Losing cycling infrastructure in the cities...

[@GeneVilleneuve]

A very important video... the more infrastructure we have to encourage active and public transportation the more cars we'll get off the street. Interesting perspectives on the cash cow cars are for taxes, parking, and parking tickets... but on the flip side are health care costs due to accidents and diseases brought on by sedentary lifestyles.

[@mylifeon2wheels1]

Thanks Gene… Copenhagen was a real eye opener to what a city could and does look like with real investment.. there is a reason why they look so healthy over there!! 😂

[@GeneVilleneuve]

@@mylifeon2wheels1 I see this whenever we visit my wife's family in the Netherlands... we arrive to their village and to one of their homes and then the entire extended family shows up on bikes... like 10-13 bikes. In the next few years year it will be two more bikes as the babies start riding their own bikes. I keep telling my wife we should spend all our summers in Holland.

[@karlsquire8148]

I'm from Whitby, just east of Toronto and as you all know he (Doug Ford) is talking about removing some bike lanes in Toronto, I think you are right once they are gone they probably will not come back, I also drive so I'm also not anti car but we need to move forward and change. Not sure what we can do to help stop this but I'll keep my ears open for any kind of peaceful protest/gatherings.

[@fodome]

It has been proven that adding more lanes just results in more traffic. It's a paradox. The solution is more bike lanes, more public transportation and building vertically. 15 minute cities like Copenhagen are awesome for this and it makes the general population healthier because they walk and bike more. But whatever. This is North America and car is king.

[@mylifeon2wheels1]

Agreed.. 100%…

[@pedalersrant1977]

Reply to mylifeon2wheels: (couldnt figure out how to reply directly to your comment. Sorry 🙂) I am a full-time bike tourer. And i've ridden about eighty thousand kilometres over the last five years, all over the world. During that time, I can say that I've experienced road rage from a driver maybe 20 or 30 times. Pretty rare tbh. The vast majority of these occasions were due to error on somebody's part. Either mine or on the part of the driver. We all make misjudgements. whether driving or riding a bike and sometimes that leads to people getting pissed off. I can take that. I enjoy riding in cities and have ridden through many different examples of cycling infrastructure. Everything from success stories like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, to chaotic metropolises like Rome and Mexico City (which is great fun by the way) And without any exception, the ones where drivers show me least respect and are most likely to get pissed off with me for no reason are the nanny state cities. Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland come to mind. The infrastructure is there. But almost everyone you see in them are either lycra clad road riders - often in menacing looking groups, e scooters and e bikes. Doesn't encourage newbies exactly. What is missing is what you have loads of in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Normal people on normal bikes in varying degrees of disrepair. Going to work, or to watch a game, or to meet friends or whatever. When people see their local councils and governments building cycle lanes for millions of dollars, taking away parking and lanes for traffic, it isn't surprising that they get slightly annoyed about it. Especially when they see that almost nobody is actually riding on them A city bike lane in Copenhagen or Amsterdam have a hundred times more bikes passing through compared to a similar lane in Sydney. I'm not saying don't build bike infrastructure. But it has to be done in conjunction with a change of attitudes among cyclists. Among us. I understand for example wearing one of those wrap around helmets when you're riding down a mountain bike track at fifty kilometres an hour. But wearing it on a gentle ride around the park in a high vis vest is communicating to people that cycling is inherently dangerous. Which leads to more people thinking that cyclists should be off the road. Which leads in turn to drivers getting even more angry when they encounter you on the road. And fewer people daring to get on their bikes. It's a vicious circle.

[@teeterboy3]

I’m so disappointed (albeit not surprised) by the decision to demonize and remove bikes lanes. Especially considering all the data that suggests the road congestion will get worse. Sadly the only way that it will be shown is when we’ve lost the bike lanes. And even then I wouldn’t expect anyone for removing them will accept or see that it wasn’t the fix. It’s kinda like the people who voted for Trump just now realizing what it ACTUALLY means.

[@mylifeon2wheels1]

Yep, no surprise the Bill-212 passed this week.... URGH!!!!

[@hansvlug1760]

We pay carbon tax to reduce pollution that's why we need cycling paths and beter infer structure.

[@normanchan2001]

Car ownership in North America has become a tax burden for the privilege to function in society where the money goes to the rich instead of back to the public.

[@KevinMatassa]

I'll remember bill 212 come provincial election time ;-)

[@pedalersrant1977]

Bike lanes are no good if there aren't any cyclists on them. Empty bike lanes just irritate drivers who are stuck in traffic jams and see road real estate not being used. To fill up bike lanes, you need to change attitudes towards cycling. Above all this means getting away from the idea that cycling is inherently a dangerous activity. It really isn't. Copenhagen and the Netherlands have succeeded because they have a very free, relaxed attitude to cycling. Nobody is forced or even encouraged to wear a helmet. Or put on ugly high vis clothes. Or use flashing lights or a stupid radar system. Who wants to screw up their hairstyle with an ugly, itchy, sweaty styrofoam bucket on their head if they're going to be working all day, or are meeting a few friends for a drink? In places like Copenhagen cycling is the most uncomplicated, mundane and obvious way to get from A to B. You just get on any old bike and pedal away. Building cycling infrastructure when there is no demand on the other hand will only serve to irritate people.

[@mylifeon2wheels1]

Yep.. definitely need more peeps on bikes and change attitudes.. but, we need to start somewhere.. I see new road developments in Ottawa that are now incorporating space for cyclists.. I think the message is getting through… spending millions on installing then millions on removing is insane. “If you build it, they will come” (but maybe not in January.. 🥶 🥶)… oh, and angry motorists? Trust me, their angry will shift to something else regardless if bike lanes are present or not…

[@pedalersrant1977]

Why didn't my comment get published?

[@mylifeon2wheels1]

@@pedalersrant1977 not sure…

[@pedalersrant1977]

I tried again and it seemed to work. Now it seems to be gone again.