So I crashed by bike yesterday. Normally that is no big deal, but I did it while riding along Queen St. East attempting to turn left. Now if this has ever happened to you, you know there is little time to react. One minute you’re spinning along and the next you’re eye level with an ant. The crash broke the mirror on the bike, and scraped up my knee and elbow. The worst however is that it jammed up my shoulder, which has torn rotator cuffs to begin with and now I have trouble lifting my left arm. And all of this because of the the damn tracks. And I got lucky, apart from the homeless guy who berated me for crashing my bike no one else was around. No cars around me.
Now I know I am not the first cyclist to bail on these things; I have seen others do it as well. But what I can’t figure out is why we keep the street cars in the first place. Ever seen this:
Of course you have. Probably while waiting for one.
The main problem with streetcars is that they are tied to the tracks. It makes it impossible for them to pull over and out of the way for emergency vehicles. I have lost count the number of times I have seen ambulances slowed by drivers attempting to get out of the way but having streetcars impede them. They can’t leapfrog each other which means that during rush hour the first one gets packed with people while the others remain relatively empty and it slows down the entire system since the one with all the people as to stop at every stop. And when there is construction they need to turn wherever there are tracks to get around it.
The tracks require a huge amount of maintenance, since the metal expands in the Summer and shrinks in the Winter causing stress in the pavement. AND the tracks are a hazard to cyclists.
Now the TTC has awarded Bombarier the streetcar contract reportedly valued at between 1.25 Billion and 3 Billion.
Now I understand Toronto has a people moving problem, most major cities do, so why don’t we focus on alternatives, dedicated bike lanes that are separated from the car traffic. They do it in China.
I am not going to let one little accident stop me from riding. If I did I would have stopped riding a long time ago. What I will try to do is be more vigilant and press the City of Toronto for safer streets for cyclists. With the depression/recession cycling should be an easy sell.