[scamander24]

Wouldn't they have also blocked the southbound lane too if that was the reason

If I recall correctly, they did. On Wellington and Simcoe the entire southbound lane on Simcoe had a giant fence blocking everything. There was an opening for the northbound contraflow lane though, and southbound bicyclists were using it as well. (Better than going on the sidewalk I suppose.) There are also "Walk your bike" and "cyclists dismount" signs everywhere, although they're very unnoticeable. There are also a lot of other things blocking the bike lanes, not just the valet, like the giant screen just south of King across from the VISA booth.

 

[ShonTron]

Here's the GTHA's first major bi-directional protected bike route, on Cannon Street in Hamilton. There was a strong social media campaign, called #yeswecannon, that helped get this built on a busy one-way street.

Cannon Street Bike Route by https://www.flickr.com/people/7119320@N05/, on Flickr

Cannon Street Bike Route by https://www.flickr.com/people/7119320@N05/, on Flickr

Cannon Street Bike Route by https://www.flickr.com/people/7119320@N05/, on Flickr

 

[WislaHD]

Now that is something I'd like to see in Toronto.

 

[BurlOak]

Now that is something I'd like to see in Toronto.

Maybe the lane could turn into a parking or traffic lane during the winter when it would otherwise get not use.

 

[PinkLucy]

People do ride year round, you know.

 

[the lemur]

People do ride year round, you know.

Especially if the lanes are plowed, and these look like they'd be easy to plow with a Bobcat. In fact the resulting windrow + bollards would make for good separation.

I think these lanes in Hamilton have an additional type of separation in the form of ridges - I'll see if I can find a photo.

 

[reaperexpress]

Especially if the lanes are plowed, and these look like they'd be easy to plow with a Bobcat. In fact the resulting windrow + bollards would make for good separation.

I think these lanes in Hamilton have an additional type of separation in the form of ridges - I'll see if I can find a photo.

The lanes are indeed planned to be plowed. Hamilton has a program for winter bicycle infrastructure maintenance, though in my experience its effectiveness is limited by the fact that most of the infrastructure is painted bicycle lanes so it gets dirty from car tire spray within hours of being cleaned.

At the ridiculously long council meeting to approve this project, a solid proportion of the discussion was about how to best maintain them in winter. The road operations department was concerned that snow ploughs will accidentally uproot significant numbers of bollards, so they preferred a continuous linear segregation (like a temporary concrete curb). However, as you can see, the decision was to stay with bollards and merely allocate a fund for replacing them. There was also the discussion for what to do with the snow, given that there isn't anywhere to put the snow from the main roadway. The decision was to include a snow removal budget as well.

So to sum up, this is great as a 3 year pilot project, but it is not a financially sustainable design for permanent infrastructure. A permanent design would look more like the under-construction bicycle path on Queens Quay. There will be enough room to store snow (avoiding expensive snow-removal costs), and it will practical for maintenance vehicles to drive along without risk of damaging it.

 

[the lemur]

The lanes are indeed planned to be plowed. Hamilton has a program for winter bicycle infrastructure maintenance, though in my experience its effectiveness is limited by the fact that most of the infrastructure is painted bicycle lanes so it gets dirty from car tire spray within hours of being cleaned.

At the ridiculously long council meeting to approve this project, a solid proportion of the discussion was about how to best maintain them in winter. The road operations department was concerned that snow ploughs will accidentally uproot significant numbers of bollards, so they preferred a continuous linear segregation (like a temporary concrete curb). However, as you can see, the decision was to stay with bollards and merely allocate a fund for replacing them. There was also the discussion for what to do with the snow, given that there isn't anywhere to put the snow from the main roadway. The decision was to include a snow removal budget as well.

So to sum up, this is great as a 3 year pilot project, but it is not a financially sustainable design for permanent infrastructure. A permanent design would look more like the under-construction bicycle path on Queens Quay. There will be enough room to store snow (avoiding expensive snow-removal costs), and it will practical for maintenance vehicles to drive along without risk of damaging it.

This is the other kind of separation I was referring to: a rubber curb. Not sure how high it is or how it'll stand up to plowing, but might be interesting to see if it works in Toronto as well:

 

[W. K. Lis]

TTC buses can carry two bicycles on their racks. See link.

