideologies tend to live in the outer suburbs and those are designed such that people drive a lot. So those conservatives develop a thick blind-spot to the level of government subsidies and government regulation that go into creating the car infrastructure they use
Basically automotive and oil corporations have some politicians in their pockets and they can use fear of changing demographics to attack public transportation and urban infrastructure, or anything that would impede the dependence of automobiles. And the easiest group to fall for this are more older or conservative groups who are comfortable with hiding in suburbs and fear change.
Early popularity for EV's was something to do with anti-fossil fuel movements and I suppose certain special interest groups that produce those fuels didn't like that and again got certain politicians to push back against it as much as possible.
Not in Ontario, but have been to downtown Toronto recently and had a ton of bike envy. Wishing you luck from south of the border!
As someone who used to live near Toronto, I ALWAYS cycle when I'm in Downtown! I ride in on transit and then hop on a bike share bike with a friend, it's THE BEST WAY to not only get around but also to see Toronto!!!
Remember that this is Doug Ford we are talking about here. No amount of talk about safety, how good the cycling network could be, how many lives are improved, none of that matters. It doesn't even matter if it somehow magically did make things better for motorists and improved traffic congestion.
The only thing Ford cares about is what will get him votes. He doesn't give two shits if anything works or not, as long as it convinces people to vote for him.
The ONLY way people could convince Ford to drop this insanity is by convincing him it will lose him more voters than it would gain him, because the only thing Ford cares about is Ford. His entire life has proven that.
Yep he seems facile and corrupt. I guess he learned all this in Etobicoke where he was allegedly a successful hash dealer when it was illegal.
The auto industry, oil companies, highway lobbyists and suburban developers are in cahoots with Doug Ford.
Yes. Big Oil, Big Detroit, and Big Box are an iron alliance for the f-ing car.
Because of bike lanes and associated "traffic calming measures" slowing vehicle speeds drastically with more stop and starts, gasoline use is up per car journey.
As someone in northern Ontario, I'm sick of provincial politicians like Doug Ford who think they're the mayor of Toronto and nothing more. Putting aside the lack of wisdom of hamstringing bike lanes, why do we need to put up with legislation that's only meant for Toronto?
You said it. Ford is screwing over all the people who voted for him by reducing health care access in rural and small town Ontario.
He only cares about his little pissing ground of Etobicoke.
Start a mail in petition to Ford !
Toronto might like to know the rest of the province supports them.
I have heard even idiot politians respond to numbers !
Toronto is sick of it, too. How would anywhere like it if the premier just marched in and forced everyone to do what he wanted--like say a different premier slapped a road over a new park everyone in your municipality loved and had spent a lot of tax money on? That is exactly what this is like.
As a forth generation Torontonian, I am sick and tired of terrible NDP Mayor's. Olivia Chow hates cars and her views harm the average person. She is only out for special interest groups not the masses who pay the taxes!
They might as well get rid of pavements. All those pedestrians taking up space that cars can use
FYI in Canada the 'pavement' is the part of the road the cars drive on. The part people walk on is called the 'sidewalk'
That is exactly what they do here in the USA. Many main suburban thoroughfares in my city have no sidewalks at all. Walking anywhere is life-endangering.
How about the buildings, if those are removed you can build way more car infrastructure and what do those houses even do for the people trying to get through there
@@marcotruschel9427 - Hey, they apparently used that logic when they devastated neighborhoods in order to build the highway system in the 1950's...
Just count how many motor vehicles per hour use a road and how many pedestrians then figure if it needs more lanes or a bigger sidewalk. The space is limited and should be allocated to what brings the bigger benefits.
This is frustrating.
People (voters) who are concerned about the rising cost of living should really vote FOR expanding cycling infrastructure.
It is not only are they effective in decreasing traffic congestion, they also help you save money when you don't have to buy gas.
Yes, let's support the gradual decline in quality of life by increasing bike lanes because people can no longer afford vehicles
They did, that's why Olivia won a large majority of votes in the most recent mayoral election.
Not to mention the cost of maintenance, repairs, and especially insurance
People are stupid. When they make mistakes, they vote opposite to their mistake, because they learn. They'll no longer vote for Ford unless they hate the alternative too much.
@@danielwesson5605 Yes, lets bound people to expensive vehicles with no other choice, live a sedentary lifestyle, and be subjected to fast moving vehicular traffic that can kill them easily. Quit strawmanning.
SO right about "left-coding" active transportation ... I'm a conservative and it drives me insane how people can construe bicycles as political.
