There really isn’t one. This site is just a bare-bones scheduling service that let’s you pick favourite stops from all the TTC routes, and then just takes your current time to tell you when the next two arrivals will be. No dowloads, and no more searching through the maze of the TTC’s main website for route schedules.

Ad-Driven Transit Reforms?

If anything the TTC would be smart to spend a tiny fraction of its enormous budget (currently sucked up by management and personal) to just buy into this website now…While it’s still in it’s cheap infancy phase.
ie. Not showing much revenue from any ads that it will sure get clicks on as the layout and features improve themselves.

From there, this service could be easily improved upon by showing service disruptions and perhaps even optimized to offer tweetbacks of next arrivals to Twitter accounts that tweet a desire for info on their favourite #TTCstop…

In fact, if the TTC could figure out how to integrate that sort of service with forms of advertising that actually connected with riders during all of that blank-faced transit time, they could offer free Wi-Fi and have a real winner on their hands…and a much less disgrunteled ridership to boot!

Desperately seeking the STOLEN video camera
and recording of dead cyclist,
Jenna Morrison & her son Lucas

WHAT: A video camera (Sony MiniDV TRV 900) containing the ONLY images of Jenna and her son Lucas dancing – The images are irreplaceable and of immense value to the family.

HOW: Repeat, re-tweet, or link to this info to spread the word.
ALSO: Keep your eyes open on Craigslist, Kijiji and pawnshops for a camera of this description. Remember that even ‘deleted’ files can be recovered if the memory wasn’t reformatted or recorded over.

WHY: This priceless family footage was to be used for the upcoming Dec 15th fundraiser, ”In Celebration of Jenna” at the Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. West
- all funds to go in trust for her son, Lucas.

WHERE: Stolen from an Acura TSX on Millwood Road, Toronto

WHEN: Nov. 27th – overnight B&E

WHO : Vehicle of family friend, Aron Slipacoff – robbed  Nov 27th

” The tape (recording) is what is most important to us (as it contains irreplacable images)  - if anyone has any information, please call the Toronto Police Services at 416-808-2222, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or the Police at 53rd Division 416-808-5300″

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:
Aron Slipacoff, family friend
aron@hooplacommunications.com
cell:   416.834.2766

Pass on this shortened URL:   http://wp.me/pMnHT-iJ

TWEET: Plz!Help find stolen camera w/the only known images of (dead cyclist) Jenna Morrison dancing w/her son Lucas http://wp.me/pMnHT-iJ

Special thanks to PC Tim Burrows on Facebook and Anotonia Zirbisias…
for helping get this write- up published in the Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1094545–from-tragedy-to-disgust-video-of-dead-cyclist-stolen

Additional Coverage:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/30/toronto-morrison-tape.html

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111130/111130_Morrison_Theft/20111130/?hub=CP24Home

Jenna Morrison died on her way to pick up her 5 year-old son. His spiderman helmet was hanging from the handlebars of their tandem-bike that they were to ride away on together…

Instead, this vision of sustainable urban life and personal transportation turned to an instantly horrific tragedy – when the bike-for-two was crushed by the truck that took the life of a mother and her unborn child instead.

Yet life goes on, as some of us search for ways to bring meaning from such tragedy. Hopefully we can learn to see things abit more clearly on the road, before the impact of this moment subsides and we all return to our daily scramble through busy life in the city and the incident becomes just another fading memory.

So what are the crucial points that we can take from this, so that we can move forward with it all – with a renewed sense of safety and self-preservation?

As someone who has ridden one of those tandem (trail-a) bikes, I’ve also added my theory on a possible cause of this accident further below…Which anyone who rides these articulated/hinged bikes should take passing note of.

