(Car) Size Matters

 The size of cars distorts the impact that they have. Our decision-making processes are concerned more with size than actual utility, and, as such, automobiles are given more favourable treatment than they would otherwise deserve. Cars are given priority in all projects, even when the numbers do not match taking that route.

In this short piece, I will speak to a few ways in how we overprioritize the automobile at the expense of all other modes of transportation, and how we can break this effective monopoly on considerations.

Example 1: Bloor Street Bike Lanes

Recently, there has been debate in Toronto City Council on whether to keep the bike lanes on Yonge Street. Many opponents have been using the same old set of excuses long proven false. One of these is that the bike lanes have significantly congested Yonge Street by reducing lanes. This is an example of putting the onus of car congestion on everything but the car. I think the only street comparable to Yonge is Bloor, which we have a lot of data for, allowing me to paint a picture of why the above example is problematic.

Bike lanes on Bloor and Danforth extend from about Runnymede to Main Street, the core section of the corridor. With the installation of these, completed in 2020, the lane count on Bloor was reduced to one in each direction. There have been people whining that Bloor is more congested, traffic is worse, blah blah, all because of the bike lane. While this may be true, why should we care?

Bloor is a street with many modes of transportation along it. Let's outline these! The Line 2 subway carries more than 500,000 people a day. We don't see this, obviously, because it is below street. The bike lanes carry nearly 6,000 people a day. This may be a shock to a lot of people: how can that many people be biking and yet not see traffic? It's because bikes are far more of an efficient mode of transport, and a more efficient use of space. Cars carry 20,000 people a day on the stretch. The number of pedestrians is not known, but in and around 50,000 a day is not unreasonable, but again, congestion is not visible: the sidewalks are still walkable.

So all in all, around 576,000 people a day move along Bloor. Cars only make up 3.4% of this, yet somehow all political discourse centers on this otherwise minute amount. In spite of being so small, cars are the only mode completely visible as being 'congested.' So what does this tell us? It informs us that cars are a widely inefficient use of space. We do not have space for more cars, but growth in all other modes is possible (and needed): anyone can be a pedestrian, anyone can cycle. So why do we let car discourse dominate politics? We could double the number of pedestrians, double the number of cyclists, and you would not see any realistic difference. Add 10% more cars and the gridlock gets exponentially worse. 

So when we speak to the Yonge Street bike lanes, using the physically visible mode as an indicator of success is a great way of producing bad outcomes, yet Toronto seems so confident in doing this. 

As an aside, I just want to make a point that Toronto's traffic metrics consider all motor vehicles equal, no matter what they carry. A cube van of food, or a bus with 50 people on it, is deemed to be of equal importance than a car with one person. This is straight unequal, and is plain wrong. A proper metric of one bus = 50 cars is rooted in reality, and even still gives preferential treatment to drivers!

Example 2: Effect of Automobility on Business

My Twitter feed has recently brought back up a study done on Queen West with local businesses. Unfortunately I cannot find the original link, but the study is referenced in this piece from Forbes. When business owners were polled, more than half believed that drivers accounted for more than 25% of their business. However, drivers made up only 4% of business, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for 72%, with the remainder being transit users (note that Queen does not have bike lanes, meaning that potential cyclist traffic is far reduced). This is a striking difference in perception versus reality. Because cars take up space, there is this idea that they 'must' provide business, yet this is evidently untrue. A car parked in front of the store is a visible customer, but a person walking in does not have the same effect. The driver may be going to one restaurant, spending an hour there, and leaving, taking up that much space, whereas 25, 50, 75 pedestrians could do the same with negligible negative impact.

This was true especially in the pandemic. Drivers bitched about losing a lane on streets for CafeTO, yet business at these restaurants greatly improved. The one parking spot was nowhere near as much of a money maker as a few patio tables. This improved business model was also an exercise in efficiently using space. 

Example 3: The Freedom Convoy

The supposed 'Freedom' Convoy was one of our best, recent, examples of how using cars amplifies effect. Most counts put the number of (supposed) freedom fighters in Ottawa at maximum 8,000, yet one would think there were a lot more, right? Because all of them came in trucks or cars, it appeared far larger than what it actually was. There would be more people on Parliament Hill during a lunch break pre-COVID than at the Freedom Convoy. 

This small movement was given significant attention less about confronting their ideas, and more for it appearing significant, when this certainly wasn't the case. Imagine if a popular movement used cars, it would be hard to ignore!

Conclusions and Thoughts

The above three are just a few examples of how automobile usage distorts reality. Physically large size and inefficient use of space is seen as more important than actual individuals. This discourse has poisoned decision making in Toronto-- cars, plain and simple, are less important than we make them seem. If we made decisions based on people first and foremost, pedestrians, cycling and transit would be prioritized. This is why I get so pissed off when drivers whine about conditions and traffic: YOU have the preferential treatment, by a long shot, yet still struggle! 

Toronto needs to get real with how we see our streets, and focus on the facts. The fact is, cars are far less important than every other mode of transport, and so we should plan as such. Anecdotal 'evidence' from car-brained people is not something that should ever be taken seriously again, let alone planned for.