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Toronto is about to make life a lot more difficult for motorists... on purpose! (pg. 13)
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| Espresso |
Obviously you're entitled to your opinion and choice of neighborhood, I was simply refuting your statement, which I found very distasteful and dramatically exaggerated:
| quote: | | lol. also, i guess they don't understand that no one will even want to bike on Jarvis. I wouldn't walk or bike along there. i would rather not get mugged/raped/shot, thanks. it's also difficult to pick up hookers on a bicycle. |
Apologies if I came across harsh. |
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| Orko |
I am a biker, and I would love more bike lanes in this city, cause its dumb the way it is now. Projects have been put on the back burner so many times over, while we get half assed 'green initiatives' that do not have help anybody.
The fifth lane on Jarvis was amazing. The first time I learned about it, the fact that it changed directions, I thought 'wow, what a great idea!'. Imagine that, ease the flow of traffic during busy periods!
Miller can suck a dick with his green bull. I am green as anybody, and a huge advocate for biking in an urban area. But, what we get here in Toronto is just a mishmash of rules, and ideas, which nobody actually cares to take responsibility for. |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
It's not an acceptable risk to have to share the road with drivers who are exhausted, distracted or impaired. |
Okay, fine, I'm with you, but you have that risk as a driver too. My point was that riding a bike on a street with cars is always riskier than driving a car or riding a transit vehicle. You're a midget just outside the sumo wrestling ring... so stay the hell on the sidelines, out of everybody else's way.
| quote: | | biking is not preferred in part because many view it as dangerous thanks to drivers, especially those not used to driving downtown. |
I'm glad that you added "in part", because this is just partly on the side of ridiculous. Biking is not preferred because people have to travel long distances in short amounts of time, and/or have to deal with extreme elements (snow and ice in winter, high humidity in summer). Even in mild weather it tends to rain a lot here - mud is not good for bikes, or for cyclists who have to wear a suit. I would seldom bike from Thornhill to Woodbridge or downtown Toronto even if there was a dedicated bike path.
| quote: | | The solution is better transit...not catering to cars in the downtown core. |
Yes, I completely agree - with the dual caveats that (a) "better" transit is actually better, not just better-looking like LRVs or nostalgic like streetcars, and (b) that rapid transit is actually extended beyond the core and happens before all of the road closures and anti-car initiatives.
Even in comparatively less critical industries like IT, competent professionals are expected to be able to perform upgrades and maintenance either transparently, while the system is kept running, or during specific windows in non-peak hours. When did we get used to the idea that it is acceptable to close or disrupt major arteries without providing alternate routes? In what other industry is this kind of behaviour tolerated?
| quote: | | btw...I want fewer cars and am all for high-rise construction and relegating most subsidized housing to non-prime areas of the core (not to be equated with full-on gentrification). |
Here's what I want: One dedicated rapid transit station connected near each major highway in Toronto (that's 400, 401, 404, probably the Gardiner), with secure and reasonably-priced parking that is expandable and adequate to support the number of daily commuters in and out of Toronto.
That's all it would take. I really don't think it's so much to ask, either. Give us big bad polluting motorists a way to cross most of the distance without a lot of pain, without having to waste hours looking for a parking space or stuck in local traffic (which you don't want us in anyway), and we'll gladly take the subway and maybe one bus or streetcar the rest of the way. But if I have to transfer 12 times and waste 3 hours of my day trying to get there without a car, well, it's just not going to happen. And again, telling me I should just live downtown is absurd; downtown Toronto doesn't even have living capacity for that many people.
Finch Station is a complete disaster and isn't even that easy to get to, and Yorkdale is just a coincidence because of the mall, plus it's a nightmare being in that area during peak hours. If it's too expensive or complicated to build out transit, then just give us an easy way to get to the subway! How hard is that, really?
If you want us to take transit, then make it a more attractive option. |
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| StereoPrincess |
| quote: | Originally posted by Espresso
Obviously you're entitled to your opinion and choice of neighborhood, I was simply refuting your statement, which I found very distasteful and dramatically exaggerated:
Apologies if I came across harsh. |
i also apologize for being over dramatic. lol.
i have been on TA for so long that i forget that most people don't really know me and therefore know that i am the biggest exaggerator in the world! |
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| MarkT |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
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I'm with you on the transit ideas.