What Have We Learned

• Riding in the city requires constant presence of mind and vigilance
• We can’t depend on motorists to assure our personal safety on the road
• Simply wearing a helmet does not provide a rider with safety
• Being alongside traffic can be a huge risk at intersections
• If you can’t see the driver, then they probably can’t see you either
• Cyclists, like Pedestrians need to avoid taking any chances with traffic
• The safety of the Railpath needs to be extended down into the city’s core
• In Rob Ford’s rally cry to end the “War on Cars” he somehow overlooked the fact that there’s clearly only one side that’s suffering casualties

In an article in the National Post, Dr. Dan Cass, Ontario’s supervising coroner for the central region, said he will lead a review of all cycling deaths in Ontario in 2006-2010, as there have been over 20 per year.

“We’re taking the view that all cycling deaths are potentially preventable deaths,” Dr. Cass said Tuesday. “We are looking at time of day, road conditions, weather conditions, circumstances, what kind of preventive equipment was used. We want to develop recommendations based on preventing deaths in the future.”

This review process might be expected to move at the speed of public sector bureaucracy, but it’s definitely a move in the right direction and is in fact expected as soon as next Spring!  In fact, if it turns out to be a clear and cogent view of urban cycling here in Toronto, this review could become an invaluable resource for both cycling advocates and city planners everywhere.

Where to Go From Here

The Jenna Morrison tragedy should be held up as an example of consequences for all of us – if we presume that helmets, regulations will keep us safe, while we continue to wait for seperate bike paths to materialize.  Cyclists should be takign a proactive stance on their own personal safety, rather than expecting short-lived politicians decide the future of our urban transportation options.

So, as much as I’d like to make (yet another) case for to the health and cost benefits of cycling, perhaps we need to also take stock of ourselves and our cycling habits first. So that we can all take on a more responsible approach and credible voice in reforming our streets into a more sustainable city.

What do you think?

In the meantime…

It’s impossible to say who came up alongside who in this incident, but here’s what I strongly suspect actually happened to Jenna Morrison once she was alongside the truck that killed her, regardless of who got to the intersection first.

First of all, being on a bicycle alongside of a truck is at best a foolhardy scenario. One that should be avoided whenever possible. So any discussion about cycling safety needs to start with the most important point…Personal responsibility. Even if it means, lifting your bike up onto the sidewalk to get away from a truck if it has crowded in next to you at an intersection.

Ideally, cyclists should hold their place at an intersection by either taking their place in queue, making safe allowances for any right-turning traffic, or taking up a proper lane position in front to negate the crowding effect from any subsequent arrivals behind them if they are waiting to turn right themselves.

Otherwise, incidents like these could give rise to political conditions that might make it illegal for cars and bikes to sit next to one-another at intersections – and from there our already snarled traffic-patterns would become even worse, as we’re forced to queue-up behind each other in all circumstances instead.

As for what could have possibly happened in this particularly tragic case, I’d like to draw from my own experiences riding a “tandem” (trail-a) bike with my daughter years ago, as I suspect the following scenario may have been a factor – Which can only pray would NEVER befall anyone:

Based on police markers and the position of the crushed bike, this collision happened behind the stop line. Clearly the back wheel of an already lengthy tandem-bike got caught in the wheel of an advancing truck and tragically toppled the bike to the left, and killed the rider. A horrific forced-fall.

IF we can set-aside the possibility that the truck driver was entirely inexperienced or astoundingly negligent as he came up on the intersection from behind the bike, crowded it to the curb and simply mowed down the cyclist with it’s right-rear wheels by then taking a turn FAR too tightly, perhaps we can consider another possibility as well – in the interest of using this hypothetical scenario as a warning to all.

Just one theory…out of many

Regardless of who got the the intersection first, I strongly suspect that the rider may have realized that being alongside a truck was dangerous and started to back away from the intersection. But since backing a “trailer” is tricky and requires experience to not turn the back-end the wrong way…I fear that the rider may have simply rolled/turned the back of this hinged half-bike to the left and in front of the truck’s rear-wheels – just before it started to roll/lurch forward up the right-turning incline.