I'll say something similar to another conservative that believed in transit/biking being the solution. Conservative government officials almost unanimously tend to be the ones that oppose bike and transit infrastructure. So it's only "political" because conservatives are always the ones vehemently opposed to it despite that it benefits everyone on both sides.
Im fuming, how dare Doug Ford interfere in cities its not his place.
I'm a automobilist, a cyclist, a pedestrian and a Transit user. Cars block cars not bike lanes. Less cars , less trafic. Simple as that !
Hey, hey. Cars also block buses and streetcars.
@glaframb so you support taking a lane away along the 401 to make it a bicycle lane or for horses , ppl want to ride their horses in the city but there's zero infrastructure to do so there should be more horse lanes
@@WhocarezWhocarez-nw8ketroll away, bot. LoL.
Straw Man Fallacy.
"less cars" is delusional and will never happen though. that's the main fault with your line of reasoning. you think you can control the habits of your neighbors.
@@VancouverDave the uneducated have arrived , welcome
Doug Ford has some serious short sightedness. Removing bike lanes just means more people would be driving because the lack of infrastructure, and would cause more traffic. Makes no sense.
The sad part is it is known that you can put four lanes going each way and the drivers will fill all of them up by moving from using narrower streets to the wide ones.
There is no reasonable number of lanes that will end road congestion, because most car drivers aren't reasonable.
Also people just driving for no reason, just crusing T.O jammin up the streets!
This regressive B.S. actually makes my blood boil. Doug Ford still isn't over the fact that Torontonians didn't want him as our mayor.
I've already written in. Just in September in Niagara Falls a woman was killed while cycling down McLeod Rd. I had to bike down that road while going to work and college so I know from experience that it is easily one of the most dangerous roads to cycle on in the city since, despite it being a major road that connects multiple residential areas, marinelane and the chippawa township to the rest of the city and the local walmart and costco, there's 0 bike infrastructure anywhere along it. Niagara Falls is already a car dependent shit hole, and Drugged Ford throwing a tantrum and laundering money to his developer friends to tear up Torontos bike infrastructure and limit the rest of it province wide WILL lead to more deaths on our streets.
"His brother dropped out of the race for health reasons..." - The nicest way you could have possibly described that, really made me laugh!
Whatever his previous demons may have been, I believe that Rob Ford was diagnosed with a stomach tumour at that point, hence his withdrawal from the campaign.
How else would you describe it? He dropped out because he had cancer.
@@gordonlbelyea4409 Ah fair enough, I forgot about that part
@@cordelldev You skipped over it to the end. ☺
It's upsetting to hear the argument against bicycle infrastructure is "nobody is using them!" when you know the existing infrastructure is still dangerous (e.g. crosses a highway off/on-ramp) or unusable (due to poor maintenance like debris and potholes). The litmus test of "your grandparents can bike to the grocery store stress-free" fails, that bike infrastructure was never built to service cycling for transport.
Watching this video makes me happy to live in Europe where the cycling paths are at least everywhere. Yes they are not that well maintained. But at least we them.
This type of political garbage coming from Doug Ford genuinely angers me.
We all know expanding roads isn’t a sustainable way to “fix traffic”. And yet for some reason that’s all Doug Ford wants to do.
Not only that but he’s trying to actively waste resources by destroying something that actually helps transport in Toronto. Like what!?
He was never known to be bright. I wonder if he got a Kickback from the oil companies. His net worth is thought to be about $55 million. That raises all sorts of questions in my mind. Makes me wonder about CON MEN and CRIMINALS.
best of luck fighting back
Its really sad to see cyclists attacked like this. Specially on a network that is in its infancy. This year you definitely saw more cyclists. Cycling is more affordable, more accessible, and has 0 emissions. I believe with the proper cycling culture and infrastructure it would have been a massive win for toronto.
With only 1.2% of people swimming across the river, there is no point building a bridge.
Maybe if you used the correct analogy of a ferry instead of swimming you'd understand the point.
@@willythemailboy2 No, a ferry is safe and accessible for everyone.
@@peter1062 *points to the number of ferries that have sank*
*points at the cost of a ferry*
You didn't think too much on that, did you? Ferries get replaced with bridges when they take too long, cost too much, are too dangerous, and/or can't handle the amount of traffic they need to. 1.2% generally isn't going to cross any of those thresholds.
More roads are more cost. Cars are a blight and a cost to cities that need to be tolerated but not further promoted or subsidised. Walkability and bikeability improve quality of life, productivity, and air quality.
