Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigtime
Calgary sucks. Sure we always boast about having the most amount of pathways in North America or something like that, but the fact of the matter is that most of that pathway is completely useless to the bike commuter.
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Thank you! One of my personal pet peeves is when people bring up the amoutn of pathways when it comes to bicycle infrastructure. These paths generally do not take you where you want to go in the most efficient way. Even the river pathways aren't all that efficient. The same problem exists in Ottawa which has a pathway system fairly similar to Calgary. On average I could shave 10 minutes biking downtown from my apartment right on the river by taking surface streets that went in straight line. This meant a 15 minute vs 25 minute commute.
Toronto is an interesting case when it comes to cycling. The actual bike infrastructure is pretty lackluster. There are a number of inner-city streets with decent bike lanes but nothing separated like Montreal. On some of these routes you still have to contend with parked cars and the threat of the infamous door prize.
On the other hand the general attitude towards biking and awareness of drivers is much better than other cities I've biked in. I basically have no problems biking anywhere south of Eglinton, which is a considerable area to say the least. Now there are a few streets I will avoid, such as Dufferin and Yonge, but on the whole it's pretty good. Oddly enough I enjoy the presence of streetcars for biking despite the dangers of the tracks. One of the worst things in Ottawa about biking on surface streets were the frequent buses that pull all the way over to the curb and are quite dangerous. Streetcars stay put in the middle of the street and set the speed of traffic nicely for biking. Just have to make sure to stop when the doors open.
The city really needs to catch up on proper bike infrastructure and the tide seems to be turning in that direction. Of course there is considerable backlash against this with ridiculous accusations of a "war on cars" that is reaching a head now with the recent death of a bike courier by Michael Bryant. It's kind of pathetic really. On the plus side most people I talk to (car owners included) seem supportive of bike infrastructure and it seems to just be a vocal minority that are vehemently opposed.