Of course there’s always the possibility that the driver was either grossly negligent or a homicidal maniac, or somehow couldn’t execute the most basic truck-driving skill by assuring that he takes the turn wide enough not to cause a collision on the inside corner.

Please keep in mind that this tragedy affects me deeply as someone who once rode with his child on a trail-a-bike as well, and now rides a tandem bike with his precious cargo. So I’m not trying to attribute blame, but rather emphasize the CRUCIAL need to take a defensive approach to cycling, regardless of what’s currently right or wrong about riding in our car-besieged city.

If anyone can suggest any other factors that we could consider here, in order to understand this event and lay some groundwork for both safer riding and driving for everyone, perhaps we could all move forward from this tragedy with a safer, more sustainable outlook on cycling in the city.

A Facebook group called “In Loving Memory of Jenna” has been created to honour the memory of Jenna Morrison and garner support for her 5-year-old son Lucas.

Slowly but surely Metrolinx is becoming a household brand-name as it offers greater visibility for it’s exciting expansions of Ontario’s mass-transit infrastructure.  Through new services in it’s operational GO Transit division, which is already very well known to all Commuters here in Southern Ontario, Metrolinx is also making a big push to break away from the commuting pack into much more leisurely and adventurous modes of rail travel as well. Not only can GO Transit enthuse weekend sightseers, but it’s also purposely re-geared itself for the pleasures of cycling as well. Most obviously with the provision of specially equipped trains that can carry our bikes down to spectacular routes and scenery that surround Niagara Falls!

 GO Transit now offers an additional trip on Friday evenings to facilitate longer weekend getaways both down to The Falls, as well as offering a quick weekend train trip in the opposite direction back into Toronto from the Niagara Peninsula. From June 24 to September 5th passengers can take their bikes along to tour The Falls and Vineyards of this famous wine-growing area at no extra charge! So let’s consider the new experiences that easy service opens up to even the most casual cycling enthusiast…

As soon as you arrive, you’ll discover that the Niagara train station is a short 10 minute ride from to the Falls themselves, and also offers quick access to the scenic route back down the Niagara River to the many theater attractions offered at Niagara-on-the-Lake. What’s more anybody who’s ever wanted to ride their bike into the States can do this accross teh Peace Bridge with nothing more than their passport and some spending loot, and the clothes on their back…At the very least.

GO to GoTransit.com/Zip for fares & schedules

These “Zip Away” trains to to Niagara Falls, can all carry 4 bikes per car, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays they’ll also be specially equipped with 2 designated bike coaches per train that can carry up to 18 bikes each! So there’s no shortage of options to carry bicycles down to the Falls as part of your regular GO Train fare, and buses are also equipped with racks during the off-season.

While we wait to see what types of special cross-promotional offers that we can expect to take advantage of this year, you might also want to consider some of the other very ambitious plans and projects that Metrolinx is working on to better integrate Mass Transit into the daily lives of all travelers in Southern Ontario…

Click Here to see how Metrolinx is helping to transform the urban landscape, and the environment that we all live in together, by laying plans for the Future of Mass Transit

SOURCES:

GoTransit.com/Zip

416 869-3200

toll free 1 888 438-6646

Station Location:

http://maps.google.ca/local?f=q&h1=en&q=43.1088,+-79.0636+%28Niagara+Falls+VIA+station%29

Local Niagara Transit:

http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/travelling/connecting.aspx

Relax, Redux, Repeat…

Poutini’s House of Poutine is already renowned among the afterhours Ossington crowd, but I’d like to offer you a more in-depth look at why it remains a fave.  Not only did this warm and homey casse-croute take 3rd Place on the BlogTO  “Best Fries in Toronto” list, but they also use their mastery of french-fry fundamentals as an superb springboard in launching the humble ‘chip’ to a higher evolutionary form. Poutini’s is arguably one of the best local offerings of what many consider to be among the most satisfying, yet simplest indulgences you might ever experience.