With biking not being prefered, I meant for people living closer to the core and travelling around it as opposed to those travelling greater distances.
and it's not just a matter of more transit service, but *really* upgrading that service too. There needs to be significant hubs, as you describe, at points in and around the city that will actually encourage people to park their cars and use it.
24 hour subway service strikes me as a no-brainer too (infrequent service overnight would even be fine and sundays it can end at a certain time to allow for maintenance).
So many other things would become non-issues if transit was dramatically improved. would anyone give a 2nd thought to tearing down the gardiner, adding bike paths and lanes, zoning some pedestrian-only areas (major shopping and tourist areas, for e.g.), etc. if we had a real transit system in place within the city and between other transit providers in the GTA? |
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| kotsy |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
24 hour subway service strikes me as a no-brainer too (infrequent service overnight would even be fine and sundays it can end at a certain time to allow for maintenance). |
they may do this when they have their new signal system in place (5 years +) that allows them to run off one track at night time so that maintenance can be performed on the other |
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| VDub |
Here's another one I just heard on the radio this mornng...
There is talk about banning right turns on a red light in a few intersections downtown...
This is presumably to protect this pedestrians who are too stupid to look both ways when crossing the road...
This one really pisses me off... |
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| Skipper |
| quote: | Originally posted by VDub
Here's another one I just heard on the radio this mornng...
There is talk about banning right turns on a red light in a few intersections downtown...
This is presumably to protect this pedestrians who are too stupid to look both ways when crossing the road...
This one really pisses me off... |
Huh? If a pedestrian is crossing at a green light, they are not the ones responsible. The problem is that motorists are creeping through intersections to squeeze through on a red and not being cognizant of pedestrians who are crossing. |
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| gummybear |
| quote: | Originally posted by VDub
Here's another one I just heard on the radio this mornng...
There is talk about banning right turns on a red light in a few intersections downtown...
This is presumably to protect this pedestrians who are too stupid to look both ways when crossing the road...
This one really pisses me off... |
don't get me started on the pedestrians...driving in this city is like a damn video game where you have to avoid one jaywalker after another..constantly..people on crutches, people with strollers..the elderly with walkers...all going at different speeds, trying to cross on major roads...or better yet, i love the teenagers that straddle the white line and make a dash for it at the last second...one by one..like it's a freakin game of chicken..in love it..:mad: |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
So many other things would become non-issues if transit was dramatically improved. would anyone give a 2nd thought to tearing down the gardiner, adding bike paths and lanes, zoning some pedestrian-only areas (major shopping and tourist areas, for e.g.), etc. if we had a real transit system in place within the city and between other transit providers in the GTA? |
I'm not so sure that simply having better mass transit would make them non-issues. But if it were drastically improved, then the traffic conditions would probably be less awful, and closing roads would be less catastrophic.
Unfortunately, governments at all levels seem to be more concerned with making life harder for motorists than making it easier for riders (or would-be riders). |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by gummybear
don't get me started on the pedestrians...driving in this city is like a damn video game where you have to avoid one jaywalker after another..constantly..people on crutches, people with strollers..the elderly with walkers...all going at different speeds, trying to cross on major roads...or better yet, i love the teenagers that straddle the white line and make a dash for it at the last second...one by one..like it's a freakin game of chicken..in love it..:mad: |
+1
Its because unlike most countries, in Canada even if its the pedestrains fault its the drivers fault and they know it. |
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| Jayx1 |
JUST WANT TO THANK THE WONDERFUL CITY FOR CLOSING DOWN THE GARDINER FOR BIKES AND GIVING ME THE PLEASURE OF A 1 HOUR DRIVE FROM UNION STATION TO PARKDALE.
Brilliant and a real class act! Cant wait till we tear that thing down.
PS: i did save gasoline at one point as i shut the car off due to the fact that nobody moved for 10 straight minutes! |
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