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Why do you think this is a zero-sum game? That's only if the number of car drivers is equal to transit riders + cyclists (and maybe some pedestrians). Of cour

Why do you think this is a zero-sum game? That's only if the number of car drivers is equal to transit riders + cyclists (and maybe some pedestrians). Of course that equation is nowhere near equal. The entire reason behind the pilot is because transit vastly outnumbers car drivers. If you can improve the situation for 10-100x as many people, then why wouldn't you? (all else being equal of course). I'm simplifying things, but I don't understand why you're implying equal footing to both sides.

jcroll 8y ago
It's like nominating a supreme court justice is a zero sum game. Is it really? Either way, you'll never convince both sides that one decision isn't a loser for them
jgh 8y ago
According to this article prior to the change: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/why-all-the-fuss-about-a-transit-corridor-on-torontos-king-street/article35404374/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/why-all-the-fus... it was 65,000 transit commuters per day vs 20,000 vehicles per day. edit, here is the latest data from the city: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/8fe2-King-Street-Dashboard_July_August-Update_Final.pdf https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/8fe2-King-... (sept/oct is not yet available which is unfortunate because the baseline is october 2017)
- bretthopper 8y ago
  Yeah, thanks. 10-100x was a huge exaggeration but 2-3x is still a large benefit and worthwhile on its own.
lambersley 8y ago
It simply moved the traffic to the parallel streets thus worsening congesting in the city overall. The overall utilization of an expensive infrastructure is very low. The "440%" increase in cyclist is unlikely to equal the number of people moved through that corridor via motor vehicles.
- saq7 8y ago
  It is simply untrue that the overall utilization of the infrastructure is low. Streetcars on King and Queen are usually jam-packed, unless you are in the far east and west ends. The bike lanes running east west on King, Adellaide, and other streets are very heavily used. And it's true that most people who were driving won't trade in their cars for bikes, for various reasons. I am not sure how that factors in at all here.
sandoz9 8y ago
It's not just car drivers, eleven restaurants in the area have closed since the pilot began. What do you do as a business owner when city is driving away your customers?
- bretthopper 8y ago
  Restaurants close all the time. Are those closures due to the pilot? The city has provided numbers on receipts which don't show a huge effect. I'm not saying there's no causation here, but you can't just say 11 restaurants are closed and attribute them all to the pilot.
- saq7 8y ago
  Correlation does not mean causation. Restaurants close all the time for myriad of different reasons. Do you have any data that can actually support a causal link here?
- 52-6F-62 8y ago
  Those restaurants were already notorious tourist traps. The restaurants in the area that were any good still remain. Cars driving by those places was not where they got their business. The city didn't reduce parking lot numbers in the area. They got their business from theatre-goers and other foot traffic. One of the restaurant owners (who I won't name) decided it would be a worthy protest to place a large ice sculpture of a raised middle finger to pedestrians in the area, and the city at large. That came back to bite him in a serious way. He was already a disliked business owner. That seemed to seal it. He drove his own business away, not the city. Another restaurant in the strip serving similar fare is still kicking... probably because they're not half bad and offer a better environment.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

jcroll 8y ago

It's like nominating a supreme court justice is a zero sum game. Is it really? Either way, you'll never convince both sides that one decision isn't a loser for them

jgh 8y ago

According to this article prior to the change: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/why-all-the-fuss-about-a-transit-corridor-on-torontos-king-street/article35404374/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/why-all-the-fus... it was 65,000 transit commuters per day vs 20,000 vehicles per day. edit, here is the latest data from the city: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/8fe2-King-Street-Dashboard_July_August-Update_Final.pdf https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/8fe2-King-... (sept/oct is not yet available which is unfortunate because the baseline is october 2017)

bretthopper 8y ago
Yeah, thanks. 10-100x was a huge exaggeration but 2-3x is still a large benefit and worthwhile on its own.

lambersley 8y ago

It simply moved the traffic to the parallel streets thus worsening congesting in the city overall. The overall utilization of an expensive infrastructure is very low. The "440%" increase in cyclist is unlikely to equal the number of people moved through that corridor via motor vehicles.

saq7 8y ago
It is simply untrue that the overall utilization of the infrastructure is low. Streetcars on King and Queen are usually jam-packed, unless you are in the far east and west ends. The bike lanes running east west on King, Adellaide, and other streets are very heavily used. And it's true that most people who were driving won't trade in their cars for bikes, for various reasons. I am not sure how that factors in at all here.

sandoz9 8y ago

It's not just car drivers, eleven restaurants in the area have closed since the pilot began. What do you do as a business owner when city is driving away your customers?

bretthopper 8y ago
Restaurants close all the time. Are those closures due to the pilot? The city has provided numbers on receipts which don't show a huge effect. I'm not saying there's no causation here, but you can't just say 11 restaurants are closed and attribute them all to the pilot.
saq7 8y ago
Correlation does not mean causation. Restaurants close all the time for myriad of different reasons. Do you have any data that can actually support a causal link here?
52-6F-62 8y ago
Those restaurants were already notorious tourist traps. The restaurants in the area that were any good still remain. Cars driving by those places was not where they got their business. The city didn't reduce parking lot numbers in the area. They got their business from theatre-goers and other foot traffic. One of the restaurant owners (who I won't name) decided it would be a worthy protest to place a large ice sculpture of a raised middle finger to pedestrians in the area, and the city at large. That came back to bite him in a serious way. He was already a disliked business owner. That seemed to seal it. He drove his own business away, not the city. Another restaurant in the strip serving similar fare is still kicking... probably because they're not half bad and offer a better environment.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]