kanchan m

Also went into a bank today to open a joint bank account.
It was empty.
We were told we needed an appointment and had to talk to a real person who was "all booked up"...as we looked around at the empty bank.

We couldn't open the account.
🤷🏽‍♀️

Dec 6, 1989 I was starting exams for my 1st term of engineering school at @uwaterloo.ca
We heard about the murders on radio/TV, exams were postponed.

There was debate about what really happened & we didn't know he targeted only women, or why.
There is no debate now.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

They don't pass our interview process. 🚫

Hey transportation nerds, our latest City of a Toronto Lane width guidelines, first released in 2014, were released a few weeks ago, fill yer boots:

www.toronto.ca/wp-content/u...

There is no approval process for 3.0m or 3.3m as per the guidelines

We can just do it.

Traffic engineers design bike lanes 😉

The City's Open Data Unit is also here!

#OpenData #CivicTech

www.toronto.ca/city-governm...

We are finally in the good place

#BikeTO

This explains something that has always mystified me about drivers who rail against bike lanes and transit. Why WOULDN'T you want people to have options not to drive? It would make your own driving better! But they don't just want good traffic, they want to reinforce the NORM of driving

Jaywalking legalized in New York City after Mayor Eric Adams declines taking action The new law permits pedestrians to cross a roadway at any point, including outside of a crosswalk.

In Ontario, there is no offence in the HTA called "Jaywalking"

But municipalities can write their own bylaws

In the States, the term & the charge have a strong racial bias with 90% of 2023 tickets going to black & Latino people in NYC

It was legalized in NYC in 2024
nypost.com/2024/10/30/u...

Never forget, the term #Jaywalking is a made up thing and blaming pedestrians for being hit by drivers the result of a marketing campaign.

So is that 10,000 steps things.

Learn more on this 2023 podcast from CBCs Under The Influence

www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

I think if Canada wants to have a strong cultural identity we need to go back to doing what we're best at, making the weirdest fucking TV shows you've ever seen

In case it's relevant - Toronto just changed the sidewalk plowing policy for this winter. Sidewalks will now be plowed after the roadway, not before.

Blasting past rush hour traffic on the completed portion of Dufferin RapidTO (up to Dundas)

Accessibility

This is our flat parking curb standard I mentioned in a previous post
Then flex bollards are spaced 5.5-6m apart to encourage drivers to park properly and maximize the parking usage.
Because if you park right beside one of these, it may hit your door.

It works.

Visited the #BikeAtO Hoskin side this morning.
The new bike signals are in at St George with Leading Bike and Leading Pedestrian intervals in all directions.
New transit platforms, planters, bike boxes and curbs are all in.

A bit more line marking still to go.

I'm not taking on any more cases.

That's one of the powered stations that can charge ebikes.
Most can't .

There's another one at Spadina north of Bloor.
⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡

Thanks for the compliment.

But insisting on believing I have the power to rewrite or influence city communications policy or the interest in following your instructions is… impressively misinformed.

Strategic Public & Employee Communications The Strategic Public & Employee Communications division’s mission is to provide excellent communications services that ensure that the public, employees, media, national and international audiences ha...

You wrote that statement with such confidence, I assumed you knew what you were talking about.

www.toronto.ca/city-governm...

That is a question for SPEC, not for me.

These platforms allow TTC vehicles to stop in lane & allow accessible ramp deployments with a more level, consistent boarding for people with disabilities.

The island platforms minimize potential conflicts between pedestrians & people cycling & provide a safer refuge area when exiting vehicles

Some of the innovations made over the years include:
- modular snow plow resistant ramps (metal, great in snow-less Europe, Notso great here)
- accessible water valve pieces
- locally made railings
- bollard attachments on top of the platforms
- black decks help retain heat & aid in snow melting

This last batch includes 2 island style platforms with railings (Bloor/Shaw, Shoreham/Jane), one straight platform (Davisville) and one bidirectional accessible platform (Esplanade).

All bus routes.

Our last batch of #BikeTO modular Zicla accessible platforms was installed over the past week.

We've installed over 40 of these platforms over the past 8y
Many lessons have been learned, a lot of innovation made & some very strong partnerships forged.

Toronto is a winter city leader in this stuff.

If you live in Ontario and rent your home, own your home, bike, take transit, care about the environment, value democracy, don't want water to be privatized, are opposed to surveillance infrastructure... you are going to want to email your MPP about #Bill60: win.newmode.net/fightbill60

Here's a great video from @streetcraft.bsky.social showing how people miscalculate parking vs walking distances in urban vs rural contexts.
There is SO much parking in Toronto, you just can't see it because it's around the corner, but closer than walking @ the Mall
www.instagram.com/reel/DChTiyK...

Bikes and Business on Bloor: An Economic Study from Toronto Recent discussion about Hennepin Avenue has raised the impact of the planned reconstruction on business. Fortunately we have a detailed case study on bike lanes and business from Toronto to learn f…

Several of our corridor projects have repeatedly proven that customers do not use the parking spots in front of businesses.

Those parking spots are not sustaining the businesses.

streets.mn/2022/01/26/b...

One of our biggest struggles when designing bikeways is parking demand vs removal vs safety.

We collect extensive data prior to design to ensure there is adequate parking based on actual usage.

We do counts on weekends, overnight, holidays.
There almost always is.

Links below to data and studies