The War on Cars Drives Into Toronto

FERNTV went in completely blind when attending The War on Cars event at the Hot Docs Cinema on a chilly February night. Founders and podcasters Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon travelled north of the border to shine a light on their continuous fight to get automobiles off the road. The charming duo were promoting their new book Life After Cars in front of a 300-plus crowd at the Hot Docs Cinema. The audience consisted mostly of an older demograpic mostly from Toronto, who most have fought for the implementation of bike lanes in Toronto. The event was curated with Cycle Toronto who have been advocating for the cycling infrastructure in Toronto to be safer. There is no doubt that Cycle Toronto and its following communities believe that bike lanes save lives.

Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon captivated the audience rather quickly by showing their short stay in Toronto and taking pictures of their journey from the night before. A picture of the bike lanes in Toronto, where the snow has not been removed since the big storm just a weekend earlier, was of significance. It just goes to show how the city of Toronto treats the bike lanes and its community. Bearing less room on the sidewalks of the city, the bike lanes seem to be the lane that bears the brunt of the storm by being in the middle of it all. To some, this is considered neglect and whereas to perhaps the city of Toronto, it is considered not a high priority.

Goodyear and Gordon then moved on to the levels of government where we here on FERNTV were impressed with their knowledge of. Having attended a debate in City Council regarding implementing more parking in Toronto, Goodyear and Gordon had much to say about Lily Cheng and Stephen Hollyday. Nothing was more dominant than speaking of Doug Ford, who opposes the mission of the two podcasters and communities like Cycle Toronto. Ford, who once aligned with those of Cycle Toronto, was given tickets to the show and was called on the phone by Doug Gordon on the phone during the event. He was left a cheeky message from Doug that included a crowd roar.

This is the pushback that Ford is getting from communities like Cycle Toronto, who are against the removal of bike lanes on major roads such as Yonge St., Bloor and University. Ford wants to get more lanes for vehicle commuter traffic to get going once again, which is all a part of a big transportation plan from the provincial government. This may include the new transit lines being built this very second, but to the Ford government, this is considered common sense, which will have more space for automobile traffic.

Using the term “common sense” is considered a red flag to Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon. The two pointed out, as well as someone in the audience, who referred to the Walkerton incident back in 2000, where the government felt it was “common sense” to cutback on water testing and enforcement. As a result, E. coli became a public health issue where thousands became ill, and seven people died due to government negligence. Both Goodyear and Gordon were making a point that what is common sense to the government makes no sense at all to most citizens of Ontario.

We needed an out-of-the-box perspective on how the government fails to see the mission of communities such as Cycle Toronto, which want to make Toronto a safer and less car-centric city. The event would have been more biased if the executive director of Cycle Toronto, Michael Longfield spoke about the protection of bike lanes and the promotion of the city’s health through sustaining them. Rather, we get two Americans who have journeyed throughout their country and ours to show the perspective of why it’s important to focus less on cars and more on people. The fact that our relations with those down south are already tense enough as it is shows that this movement is not only municipal but national.

There’s the idea of Jane Jacobs‘ idea of nibbling against the erosion of cities caused by automobile use and reversing it. Goodyear and Gordon believe that nibbling back for communities like Cycle Toronto should be sustained. They believe that those small nibbles become bigger steps into reversing the infrastructure of cities and their cycling communities. Overall, it’s nibbling to fight for the right to have a lane in the city, to stay in it, and to uphold those boundaries that the Ford government has impeded.

Perhaps more lanes need to be constructed so that traffic can move along faster. Maybe we do need more parking spaces so that we can visit our loved ones who are elderly and feel lonely during snowstorms and seasons that make us feel blue. But there should always be a lane for cyclists within the city, especially when a local government encourages taking transit, where many feel unsafe to take let alone don’t have time for.

Citizens of Toronto or any city in this continent should have the option of how to get to point A to B in an affordable and safe manner. If cycling happens to be one of them then the city of Toronto should have their lane. There is no doubt that Cycle Toronto and related communities will stay in their lane. They always have and always will.