On March 21, 2013, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty presented the 2013 Federal Budget. One area of this budget that both interests and concerns me is “Tariff Relief for Canadian Consumers”.
Budget 2013 proposes to permanently eliminate all tariffs on baby clothes and sports and athletic equipment (excluding bicycles). This measure will support Canadian families and encourage physical activity and healthy living by lowering the costs of importing these goods.
The statement above suggests to me that our Federal Conservatives aren’t really interested in addressing our problems with transportation, health, energy costs, and associated cost of living in any meaningful way. It’s no secret that in major urban centres of Canada, like Toronto and surrounding area where I live, that traffic gridlock is a problem. I would go further to say that we are experiencing a massive failure in the automotive industry. Rising insurance rates, gas prices, and maintenance costs all point to a saturated market that has built itself around the car. This problem stems from years of under-investment in other transportation options. These options of course include public transit, but I will also include active transportation options such as bike lanes and bike share programs as valid means of transportation as they have proven successful and are catching on in other areas of the world.
We need more options. Ontario’s MetroLynx has a plan called “The Big Move” that addresses years of under-investment in transit infrastructure. However this plan will take a generation, and billions of dollars to complete. While this project is important, I don’t believe we can wait that long for the solution. Cycling is an activity that can take advantage of the roads that are already in place.
What about health problems in general related to increasing calorie intake and reduced energy exertion? Cycling is a meaningful answer to that also. Overall health only improves with cycling, which translates to health care savings.
Finally, cycling still provides an excellent sporting or leisurely activity, which for that reason alone ought to qualify bicycles for a tariff exemption. It doesn’t make any sense to apply a 13% tariff on bicycles.
I am clearly not spending enough time in Mississauga.
On January 19th, I attended Walk and Roll Peel’s Public Forum, where I learned about walking and cycling initiatives in Mississauga and Peel; preliminary results from the Peel GPS Cycling study, and ideas on how Mississauga and Peel should move forward to create active, healthy communities.
Also, there was a special guest speaker: Dave Cieslewicz: Former Mayor of Madison Wisconsin from 2003 to 2011. He discussed how Madison was made into a Platinum-rated “Bike Friendly City”. It was open, encouraging, and just plain awesome.
As I’m sure the G.T.A. is keenly aware, there has been a lot of polarized talk in Toronto over bike lanes and cycling infrastructure in general. While this has been going on, Mississauga has experimented with multi use lanes, and running pilot projects that would allow cyclists to legally ride their bikes across the street at designated crossings (H.T.A. does not allow for this, legally). At the same time, they’re testing a new roadway painted box at high-risk intersections that gives cyclists a safe place to wait at a traffic light where there is a right-hand slip lane. All of this in the neighboring city to Rob Ford, despite his now notorious views on cycling and cyclists in general. If you need a reminder:
At the same time, Peel Region is analyzing data from a G.P.S. cycling survey, that I’m please to say I participated in, that will show when people choose to cycle, where they cycle, and barriers to doing so. More broadly, I also learned that many municipalities outside and around the G.T.A. are increasingly integrating cycling infrastructure, and getting awards for them.
These are some very exciting developments for cyclists across Ontario. Be sure to follow #PeelSummit2013 on Twitter as more information is presented. In the meantime, here’s a dialogue I had recently that highlights the importance of separated bike lanes for the sanity of cyclists and drivers alike.
One of the amazing things about cycling, I think, it ‘s flexibility. There aren’t many modes of transportation that let you transition from operating a vehicle to being a pedestrian almost seamlessly. With this flexibility, it’s important to remember that automotive transportation is NOT flexible. It’s awkward, cumbersome, and clumsy.
To navigate safely with automotive traffic, it’s helpful to behave as they do per the Highway Traffic Act. Doing so makes you predictable, and reduces unnecessary risk on the street. And don’t forget to take advantage of transitioning to “pedestrian mode”, where possible, if traffic gets a little to thick for your liking.
Not the brightest move, granted. My camera didn’t capture the license plate, so there’s little to report to the police I’m afraid. I want to mention that although the driver’s manoeuvre was reckless, I didn’t feel like I was in immediate danger. I did my part, slowed down and moved over to facilitate a pass as quickly as I could once I was aware of it.
There are a few things about this video I find interesting and wanted to talk more about in detail:
Notice that there is a solid line in the middle of the roadway. Passing in this zone was not a good idea. The reason for that is because;
The road curves down around a hill and narrows over a bridge. The road was a little wet, and I don’t know if the driver could see around me or not. Assuming not because of how close they came to oncoming traffic. If that’s the case, why put yourself at risk? Was it that important to pass a cyclist?
My favourite: The lead car of oncoming traffic was none other than a unit of the Peel Regional Police force (pause around 3-5 seconds to see for yourself) so I definitely want their opinion of this clip. 😉
One question I have is: Could this pass have been cited for dangerous driving? Drivers and cyclists (and Peel Police), what are your thoughts?
This is my first stab at opening a dialogue. It’s a video of a typical morning commute through downtown Toronto. I’ve posted annotations of sections from the Highway Traffic Act in the video that I think apply to the things I’m doing in the video. But it also shows some advantages to “taking the lane”, and asks questions, such as:
What does taking “”share the road, not the lane” mean? And what does it look like?
When making a left turn, are we to exit the intersection in the left-hand lane, or turn in to the outer lane provided for us?
Have a watch and enjoy. I look forward to chatting about it on #biketo.
