[steveintoronto]

I would have preferred a more robust separation than just bollards, which a driver can easily run over if they're careless.

You really have to wonder "what are they thinking?" when making the bollards so ineffective, almost a vicious joke, in terms of offering 'safety to cyclists'. They won't even stop a bicycle speeding out of control, let alone a motorized vehicle!

Perhaps they first considered coloured party balloons, and realized that they might scare motorists when they burst....,

 

[W. K. Lis]

Why bollards, or preferably something more robust, is needed to separate bike lanes from motor vehicles, parked or otherwise.

See link.

 

[mdrejhon]

Why bollards, or preferably something more robust, is needed to separate bike lanes from motor vehicles, parked or otherwise.

Not just knockdowns or bollards...

Distinctive features, like green color for bike lanes, helps a lot in the situation of parking-protected bike lanes:

(New York City!)

 

[TheTigerMaster]

From this Torontoist article:

A recent count by Bells on Bloor volunteers documented a total of 1,519 vehicles on Bloor (at Spadina) between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.. Of these vehicles, 660—or 43 per cent of the total—were bicycles.

http://torontoist.com/2016/10/bike-lanes-now-popular-toronto/

 

[W. K. Lis]

From this Torontoist article:

A recent count by Bells on Bloor volunteers documented a total of 1,519 vehicles on Bloor (at Spadina) between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.. Of these vehicles, 660—or 43 per cent of the total—were bicycles.

http://torontoist.com/2016/10/bike-lanes-now-popular-toronto/

How many people in each vehicle type groups? Using the average 1.3 persons per motor vehicle, that means 858 humans in motor vehicle vs. 660 humans on bicycles (assuming no cargo trailers or baby carriers on the bicycles).

 

[PinkLucy]

Is that average valid for car traffic on Bloor?

Let's look at how much road space is taken up by those 858 humans in cars vs the 660 on bikes. Let's look at how much infrastructure wear and tear is caused by each group. Let's look at how much greenhouse gas emissions are created by each group. Let's look at the commute time and cost of each group. Let's look at how many people are just travelling through the area and for how many it is a final destination or has stops along the way.

There is lots we could look at and learn from!

 

[W. K. Lis]

Korea Town business owners ‘concerned’ about Bloor bike lanes’ impact

Some business owners in Korea Town say they’ve seen a drop in business since the Bloor St. bike lanes were installed.

See link.

They lost 135 on-street parking spaces. Did all drivers to those 135 spaces visit each and every store before the bicycle lanes?

Last month advocacy group Cycle Toronto counted 893 bicycles in the lane during a two-and-a-half-hour morning period, an increase of almost 300 per cent compared to three years ago.

As more bicyclists use those lanes, wouldn't they get more people, not vehicles?

 

[ADRM]

Korea Town business owners ‘concerned’ about Bloor bike lanes’ impact

Some business owners in Korea Town say they’ve seen a drop in business since the Bloor St. bike lanes were installed.

See link.

They lost 135 on-street parking spaces. Did all drivers to those 135 spaces visit each and every store before the bicycle lanes?



As more bicyclists use those lanes, wouldn't they get more people, not vehicles?

Yeah, this is just a stupid article. Like painfully so.

 

[salsa]

Yeah, this is just a stupid article. Like painfully so.

Businesses on top of a subway line depend heavily on on-street parking in front of their establishments.

 

[ADRM]

Businesses on top of a subway line depend heavily on on-street parking in front of their establishments.

Even if that was substantiated by fact, that would still be fine, because the entire area covered by the Bloor bike lanes pilot is oversupplied with Green P parking.

 

[PinkLucy]

Businesses on top of a subway line depend heavily on on-street parking in front of their establishments.

From the article: Previous research by the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation found that only 10 per cent of visitors to the Annex arrive by car. If numbers were similar in Korea Town, it would suggest that the removal of on-street parking would have limited impact.

 

[salsa]

From the article: Previous research by the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation found that only 10 per cent of visitors to the Annex arrive by car. If numbers were similar in Korea Town, it would suggest that the removal of on-street parking would have limited impact.

It's not me who needs convincing. It's the business owners who care so much about their profits yet they are unable to figure out that their own darn customers are not arriving by car.

 

[steveintoronto]

There's another element missing from this story, and I thought I was seeing this happening a while back, but walking through Bloor West Village this afternoon, it really struck me: Storefront vacancies across town are up, way up. What these businesses in Korea Town might be seeing is just a general malaise in retail shopping right now.

What astounds me is the number of vacancies in areas where you couldn't find one two years ago! It's nothing to do with bike-lines, it's to do with evolving marketing, and in this case, the bike lanes get the blame.

Canadian retail sales disappoint as consumers take pause
Leah Schnurr


OTTAWA — Reuters

Published Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 8:52AM EDT

Last updated Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 11:14AM EDT
Canadian retail sales unexpectedly fell in June, reinforcing expectations that growth contracted in the second quarter as the economic malaise hit the consumer, who has been a key pillar of support in recent years.

Separately, the annual inflation rate cooled as expected in July, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Friday, pulled down by cheaper gasoline prices, even as the cost of food and shelter climbed.

The 0.1 per cent decline in June retail sales was well short of economists’ expectations for a 0.5 per cent gain. May’s sales were revised down to show no change from an initially reported 0.2 per cent gain.

“It just suggests that maybe the Canadian consumer is growing a bit tired of carrying the burden of growth,” said David Watt, chief economist at HSBC.
[...]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...es-unexpectedly-fall-in-june/article31462946/

 

[muller877]

There's another element missing from this story, and I thought I was seeing this happening a while back, but walking through Bloor West Village this afternoon, it really struck me: Storefront vacancies across town are up, way up. What these businesses in Korea Town might be seeing is just a general malaise in retail shopping right now.

What astounds me is the number of vacancies in areas where you couldn't find one two years ago! It's nothing to do with bike-lines, it's to do with evolving marketing, and in this case, the bike lanes get the blame.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...es-unexpectedly-fall-in-june/article31462946/

There are a few main reasons for retail vacancies (and in particular Bloor West).
(1) Rent increases. Commercial leases can be a 10+5+5 term with inflationary adjustments only. I have talked with one leaseholder whose lease was expiring. Quadrupled in price. And it is quite common for a commercial vacancy to sit for months before it is picked up.
(2) Condos. The commercial landlord may be looking to build a condo and they only want month-to-month leases.
(3) Changing neighbourhood. Bloor is changing with a new younger demographic moving in. With it the older stores that don't change with their customer base won't survive. This is happening all the way along Bloor

 

[steveintoronto]

There are a few main reasons for retail vacancies (and in particular Bloor West).

All excellent points, although I think many of those buildings pushing out previous tenants to charge more might end-up regretting their actions, but that's fodder for another forum.

What the real danger is here is the press reporting the bike lanes as the culprit. Now I have serious issues with the way the present Bloor lanes have been designed and implemented, but that does not detract from legitimacy of the lanes being there. And we have to do everything possible to mitigate the press using this as a cudgel. The Stun and Pest are the most likely to do this.

Kudos to Kolb: [Kolb said Cycle Toronto is planning a “bike-to-shop” campaign in the next few weeks that will encourage bicyclists to patronize local retailers.] I just might be part of that. Painless PR is the best.