Great commentary. I agree with your point that cyclists and pedestrians can generally navigate interaction safely and intuitively. Did you find it intuitive to navigate the intersection? There were a few places where I was watching, where I thought, "huh, not sure I would have known where to go there".
I did, but I'm probably not the best person to ask because I've known about protected intersection for a long time. I think the fact that this intersection has two bi-directional paths rather than all one-way actually makes it a bit more confusing than a typical protected intersection.
@@redesignforall6577 It was hard to tell from the camera the actual width of the bike lane (perhaps due to camera field-of-view). Looking at some shots where there were other people on the path it seems quite narrow. Like even when you were turning right you were pathing into the oncoming lane. It's sad when we spend the money to make these protected infrastructure but then make it so uncomfortable to use. Likewise for cars. narrow will make them slow down, but then they might be so focused on not hitting the curbs that they don't see the obvious bike coming through.
One thing they need to work on is making it as clear as possible for car drivers, I tell you this because now for work I have to drive most of the day and the bikes make it so confusing and scary, its too complicated and unclear a lot of the time, Im in a state of fear of hitting a biker or pedestrian. I'm usually the one using public transportation or biking and now I have a understanding of the other side
I agree. Cyclists seem to be 💯 ok with improvising traffic rules and patterns as they choose. If a collision occurs the person in a car is considered at fault regardless of how reckless the cyclist was.
@@dlmsarge8329 Not true. I thought if you were struck in the crosswalk the driver would be at fault. But my friend's roommate was struck and the police did NOT blame the driver because the officer didn't see him in the crosswalk, since he was lying elsewhere and there was no witness. Likewise I needed a report for insurance after hitting a tire in the highway. The officer wrote that I hit the tire on the shoulder because that's where I put it before he arrived, despite him stopping to pull another tire off the travelling lane 100 yards or so behind me. Drivers need to slow down and look both ways. We need to get rid of the "right turn on red after stop" since they don't look right for pedestrians.
@@jeycalc6877 It seemed reasonable to encourage traffic flow, so I didn't really think about it until I needed to cross at the light and saw drivers looking the other way. I had to make sure it was busy enough they wouldn't go, wait for eye-contact, or walk behind them.
Seeing some smart new connections from City of Toronto cycling. Stuff like this makes a lot of sense, to bridge a key dangerous gap between high quality, long-distance cycling facilities in the hydro corridors.
So are the traffic lights going to remain 'the wrong way around'? As in: at the far end of the intersection instead of the near end (thus causing vehicles to intrude into other road users' path)? Because that's a key and unavoidable element of protected intersections!
That pole did not appear as though it was meant to be permanent. It is supporting the currently operating traffic signals (the ones suspended from the overhead wire, however you can see the newer signals which are not in use. I would imagine that pole will get removed once the new signals are activated.
Looks good! The triangles at the zebra crossings are not necessary because pedestrians always have priority on a zebra. The area between cycle path and car lane, should not be marked as zebra, because its there for waiting, now it looks like a continuous zebra where pedestrians can continue walking with priority. So one zebra to cross the bicycle lanes, and a separate zebra to cross the car lane, pedestrians will notice they have to do it in two steps, with a pause in between. The waiting area is a little short. The corners should be rectangular, not rounded, nobody bends off there. It looks weird. And of course the giant pole on the cycle path is a big NO! It has to be removed! If you consider how much space is needed to pass this pole safely with the handle bar, there will be almost no cycle path left there! Fifty centimeters at both sides.
I would prefer the bike lanes have a different color than the rest of the road to clearly indicate it is for bike use. Pedestrians will apparently walk wherever they please.
As I learned from watching these type of videos, making the streets safe for women and children to walk, will lead to them bicycling to further destinations. Then it doesn't become about "bicycle enthusiasts," but for everyone to safely walk, jog and ride bike or scooter. I haven't heard how better pedestrian access leads to more bus riding. It stands to reason for bus stops that are far from corners and not safe to walk to, that making them safe and convenient would encourage more people to walk to them, (if your knees can make it) and consider using it.
This intersection was a good first step. The pedestrian crossing should be elevated like a speed bump, the traffic lights should be on the side of incoming traffic so they stop before the line, and there should be no turn on red (as he said).
