A Bit More Detail

• The city of Fredericton hopes a new strategy to attracting international migration to the New Brunswick capital will help its grow its population by 25 thousand. Global News reports.


• Guardian Cities notes the controversy in Amsterdam as users of moped find themselves being pushed from using bike lanes.


• Guardian Cities looks at how many in Athens think the city might do well to unbury the rivers covered under concrete and construction in the second half of the 20th century.


• The Sagrada Familia, after more than 130 years of construction, has finally received a permit for construction from Barcelona city authorities. Global News reports.


• Evan Gershkovich at the Moscow Times reports on how the recent ousting of the mayor of the Latvian capital of Riga for corruption is also seem through a lens of ethnic conflict.

• At NOW Toronto, Rebecca Campbell pays tribute to her friend, and collaborator, the activist Justin Haynes.


• Transit Toronto notes the four generations of TTC streetcars on display in the Beaches Easter Parade tomorrow.


• NOW Toronto criticizes the politics of bike lanes in Toronto.


• NOW Toronto noted how badly Scarborough will be served by the Doug Ford subway plans.


• Happily, Toronto is one of the top cities for students in the world. blogTO reports.

• Olivia Bednar at NOW Toronto reports on a new photo exhibit examining the history of the CNE, and examines five photos particularly.


• The Toronto bike lane strategy is falling behind schedule, activists report over at the Toronto Star.


• Shawn Micallef notes the new political alliances being forged in Toronto by the shift in ward boundaries, over at the Toronto Star.


• Olivia Bednar at NOW Toronto reports on an upcoming exhibit of the art of Kent Monkman, this September at the Project Gallery.


• Urban Toronto contrasts two photos of the downtown Toronto skyline from Kensington Market, taken from the same point in 2013 and 2018, here.

There’s a development in the seemingly endless battle for bike lanes on Bloor Street, and it comes in the form of a City Council vote next month. If approved, temporary bike lanes will dawn the Annex-Bloor region, running between Shaw Street and Avenue Road this summer.

The project, however, is no more than a pilot—as mayor John Tory has strongly emphasized as a condition of his support—and is aimed at evaluating the impacts of cycling infrastructure along the downtown thoroughfare. As such, the pilot project is subject to removal if the lanes are deemed detrimental to the flow of traffic.

[. . .]

1. The pilot project does not have the committee’s approval.

Members of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee met on April 25 to vote on the proposed pilot project. The project was supported by Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Ward 8, York West) and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York), but rejected by commiteee chair Jaye Robinson (Ward 25, Don Valley West) and Councillor Stephen Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre). Due to the split decision, the proposal will head to Council without the approval of the committee.

2. The pilot project does, however, have the approval of others.

Despite the stalemate, some of the city’s loudest proponents of the issue lie outside of the committee. Councillors Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) and Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), whose wards fall within large stretches of the proposed pilot, have previously joined forces to promote the bike lanes, and recently hosted a public rally prior to the committee vote. Mayor John Tory has also given his support for the pilot project—“pilot project, underlined twice, it’s a pilot project,” he emphasizes—so long as the project is studied “carefully from every single standpoint.” Beyond the legislators, 96 per cent of cyclists and 85 per cent of pedestrians have voiced support for the bike lanes, while 46 per cent of motorists think the project is a good idea.

• blogTO notes that Toronto has been ranked the 12th most expensive city in the world.


• Centauri Dreams is impressed by Pluto's diverse landscapes.


• The Dragon's Gaze notes that the debris disk of AU Microscopii hints at planetary formation.


• The Dragon's Tales observes Russia's fear of American hypersonic weapons.


• Joe. My. God. notes a GoFundMe campaign for a man who was harassing a lesbian colleague.


• Language Hat notes the adaptation of the Cherokee language to the modern world.


• Language Log examines the complexity of the language used by Republican candidates in a CNN debate.


• Marginal Revolution notes a major difference between national and international markets is the latter's lack of regulation.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at how migrant labourers in California can be cheated out of their pay.


• Registan notes the likely sustained unpleasantness in the Donbas.


