That’s ok – your comment’s welcome and you have a point. The post was a bit amibguous in its criticism of the “bicycle expressway” along Bloor.

Frustration with some of the rhetoric surrounding bike lanes, particularly the Tooker, led to the rather backhanded swipe. You are also right to suggest that the implication was that easy cycling along small residential roads was preferred to a bike lane along one of the busiest in the city. I will try to explain:

Bike lanes are frequently billed as a “solution” – in reality, that solution for the most part boils down to safety – and if the perception of safety is improved enough, there’s the possibility of increased bicycle ridership (but to accurately track increase, one would have to track use along previous routes as well in order to gauge whether any increase in cyclists was due to changes in routes of existing cyclists because of the bike lane).

However, this small problem of travel to school at a school very close to Bloor Street and right downtown was being viewed as a microcosm of the larger city, and of the transportation issues of the larger city in particular.

As was said “it looks like there’s a lot of work still to be done in changing even urbanites’ attitudes towards and use of the automobile.” The (perhaps unwise) sarcastic swipe at the Tooker was made in reference to this question of a “solution” – and the writer’s extreme doubts about whether travel patterns to this school would be remotely effected by the implementation of the bike lanes along Bloor. Since the school’s issue was being viewed as a microcosm of the city, that then begged the question of whether such a bike lane project could really have a significant effect on mode choice in the city as a whole. Can a bike lane change urbanites’ attitudes towards and use of the automobile? You might say yes. I do not agree.

I intend to post a more thorough questioning of bike lanes and their potential larger impact at a later date – however I will say this – I am eager to see your map of cycling accidents. This could be a very good tool – but my instincts tell me that the vast majority of accidents will be occurring at intersections – and unless we completely change the way bike lanes cross intersections in Toronto, I fear that bike lanes along our existing model will fail to address the problem. I eagerly await to be proven wrong.

There are however safety concerns for those who choose to bicycle on the busier streets. The majority of bicycle colisions occur on the main East-West streets in Toronto (keep an eye on the Take The Tooker website for more info, I am planning on posting a map of Toronto cycling accidents there soon). These safety issues would be alleviated by having a bike lane along Bloor street.