Most surprisingly though, Poutini’s not only serves up the goods, but also provides everything else we need to enjoy the rich nutrition of poutine, without any of the fast-food guilt of it’s imitators. In order to somehow introduce you to the environmental benefits and cultural complexities of Poutine, let’s start from the beginning…

First a little background…

Poutine (not “poo-tine”, but rather “poot-tsien”) is an incredibly simple dish, that requires perfection in its 3 basic components to set it apart from the many pretenders out there in Fast-Food land. Drawing from Montreal’s mythical mastery of this sub-cultural phenomenon, Poutiny’s offers us quick, comfortable, and consistently reliable LOCAL access to an otherwise elusive source of properly prepared poutine. Starting with select seasonal potatoes that are cut, cooked and seasoned to award-winning perfection, then coupled with genuinely fresh curds from Maple Dale Farms north of Belleville, the tempting affair is then consummated in marital bliss by a perfected gravy recipe who’s composition only the Saucier will ever know for certain.

Where’s the Curd?

Anyone who has ever tried to source those delicious nuggets of uber-fresh cheese curd will tell you that even if you could somehow find a reliable source that get’s them shipped to them inside the requisite 24 period (before they turn into just very mildly aged cheese), you would likely need to pedal your ass off to arrive there early enough to snag some before they all vanished with the light of day! So finding a local destination to satisfy this curd challenge is (in itself!) an invaluable service provided by Poutini’s everyday of the week, excepting Mondays when they’re closed.

Any Time’s the Right Time

Some maintain that Poutine is best served after a night of debauched carousing, to help satiate any unresolved appetites before settling down for slumber. Others know that it can act as a great slow release source of energy for an athletic schedule. Many fuel-converted or even vegetarian cyclists will tell you that poutine is an especially potent source of grounding emotional ballast and  high-grade energy, especially when you need to go to a late-pitstop strategy to keep your revs up into the small hours! Poutini’s also reminds us that you can actually enjoy this dish anytime of day, and it also makes a great leftover if you’re the type who enjoys cold or re-heated pizza. Poutini’s even offers a range of “breakfast poutines” for those of you who can consider 11AM the start of their day.

The Guilt Free Gourmand

Their location is an easy ride-by on any trip in and out of the core through the West-Side, so you can easily assure yourself that cycling over/down to Poutini’s will help balance the caloric load, and raise your metabolism in order to keep your guilty indulgence from being converted to arterial plaque afterwards.  In fact, if you can approach poutine with the right mindset, you’d be amazed how healthy your outlook on poutine can actually be!

Even their packaging will relieve you of any residual remorse, since absolutely everything you carry away from the counter is not only sturdy (unlike cardboard) but also FULLY biodegradable…right down to the forks!

So on that positive ending note…
Feel free to CLICK HERE to learn a great way to justify this indulgence…One that actually allows us to think about eating from a much healthier perspective in general as well!

So, if there’s indeed enough will to participate in the democratic process, let’s go ahead and raise the subject of crumbling infrastructure and Public Transit to our representatives during this brief window of opportunity. Let’s take this one issue as an example of laying down tracks to a better and more sustainable future, and try to see what required to get this issue onto the ballots.

The Whys and Wherefores

Transit is a complex issue, that takes years to address and resolve because of the bureaucratic and bargaining delays built into the planning and construction process. As most Torontonians can attest, it takes clear vision to enact such plans, and this work can be all too easily derailed for decades through the short term ideas of single-term politicians.  Transit planning not only involves all levels of government, it requires a level of cooperation between between various Unions and Industrial partners as well. In short, timing is everything when it comes to improving Transit.