A more courageous premier would opt for making car-centric sububanites pay their fair share of infrastructure. They'd be much less inclined to complain about bike lanes if they had to pay $1,000 more per year for the additional roads they are asking for.
If the bike Lanes were removed they would be replaced by parking which wouldn't help traffic flow the city has removed two-way side streets forcing all car traffic onto the main roads that couldn't handle it anyways with or without bike Lanes
Another point worth bringing up. According to the TomTom Traffic Index rating: Toronto has the 3rd worst traffic in the world. With the only two cities having worse traffic being London, UK and Dublin, Ireland at #1 and #2 respectively.
That means that Toronto has worse traffic than New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, Tokyo, New Delhi, Mexico City and Jakarta just to name a few examples.
And Jakarta is a standout example, because the Indonesian government is now building a brand new city to relocate their nation's capital because the traffic is so bad. And Toronto is worse than that.
I for one hope Doug DOEOS call an election. As a disabled person who works few hours and cannot drive will champion his removal SO HARD. 43% of Ontario voted last election and that's all that kept him in. There are A LOT of people - even conservatives, that are being negatively effected by his nonsense in healthcare and housing. This clown has to go.
Doug Ford is HATED even within the CONSERVATIVE Party. There he is seen as a Buffoon. Especially by people in Finance.
You'd think right leaning folks would like biking because it requires no license. The "Man" (a.k.a. Trudeau) has very little way to police how you ride. With all the BS and danger, a person who rides a bike in a city can definitely be considered a rugged individual.
What is the % of non drivers under 16 years of age...answer 100%. And how can they get around safely for shopping, visiting family anf friends, going to school? Zero percent chance of that. Thanks Dooogie....
I don't know about Canada, but permitting children to go out for any significant distance unescorted by an adult is considered negligence in the US in the current day. Maybe if they are with a pack of their peers, but there's no way I'd let my tweenage nieces walk, bike, or take a city bus anywhere without an adult.
@@willythemailboy2 That is such a pity in your culture. Here' as a child we cycled every where from our earliest ages. To school and ball parks and even across town. Cycling builds character, is fun and healthy..
@@peterj.teminski6899 Small towns in the US were like that 30-40 years ago and might still be now. Today anywhere large enough to have public transportation is too dangerous to allow children to use that public transportation alone.
Even somewhere with "good" walking/biking infrastructure is still going to be considered too dangerous for children to travel unsupervised unless they're with a group of friends. Like no way in hell my sister would let her daughters use the dedicated walking/biking trails that crisscross town. There's way too many junkies, creeps, and homeless people for that to be safe.
@@willythemailboy2 That just says more about the pathetic state of the country than anything. What is even considered a "significant distance" by modern standards? Back when there were less cars we could go bike for miles and miles in a day to explore open fields. Now days my nephew won't even walk to work and it's literally .72 miles away and doesn't cross a single major road. I agree there isn't really any "good" walking/biking infrastructure because I don't even feel safe when I bike to work much less thinking about my niece/nephews biking next to 40mph cars.
Look at a country like the Netherlands. Biking and transit infrastructure is so commonplace and normal that parents trust even their youngest kids to take themselves to school. Getting people out of their cars and forcing them to mingle on bikes or foot where we can all talk to and watch out for each other is a much better culture than entitled car centrism. Not allowing your children to explore the world is really sad for them, tbh. I understand why but I feel like we all need to advocate for cities and neighborhoods that bring people together again.
@@willythemailboy2 It's extremely normal for tweens, and even younger, to travel short distances on transit and under their own power to school, even in cities. I live in downtown Toronto near several schools and at 8-9 and 2:30-4:30 the streets are swarming with that age of kids going to or from school. Good thing they're not being driven, or it would be gridlock in downtown. It's not unsafe, because the new infrastructure creates better safer crossings for them, they are surrounded by all the people out on the streets also walking to and from shopping, work, or just going for a walk.
Oh wait, that's the point.
Just wait until those streets that he's trying to decongest are suddenly congested with cars again because all those cyclists are now forced to drive again. Only then will Ontarians realize that bike lanes are necessary.
Or the cyclists could drive on the car lanes instead?
In the middle of the lane, for safety.
They will not realize on their own. They will blame streetcars, sidewalks, and lack of free parking next. Only until there is so much car infrastructure that there is no longer a city worth visiting will they lose interest and allow Torontonians to govern themselves.
Now that is a great point.
