It is hard to believe that the replacement mayor of Toronto came to her first day at city hall by bicycle. You have to wonder about the voters in Toronto who promoted this mayor. The city is going to have to pay her almost $200,000 per year and she rides a bicycle to city hall.
I am not opposed to bicycles. I grew up in Toronto at a time when you could ride around Toronto on a bicycle in summer months. Vehicle traffic was lighter and roads were less crowded. I got to know my city. I was always disappointed in the fall when I had to store my bike for the winter.
No sensible person rides a bicycle year around in a city that can be beset with ice and snow for almost half of the year. And while I share the general concern about global warming, I hardly think it is going to eliminate winter any time soon. Cycling is a questionable practice even when it is just raining. When drivers’ view is impaired, bicycles become a road hazard.
It is hard to believe that the current mayor claims that she does not have a driver’s licence. That sounds like trouble. Is she going to forbid traffic on the streets where she wants to cycle? The thing to remember about Toronto is that it is mostly on the level east to west but from the lake north to the city limits is an up-hill haul.
A good friend of mine was a member of city council when they first started promoting bicycles at city hall. When they challenged him to ride his bike to city hall, he would arrive at city hall on his bike with a flourish, telling everyone how enjoyable it was. He admitted to me, quietly, that the bicycle conveniently fitted into the limousine trunk for his trip home, up-hill.
But this is a new day at Toronto city hall. The bicycle riding ones have won. She made much of her accomplishment as she took office. She brought her own claque of bike-riding supporters to cheer her on. Accomplishments of John Tory’s time at city hall were all but forgotten. The new mayor claimed that Toronto could find its feet again. To find its swagger, she said. And that is something I would like to see, someone swaggering on a bicycle.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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