Officially-Invisible Cargo Carriers In London Ontario

by | May 27, 2023 |

Not everyone can see them but, like Santa Claus, there are invisible cargo carriers out there. Some cannot see these cargo carriers because of simple things like darkness of night. But many do not see them because they chose to be blind to their presence.

Much like the population of homeless persons, those transporting cargo through unorthodox means, are not officially visible. Certainly they’re not visible to politicians and officials who control the maintenance and design of roadways. Yet Gorski Consulting has managed to capture come photos of them in recent years.

In official circles the future will include large numbers of cargo bikes which ride swiftly and conveniently within a 1.5-metre-wide cycling lane. Planning and development is focused on this throughout cities like London, Ontario. In unofficial reality the situation is more complex.
Here is an example of a “cargo bike” not being ridden in a cycling lane but on a city sidewalk. The larger width of the mini-trailer means that it would likely not fit well within a 1.5-metre cycling lane.
Here a cyclist pulling a mini-trailer rides on the road but his visibility to drivers is limited because his height is below many vehicles such as the white van behind him. There are many instances where the driver of the red mini-van cannot see the cyclist because of such a blockage of view and, if the white van moves abruptly to the right the driver of the red mini-van can be faced with the appearance of the cyclist within a very short time and distance.
In this instance a man is carrying both, a chain saw and a Tim Horton’s coffee mug in the same hand, while using the other hand to steer his bicycle. He was located on a sidewalk but this poses a problem regardless of where he rides. No roadway designs can efficiently accommodate such a rider. However inquiries as to why this rider has chosen this action could result in changes to prevent an accident.

A common example is seen here where cans are being transported in a grocery cart, usually to a local beer store. Here the pedestrian is using the shared cycling lane which has no defined width. The person should be walking on the sidewalk. If he chose to walk within a cycling lane he would not fit efficiently within a 1.5-metre width of a typical cycling lane.
This person has difficulty seeing around his loaded grocery cart that is being pushed on a City street. Fines laid against such a person are blind to the understanding that this action often occurs through necessity. An alternative approach is to gain information as to why this person is carrying the cargo and whether an alternative is available, such as a different transportation device, which allows the person to achieve his needs.
In this instance a mini-trailer is being pulled by a medical scooter. When crossing over uneven terrain the loose materials are in jeopardy of falling off. Yet there in no law that states such cargo should be securely tied down like there would be with a motor vehicle. Again, an inquiry as to why this is occurring and how it could be altered is more productive than simply fining the individual.
Parking for a loaded grocery cart is a simple problem, it would seem here, where the cart is simply left in the eastbound lane of Dundas Street near English Street in east London. Such events occur when many persons live on the street and their “house” rides on these four wheels.
A very common way to transport a loaded shopping cart is to use a bicycle, as shown here. However such an arrangement would not fit within a 1.5-metre cycling lane. In this instance the transportation is occurring on a City sidewalk.
Here is another example of an overloaded shopping cart where the person cannot see ahead of the cargo and the blue cargo near the base of the cart is quite wide making it unlikely that it would fit on a sidewalk or within the narrow confines of 1.5-metre cycling lane. Here the person simply uses the right road edge for his travels. Obviously this can cause traffic problems depending on the roadway where is occurs.

Here is another example of a cyclist carrying cans, likely to a beer store. No helmet means that if he loses his balance he could experience a possible head injury. Yet carrying cargo in this fashion increases the likelihood that balance could be lost if, for example, the bag of cargo strikes something close to the sidewalk.
In this instance the cyclist is pulling a small loaded wagon with an improvised, long draw bar. Motorists do not expect a cyclist to be pulling such an object and, because the wagon is low to the ground, many motorists would not detect its presence in traffic. Again what is needed to an inquiry as to why this unorthodox procedure is used and whether a different method of transportation can be found.
In this example a medical cart is being used to pull a large garbage pail along a City sidewalk.
And in this example more cans are being transported on a sidewalk using a two-wheeled cart.
When weather conditions are not favourable these persons have placed a large umbrella over their loaded shopping car. In many instances these could be the only possessions of the individuals who could be homeless.
There are instances where dog owners will attach their pets to a harness and then attach the harness to a cart. This improvised “dog sledding” does not always result in satisfactory control of where/how the dog will pull the cart. In conditions of higher motor vehicle volumes the situation is not ideal.