@@Robbedem That's even more dangerous. 😂
It could be worse like in Chicago, where the streets, sidewalks, parking spots and parking meters are essentially "owned" by Morgan-Stanley.
Culver City's conservative city council just did that, voting to remove bike lanes from the only complete streets in southern California to add a private vehicle lane. There were a lot of dirty dealings with that, and now we have two lanes of either high speed, empty streets, or two lanes of congested streets, and cyclists have to share a lane with buses.
Conservatives are not what they used to be anywhere in North America. They used to stand for honour and decency, upstanding moral codes etc. Now there are people in the Conservative Party who would never have been allowed in, certainly never allegedly former drug dealers.
Removing the bike lines on Bloor, Yonge and University will be the biggest mistake Toronto will ever make.
For sure! the core of T.O needs dedicated lanes for cycling, Durham region however needs smooth sidewalks, the drivers out here are bananas.
Yes, really. It's ghastly. It's going to be the worst publicity and destroy the downtown economy, which is only just beginning to benefit from the new infrastructure.
Ford policies are just mistake after mistake so that's not surprising.
there's no such thing as "people who ride bicycles" and "people who ride cars". there's no teams here. it's all people trying to get somewhere. An argument coming from % of users would mean that, in a high bicycle usage world, we should remove the ability for people to drive cars? and that in our world, with a higher % of people who drive cars, then we should always permanently increase the number of cars until it reaches 100%? does that make any sense? no. It's an irrelevant argument. It doesn't matter at all what % of people are doing this or that, and how much space is being allocated for what ""group of people"" - there is no such thing as group of people per preference of vehicle, just people. the governments job is to allow people to move, efficiently, cost effectively, not to give in to their preference of vehicle choice. We aren't asking for better bicycles paths because riding a bike is nice. That's what bike paths next to a river are for. Unrelated to commuting. We want better bicycles paths because car traffic is awful, because car pollute, because cars kill children and people, because cars are expensive, because car tyres don't wear out into nothing, they wear out into micro plastics. Asking the government to make car riding less appealing and biking and public transport more appealing and faster, is just asking the government to do it's job. it's because the alternatives to cars ARE better, faster, more efficient, cheaper, and damage the environment much less. In summary, if you only look at car traffic - you are WRONG. If you look at the movement of ALL PEOPLE, you are right. Wow, basic shit aint it?
re: the _kulturkampf_ aspect of car-centrism - one potential explanation is that a huge chunk of the funding and mass base of the far-right are *automobile dealership owners.* The mass base of fascism has always been the aggrieved _petit-bourgeoisie,_ and car dealerships make up a sizeable chunk of that segment both in numbers and money.
This goes some way toward explaining the anti-EV part of the _kulturkampf._ Auto *manufacturers* were highly resistant to the changeover from internal combustion to electric (and are still pushing hybrids) on account of the sunk costs in combustion-engine manufacturing facilities, but they've started to come around to the realization that EVs are coming and the companies that have been making them for a while are eating their lunch (and move over Tesla, here comes BYD). In the end, they just want to sell cars, and if that means retooling to make EVs, they're willing to bite the bullet and do it. But auto *dealers* make their money, not so much by *selling* cars, as by *fixing* them - and there's just not that much to fix in an EV. This meshes with the _macho_ aspect of combustion vs EV - the noise and smoke that represent an inherently inefficient, inferior technology being coded as masculine, versus the quiet efficiency and superior functionality of electric motors being coded as effeminate.
This bleeds over into the _kulturkampf_ against bicyclists - oddly casting those who get around (mostly) by their own physical effort and braving the elements and dangers of the world as weak, versus those who can't go anywhere unless they're sitting in a barcalounger and exerting zero physical effort, surrounded by an enormous metal cage in climate-controlled comfort, as tough.
It might be worth checking Ford's campaign donations - I'd be surprised if a big chunk of them _weren't_ from auto dealers.
"[If you don't want to be stuck in traffic for an extra 3 hours everyday it must mean you are pushing a far-right fascist agenda orchestrated by Big Auto]" 😂
Great post. I hadn't considered the role of the car dealerships in this. Obviously they must have a lot more political influence than bike stores. It's ironic that conservatives claim to be "rugged individualists," but that so many of them don't respect cyclists.
Is that real ?
Like in America the car dealerships all donate to DT ?
I certainly agree that getting around on your own feet is best and that quiet and clean air is highly desirable.
All that stuff about the f word and the little Bourgeoisie i don't know - isn't the "big" Bourgeoisie pretty solid on the left and against cars ?