My city, Halifax, has one of these newly in a busy intersection downtown too. It's great. Unfortunately the same intersection also has those inane "left turn boxes" for bicycles.
@@redesignforall6577 It's the corner of South Park and Sackville St. in Halifax, Canada. The bike boxes were there first - no one uses them. Also, the protected intersection is only on one side of the street, but it's very much part of the city's ongoing AAA bike route plan. It seems like every month there are incremental changes to biking infrastructure downtown, which is great to see. South Park St. in particular has excellent protected bike lanes on both sides which will eventually connect a public park to the university campuses.
@@henryleitch I'm also in Halifax. This intersection has protected bike lanes, but only on South Park St, and not on Sackville. The intersection isn't quite the same as a result, but it's definitely not the worst. Halifax bike network has a lot of work to do to become useful. It's not all that connected, and there's a real dearth of protected cycling from outside city centre into the city. All that is a different topic though. Hopefully we'll see some intersections like this come here, but with how much Halifax motorists REALLY HATE anything done for bikes, I am not holding my breath.
This is indeed a great leap forwards for Canada/Toronto for givi g bikes more priority. Bit as a Dutch it still feels a bit uncomfortable to see all those corners for bicycles on annintersection insteas of just having a straight route for cyclists. But i. The end .. this is so much more favourable for cyclists, I can only applaud Toronto for this change.
It's great to see north america starts to make progress in its road design. I live in switzerland and here protected intersections are actually pretty rare. But that's because the vast majority of people use transit instead of biking.
Oh, for fuck's sake! Bicycles don't belong on sidewalks. Calling it a "multi-use pathway" doesn't change the fact that it's a sidewalk with vehicles zooming among pedestrians at high speeds.
@@redesignforall6577 In Amsterdam there will be rails for trams in the ground, a fact that often will have some reflection on the solution. Copenhagen have as part of their transition to a fossil fuel free future built a new primarily underground Metro that btw. also allow bicycles. Typically Amsterdam´s streets are more narrow and thus limits the solution design options. Many of the cobblestone streets in Amsterdam prevents a solution as the above. The presented design in the clip, on ground ,could be found one to one in Copenhagen maybe with the addition of designated bicycle light that typically in Copenhagen switch to green 2 -3 seconds before it changes for the cars. This feature are done so the cyclist can start first and this makes the car drivers more aware of them and thus reduces many right turn accidents, that often happens when the silent cyclist in speed, are not noticed by the driver before turning right. Maybe those bicycle lights are still covered in yellow bags in your clip above? In the clip you have 2 way bicycle lanes leading up to the intersection, that generally are not seen that much neither in Amsterdam nor Copenhagen, where you typically have lanes on each side BUT it resembles generally Copenhagen more than Amsterdam because you have integrated a clear height - curb - between the car road and the bicycle road. That height difference have been a clear strategy increasingly last 30 years here because it creates passive safety, no carowner wanna take a 50 centimeter"detour" to get around a stopped car, fx waiting to turn left into another road, on their road. They WILL stop behind it and wait or they will get their rims destroyed. This have prevented many many accidents and really creates a true safe space for the cyclists when driving along. In Copenhagen you typically would paint the asphalt blue in the intersection itself to further make the cardrivers easily aware of where the bicycles he have to be aware of could/would be. A help for both the cyclists and the cardriver that again increases passive safety. If you look at 2:11 you can see the heightened banana shaped curb section, to the left. Something that also would be seen more in Copenhagen than Amsterdam (5 years since I last where there, maybe they have more now, I do not know). Maybe they exist in Amsterdam, but the one in the clip clearly have a passive safety purpose, as often seen in Copenhagen. In Amsterdam you often see small round heightened curbs to make drivers aware of separation of lanes, typically with a coloured pole as well. But those round ones are not directly related to cyclist rather specific for motorists. I cannot recall seeing any protective banana curbs in Amsterdam but you often will see them, where appropriate, in Copenhagen. The way the curved curb force your way would not be typical in Copenhagen nor Amsterdam. The abrupt signal pole in front of you at 3:20 I disregard as part of the final solution design. I take that it eventually will be removed? If that were part of a final intersection design the City´s architect office would end in the newspapers. I guess both in Amsterdam and here. Directly translated we would call that an "eyeshit" solution, here probably with the added word "unsafe" in front. It was a very specific question and I have tried to answer it as specific as possible. Hope you feel it gave you an impression of why I wrote my comment in the first place 😊
@@Mike-zx1kx Not every road in Amsterdam has tram lines, and some of their roads are as wide as North American roads. They also have an intersection called Meester Visserplein with two way bike paths that has a banana shaped concrete island
Very nice paths, almost like here in the Netherlands. Next time give the paths an other color. In 🇳🇱 it is a brick red color. Also when you cross the street straight, always look over your shoulder, because some one might not be paying attention. Then immediately look to the right because a car or so might run a red light. Keep it up!
