Lmst

Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, PhD boosted:

I polled 100+ attendees of my talk about which modes of transportation they use most and which they would *like* to use most. The results are pretty striking: most people travel most often by car, but their preferences are nearly the opposite. 87 use cars most, but only 20 *want* to! #CIRPA2025

A menti poll: "Order the modes of transportation you use from most to least often."
The crowdsourced order (118 rankings) is: car, walking, public transit, cycling, and other.

A menti poll: "In an ideal world, which modes of transportation would you like to use most to least often?"

The order is walking, cycling, public transit, car, other.

Today at a kid extracurricular another parent said, "we were so excited to come last week and we got in the car and one of the tires was flat! So we couldn't make it." So I'm reflecting once again on how car dependency reduces options even for people with cars. Taxis, car share, and transit exist and make great backups for car trouble, but many people never even consider them.

@shanmukhateja 🙂🙂

My husband riding our Urban Arrow cargo bike with a Christmas tree in the bucket

The workers redoing our building's fence were in awe of our cargo bike. As I was passing they stopped to stare and one of them called out, "I would have saved my allowance to ride in that!"

@quoidian neighbours would complain when the foghorn is literally never not sounding

@intothewestaway ding ding ding!

Adapted from public health, the safe systems pyramid for road safety places population-level changes like land use and infrastructure design at the bottom, having the most impact. At the very top are individual-level measures like education and enforcement.

https://visionzeronetwork.org/applying-the-health-impact-pyramid-to-roadway-safety/

The safe systems pyramid for road safety. From bottom (most impactful) to top:
1. Socioeconomic factors, e.g. affordable housing near transit, zoning reform
2. Built environment, e.g. roundabouts, curb extensions, raised crosswalks, sidewalks, bikeways
3. Latent safety measures, e.g. signal timing, leading pedestrian intervals, air bags, automated emergency braking
4. Active measures, e.g. signals and signs, in-vehicle collision warnings, seatbelts, helmets
5. Education, e.g. driver education campaigns, slow down campaigns

Olivia Chow is a smart politician who knows how to say things in the right way to work with obtuse people like the Ford government, so I don't fault her for angling for compromise. It's just, so weird to be having this fight at all.

Like, either accept that speed limits don't influence operating speeds and design roads so that natural operating speeds are safe, or be consistent with believing the law means something!

This makes me feel crazy. Being aware of the speed limit is like step 1 for driving! "Stealing is illegal, sure, but how are people supposed to know which stores they can steal from without getting caught if the stores with anti-stealing cameras don't have giant 'NO STEALING' signs outside??"

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20-plus-mayors-urge-doug-ford-to-compromise-on-speed-camera-ban/article_1b50e9eb-36b7-4e34-b0af-175dcb1664b2.html

Chow is pushing for larger signage and changing Toronto’s program so that once a driver is fined for speeding the first time, they cannot be fined again for seven days. It gives drivers an opportunity to receive their fine in the mail and become aware of the camera’s location.

A gorgeous crisp morning ride to work, sailing past the traffic! #WeekWithoutDriving

A selfie of me in a bike helmet on my way to work

My great aunt lives the life I hope I get to live at her age: independent, out every day talking to her friends and neighbours, enjoying daily activity and fresh air. When we build communities where people can get around safely outside a car, everyone wins! #WeekWithoutDriving

We often assume seniors rely on driving and can't use active transportation for their daily needs, but often it's the reverse: many people become unable to drive as they age. This #WeekWithoutDriving, I'm feeling inspired by my great aunt and others like her who get around without a car.

My great aunt is in her 80s and lives in a Vancouver apartment. She doesn't drive anymore, too painful for her back, but she walks every day. Her walker fits a shopping basket perfectly on the seat, so she takes the bus to the store and then walks home with her groceries. #WeekWithoutDriving

@Mjhall I like outdoor pools and I think we should have them, but we should be more open to other types of seasonal infrastructure too!

Petition to save speed cameras in #Ontario: https://www.change.org/p/stop-premier-ford-from-cutting-speed-safety-cameras-in-ontario?source_location=psf_petitions

Looking for something to do to fight Doug Ford's plan to remove speed cameras? Come to a "circling the strollers" event at the Bloor & Dundas speed camera, this Saturday at 10 am!

https://www.change.org/p/stop-premier-ford-from-cutting-speed-safety-cameras-in-ontario/u/33934092

@si2mev love this!

"We’re going to be giving municipalities across the province a lot of money to put in all sorts of street calming methods"

Oh neat, like what, like maybe a proven speed-reducing treatment with the added benefit of new travel options?

https://toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/whatever-happened-to-vision-zero

The Ontario government is going to give municipalities “a lot of money” to implement traffic calming measures to slow down drivers, including turnabouts and speed bumps, instead of using photo radar cameras, according to Premier Doug Ford.

The premier has called on Ontario municipalities to scrap automated speed enforcement cameras, calling the cameras a “tax grab.”

Speaking to reporters in Russell, Ont., on Monday, Ford said he will be joined by several mayors later this week for an announcement on photo radar cameras.

“If, really, the strategy is to slow people down, we’re going to be giving municipalities across the province a lot of money to put in all sorts of street calming methods, from little turnabouts, from speed bumps to flashing signs. That’s going to slow people down,” Ford said.

“The speed traps do not slow people down. They may slow them within the community, but there are so many other people coming throughout the community. So, if our goal is to slow people down, which I think is very important by school zones, we’re going to give them the money to put the infrastructure in place that will slow people down.”

Much of the discussion around Premier Doug Ford’s Bill 212, which blocks new bike lanes that remove motor vehicle travel lanes and targets the Bloor, Yonge, and University cycle tracks for removal, has focused on two things: the (supposedly) low number of people cycling, and increased congestion and travel times for drivers because of bike lanes. While it’s true that vehicle travel times usually go up after Complete Street projects, the increases are usually small — and they get smaller after signal timing adjustments.

But something is being lost in the travel time discussion. Lately, everyone seems to agree, even the City of Toronto’s transportation division, that travel time increases are something to be avoided. But it’s important to remember that travel time is related to speed — and high vehicle speeds are dangerous.

As such, reducing vehicle speeds is an under-appreciated but quite often explicit component of Complete Street projects. As Oshawa MPP Jennifer French noted at a meeting of a provincial government committee to discuss Bill 212, “Bike lanes are sometimes installed as traffic-calming measures, with the specific goal of increasing safety by reducing vehicle volumes and speeds.”

After all, Vision Zero is still a thing.

Doug Ford has some nerve saying he'll give municipalities money for traffic calming while simultaneously trying his very hardest to remove existing traffic calming infrastructure (bike lanes)

https://globalnews.ca/news/11441018/doug-ford-speed-camera-introduction-removal/

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