Or does your post only refer to the situation in the US ?
@@tk80mufa5 I'm most familiar with the USA but not completely unfamiliar with the rest of the world.
As to what I said about fascism, I said that the _petit-bourgeoisie_ (pardon my French) were the *mass base* of the movement. Most of the money, historically and currently, comes from the big-Bs, because that's where it all is, but the largest *number* of contributions, and the footsoldiers of the movement (see, e.g., the participants in Jan. 6), are small business owners and a section of professionals and management. And automobile dealerships are a big chunk of that sector since the mid-20th century, and as their sector is losing relevance and power, increasingly reactionary.
@@dwc1964 thanks for your reply ! 👍
Honestly didn't think of ever researching backgrounds like that !
So was i wrong on the "big" Bourgeoisie ?
What you refered to as "big-Bs" or does that mean something else entirely ?
EDIT oh wait , you mean "big Businesses" , right ?
I decided to leave Canada in 2018 largely because i had a strong feeling Doug would regress Toronto and transportation in general. In 2020 I left and when the new bike lanes were put in I thought maybe I was wrong
Turns out things would get worse than I had imagined
Well done. The government keeps making plans to move forward just to end up going backwards, most of the population just sit there and accept it.
Where did you leave to ?
I'm also curious, where did you move?
@@tk80mufa5 I moved to London UK. It’s not exactly a cycling paradise but there is choice in your transportation options
I live in the pretty deep suburbs (South Merton, almost Sutton) and I have no need for a car. I walk and take transit everywhere.
The only time I even see a car as an option is going to some (but not all!) rural locations for hiking/climbing/nature
There are some pretty car brained people here and they are just as frustrating as in Toronto. Fortunately because a much smaller percentage of the population is forced into car dependency the pro-motorists get a more balanced amount of input in planning
I moved from the GTA to Ghent, Belgium, and it's the best thing I could've done in terms of transportation. You can easily bike through the whole city, even to cities on the other side of the country, because there are "bike-highways" that extend from the city and connect to other cities and to suburbs.
Great vid! I commented on the Bill, here's what I wrote:
"I live in Toronto and am a driver and a biker.
When I'm in my car in gridlock and passing unused bike lanes, I'm furious that they are there occupying a lane. When I'm on my bike and having to ride perilously close to fast moving traffic, I'm upset that there are no guarded bike lanes to use.
Where you sit on an issue depends on where you stand...
How do we solve this? If we take an scientific approach, there are a vast number of studies showing that opening more lanes for cars does *not* reduce gridlock - all it does is encourage more people to get into their cars to use those shiny new lanes.
Conversely, there are plenty of studies showing that adding alternate forms of transportation - public transit, safe walking and biking routes, *does* encourage people to get out of their cars and use those modes instead.
The solution is clear if we don't want to bury our heads in the sand - build more alternative forms of transit, including public transit, safe sidewalks and guarded bike lanes.
And for god's sake, don't go and tear out any existing ones."
Its awfully telling that your map of Toronto's bicycle infrastructure also has to include Toronto's motor vehicle infrastructure just to make it recognizably "Toronto"
Ive lived downtown for 25 yrs. Im an avid biker and have a car. I have many thoughts on the subject: Biking is so much safer/ more pleasurable than driving. In rush hour, in nice weather bikes are highly utilized here. As a cyclist I can honestly say biking when there are designated bike lanes it is safe, pleasurable, quick, healthy and inexpensive to commute. I believe once people get used to biking downtown on safe bike lanes they will never look back. Look at NY. In the last 10 yrs it has gone from a terrible biking city to a wonderful biking city. Now biking is almost as big for transportation as driving in NY. Its helped with traffic, the environment & transportation in the city. It has maybe even increased tourism. I believe the reason why Doug/Rob dont like bike lanes is because they dont bike! Maybe they should ask their more athletic daughters/husbands their opinion. Downtown Toronto is no longer driveable. It needs to be even more bikeable! I suggest removable bike lanes for 3 winter months. Other than that I agree with you, we need more bike lanes on major streets and perhaps a plan for larger corps downtown to encourage biking (I can elaborate). It will bring in more cyclists, more tourism, help the environment. Great video! Maybe we should take a stand against the bike lane removal?! Im happy to circulate a petition
The very first thing out of his mouth was pure stupidity. Reducing car dependency doesn’t destroy businesses; it improves businesses. More room for cars and car infrastructure equals less room for businesses.