That pole is just holding up two bicycle signals and a sign saying "bicycle signal" and the pedestrian signal. Surely it could be moved back a meter or so to the edge of the footpath or put on on those islands. It's current location is terrible
Something I noticed about the design of this intersection, as a motorcyclist. It seems to encourage drivers to "clip" their left turns, and I saw several cars turning into the wrong lane at first (the opposite travel direction to where they were turning). If I happened to be stopped at the front of the line at that intersection, there's a good chance I'd get a face full of bumper. Seems like this intersection design could still use some work.
May I offer my biased comment? The Bullitt cargo bike can swoop around that pole with ease. That said, you do make a good point. I'm sure if they could of removed the pole they would have. I would rather see the pole funds used on the next intersection. Enjoy all, Have a great ride!
Who is going to ride a bicycle in Canada when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground and it's minus something below zero? That's where this do-gooder enviro stuff breaks down.
Copenhagen also have snow, we still ride. No problem. No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. And you save both gasoline money, get your daily cardio without a stupid outfit in an overpriced gym.
People will ride in the winter if snow is cleared and the paths are maintained properly. Riding in the cold is not a problem with the right clothing and is much easier than riding when it's very hot. Here are kids biking to school in Oulu, Findland from where it gets much colder for longer than Toronto. The difference is that they have a fantastic winter maintenance program: ruclips.net/video/5wZ0tXMSAfs/видео.html
@@redesignforall6577 Same here in Denmark. We have snow clearing machines that cover the roads for the cars and we have same for the bicycle lanes. Btw. it are the same machines that are used to sweep streets for any garbage in the summer, they just have ability to change the units in front and back, so they also have the option to spread salt while clearing snow, if temperature appropriate. Have you btw. heard we now have made "green light rush hour" signals in our most used bike lanes in Copenhagen? Some hundreds meters before an intersection small lights in the pavement indicates if you are driving to fast/slow in order to catch next light green. If you catch a green light once and keep 20 kilometres per hour speed you WILL have a green light next time as well etc. See "lighting fast" intro here: ruclips.net/video/6Kx1XZeFkXk/видео.html and enjoy this unrelated (BONUS ...LOL) small snippet here from Inner Copenhagen I stumbled over when looking for the link above. A rather normal day. Note the cyclist to car ratio. If any in Canada cannot project a functioning daily life without driving a car, this clip should be a eye opener. ruclips.net/video/7XR1bGddIGM/видео.html Public service nerd? If any are interested. Just as a general information of how it are organised here. In larger cities with many many kilometres roads and bicycle lanes to potentially clear, the municipality have a base number of employees and machines. That number fits cleaning our streets for garbage, cutting road trees, grass, snowclearing etc. Besides that they have contracts with private enterprises that basically are close to costfree if services are not used BUT IF a special need arises, they can be called in. The contractors again have written clauses into their employees contracts giving them solid extra payment if they are called in. When these contractors are called in. Could be large festivals in summer or heavy consistent snow in winter, they pay them around 2-3 times more per hour than normal. Some winters we now, due to global warming, do not have any noticeable snow but other winters it still can come down hard. So, seen over time, it are cheaper to pay a high hourly cost when the need are very high, but it are rare and a better option than having to many employees or machines. It are also a good deal for both the contractors and their employees since they can use their machines in their primary business area, but just have bought the extra units needed to provide requested services. Some years they wont get any income at all, others they might make a "little fortune". The contractors are typically construction companies and farmers. Both they and their employees see activation of their services as a "bonus" and an ability to make a good income in short time. Still a good deal for the municipality. They basically can double their max performance effort in hours if needed. Overall control/leadership stay at the department in the municipality thus also only 1 number to call if anything are not done for the individual citizen as they are allowed to expect. In a macro economic context unexpected incomes for private businesses are often used to pay down debt thus overall also benefiting societal economic stability. Employees getting sudden incomes either do same or use them for consumption, again having a positive societal sideffect. So taxpayers benefit from a general lower cost yearly related to the municipalities costs and positive economic sideeffects when they spend more. The money given out generally stay/come back into local economy one way or the other.