The above examples show the complexity with which cargo is transported through roadways in the City of London Ontario. Many of these improvised methods of transportation are created through necessity as economically disadvantaged citizens cannot afford a more efficient method of carrying their goods. Gatherers of scrap metal, aluminum cans or other materials can sell these materials and gain some needed income. When a minimum guaranteed income is insufficient to enable persons a safe survival persons naturally improvise to survive.

As the population of homeless persons in London has mushroomed over the last few years so have the numbers of unorthodox instances of cargo transportation. Where society has failed to improve the plight of the homelessness or economically disadvantaged it must also experience complications when transportation essential to the homeless becomes a safety issue because the road system is not designed to accommodate these invisible persons. Recent discussion has focused on roads that are designed for “all ages and abilities” but this seems to be only for the visible population. Are roads to be designed only for “all ages and abilities” of “visible” persons? Or are we able to open our eyes and see everyone who uses our public roads.

Cyclist Observations in London Ontario Canada – 1st 4 Months of 2023

by | May 20, 2023 |

A balmy first two months of 2023 brought out more cyclists than normal in London Ontario. This was reversed with a colder March. Never-the-less the number of cyclists observed along London’s roads increased compared to the years 2021 and 2022.

While everyone’s thoughts are on increasing the cycling mode of transportation, little public documentation exists with respect to if and how cyclist volumes are changing. While Gorski Consulting has been documenting cyclists in London since 2013, that documentation has been more robust in the last few years. Data is now available from cyclist observations in the first four months of 2023.

Overall, 280 cyclists were documented from January through April, 2023. In that total there were 240 males, 22 females and 18 whose gender could not be determined. Of the 262 observations where gender was known the percentage of observed females was only 8.40 %. In comparison, in the whole of 2021 that percentage was 13.65 and in 2022 it was 13.11%. While the 2023 numbers appear to show a reduced female volume one needs to compare apples to apples, thus we need to look at the first 4 months of 2021 and 2022.

In the first 4 months of 2021 only 98 observations were available where gender was known. Only 11 females were documented and 87 males. This led to a female rider percentage of 11.22 %. In the first 4 months of 2022 156 observations were available where gender was known. This led to a female rider percentage of 8.97%. Compared to 2023 one might be tempted to conclude that these numbers suggest that the percentage of females riders was higher in 2021 and 2022. However we are looking at small numbers of observations and, in my view, there simply is insufficient data to draw such a conclusion at this time.

Looking at the overall observations from 2021 through to the end of April, 2023, there were 1856 observations where gender could be determined. Of those, there were 1622 males and 234 females. Thus the percentage of female riders over this larger dataset is 12.61%. This larger dataset might be more indicative that, overall, the percentage of female cyclists riding along or adjacent to the streets of London, Ontario remains quite low.

It has been suggested in various research that low female cycling could be attributed to reports by females that they feel unsafe. That my be so, however this does not explain why that percentage would appear to be lower in the first four months of each year in London. Is it possible that weather conditions might also play into this relationship? Are females also less inclined to ride cycles when the weather conditions are less favourable? It would be helpful if further research could provide more concrete conclusions.

If the cycling mode of transportation is to be increased we need the involvement of the female half of the population and we need to understand why less females appear to be riding in London and if a solution can be found to increase that percentage.

Lateral Travel Paths of Vehicles & Cyclists on Colborne St in London Ontario Canada

by | May 14, 2023 |

Many cyclists complain that motor vehicles encroach into their riding space. They also complain that painted cycling lanes do little to improve their safety. However there is no objective data available to quantify this subjective feeling of danger. For this reason Gorski Consulting has embarked on a documentation of lateral travel paths of motor vehicles and cyclists along an urban street (Colborne Street) in London, Ontario, Canada. The above table provides some preliminary results from two sessions of observations, conducted on April 12 and 14, 2023.

The “Average” column shows the distance, in metres, that the outside edge of the right front wheel of a motor vehicle was located with respect to the edge of the concrete gutter of the lane (i.e. the right edge of the lane). The “Standard Deviation” is the degree of variation in that average. For cyclists the position of the front wheel was documented. Further explanation is shown in the following figures taken from video during the testing procedures.

This view shows a typical northbound light vehicle travelling through a set of orange roadway markers in the northbound lane of Colborne Street. The markers are positioned at 5-metre intervals. Within each 5-metre position orange dots have have been painted at 20-centrimetre intervals over a width of 2 metres. As the right front tire of a vehicle crosses the dots its lateral position is noted and then averaged over a distance of 50 metres.
In this view the right front tire of an London Transit Commission (LTC) bus is seen travelling over the first set of markers. It can be seen that the outside edge of the tire is about 0.70 metres from the right edge of the lane (i.e. distance from the edge of the concrete gutter). Video cameras follow the progress of the bus as it passes through each set of markers positioned at 5-metre intervals over a distance of 50 metres.

