Quote of the Day: “Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.” Thomas Sowell
On Page A3, in bold, 36 point font, we have a headline that screams “Temporary bike lanes boosted cycling traffic 41 per cent”. Really? Catherine Thompson reports on the findings in a study by the Region regarding the disastrous bike lanes they put up on major streets. But of course, she doesn’t let us know where the study is published. I found it in the agenda of the Region for Tuesday’s meeting starting on page 57 here: https://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Council/Detail/2020-12-08-0900-Committee-of-the-Whole Of course, the 41% is bogus since they calculate it by taking the pre-bike lane number for the specific sections and then compare that to the number of cyclists using the bike lanes when the temporary lanes were up. So, think about it. If you are cycling to get somewhere in the Region, you would naturally take the fastest and/or the safest route. If you wanted to get downtown Waterloo and lived in the west end part of the city, you probably wouldn’t take Bridgeport Road to get there due to traffic. But if there was a blocked off section of Bridgeport Road, then maybe you would ride on that street. In fact, it appears that 41% more people did just that. However, that doesn’t mean that “Temporary bike lanes boosted cycling traffic 41 per cent”, now does it? If simply means that some cyclists decided to use the bike lanes instead of using an alternate route. Now if they measured the total number of cyclists using all streets in the Region and that total number or even the total number of kilometres cycled was up by 41%, that would be a major accomplishment. But measuring the before and during picture is just false. Oh, and one thing that Thompson conveniently forgot to mention in the report is that: “The inclusion of permanent cycling facilities on each of the roads where temporary bike lanes were added this past summer will be considered as part of the upcoming planning for construction improvements as part of the Transportation Capital Program. Project teams assigned to these projects will consider “road diets” and other means in which to incorporate new permanent bike facilities into these projects.” So, these bike lanes may become permanent. Nice!!!
There has been a deluge of articles and op-eds at TheRecord, all one sided of course, that condemn the Ford government reigning in the 36 conservation authorities in Bill 229. The editorial today also joins the parade and calls the bill a “bulldozer” that has “flattened the GRCA”. Well, I’ve only dealt with the GRCA twice in my life, both times as a volunteer for a children’s outdoor recreation facility that uses space along the Grand. Both times have been complete disasters in dealing with these brutal, dictatorial, little asses. I say anything that diminishes their abusive power, is clearly a good thing. And I just love the opening paragraph in the editorial: “Doug Ford has just issued an open invitation for developers to run roughshod over the Grand River watershed and the one million people to live in it.” Over the top? Well, not if you’re and editorial writer at TheRecord.