California Governor Brown Signs Bill Allowing 3-Bike Racks on Longer Buses


See link:

Governor Brown Signs Bill Allowing 3-Bike Racks on Longer Buses in CA

by Melanie Curry
Under a new law California law, transit agencies are now allowed greater use of racks that carry three bikes, like this one on L.A. Metro’s Orange Line BRT. Photo by Ensie via Flickr

California transit agencies are now allowed greater use of bus-mounted bike racks that hold three bicycles. Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 2707 Tuesday, a bill authored Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) to allow 40-foot-long buses to be equipped with folding bike racks that can carry up to three bikes.

It was the first bill signed by the governor this year that’s on Streetsblog’s unofficial watch list of bills related to sustainable transportation.

Current law restricts the length of vehicles equipped with bike racks on California roads to a maximum length of 40 feet. An exception was created for AC Transit in the Bay Area, after legislation was passed several years ago to allow the agency to exceed the length limit when it added three-bike racks to the front of its buses.

Another bill in the most recent legislative session was aimed at creating a similar exception for Santa Cruz, but it was dropped when L.A. Metro came forward with A.B. 2707 to change the law throughout the state. Metro will soon receive a large order of 40-foot buses, and thanks to the new law, will be able to expand its bike-carrying capacity on the majority of its fleet.

“It’s a major, major gain. I’m terrifically happy this made it through the system,†said Bart Reed of the Transit Coalition, which had been pushing local legislators to address the issue since 2012. “If a bus only comes by every half hour, then there’s only space for four bikes every hour. People were being left stranded. This bill will enhance capacity by another half.â€

A sticking point in 2012 was pushback from operator unions, who wanted a say in when and how the longer bike racks are used. Until now, exceptions to the 40-foot rule have allowed three-bike racks on buses up to 60 feet long, but only after approval from a Route Review Committee that must include representatives of the transit agency, the driver’s union, and an engineer.

“The Route Review Committee is required to convene and unanimously approve every route for triple bike racks,†said Michael Turner of Metro. “Our concern is that we have over 100 bus routes, with over 2,000 buses in service. We want to work with our operators, but it’s not good policy to give them veto authority; it’s also not practical, given the size of our operations.â€

Since Metro the Route Review Committee requirement has only been applied to 45- and 60-foot buses, the agency has thus far focused on placing three-bike racks on the 40-foot buses that make up a large part of their fleet.
“Bike use has been growing, and we’ve seen more demand, especially on our rail system,†said Turner.

Think its time that the TTC check out three bicycle racks for their buses.

 

[BurlOak]

Maybe it would be nice if each bus had a hitch to tow a car, and a platform for a motorbike too.

 

[reaperexpress]

TTC buses can carry two bicycles on their racks. See link.

California Governor Brown Signs Bill Allowing 3-Bike Racks on Longer Buses


See link:



Think its time that the TTC check out three bicycle racks for their buses.

When I was in Los Angeles, I noticed that it was remarkably common for people to bring bikes onto transit - even more so than in Copenhagen, where the S-Tog is covered in bike symbols. My best guess is that the explanation is their longer distances, awful arterial roads and faster transit routes. It also could be that they have a much worse last-mile problem that we do (poor frequencies of connecting bus routes) and/or their bicycle parking at bus or train stations is not as good.

The only advantage 3-bike racks have over 2-bike racks is that they carry another bicycle. So unless we are actually seeing problems with racks being full, there is absolutely no point in looking into 3-bike racks.

 

[scamander24]

TO's newest cycle tracks, on the offramp from Queens Park Crescent to Wellesley:

 

[bartekci]

Woah! Separation by cement curb! And it's not sloped or anything silly. This is very pleasing to see.

 

[P23]

How is that intended to be used? It seems like cyclists still need to cross 2 lanes to get to it when coming from both Hoskin or South down Queen's Park. Will there be an advance bicycle signal or something?

 

[the lemur]

How is that intended to be used? It seems like cyclists still need to cross 2 lanes to get to it when coming from both Hoskin or South down Queen's Park. Will there be an advance bicycle signal or something?

I think the idea is that at the end of the Hoskin cycle track there will be a crossing for bikes and peds (north of where the triangular island was), but I don't think there will be anything added for cyclists coming south on Queen's Park from Bloor, unfortunately.