@@redesignforall6577 "Kids".. that's the problem right there. Riding a bicycle is fine when you're young, but wait until your knees give out. Wait until you have health problems that preclude you from physical activity. Nobody over age 40 wants to ride a bicycle in the freezing cold. That's why this whole bicycle movement is so snotty-faced. It's all teens and 20-somethings trying to dictate to the world at large how to live.
Great commentary. I agree with your point that cyclists and pedestrians can generally navigate interaction safely and intuitively. Did you find it intuitive to navigate the intersection? There were a few places where I was watching, where I thought, "huh, not sure I would have known where to go there".
I did, but I'm probably not the best person to ask because I've known about protected intersection for a long time. I think the fact that this intersection has two bi-directional paths rather than all one-way actually makes it a bit more confusing than a typical protected intersection.
@@redesignforall6577 It was hard to tell from the camera the actual width of the bike lane (perhaps due to camera field-of-view). Looking at some shots where there were other people on the path it seems quite narrow. Like even when you were turning right you were pathing into the oncoming lane. It's sad when we spend the money to make these protected infrastructure but then make it so uncomfortable to use. Likewise for cars. narrow will make them slow down, but then they might be so focused on not hitting the curbs that they don't see the obvious bike coming through.
One thing they need to work on is making it as clear as possible for car drivers, I tell you this because now for work I have to drive most of the day and the bikes make it so confusing and scary, its too complicated and unclear a lot of the time, Im in a state of fear of hitting a biker or pedestrian. I'm usually the one using public transportation or biking and now I have a understanding of the other side
I agree. Cyclists seem to be 💯 ok with improvising traffic rules and patterns as they choose. If a collision occurs the person in a car is considered at fault regardless of how reckless the cyclist was.
@@dlmsarge8329 Not true. I thought if you were struck in the crosswalk the driver would be at fault. But my friend's roommate was struck and the police did NOT blame the driver because the officer didn't see him in the crosswalk, since he was lying elsewhere and there was no witness.
Likewise I needed a report for insurance after hitting a tire in the highway. The officer wrote that I hit the tire on the shoulder because that's where I put it before he arrived, despite him stopping to pull another tire off the travelling lane 100 yards or so behind me.
Drivers need to slow down and look both ways. We need to get rid of the "right turn on red after stop" since they don't look right for pedestrians.
@@sandal_thong8631 Right turn on red is so dangerous, its such a stupid thing to have
@@jeycalc6877 It seemed reasonable to encourage traffic flow, so I didn't really think about it until I needed to cross at the light and saw drivers looking the other way. I had to make sure it was busy enough they wouldn't go, wait for eye-contact, or walk behind them.
Giant infrastructure investment seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.
DUDE! That`s flipping crazy awesome, we need these everywhere in Toronto, definitely going to check this out.
Seeing some smart new connections from City of Toronto cycling. Stuff like this makes a lot of sense, to bridge a key dangerous gap between high quality, long-distance cycling facilities in the hydro corridors.
So are the traffic lights going to remain 'the wrong way around'? As in: at the far end of the intersection instead of the near end (thus causing vehicles to intrude into other road users' path)? Because that's a key and unavoidable element of protected intersections!
Great video! I live nearby, I'll have to check it out. Like you said I hope Toronto gets dozens more in the next new few years
That pole looks terrible, but otherwise it is so cool to see these design principles being applied in Toronto!
It was definitely a bit strange since everything else was so well done. But, yes, very exciting!
@@redesignforall6577 a good excuse for a ride up there 😎
That pole did not appear as though it was meant to be permanent. It is supporting the currently operating traffic signals (the ones suspended from the overhead wire, however you can see the newer signals which are not in use. I would imagine that pole will get removed once the new signals are activated.
