CRASH - Coalition to Reduce Auto Size Hazards

And please RING YOUR BELLS for the hardworking lawyers from @ecojusticecanada.bsky.social + @paliareroland.bsky.social among others ... and even the govt lawyers who were given a crappy hand (with no evidence) to play by Donald Ford. #biketo #onpoli

Bike lanes are a local issue. When will the federal government step up and tell the provinces to stay in their lane? While Ottawa has no direct authority over municipal bike lanes (no more than any province did before last fall), it's now overdue that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of

"We simply don’t have enough space to keep indulging magical thinking that every person can drive for every trip."

Well said @cycletoronto.bsky.social !

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Ford government’s attempt to remove Toronto bike lanes is unconstitutional, judge rules The provincial government had argued that road space dedicated to cyclists was adding to congestion. A Superior Court judge said the government’s decision would risk the lives of cyclsits.

“The [Doug Ford] govt has led NO EVIDENCE to rebut the Applicants’ compelling position, supported by evidence, that removing the protected bike lanes will cause cyclists to ride in more dangerous mixed traffic …" Justice Schabas [We added the caps]

Right on! #biketo

www.thestar.com/news/gta/for...

10 principles for the green transition Given the climate emergency, can Canadians overcome the political obstacles to dramatically reducing our dependence on fossil fuels? As an environmental lawyer, as the Environmental Commissioner of On...

"...The climate crisis is a collision between human beings and physics. Physics, like gravity, doesn’t compromise." www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-pri...

Irony or hypocrisy? Opponents of #RapidTO Bathurst busway for @ttcriders.bsky.social claim biz won't survive without curbside parkng. Yet they replaced their curbside parking lot with permanent patio. Proves that people shop, cars don't. L to R: 2019 image; June protest; today's lively patio #topoli

Air quality alert issued for Toronto, GTA as forest fire smoke pushes levels to ‘high risk’ Poor air quality is expected to persist into Monday and possibly into Tuesday, Environment Canada said.

Meanwhile we spend an exorbitant amount of time debating simple measures like busways, wider sidewalks + bike lanes -- which opponents claim are being "fast-tracked"! There is actually no longer a "tomorrow" for climate action. It has to be NOW. #onpoli
www.thestar.com/news/gta/air...

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

Globally, roughly a third more power is being generated from the sun this spring than last. If this exponential rate of growth can continue, we will soon live in a very different world, @billmckibben.bsky.social writes.

This is a big part of SUV marketing - Be Bigger, and Therefore Safer.

We banned tobacco advertising and sport sponsorship.
It's about time we did the same for SUVs, and potentially all fossil fueled cars.

Hell of a photo in this article showcasing the dangers of these large SUVs

When TTC runs shuttle buses to replace subway, we see the reality that 80% of people travelling through Bloor corridor in Etobicoke are NOT using cars. #biketo

This man is running every street in Toronto. He’s not letting a brain cancer diagnosis stop him Since 2022, Carlo De Lorenzi has been on a mission to run 10,390 streets. After taking a break for chemo, he’s back at it, but “I’m on a time clock.”

Local hero.

"I’ve had some of the best days in my life in the last few weeks, because now it’s all about quality, not quantity.”

www.thestar.com/news/gta/thi...

Matt Elliott: Forget speed cameras. It’s ‘ghost cars’ that Doug Ford, Olivia Chow and others need to focus on The recent debate around speed cameras has conjured the spectre of another problem.

My @thestar.com column: Data suggests about 25% of license plates snapped by Toronto’s speed cameras are obstructed.

Forget these silly driver gripes about the cameras. The real scourge is scofflaws with illegal plate covers. Time for a crackdown on “ghost cars.” www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Oversized pickups aren't built for cities; they're built for some people's egos. Read our recommendations here ... windsorlawcities.ca/wp-content/u...

Toronto City Council nixes six City Hall Watcher #338: Your complete recap of the June 2025 meeting of Toronto Council, featuring votes on six-unit multiplexes, parking, and more. Plus: could strong mayor powers have helped?

Check your inbox: it's City Hall Watcher #338!

Your complete Council recap for June, featuring quotable quotes (and one quoteless quote), debate times, the big vote results, and more.

Plus: would using strong mayor powers have helped? An investigation.

toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/toronto-ci...

"weight-based vehicle registration fees" ... Love it!

In February, 7-year-old Dolma Naadhun was crossing the intersection of Newtown Road and 45th Street in Astoria with her mother and sister when the driver of a 2021 Ford Explorer blew through a stop sign, striking and killing Dolma. One month later, New York City Department of Transportation commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez visited the crash site with other officials, met with community members demanding a traffic signal be installed, and promised to make changes to the street - including "daylighting" the intersection using curb extensions and plastic bollards. State assemblymember Zohran Mamdani also visited the scene that day and realized that something else needed to change. "When you take a step back and think about traffic violence in New York City," he said, "you start to understand that this is a systemic issue that is incentivized by the policies that we have in place with regard to the design of our streets and what kind of vehicles we allow to be on our roads." Whether a driver runs a stop sign or a red light, statistically, certain cars - namely, bigger SUVs and trucks - are more likely to kill a 7-year-old. This is why Mamdani is co- introducing legislation for a weight-based vehicle-registration fee intended to discourage people from purchasing heavier vehicles. "The car industry is pushing the sale of heavier and larger vehicles," he says. "The state has to make it clear that these types of vehicles come with a certain kind of cost."