• Peter Rukavina quite likes the new Island musical Evangeline.


• The Russian Demographics Blog shares photos of Lithuanian castles in Ukraine.


• Spacing notes the cycling infrastructure of Toronto.


• Towleroad observes that the new constitution of Nepal explicitly protects LGBT people.


• Window on Eurasia wonders if Syrian Circassians will go to Russia as refugees and examines the complexities of Karabakh.

In the wake of news Tuesday that the city is reviewing its deal with BIXI after revelations of some financial problems in a city report, Cycle Toronto says that the bike-sharing program should be viewed as an important part of the city’s transit system.

Executive director Jared Kolb said the private sector alone doesn’t do a good job at providing transit.

[. . .]

“Whether it’s in New York, in Paris, or in Britain, in London, cities are partnering with the private sector, but they’re buying the systems, they own the systems,” he said. “That’s not what we have here in Toronto.”

“It’s working well in other cities with respects to the city owning and contracting it out to a private operator, for instance.”

In the Ottawa-Gatineau region, the bike-sharing system is owned by the National Capital Commission (NCC), a Crown corporation responsible for development and improvement in Ottawa. The program was launched in 2011, and cost the city $3,050,000, according to NCC spokesperson Jean Wolffe.

[. . .]

Mayor Rob Ford called BIXI’s financial troubles “unfortunate.”

“That’s why I am always careful when people come and ask us for money,” he said Wednesday.

“I’ve always been a little reluctant,” he said later when asked if the city should be involved in such ventures. “Sometimes you have to, but there has to be guarantees in place if they can’t pay. I want to find out what guarantees were in place when we got into this agreement.”

In a 1971 interview with Star columnist Alexander Ross, Metro Parks Commissioner Tommy Thompson observed that local geography made cycling downtown impossible. “If I asked somebody to ride from Front Street to Queen’s Park,” Thompson noted, “do you know what would happen? The average person would be dead—and not from the traffic. The average person would be so tired from the upgrade that he’d end up walking.” Ross disagreed with Thompson`s contention, noting that he rode daily from Bloor to King and “was not even puffing.” We also suspect aldermen like William Kilbourn and John Sewell, who cycled to work at City Hall, might have taken issue.

Thompson’s department was probably happier if people walked anyway—apart from a couple of short trails such as one along Mimico Creek opened in 1965, cyclists were prohibited from riding off-road in all parks across Metro.

One of the first battlegrounds for Toronto’s cycling future was the Belt Line in North Toronto. When Canadian National Railways (CN) put the old railway line on the market in 1970, two opposing visions of its future emerged. Metro parks officials and York Mayor Phil White saw a great opportunity to develop the land into recreational land that could include a bike path. Toronto Mayor William Dennison and his executive committee favoured buying portions of the Belt Line to expand roads and existing parks. Dennison told the Star that he opposed a continuous path along the Belt Line because “people have demonstrated they just won’t use it.”

Dennison also echoed the fears of homeowners along the Belt Line in Forest Hill, who worried about safety issues and vandals salivating over easier access to wreck their homes. Resident William McKay, who belonged to a ratepayers association opposed to any public use of the right-of-way, feared a Belt Line park would attract lusty young lovers. “How can I teach my children morals,” he told the Star, “when there are couples seducing each other a few feet from my house?” Also underlining anti-park sentiment was the possibility, endorsed by Dennison, of selling portions of the Belt Line Toronto didn’t need to residents to expand their backyards. As a Star editorial declared, “there are always people who cannot see past the ends of their noses.”

After two years of talks, Toronto City Council approved a land swap with CN in October 1972. In exchange for the title to Union Station (which CN and Canadian Pacific intended to demolish as part of the never fully realized Metro Centre project) and a parking lot at Lake Shore Boulevard and Yonge Street, the City received the Belt Line and the future site of Roy Thomson Hall. Among the boosters of turning the rail bed into a bike path was alderman David Crombie, whose election as mayor soon after may have raised the hopes of North Toronto cyclists. Though it took a few years, both green space and a path were built and eventually named after park proponent Kay Gardiner.

