We Love the City

Are you a cyclist, or do you just ride a bike?

This is the semantic and philosophical question posed by Biking Toronto. The idea, initially floated by Publicola, is that cycling will become a more popular mode of transportation if it’s embraced as something casual and mainstream. Most people simply don’t care about cycling as an issue and aren’t committed to its development in any fashion – they just want to ride their bikes.

It’s a nice theory: Lots of people just start riding bikes because they feel like it, and the government responds with supporting infrastructure. But it’s at best naive about how government works and  how people respond to new ideas, and idly glosses over a crucial issue: Having more people who don’t really care isn’t a good solution to anything.

Instead, I find myself agreeing with Shawn Micallef’s column, which reminds us that the personal is political. If you ride a bike, you’re playing a role in the development of cycling infrastructure whether you like it or not.

The reality is that bicycle culture and infrastructure in Toronto is still developing. Bike lanes don’t have widespread support like subways – many people are ambivalent about them at best, and that often turns to disdain and outrage once they find out how much it costs or how it might inconvenience drivers. When drivers fear a longer commute, or businesses worry about on-street parking disappearing, they aren’t going to sit back in accepting apathy; they’re going to complain to anyone who’ll listen.

So it doesn’t help when cyclists act like jerks. Ignoring traffic lights, riding the wrong way or on the wrong side of the road, or riding on a sidewalk does not engender sympathy among the general public. If cyclists are going to ride on the sidewalk even when there’s a bike lane on the street – an annoyingly common sight on College – why should the city bother spending money on more bike lanes?

Every cyclist who ignores the rules helps turn support to Rob Ford’s mayoral campaign. Every person on a bike who acts like a jerk fosters moronic articles like this that practically reassure motorists that any cyclists they hit probably had it coming. I know it’s expensive, impractical, and ineffective (according to a Toronto Study – PDF), but even I think bicycle licensing isn’t such a bad idea when I get cut off by a yahoo on a bike who decides to transfer from the sidewalk to the road without even the slightest hint of a signal or a look behind.  So what does the average pedestrian or motorist think when they see people on bikes who act like the rules of the road don’t apply?

It’s unfair, of course. Few people seem to question driver licensing standards or automobile infrastructure needs after a fatal collision or a display of gross recklessness. Every time someone complains that cyclists don’t obey the law, I want to ask them what the average speed is on the 401.

But that’s where we live, and that’s how politics work. The automobile is culturally entrenched, while the bicycle is an oddity in North America as a viable transportation option.

If you ride a bike, do it responsibly and at least make a pretense of following the rules. If you want more or better cycling infrastructure, tell your city councillor or a few of the mayoral candidates. Initiatives like Cheri DiNovo’s 3-foot Passing Law won’t go anywhere unless politicians and bureaucrats see there’s a demand for it.

There may be a day when people can casually, safely, and conveniently ride their bikes wherever and whenever they want without thinking about the bigger picture. But that day isn’t now, and it’s going to take a lot longer to arrive if people don’t care how it gets here.