Some might ask why a national election should be run on issues that effect only city-dwelling Canadians? The truth is that public transit also has far reaching effects that extend into not only the health and quality of life of most urban Canadians, but also to the general productivity and competitiveness of Canada as a whole. We can witness this fact as we continue to see other countries develop technologies and expertise, that leave Canadians to become customers rather than builders and global suppliers in this market.  Of course if we also factor in the shared environmental costs of letting transit infrastructure slide even further into the past, we can easily see that the time to act on this issue is now, not later.

In a recent article in the Globe & Mail, Michael Roschlau, president of the Canadian Urban Transit Association said:

“We need to make this a significant election issue and it’s critical that parties develop a response. I just hope it doesn’t take a crisis to get there: that traffic congestion gets so bad, commute times get so long, that we have to react instead of being proactive.”

As we all very well know, there are very few good plans that get put together in a panicked haste to catchup with the effects of a crisis. The best laid plans are progressive and forward thinking, and this is an approach that any political candidate should be very eager to embrace in these jaded and cynical times.

So…Where Are We At ?

The Toronto Board of Trade has produced an annual “Scorecard on Prosperity”, which measures cities on a number of economic, social and structural indicators, and it clearly suggests that Canadian cities are already on heading towards a crisis.

Canadian cities have been in a steady state of decline in terms of meeting their needs for transit, and although Toronto and Calgary continue to rank high overall due to their labour market scores, any downturn in their economies would send the overall rank plummeting. For now, we can clearly see that not a single Canadian city actually managed to crack the top 10 on transportation issues, which measured such factors as commute times, transit ridership, kilometres of existing rail and vehicles per capita.

The Globe also points out that Toronto has already dropped from 4th to 8th place largely due to its crippling congestion and notoriously long commute times!

It’s clearly time for Canada to flex it’s manufacturing muscle in this area and create the political will to put in place a national strategy on transit.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty at least took some steps in the last (defeated) budget to address transit and the $123-billion urban infrastructure deficit. But while Mr. Flaherty promised to develop an infrastructure plan and make the transit-funding gas tax permanent through legislation, no new money was actually designated.

So What’s a Poor Voter to Do ?

Although Toronto’s new mayor, Rob Ford, has already urinated all over the fires that had been stoked by Metrolinx and their federally and provincially-backed “Big Move” plans, there’s still time to let your city councillors know that this is no time for caterign to Rob Fords personal agenda and short-sighted election promises. If the detrimental effects of party politics and bloc voting are ever to be curtailed in ths country, perhaps it needs to start by encouraging our municipal representatives to stand up for us in City Hall, despite what they fear might happen to their careers at the hands of the mayor.

Perhaps the Media could tone down their persuit of sensationalised stories long enough to do some investigative journalism as well, and show our representatives that they are willing to publicise and promote the small efforts being made as well, and hopefully help maintain a supportive public opinion on issues that revolve around something more than short-lived scandals, or incendiary sound-bites.

Better yet, we could see more signs of the Media showing us all how to participate in the democratic process at a more grass roots level. Perhaps starting with something as simple as a way to contact your local incumbent MP, or one of their political adversaries if it needs to come to that!

At issue here is that all parties should be able to figure out how to campaign on the fate of Public Transit in Canada. So long the Environment remains high on our list of priorities, and our precious time on earth (often spent waiting to move in traffic) remains a key concern to most urbanized Canadians, surely the politicians can be made aware of the desires of their Constituents on at least this one important issue.

SOURCES

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/our-commute-is-stalling-us/article1957897/

Evidently, the fellows behind “The Green Revolution” not only realized just how much energy was being burned off in most exercise gyms (as most members already suspect), but they’ve also followed through on this potential energy with the next logical steps in developing a system that could put all that wasted energy to better use. At least in terms of marketing power and symbolic carbon credits…Whatever those turn out to actually be!

Harnessing the Energy of Gym Rats…

Who hasn’t looked at lines of sweaty gym-members on treadmills and exercise bikes and wondered why so much energy could be getting wasted as heat and resistive friction, while tv screens, air conditioning,  and lighting all sucked energy from distant generating stations.