Looks good! The triangles at the zebra crossings are not necessary because pedestrians always have priority on a zebra.
The area between cycle path and car lane, should not be marked as zebra, because its there for waiting, now it looks like a continuous zebra where pedestrians can continue walking with priority. So one zebra to cross the bicycle lanes, and a separate zebra to cross the car lane, pedestrians will notice they have to do it in two steps, with a pause in between. The waiting area is a little short. The corners should be rectangular, not rounded, nobody bends off there. It looks weird.
And of course the giant pole on the cycle path is a big NO! It has to be removed! If you consider how much space is needed to pass this pole safely with the handle bar, there will be almost no cycle path left there! Fifty centimeters at both sides.
They should have moved the signals to the proximal side of the intersection, as is done in the civilized world.
Different coloured asphalt for the bike paths would aid both cyclists and motorists
I would prefer the bike lanes have a different color than the rest of the road to clearly indicate it is for bike use. Pedestrians will apparently walk wherever they please.
As I learned from watching these type of videos, making the streets safe for women and children to walk, will lead to them bicycling to further destinations. Then it doesn't become about "bicycle enthusiasts," but for everyone to safely walk, jog and ride bike or scooter. I haven't heard how better pedestrian access leads to more bus riding. It stands to reason for bus stops that are far from corners and not safe to walk to, that making them safe and convenient would encourage more people to walk to them, (if your knees can make it) and consider using it.
This intersection was a good first step. The pedestrian crossing should be elevated like a speed bump, the traffic lights should be on the side of incoming traffic so they stop before the line, and there should be no turn on red (as he said).
My city, Halifax, has one of these newly in a busy intersection downtown too. It's great. Unfortunately the same intersection also has those inane "left turn boxes" for bicycles.
Interesting. Why would you need a bike box if you have a protected intersection? Would you mind sharing the location?
@@redesignforall6577 It's the corner of South Park and Sackville St. in Halifax, Canada. The bike boxes were there first - no one uses them. Also, the protected intersection is only on one side of the street, but it's very much part of the city's ongoing AAA bike route plan. It seems like every month there are incremental changes to biking infrastructure downtown, which is great to see. South Park St. in particular has excellent protected bike lanes on both sides which will eventually connect a public park to the university campuses.
@@henryleitch I'm also in Halifax. This intersection has protected bike lanes, but only on South Park St, and not on Sackville. The intersection isn't quite the same as a result, but it's definitely not the worst.
Halifax bike network has a lot of work to do to become useful. It's not all that connected, and there's a real dearth of protected cycling from outside city centre into the city. All that is a different topic though.
Hopefully we'll see some intersections like this come here, but with how much Halifax motorists REALLY HATE anything done for bikes, I am not holding my breath.
Congrats on 200 subs! Well deserved.
This is indeed a great leap forwards for Canada/Toronto for givi g bikes more priority. Bit as a Dutch it still feels a bit uncomfortable to see all those corners for bicycles on annintersection insteas of just having a straight route for cyclists. But i. The end .. this is so much more favourable for cyclists, I can only applaud Toronto for this change.
It's great to see north america starts to make progress in its road design.
I live in switzerland and here protected intersections are actually pretty rare.
But that's because the vast majority of people use transit instead of biking.
Oh, for fuck's sake! Bicycles don't belong on sidewalks. Calling it a "multi-use pathway" doesn't change the fact that it's a sidewalk with vehicles zooming among pedestrians at high speeds.
Seems more inspired by Copenhagen than Amsterdam but anyway, the more bicycles the better life´s.
What would make this more inspired by Copenhagen than Amsterdam?
@@redesignforall6577 In Amsterdam there will be rails for trams in the ground, a fact that often will have some reflection on the solution. Copenhagen have as part of their transition to a fossil fuel free future built a new primarily underground Metro that btw. also allow bicycles. Typically Amsterdam´s streets are more narrow and thus limits the solution design options. Many of the cobblestone streets in Amsterdam prevents a solution as the above.