soar above adult shoulders. But there may be another way to disincentivize the purchases of such vehicles, says Edwards. "One other potential idea would be for someone, maybe a city's DOT, to start keeping a list of the different makes and models of vehicles that are killing pedestrians and cyclists, or kids specifically, and post that publicly," he says. "That could bring awareness to which cars are more dangerous and also potentially affect insurance rates, which would possibly convince people not to buy certain cars." There's a bit of accountability in New York's bill, which would require the State DOT to track all fatal crashes by vehicle weight. But the other encouraging aspect of the proposal is that the collected fees stay local, by county, and, after the annual dedications to highway, bridge, and transit trust funds are met, a full 75 percent of the funds raised will go toward safety improvements like bike lanes, bollards, road diets, pedestrianization of streets, and raised crosswalks. This means the neighborhoods most impacted by large vehicles are likely to see the biggest changes. And that might be the most important part of the legislation, says Mamdani. "This is an initiative to make our streets safer for our children," he says. "And we are making sure a significant portion of this funding goes toward creating the very streetscapes that we know will save their lives."

Two years ago I interviewed a 31-year-old NY state assemblymember about a 7-year-old girl killed by an SUV driver in his district. I hung up the phone, astonished that I'd talked to a legislator who so thoughtfully articulated what actually needs to change on our streets.

He'll make a great mayor

The Great Canadian Women's Ride. Sunday, June 29, 10am - this is a fabulous event and a great cause by the Women's Cycling Network (WCN). Please attend or DONATE to support the autism camp. #bikesky

Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition reports that during evening rush hours, bikes outnumber motor vehicles on Bloor. So much "hidden" people in Toronto when some parties just focus on car drivers. The Bloor BIA has been courageous (politically) in defending the bike lanes. 1/2

Biking advocacy group places bike lanes on Bloor in the spotlight A biking advocacy group is out with a new analysis on bikes vs. cars - which may or may not steer you in the big debate. CTV'S Sean Leathong reports.

"What we found was that between 5 and 7 pm, the percentage of all vehicles that were bikes exceeded the numbers of cars and trucks."

#Toronto #Cycling #Bikelanes

www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/vide...

TOMORROW! Saturday, June 21, 10am. Leaving from AccessPoint on Danforth Ave.

Bar chart showing traffic counts on Bloor Street West in Toronto during the afternoon rush on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. For each hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the number of bikes and motor vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles) was recorded. At 4–5 p.m., there were 643 bikes and 849 motor vehicles. At 5–6 p.m., 930 bikes and 832 motor vehicles. At 6–7 p.m., 919 bikes and 909 motor vehicles. At 7–8 p.m., 726 bikes and 935 motor vehicles. Bike counts exceeded car counts from 5 to 7 p.m. The chart was created by Matt Elliott for City Hall Watcher using data from the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition.

Cool study from @bikewaysto.bsky.social detailing a traffic count on Bloor Street taken on June 11 with a camera at 412 Bloor West. During the peak of the afternoon rush, bikes outnumbered cars.

I repeat: bikes outnumbered cars.

drive.google.com/file/d/1ctd4...

The car made pedestrians second-class citizens. Don’t let driverless vehicles push us off the road altogether | Adam Tranter If we want autonomous tech to succeed it must be designed to share space with us, rather than forcing us to adapt to it, says former cycling and walking commissioner Adam Tranter

The term “jaywalker” was invented in the 1920s by the US motor industry, and it reveals a lot about its attitude to pedestrians.
#MobilityIsEquity
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Mark Carney should understand better than anyone why Canada is burning. Here’s how he can change course. Many reasons for our intense wildfire season are well-known. Our leaders need to do the math in order to save our economy - and us

Hey @mark-carney.bsky.social : "How many more citizens need to be evacuated; how many more cities + towns need to burn; how many more Cdns need to die before Ottawa gets the msg + begins liberating our country + our economy from fossil fuel dependence ..." #onpoli

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Great to be part of the Mount Dennis BIA's Chalk My Walk community event yesterday (though we felt a bit small). Lots of fun and entertainment, and conversation about the potential for more cycling and better transit. #bikesky

Sad that we sacrifice the safety of our children+others on foot for so little gain:

"there’s a very good argument that tony trims of the modern pickups are de facto replacements for vehicles like the Town Car — acres of interior space, ample power + road presence galore"

driving.ca/features/sho...

"This was an experiment by a kindergarten class. They dropped seeds in the cracks of the sidewalk to see what would happen.
This would help our bees "
via I Love Bees

"Ontario's Premier has decided that the allocation of the limited public right-of-way should be prioritized for the least efficient type of urban transportation: the private automobile."

Ray Delahanty, "Toronto's War on Bikes and Transit" www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7gT...

Mark Carney should understand better than anyone why Canada is burning. Here’s how he can change course. Many reasons for our intense wildfire season are well-known. Our leaders need to do the math in order to save our economy - and us

"Canada, an otherwise stable democracy, now has an internal 'refugee' problem, and we’re going to see many more: in terms of hectares burned by this date, 2025 is rivaling the terrible summer of 2023."

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

We are very proud to receive this award, presented at last week's Ontario Bike Summit. The award is a tribute to the tireless work of our many passionate community volunteers. #bikesky