If we can put aside aside any jokes about treadmills to nowhere, and paying for the privilege of soundlessly sweating alongside strangers, there’s also a rather obvious connection between burning energy, and putting it to better use, that’s finally being considered in a more productive setting.

Unfortunately, for a company run by a LEEDS consultant and and professional engineer, there’s literally no technical information available on these machines, let alone the basic specs to offer reviewers, readers and potential customers an idea about what they’re actually looking at.

Perhaps a company that is clearly trying to sell an idea, who’s time is long overdue, is just falling short on some basic marketing info. Or perhaps the design specs are still being worked out, and they don’t want to commit to any numbers yet. Or maybe this is just another example of building business relationships today, based on future promises.  An idea which is certainly no newer to the Green business space, than any other speculative play we see in an age where the financing plays ideas are sometimes much more lucrative than the final product.

About:

Energized by an entrepreneurial spirit, ESI Energy Solutions has been working with building owners and office managers around the country to limit their energy use and expenditures. Through building survey, project management or financing, Energy Solutions is able to tailor any project in any location around the world.

ESI Energy Solutions International, LLC was founded 2007 by Chris Maddern. A young entrepreneur with experience in management and business consulting and Robert Howard, PE. A mechanical engineer

Sources:

http://www.ecovativeideas.com/content/about-us

http://www.egreenrevolution.com/product.aspx?setting=2

http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/199728

It starts with political will…

In a political climate where an approved vision for Transit City has now been dumped out of it’s funding box, and strewn all over the floor, the ability for all three government levels to come to a new agreement is being severely taxed by Toronto’s new Mayor. Beyond the obvious need for re-establishing political unity, vision, and inter-governmental cooperation and effective cost-controls at a time of enormous bureaucratic upheave in Toronto’s transit landscape (Thanks again, Rob Ford) the next biggest hurdles for the ARL project are all the logistical challenges of assuring not just an environmentally responsible solution, but also a socially and fiscally beneficial one that will set standards for sustainable clean transit systems for many decades to come.

Luckily, Metrolinx seems to have found a solution that will achieve the latest and cleanest version of diesel technology in the short term, while assuring that the future implementation of an electrified rail corridor remains possible. The process appears to be a remarkable combination of vision, business process, and technology…but it’s not without it’s detractors as we can see from initial reactions from the Electrification lobby headed up by such groups as the Clean Train Coalition.

Since there has already been a great deal of PR and Public visibility on all the issues of running more trains in the busy Georgetown Corridor, we won’t revisit all the negative Eco-PR that has permeated the mainstream coverage of this project, but rather try to take a more objective view of the plans being proposed by those who seek to advance the cause of clean transit, rather than those more suited to simply criticize, and publicize the loudest voices of detractors.

As such, let’s take a look at the actual issues that need to be addressed in order to assure an orderly progression towards the goal that everyone is hoping to reach, rather than just throwing up roadblocks for the sake of simplified self-interests. Let’s start with the business end of the deal.

Business Process:
Metrolinx will be entering into formal negotiations with Sumitomo Corporation of America to exercise an option from the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (California) procurement contract to purchase up to eighteen (18) highly efficient Diesel Multiple Units (DMU’s). These vehicles will meet stringent Tier 4 emissions standards and will be convertible to electric for the Air Rail Link. Following an open and competitive procurement process, Sumitomo Corporation is  being considered for the award of a contract to produce DMU vehicles for Sonoma-Marin, and luckily an option clause in the contract gives Metrolinx the ability to piggy-back on the deal and purchase additional vehicles from the winner of the Sonoma-Marin procurement process.

Metrolinx wishes to exercise this option clause in the Sonoma-Marin contract in order to have vehicles delivered in time for public use of the Air Rail Link service,  prior to the Pan Am Games in 2015. Metrolinx, with the unanimous support of its Board of Directors, concluded that entering the negotiation to exercise the option would obtain the best value for Ontario. If the negotiations are successful, Metrolinx will announce the details of the procurement when an agreement is reached.

