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End Of Week Wrap-Up & Quote Of The Week 2

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Traffic Jam – Photo courtesy of Nic Sedlock 

Although bicycle transportation is often the most reliable and efficient mode of transportation in a city, it doesn’t mean it is perfect 100% of the time. Musician Dave Matthews highlighted this when his bike broke down while out on a ride prior to his concert last Saturday. Luckily, he was picked up by a fan who was coincidentally on her way to the Dave Matthews concert.

But bicycles certainly came in handy earlier this week when a pair of Pennsylvania teens chased down a car containing a kidnapped 5-year-old, cornering the driver and forcing him to release the girl.

On Thursday we highlighted how the illegal installation of bike infrastructure in Seattle led not to scorn, but instead it led to a polite letter from a Department of Transportation engineer and a permanent installation of bike infrastructure.

Our quote of the week comes from Canadian author Taras Grescoe:

Oswald Spengler quote

If you missed it, last week we reviewed New York’s “Citi Bike” bike share system, and concluded that it will change New York for the better. While cars in Toronto were submerged in floods, we noted that it was just another ordinary day for bicyclists. We were recently on CBC Radio and last week we posted our segment, called “The Slothful Cyclist”.

Have a great weekend everyone. Will be back on the air again next week. Happy pedalling!

James D. Schwartz is the Editor of The Urban Country and is based in Toronto, Canada. You can contact James at james.schwartz@theurbancountry.com or follow him on Twitter.

i share the road

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2 thoughts on “End Of Week Wrap-Up & Quote Of The Week

  1. Kevin Love Jul 21,2013 6:40 am

    According to the Ministry of Transportation, car drivers in 2008 were not travellilng very fast in Toronto.

    And excerpt from:

    http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/01/09/12401501-sun.html

    “According to a transportation ministry traffic report, the average speed of a car travelling south on Spadina between Bloor St. and Lake Shore Blvd. during the evening rush hour is just 11 km/h.

    On Adelaide St. between Bathurst St. and Yonge St. in the late-day rush, the average speed of a vehicle is just 13 km/h.”

    Several other examples are also given in the article.

    Bottom line: Driving a car in Toronto is insanely slow.

    So why do more people not cycle, since cycling is faster, easier and more convenient?

    The answer to that question is that it is just too dangerous. To quote my 75-year old mother, “At my age I am not playing tag with two-tonne lethal weapons.”

    All we need is proper Dutch-style protected infrastructure to watch our bike mode share go through the roof!

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