Look, we get it. Rob Ford has clearly announced his agenda will be pro-car, pro-pollution, pro-obesity and that is just…awesome. And it is equally clear that without three assistants, John Parker would be incapable of doing the job he loves so much (the one with “hot chicks“) like removing bike lanes along Jarvis.
But all that aside, could you at least stay the out of the bike lanes we have?
Photo by Martin Reis. More are in his Guaranteed Bike Lane set.
Cycling in the city can be stressful. Bike lanes make it a little easier…for everyone. Cars don’t need to swerve around us, pedestrians don’t have to deal with cyclists on the side walks and cyclists get a modicum of safety. That safety dissipates when when cyclists are forces into traffic. Yes most roads are mixed-use but if drivers are not paying attention, and lets be honest some of them are not, they will not see that cyclists are then forced into the lane with them.
Besides, it is not a parking lane. Sure the postie who parked here might have just been a minute; but what about this film crew taking up the lane for their cameras, from the Toronto Star by Jack Lakey:
Apparently the film crew has a permit. What about TTC buses photographed by James D. Schwartz:
There are thousands of examples… One cyclist in NYC had this response to the whole blocked bike lane issue. He received a ticket for not being in the bike lane. It’s a little silly, but proves a point.
So please stop parking in bike lanes. It’s where I ride my bike.