Standby for more big announcements in 2011

In a perfect world, we could just build layer after layer of moving space starting with underground subways, and delivery/distribution transport, all the way up to elevated walkways and inter-ramping bikepaths. The reality of our world however dicates that we have limited 2 dimensional roadspace and a prerequisite need for sidewalks at least, if not accompanying dedicated bikepaths.

So unless we can figure out how to automate car travel, or at least make drivers and raffic flow MUCH more intelligent adn responsive, the only other immediately available route to sustainable progress is raisign the density of urban spaces, and getting many more people using mass transit.

The going suggestions are to make Parking much more scarce, raise density with updated zoning and provide more ecological transport options.  While cycling will take up some of that need, transit is still the most versatile sustainable transport mode for longer trips, the only one capable of delivering you from one place to another as a pedestrian, unencumbered by a vehicle.

So rather than struggling with congestion that chokes the economy and constrains people’s lives and fills up our arterials with congestion, we would need to look at factors that can reduce surface traffic before our only remaining options for building more transit become entirely too expensive and disruptive…Especcially if there isn’t a high enough density to immediately support their projected usage.

This is a less than vague reference to Mayor Rob Ford’s shortsighted, yet surprisingly bullheaded election promise to build a subway line to Scarborough…

Instead…Let’s take a look at the one factor that few people have been discussing so far. Parking!

SEE: Street Parking…Putting tolls on silent and suburban cars

Sources:

http://www.humantransit.org/2010/11/transits-role-in-sprawl-repair.html

Dedicated lane opens in Vancouver
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/bikebytes/2010/12/30/magical-moments-vancouver-cycling-2010

It might seem obvious to take a more collective approach to solving traffic related issues, but before taking a slide down that slippery slope of self-interests, perhaps we could at least declare a truce in the War on Cars. Not with some egotistical remark from some individual politician or lowly blogger, but with just one more example of how truly ridiculous the entire notion (and election platform pillar) really is.

Toronto city Councillor Bill Saundercook has proposed that all of the city’s posted speed limits be reduced by 10 km/h with a bottom limit of 30 km/h as a response to traffic safety issues, and to appeal to the fears of pedestrians in the GTA

A more responsible approach would be to address the issue of jaywalking, and pedestrians who jump out into intersections to try and cross as lights are starting to change, however that would have been more akin to solving issues at their roots cause. Not something that is ever too popular in the political world, since not only does it create acrimony for singling out those who are truly at fault, but also it wastes an opportunity to take a more simplistic and popular approach to the issue. Therein lies the rub of trying to fix Society via politics!

Councillor Doug Holyday said the idea doesn’t make any sense to him but he wouldn’t be surprised if council adopted it.

“The nuttier it is, the better chance it probably has of gaining traction,” he said.

Saundercook is also proposing a pilot project near Union Station that would see speed limits reduced to 30 km/h, and pedestrian traffic controls removed.

“Make it a zone where any vehicles that are travelling in that area have to go 30 km/h or less and let the people cross the roads, making their judgement whether they can go in front or behind that vehicle,” Saundercook said, arguing it would reduce the large groups of traffic-clogging pedestrians crossing streets near Union Station.

So here we go again with short term “fixxes” to situations that don’t come even remotely close to addressing the root cause!

Fortunately, Toronto’s growing reputation as one of the worst metropolitain areas (in the World!) for traffic congestion and commuting times is providing more opportunities for journalists to publicize some genuinely good ideas, and possible solutions…All we need are for politicians to sit up and take notice if they can just see an opportunity to leverage a growing Public Opinion!

Subscribe For:  Politics vs. Progress…Clearing the Logjams

Sources:

The Toronto Sun

http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2011/01/03/war-on-cars-a-history