EnigManiac

In an effort to reduce the number of cars downtown, CTV news reported city council is expected to announce toll roads, expansion of public transit and 400 km of new bike lanes.

Sure would be nice if allegedly pro-cycling, pro-green Mayor Miller of Toronto would follow suit. He'll never achieve his dream of Toronto being the greenest city on Earth until he takes direct aim at discouraging car use in downtown Toronto and actively making driving downtown prohibitive.

gerv 

Montreal is probably the most bike-friendly city in North America. This should really put it over the top. There have been a bunch of links showing YouTube videos of biking in Montreal

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...light=montreal

Scroll down to post #44

Dahon.Steve

The motorist is always getting hit with some new expense whether it's gas taxes, tolls, insurnace increases etc. You have to believe they are looking for new revenue sources because the cost of building and maintaining roads continues to increase each year. The poor motorist is constantly having to shell out more of his money for costs that are getting out of control.

I read the other day, motorists are paying $1,000 dollars more this year than they did two years ago due to high fuel prices. What they didn't include where the higher price of new cars, tolls and insurance. How much is the motorist paying to drive is incredible.

wahoonc

Nope not "the poor" motorist...they are finally starting to pay for what they use. And IMHO it is only going to get worse. So they had better get used to it.

Aaron

Wogster

A good place to start would be to add a new tax class, parking, this would have a higher tax rate then undeveloped land, and force a lot of commercial lots to significantly bump their rates, and might force a lot of private "free" lots to either disappear or to become commercial lots, at the same time, reduce the parking requirement where buildings need to provide parking based on the floor area, instead of 1 spot for every 3 m² of floor area, make it 1 spot for every 10 m² of floor area, then later reduce it to 1 spot for every 25 m² of floor area. At the same time, spaces that are dedicated to human powered vehicles, are exempt from the new taxes, and requirements.

Roody

You mean get better ..... from our point of view.

I'm hoping the see something like this soon in the USA, the Mighty Fortress of the Car Culture. As usual, Canada is a few years ahead of her southern neighbor (Or neighbour, eh?)

EnigManiac

Drive less. Drive much less. Don't drive at all. There are alternatives.

EnigManiac

A budding hoser, if ever I saw one. Won't be long before you understand all the intracacies of hockey, Lacrosse and Curling, drink Tim Horton's coffee and nominating Blue Rodeo as the greatest country roots band of all time.

Gojohnnygo.

Once again I need to visit my all time favorite big city Montreal, Quebec for some cycling. Thinking of a four day tour there and back. Half day to get there(By Bike) and three days to explore Montreal's bike paths.

maddyfish

Take the taxes, tolls, subsidies, and government costs out of everything, let private buisness take over the whole mess, and then see what you've got. Usually the most sensible solution will then come to the top through attrition.

EnigManiac

Oh, believe me, I've written to the mayor and other city councillors numerous times proposing a number of ideas now that the city has the authority to impose taxes on businesses and residents of the city. Among them are:

* $2.00 per car tax in privately owned and city-owned lots.
* $1.00 per hour increase in parking meter rates.
* The elemination of parking entirely on some routes such as our primary east-west corridor as it features a subway line from one end to the other.
* Installation of bike lanes on that same routes (The Tooker Line)
* Closing some other downtown routes to cars entirely.
* Property tax reduction for car-free families.
* Tax rebates, similar to those given to residents who buy a metropass every month, for cyclists who can show they use their bicycle for all or most of their travel needs in the city.

Gojohnnygo.

I'm just wondering how far behind we are? It's some what scary to see a nation that close to us come up with solutions When are country stands here and does nothing.

Roody

"Most sensible solution" for who? Oh I see--"private business." Why in the hell do you think that private business would voluntarily come up with the most sensible solution? It's far more likely that they'll come up with the solution that maximizes their own profits, and to hell with everybody else.

Domromer

man I'm glad somebody said it!!!

Tom Stormcrowe

You say that like it's a bad thing?

EnigManiac

I swear on my toque, those are never bad things!

jeff-o

I already find driving in downtown Toronto to be a total nightmare...

EnigManiac

Actually, I don't find it too bad, but then, after 25 years, I'm used to it.

There are routes I avoid, because the roads are narrow and motorists tend to believe they are participating in the Toronto Indy or something. There are many secondary streets that are less congested and more attractive to use. One-way residential streets are often ideal. Sometimes it takes trial and error to find the best routes, but they exist and once you know them, riding in Toronto becomes a much more enjoyable experience.

jeff-o

Ah, but that's riding. I was talking about driving. All those one-way streets and "don't turn left here" and whatnot. It makes Google Maps practically useless. I try to avoid the downtown if I can, when I visit T.O. I'd much rather park on the outskirts and take the subway into the core.

EnigManiac

Thanks. We'd much rather you do that too.

Roody

Much better -- take the train from your town to Toronto, then use subway while you're in Toronto.

jeff-o

Also a possibility. Too bad the tickets are so pricey.

Edit: I just checked, it's $57 CDN round trip. That's *almost* worth it for one person, but with passengers in a car it isn't.

jeff-o

Yeah, I realize that out-of-towners can be a menace. You're welcome.

cerewa

Woohoo, Montreal! Montreal does indeed have an excess of car traffic and I would love to hear that they reduced rush-hour car-use in favor of bikes and public transit.

AtomicCactus

Hang on a second...Mayor Katz pledges Winnipeg to be the greenest city!

And yet, we have some of the shoddiest cycling facilities in all of North America .

But this Montreal place sounds nice, even if they do parlez en francais. Sounds like a visit is in order.