Categories
Ontario Roads Walking

Do I stay, or do I go now?

If I go will there be trouble?

Pedestrian crosswalks should be simple and clear for everyone.

Categories
Development Roads Toronto Transit Urban Planning Walking

Why pedestrian safety is a matter of justice for essential workers

A new Amazon fulfilment centre opened in northeast Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though we consider Amazon employees essential workers, a basic level of safety pedestrians and transit users is lacking.

Categories
Infrastructure Roads Toronto Walking

Deadly by design: The East Mall and Burnhamthorpe Road

On Tuesday, August 11, just after 11AM, a father and his two children were attempting to cross The East Mall north of Burnhamthorpe Road. They were crossing from the west side of the minor arterial street, where there is the main entrance to a long term care home, to the corner of Montebello Gardens, a […]

Categories
Roads Toronto Walking

Deadly by design: Keele Street and Calvington Drive

On Sunday, June 7, Olivia and Julia Sarracini were crossing Calvington Drive at Keele Street. It was 12:15 in the morning. The walk sign turned on, and the two sisters, aged 17 and 19, entered the crosswalk, walking north. Behind them, the driver of a black SUV waited for southbound traffic to clear the intersection […]

Categories
Brampton Cycling Infrastructure Ontario Roads Walking

Room to share: How cities can make physical distancing work

For my latest TVO article, I spoke with Councillor Shawn Menard in Ottawa, Councillor Rowena Santos in Brampton, and Ryerson University epidemiologist Anne Harris about how cities in Ontario are reallocating road space for pedestrians and cyclists during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, or why they may be hesitant to do so. In Brampton, five kilometres […]

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Brampton Cycling Infrastructure Roads Toronto Walking

How to reimagine our streets during a pandemic

In an interview with local news station CP24, Mayor John Tory said that the city was considering implementing one-way directional traffic on city sidewalks as part of a response to COVID-19. This idea was considered as a measure to ensure physical distancing on Toronto’s sidewalks. The mayor, however, does not support the alternate solution of […]

Categories
About me Politics Toronto Walking

On right turns, advocacy, and civic democracy

On Wednesday, March 11, I deputed to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee at Toronto City Hall in support of a motion by Councillor Mike Layton to have city staff examine and report back on expanding right turn on red (RTOR) restrictions in the City of Toronto. Though I had the time and willingness to attend […]

Categories
Infrastructure Roads Toronto Walking

Deadly by design: Supertest Road

On Tuesday, January 21, a 26-year-old woman was struck and killed by the driver of a tractor-trailer at the corner of Supertest Road and Alness Street in North York. According to police, the truck driver was making a right turn from Supertest south to Alness when he hit the pedestrian. Last week, I paid a […]

Categories
About me Cycling Toronto Walking

Survey says… Torontonians demand safer streets

A mock-up of a re-imagined Danforth Avenue, Summer 2019 Yesterday, I met with fellow road safety advocates Keagan Gartz, executive director of Cycle Toronto, Gideon Forman from the David Suzuki Foundation, and Jessica Spieker, from Friends & Families for Safe Streets. The occasion was to publicize a new poll commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation […]

Categories
Brampton Roads Transit Walking

Why transit users shouldn’t beg to cross the street

If Brampton wants to continue Brampton Transit’s success, it can start by removing beg buttons at all Zum stops to start, as well as any other transfer point. There’s nothing worse than waiting four minutes to safely cross the street to watch your bus pass by.