Last year, Toronto City Council voted to remove the bike lanes on Jarvis Street. This was done without any public consultation, without the support of the local Councillor and against the advice of City Staff. It was a political move that puts the safety of hundreds of cyclists at risk. Luckily, the bike lanes have not yet been removed.
I’m working on a project, with Cycle Toronto, called ‘Drivers for Jarvis‘. We want to show that the debate about Jarvis Street isn’t about cyclists vs drivers. It’s about safety vs rhetoric. It’s about sharing the road vs hogging the road. It’s about common sense.
Jarvis, in it’s current formation, is a Complete Street that works for everyone. Cyclists know it. Pedestrians know it. And yes, even drivers know it.
If you’re a driver, and you support safe streets for ALL users, please get in touch. Thanks!
You can see all these pics on the Cycle Toronto website as well.
PS: A big Thank You to Yvonne Bambrick for being the official photographer of Drivers for Jarvis.
Mez Dispenser 
Jarvis is fine as it is. Let’s ‘cut the waste’ and leave it alone.
it is looking like every decision made early on in the Ford administration is ripe for a “reLook”; the current mood at council is not about wasting in excess of $200,00 on removing a City asset for all the wrong reasons!
Given the, um, shifting landscape at City Council, is it worth revisiting this?
Yes.
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Dave, I think this is a fantastic idea. I think you’re on to something here! Perhaps the residents of Toronto are not as polarised as we are so often portrayed to be?
Great Idea… I love driving and anything to make it easier sounds good to me. Having part of the road marked out for bikes tells me what to expect and tells bikers they should expect from me. It’s a cheap and easy way to make driving a bit more enjoyable in busy Toronto.
Thanks Martin! Would you like to join the campaign? Get in touch: dave@pigeonhat.ca
Absolutely right timing on this campaign. It does look like council has realized that Rob Ford is wrong in his vision for the city, doesn’t have the public support for his policies that he thinks, and can be successfully opposed. It is clear that removing the bike lanes on Jarvis is a waste of money, and a step backwards that we will just end up fixing again later.
Well done Dave and the Bike Union!
I ride a Brand X “Generico” bicycle, and I drive a car.
Why is it that people who ride bikes say that they ride “a bike”, but drivers like to say that they drive a “manufacturer’s ‘brand'” car. There’s not really a lot of differences between cars when you’re driving them.
Why does it matter what type of bike or what type of car we use?
Why does each person in the video have to explain what type of car they drive?
What am I missing something critical by not knowing why these car types are important?
I both bike and drive. I’m wondering why bike lanes are not put on minor streets parallel to the major streets? Eg, Dupont lost a car lane to a bike lane about 2 years ago. Parallel Shanley St to the south is a nice one to bike on (much less traffic), so why not have put the lane there?
Shanly? Isn’t Shanly only six blocks long?
Because Peter, Shanley is a quiet street due to its lack of businesses and places where people congregate. People bike on Dupont for the same reason they drive; to go to these places. Therefore Dupont needs a lane to separate bikes from cars.
I love that you have reached out to car drivers in this campaign. It makes sense to bridge the divide that has been created by city hall on this supposed ‘war on cars’ being waged by cyclists. Great initiative.
This will definitely be ripe for a revisit when council sees that little to nothing has been done to bring any usable cycling infrastructure to Sherbourne. That street is a mess.
Well said, Brand X Generico Rider: “I ride a Brand X “Generico” bicycle, and I drive a car”.
I ride a 2007 DeVinci Melbourne with an Arkel bag and sometimes drive my son’s car. I ride TTC too and walk.
Woo! Go Dave!
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I love these smear technique adverts.First question:IF ANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE THE ONE THAT USE THIS ROAD(Jarvis) ON DAILY COMMUTE TO WORK???Second anyone YOUNGER THAN 50? Please, these people support this for one reason only, for their 30 something “kids” And their own “kids” can press “like” button on computer…I bike(I was Door-ed 2 times once in Hospital guy opened a door to me,second time “oversized” lady opened door so she can get out ),I drive, I walk… BUT I have a problem that in land of 3-4 months of bike friendly weather, we need to scarify already congested city core for handful of cyclist.So we have situation here where “poor cyclist” without voice and rights TERRORIZE this city.This is MY personal observation.
First CYCLISTS if you want to SHARE THE ROAD learn that YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN PART AND PAY THE TAXES.We need system in place like in some USA cities where bike REGISTRATION is needed.If you want that bike lane PAY FOR IT.Do not ask for already overtaxed drivers do it for you.Nothing in this life comes for free…Also LICENSE PLATE or a vest with a clearly indicated plate number to be worn.If I get caught with a red light camera why cyclist does not get recognizes and punished.If cyclist ride in one way street in opposite direction, why that behavior is not punished.Why when car is stopped riders often try to squeeze between that sidewalk and a car, especially when turning(have “zombies” eaten your brains)???Why when arriving to intersection on red, riders without dismounting continue to ride on the green light for the traffic that have green light(this is unfortunately 25$ fine).Why does police does not crack this??Why there is no training for CYCLIST???If I had to go for drivers training, why there is no one for cyclist???I think that 200 hard core cyclist that probably go to work on bike, every day, can not held hostage city of Toronto of 3 Million people…There is no ground for that.Get on the sidewalk where you belong, or a bike path where I cycle, and feel free from those “horrible” cars…boo hoo.
Wow, that’s a lot of ALL CAPS and bad spelling, but still a high ratio of stupid per character. Lots of things wrong with your logic.
Cyclists are taxed. We live in this city, we pay taxes. What makes you think we don’t, the gas taxes? Those go to highways cyclists can’t use. Now, how about those commuters that drive in from the ‘burbs and pay taxes in other municipalities?
Agreed there should be better enforcement at red lights, rather than useless blitzes pulling over every cyclist to “check for bells and light”.
Bike licensing has been tried many times in this city, you can read for yourself on the city’s website. Educate yourself and maybe you can drop a few ??? from the end of each sentence.
We need less cars on the roads in this city, bottom line. And for me and many others, there are 12 months of the year in this city that classify as bike friendly weather.
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