The presented design in the clip, on ground ,could be found one to one in Copenhagen maybe with the addition of designated bicycle light that typically in Copenhagen switch to green 2 -3 seconds before it changes for the cars. This feature are done so the cyclist can start first and this makes the car drivers more aware of them and thus reduces many right turn accidents, that often happens when the silent cyclist in speed, are not noticed by the driver before turning right. Maybe those bicycle lights are still covered in yellow bags in your clip above?
In the clip you have 2 way bicycle lanes leading up to the intersection, that generally are not seen that much neither in Amsterdam nor Copenhagen, where you typically have lanes on each side BUT it resembles generally Copenhagen more than Amsterdam because you have integrated a clear height - curb - between the car road and the bicycle road. That height difference have been a clear strategy increasingly last 30 years here because it creates passive safety, no carowner wanna take a 50 centimeter"detour" to get around a stopped car, fx waiting to turn left into another road, on their road. They WILL stop behind it and wait or they will get their rims destroyed. This have prevented many many accidents and really creates a true safe space for the cyclists when driving along.
In Copenhagen you typically would paint the asphalt blue in the intersection itself to further make the cardrivers easily aware of where the bicycles he have to be aware of could/would be. A help for both the cyclists and the cardriver that again increases passive safety.
If you look at 2:11 you can see the heightened banana shaped curb section, to the left. Something that also would be seen more in Copenhagen than Amsterdam (5 years since I last where there, maybe they have more now, I do not know). Maybe they exist in Amsterdam, but the one in the clip clearly have a passive safety purpose, as often seen in Copenhagen. In Amsterdam you often see small round heightened curbs to make drivers aware of separation of lanes, typically with a coloured pole as well. But those round ones are not directly related to cyclist rather specific for motorists. I cannot recall seeing any protective banana curbs in Amsterdam but you often will see them, where appropriate, in Copenhagen.
The way the curved curb force your way would not be typical in Copenhagen nor Amsterdam. The abrupt signal pole in front of you at 3:20 I disregard as part of the final solution design. I take that it eventually will be removed? If that were part of a final intersection design the City´s architect office would end in the newspapers. I guess both in Amsterdam and here. Directly translated we would call that an "eyeshit" solution, here probably with the added word "unsafe" in front.
It was a very specific question and I have tried to answer it as specific as possible. Hope you feel it gave you an impression of why I wrote my comment in the first place 😊
@@Mike-zx1kx Not every road in Amsterdam has tram lines, and some of their roads are as wide as North American roads. They also have an intersection called Meester Visserplein with two way bike paths that has a banana shaped concrete island
@@Mike-zx1kx You do realize that in the Netherlands not all cities have trams, right? The Netherlands isn't only Amsterdam.
@@Brozius2512 Yes, this was a Amsterdam/Copenhagen reflection.
Interesting.
6:07 did the car honk at the pedestrians...?
No it looks like it was the second driver rushing the first. Classic Toronto move.
You're right. It was the car behind who didn't understand what was going on.
Very nice paths, almost like here in the Netherlands. Next time give the paths an other color. In 🇳🇱 it is a brick red color. Also when you cross the street straight, always look over your shoulder, because some one might not be paying attention. Then immediately look to the right because a car or so might run a red light. Keep it up!
That pole is just holding up two bicycle signals and a sign saying "bicycle signal" and the pedestrian signal. Surely it could be moved back a meter or so to the edge of the footpath or put on on those islands. It's current location is terrible
It's a start. Plus it's difficult implementing into an existing system, which never allowed for future.
THE FIRST IN NORTH AMERICA??
I'm sorry for y'all :(
Cyclists of the world unite ✌🏼 Regards from Germany
I drive tourist buses for a living. You need twice the skills these days to take turns.
Infrastructure design that has been around in the Netherlands for decades. Better late than never!
Unplowable in winter
Bro just cross the street
Something I noticed about the design of this intersection, as a motorcyclist. It seems to encourage drivers to "clip" their left turns, and I saw several cars turning into the wrong lane at first (the opposite travel direction to where they were turning). If I happened to be stopped at the front of the line at that intersection, there's a good chance I'd get a face full of bumper. Seems like this intersection design could still use some work.
