The City of Toronto is looking at three new initiatives that would make the city more friendly to motorcycles, as well as possibly safer. They include more parking, access to reserved lanes, and even lane filtering.
In a meeting at the end of last month, City council made the decision to investigate and adopt the policy proposals. The Rider Training Institute is advocating for motorcyclists in the city, and says that it wrote the proposals.
The first is a request for a report from Transportation Services and the Parking Authority to expand parking. The report is to cover expanding the number of motorcycle parking zones, adding enforcement of those, and a look at the costs or revenues of ticketing non-motorcycles parked in the zones. That would give motorcyclists more places to leave their bike, without being forced into the end of car and truck spaces.
Next is a report to add motorcycles to the list of vehicles permitted on reserved lanes on Bay Street and the Don Valley Parkway. It's a look at allowing motorcycles into HOV lanes since even though they generally have only one rider, they take up much less space than a car.
The third is the most interesting. A report and a pilot project to allow motorcycles to filter at stop lights. Filtering is when motorcycles drive between stopped cars to move to the front of the line at a light. It's like lane splitting, but lane splitting is done at speed.
Filtering does two things to help motorcycles. The first is to reduce congestion. A moving bike isn't taking a place where a car would be, and bikes can accelerate away from the light more quickly. The second is that with motorcycles not sitting at the end of a long line of traffic, the chances of being rear-ended at a light are reduced.
The pilot would be along the Richmond and Adelaide St. corridors, and allow filtering between stopped vehicles at a stop signal, and not along curbs or sidewalks. Currently, in North America, only California allows lane splitting, although it is common elsewhere in the world.
When vehicle drivers aren't expecting lane splitters, it can be a bit of a shock. And even lead to road rage if the driver isn't aware it's legal. But it's a plan that could alleviate congestion for everyone, and improve safety for motorcycles. Council is looking at the project and the implications for minimizing collisions and impacting traffic flow.
It's exciting news for motorcyclists and something to be aware of for drivers. Toronto council hasn't set a timeframe for the plans.