Over the last four years, the streets of New York City have undergone a transformation: More than 250 miles of traffic lanes dedicated for bicycles have been created, and several laws intended to promote cycling have been passed.

The efforts by the Bloomberg administration have placed the city at the forefront of a national trend to make bicycling viable and safe even in the most urban of settings. Yet over the last year, a backlash has taken hold.

Bowing to vocal opposition from drivers and elected officials, the city last week began removing a 2.35-mile painted bike lane along Father Capodanno Boulevard on Staten Island. In Manhattan, a community board held a special hearing this month for business owners to vent about problems posed by a new protected bicycle lane on Columbus Avenue — in particular, the removal of parking spaces and the difficulty of getting truck deliveries.

In Brooklyn, new bicycle lanes have led to unusual scenes of friction. Along Prospect Park West, opponents protested last month alongside supporters of the lanes. And last year, painted paths along Bedford and Kent Avenues in Williamsburg caused disagreement between cyclists and Hasidim. The lane on Bedford Avenue was later removed.

[. . .]

The City Council will hold a hearing on bicycling on Dec. 9 to address balancing the needs of cyclists with those of other road users, said Councilman James Vacca, the chairman of the Transportation Committee. The hearing will also look at how well the Transportation Department has worked with community boards to review large-scale road changes.

Police and transportation officials, meanwhile, have begun a crackdown on bicycle-related traffic violations amid complaints from some pedestrians.

[. . .]

“It’s easy to focus on some of the conflict and friction,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group that has seen its influence grow under the Bloomberg administration. “But that’s always going to happen when you’re changing the geometry of something as dear as the asphalt. It takes some adjustment, and we’re definitely in that adjustment phase.”

Will fingerprints or blood spatter found in Mr. Bryant's car crack the case wide open? Will a judge or jury subconsciously favour a charismatic politician over a grubby bike courier? Will psychiatric experts testify what was in Mr. Bryant's mind – murderous rage or sheer panic – when he tore across Bloor Street with Mr. Sheppard allegedly cleaving to the side of his Saab?

Based on the available evidence, many believe that the scales of justice tilt in Mr. Bryant's favour.

“It is going to come down to one or two key pieces of fact – probably things that nobody could see before – that will jump out and become the turning point,” said criminal lawyer Robert Rotenberg.

“I suspect the key thing is going to be what the cyclist said or did in those first few seconds,” said Mr. Rotenberg, also the author of the crime novel Old City Hall . “If he said or did something that could justify what happened … then I think Bryant is almost home free.”

One thing is sure. With a top B.C. lawyer – Richard Peck – running the prosecution, and a young star, Marie Henein, anchoring the defence team, the legal community expects nothing less than tactical brilliance. The Crown needs to prove that Mr. Bryant displayed “disproportionate force and extreme road rage,” Toronto defence counsel Steven Skurka said. “But the risk is being seen as needlessly prosecuting an innocent man.”

Mr. Skurka reasoned that the defence has the upper hand, since it need only show that Mr. Bryant was in mortal fear for his life: “For the defence, the daunting pressure is to lose a monumental case that surely deserved to be won,” he said.

Eyewitnesses who saw the tragedy unfold will likely play a modest role in the trial, since perceptions are often unreliable and memories are inherently faulty. Civilian witnesses are notoriously bad on things like speed, time and distance, many lawyers believe.

Forensic evidence, on the other hand, is the evidentiary gold standard. Accident reconstruction experts, for example, can use skid marks and vehicle impressions left on the mailbox and tree to show the speed and path of Mr. Bryant's car. Their findings may shed valuable light on whether or not Mr. Bryant was in control of the vehicle.

Most important, fingerprint experts will try to pinpoint every place Mr. Sheppard touched on the car. Should it turn out that he gripped the steering wheel – whether in panic or in fury – the defence stands a strong chance of persuading a jury that Mr. Sheppard inadvertently steered himself to his own death.

“The closer you get prints on the inside of the car, the more the pendulum of self-defence swings in Michael Bryant's favour,” Mr. Skurka said.