May I offer my biased comment? The Bullitt cargo bike can swoop around that pole with ease. That said, you do make a good point. I'm sure if they could of removed the pole they would have. I would rather see the pole funds used on the next intersection. Enjoy all, Have a great ride!
good luck plowing it in the winter
They do it in the Netherlands, no problem.
Nobody else sees all the smart city infrastructure?
Nice!
what a mess. I never go to areas designed like this on a bike.
Who is going to ride a bicycle in Canada when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground and it's minus something below zero? That's where this do-gooder enviro stuff breaks down.
Copenhagen also have snow, we still ride. No problem. No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. And you save both gasoline money, get your daily cardio without a stupid outfit in an overpriced gym.
People will ride in the winter if snow is cleared and the paths are maintained properly. Riding in the cold is not a problem with the right clothing and is much easier than riding when it's very hot.
Here are kids biking to school in Oulu, Findland from where it gets much colder for longer than Toronto. The difference is that they have a fantastic winter maintenance program:
ruclips.net/video/5wZ0tXMSAfs/видео.html
@@redesignforall6577 Same here in Denmark. We have snow clearing machines that cover the roads for the cars and we have same for the bicycle lanes. Btw. it are the same machines that are used to sweep streets for any garbage in the summer, they just have ability to change the units in front and back, so they also have the option to spread salt while clearing snow, if temperature appropriate.
Have you btw. heard we now have made "green light rush hour" signals in our most used bike lanes in Copenhagen? Some hundreds meters before an intersection small lights in the pavement indicates if you are driving to fast/slow in order to catch next light green. If you catch a green light once and keep 20 kilometres per hour speed you WILL have a green light next time as well etc.
See "lighting fast" intro here:
ruclips.net/video/6Kx1XZeFkXk/видео.html
and enjoy this unrelated (BONUS ...LOL) small snippet here from Inner Copenhagen I stumbled over when looking for the link above. A rather normal day. Note the cyclist to car ratio. If any in Canada cannot project a functioning daily life without driving a car, this clip should be a eye opener.
ruclips.net/video/7XR1bGddIGM/видео.html
Public service nerd?
If any are interested. Just as a general information of how it are organised here. In larger cities with many many kilometres roads and bicycle lanes to potentially clear, the municipality have a base number of employees and machines. That number fits cleaning our streets for garbage, cutting road trees, grass, snowclearing etc.
Besides that they have contracts with private enterprises that basically are close to costfree if services are not used BUT IF a special need arises, they can be called in. The contractors again have written clauses into their employees contracts giving them solid extra payment if they are called in.
When these contractors are called in. Could be large festivals in summer or heavy consistent snow in winter, they pay them around 2-3 times more per hour than normal. Some winters we now, due to global warming, do not have any noticeable snow but other winters it still can come down hard. So, seen over time, it are cheaper to pay a high hourly cost when the need are very high, but it are rare and a better option than having to many employees or machines. It are also a good deal for both the contractors and their employees since they can use their machines in their primary business area, but just have bought the extra units needed to provide requested services. Some years they wont get any income at all, others they might make a "little fortune". The contractors are typically construction companies and farmers. Both they and their employees see activation of their services as a "bonus" and an ability to make a good income in short time. Still a good deal for the municipality. They basically can double their max performance effort in hours if needed.
Overall control/leadership stay at the department in the municipality thus also only 1 number to call if anything are not done for the individual citizen as they are allowed to expect.
In a macro economic context unexpected incomes for private businesses are often used to pay down debt thus overall also benefiting societal economic stability. Employees getting sudden incomes either do same or use them for consumption, again having a positive societal sideffect. So taxpayers benefit from a general lower cost yearly related to the municipalities costs and positive economic sideeffects when they spend more. The money given out generally stay/come back into local economy one way or the other.
@@redesignforall6577 "Kids".. that's the problem right there. Riding a bicycle is fine when you're young, but wait until your knees give out. Wait until you have health problems that preclude you from physical activity. Nobody over age 40 wants to ride a bicycle in the freezing cold. That's why this whole bicycle movement is so snotty-faced. It's all teens and 20-somethings trying to dictate to the world at large how to live.
"And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids and their dog." -Scooby Doo.
it is defenitly not Dutch, what a disaster
It's still way better then what they had.
Bicycles don't belong on roads
then build more bike paths
Roads weren't build for cars in the past either.