Quote:
Originally Posted by alps
The sign means "no going straight through the intersection (except bicycles)", i.e. cars must turn. Not "no local traffic", although I guess in effect it would achieve the same thing. It's a good way to protect Vernon from heavy car traffic that should be on Robie anyway.
I also used this route to commute to Dal by bike for a few years. The improvements look great. In the afternoon I used to get stuck in long queues of cars trying to cross Jubilee. That should now be a thing of the past.
I'm curious what the Vernon-Seymour transition now looks like. That was always the trickiest part.
This 2017 article gives a figure of 150 cyclists at Quinpool and Vernon in the "afternoon rush hour" alone.
My driving classmates at Dal were often late because they couldn't find parking! |
When I attended Dal while living in Dartmouth, I used 3 different modes of travel, my $200 car that I kept running by skinned knuckles and junkyard parts, my mountain bike, and the bus system. Mind you, this was the 1980s, before all the bike lanes and one metre rules, etc.
The fastest method to get there was by car, despite the greater distance and waiting in traffic jams, just by the physical fact that the car could travel at faster speeds when it wasn't stuck on the bridge. I couldn't afford a parking pass at Dal, but was usually able to find parking on the side streets.
Second fastest was the bus, again due to the physical ability to travel faster than a bike. Was slower than the car due to the walk to the bus terminal and waiting for a bus (in those days you weren't always guaranteed of getting on the first bus that arrived as they were always standing room only - it's probably the same now). The bus was the least pleasurable method of travel between the three.
Third fastest was the bike - it was a little slower, especially going up hills although I always tried to keep up with traffic. Also had to wait for the ferry crossing, but didn't have to wait in traffic as there was always an easy way around it. What sucked was bad weather and sitting in the classroom in sweaty clothes from the bike ride.
Cheapest operating cost was the bike, obviously (although my bike cost three times the purchase price of the car), but at least in those days it wasn't expensive to keep an old car running, especially if you were willing to put some effort into learning how to repair them and actually doing the repairs yourself.
I think cycling today has improved in comparison. It's good that the city is expending some effort to make things safer, as I had a few near misses back then, and I didn't have to contend with zombie drivers half paying attention to their cell phones like you have today. But back then I had the luxury of being both a car driver and a bicyclist, so I understood the challenges facing car drivers and rode the bicycle accordingly - I knew the simple physics of a 3500 lb car vs a 180 lb bicycle+rider meant that I would always be on the losing end of any altercation, and thus did everything I could to avoid it. Also knew that the dynamics of operating a car meant that it didn't turn or stop as quickly as a bike and made allowances for that as well. The thing that gets me about the more vocal bicyclists nowadays is that it turns into some kind of righteous indignation - like their right to participate in such a virtuous form of transportation means that they should not have to look out for themselves. I know not all cyclists have that attitude, but the ones who make it to the radio interviews and public meetings appear to think that way, and it has turned into a battle rather than cooperation. We need more cooperation in life today, IMHO.
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