so fucking dumb
Yup. Unsurprising given Ford’s track record.
Provincial government taking away municipal infrastructure? wtf?
The problem when the bike lanes were put in, is that they kept the parking. So one person turning either direction blocks movement as there is no room left for turn lanes.
They blame the bike lanes, but no one blames street parking. The claim is that no parking will put companies out of business, but the same decision made gridlock traffic worse which is presumably worse for business.
Street parking never helps traffic, bike usage does. So tear out bike lanes? Genius.
That’s not really true. Most of the arteries with bike lanes like Bloor, College, Davenport, etc. explicitly don’t have parking at the corners and have the extra turn lanes.
Bloor is always the example.
WHY do you people keep voting for Ford?!
They dont vote at all. Province is full of idiots.
The people who are voting for Ford are rural and suburban people who have only driven a car their entire lives to get to school, work, groceries, etc. Most of Ontario is not walkable or bikeable. So if you’ve only ever gotten places by driving in a car your whole life, why would you want bike lanes? Why not just get a car? Source: I lived in suburban hell my whole life until 2015. Literally nobody gave a shit about any transportation method other than their car.
Yeah, honestly, you don’t have to go that far to get to a point where biking becomes hellish. By the time you hit St. Clair the cycling network is already sparse, which in turn makes driving easier / necessary, which then makes people more car focused.
It’s a feedback loop problem that can go either direction. I genuinely think that Ford and his friends are just fucking morons and don’t understand how self defeating they’re being in the long run.
So if you’ve only ever gotten places by driving in a car your whole life, why would you want bike lanes?
Because bike lanes get the cyclists out of the car drivers’ way. No bike lane = cars stuck behind the bike.
Bike lanes are car infrastructure, not bike infrastructure. If it weren’t for cars, bike lanes wouldn’t be necessary.
not buying a car is an attack on Canadian Auto Workers
Then I have been waging war for decades
Well, a few reasons. In the 2022 election Ontario had a voter turnout of 44%, meaning whoever gets chosen, it’s not by “most people” because most people didn’t even show up. Of those who did, 40% of votes were cast for Ford’s party. So in terms of popular vote and raw numbers, about 18% of valid electors actually checked a box next to a Conservative candidate. Doesn’t that feel kinda weird?
From the 40% of votes that were cast for a Conservative candidate, they received 68% of the seats. So even among the Ontarians that voted, 54% of them voted for someone left of Conservative and instead we got 68% Conservative representatives in parliament.
Of the places that voted for Conservative, most of them had relatively low population. Unsurprisingly, if you look at a map of Ontario for the riding results by colour, you can basically see where all the population centres are because they are the ones that aren’t blue. So, as a concrete example, the places he’s removing bike lanes are predominantly not places he was votes for.
To conclude, basically we don’t vote for him. But he wins anyway due to structural bullshit, a lack of proportional representation, and then a bunch of apathy likely brought on by a lack of representation.
Let me guess “he tells it like it is!” and “I just feel like I could sit down and have a beer with him”
He’s old, white, fat and stupid. Lots of people identify with him.
Fucking hell your dad/uncle/brother/whomever says this too?
Yeah :(
Toronto loves anyone with Ford next to their name.
Because beer is $1 now. Nobody fact check that.
This is a great article looking into the evidence regarding the impact of bike lanes on traffic in Toronto. It turns out, there’s no clear relationship. This would matter if Doug Ford wasn’t science illiterate.
(I realize this is paywalled, but maybe some people have access.)
He is also the one who’s destroying the science centre so yeah, wouldn’t say he is.
We need better middle ground politicians and politics. Kathleen Wynn wasn’t some amazing choice either back then, I voted for her though in the first term and wasn’t happy with the second. Then I switched to Ford and despite some stuff being okay, its shit like this that blows my mind in anger.
As a native (former) Torontonian and suburban guy who lives and works in the same community now, I love the bike lanes but there aren’t enough. And when I drive I’m glad they exist for the cyclists.
Destroying? Destroyed. The new centre will be some card tables and a ream of paper for folding airplanes.
Sure, not arguing that. I’m literally saying he isn’t science literate since hes destroyed the science centre per the comment above
you know toronto is my fantasy city and this is spoiling it.
I’ve biked a ton downtown Toronto. Its both exhilarating and dangerous. You have to be very focus, aware, and confident.
Toronto is a good city with many flaws like anywhere in the world.