In this view we see a northbound cyclist travelling over the first set of markers. The cycle’s front tire is crossing over the dot at 0.60 metres distance from the right edge of the lane.

Procedures like this help to provide basic data on the typical lateral travel paths of various motor vehicles and cyclists. This provides a quantitative basis for discussing the extent to which motor vehicles and cyclists may interact as cyclists are passed by the larger and wider motor vehicles. Eventually some data will be gathered as to the lateral position of motor vehicles as they pass cyclists within this 50-metre zone of testing.

The preliminary data in the above table shows that the right front tires of LTC buses typically past through a similar lateral location as the lateral paths of cyclists. Oversize vehicles in this study were comprised of slightly narrower vehicles such as over-size commercial vans, although some school buses are included in this category. The lateral travel paths of these over-size vehicles along with the paths of light vehicles appear to be located further away from the right lane edge (1.03 and 1.08 meters) than cyclists.

It is important to note however that the standard deviation of the lateral travel paths in each category provide some concern. The deviation in the lateral paths of cyclists is greater than that of the wider motor vehicles. Such information needs to be studied further.

The Colborne Street site was chosen for this study because the City of London has informed the public that it intends to create a cycling lane at this location by painting a white line to designate the edge of the cycling lane. Once such a line is painted it is expected that further documentations will take place to observe what differences there are in the travels of the vehicles and cyclists compared to the condition where no painted white line existed.

Tracking Motor Vehicle & Cyclist Lateral Paths – Preliminary Results

by | Apr 20, 2023 |

Tire imprints (black circles) show where orange paint has been transferred after vehicles travelled over wet orange paint. White line shows proposed edge of cycling lane (1.5 metres wide) expected to be created by City of London in near future.

Preliminary testing is being conducted by Gorski Consulting to track the lateral position of motor vehicles and cyclists within the northbound lane where a new cycling lane is proposed on Colborne Street in London, Ontario. The procedures involve the production of a matrix of painted orange dots at 5-metre intervals for a distance of 50 metres. At each 5-metre location orange dots are painted at 20-centimetre intervals commencing from the east concrete gutter and progressing up to 2 metres into the lane. Video cameras placed near each 5-metre interval capture the position of the right front tire of a motor vehicle with respect to the orange dots. For cyclists the video captures the position of the front tire.

Because motor vehicles travel at higher speeds their lateral position is not likely to change greatly over the short distance of 50 metres. Thus it is likely that the tires of motor vehicles will only be documented at the zero, 25 and 50-metre intervals. Unlike motor vehicles cyclists travel at a slow speed and thus are more likely to change their lateral position in the 50-metre distance. Also cyclists depend on differing steer angles and body positions in order to keep along a certain path and this is another reason why their paths are likely to change. Thus for cyclists their paths will likely be documented at all ten 5-metre intervals.

Given the extensive time commitment it is unlikely that the paths of all motor vehicles will be documented although that decision might change if volunteers are found to conduct these detailed observations. However It is expected that larger vehicles such as trucks and buses will be fully documented as there is likely to be few of these observations.

As an example of the type of data that is likely to be generated, the above photo shows a view, looking south in the northbound lane of Colborne Street in London, Ontario, where the testing is being done. A 5-metre interval is shown as noted by the row of orange dots at the top and bottom of the photo. As the orange paint was sprayed to produce the dots motor vehicles passed over the wet paint and then transferred the imprints onto the pavement at each revolution of the tire. Those transfers are rather faint so they have been highlighted in the photo by black circles. Additionally a white line has been produced to show the position of the future, white line of paint that is expected to be painted by the City of London sometime in the future. Through this methodology we can see where the right side tires of motor vehicles have passed with respect to the width of the future cycling lane. This visual method of showing the motor vehicle paths may not be as detailed as the numerical methods that will be employed but it is a quick demonstration of a small number of observations and what they reveal. We will be tracking the lateral positions of cyclists in the more-detailed, numerical fashion and this data will be presented in a future article when analysis is completed.

Cyclist Versus Pedestrian Fatality in Queenston Ontario – I Told You So!

by | Apr 4, 2023 |

In 1965 a substantial bridge collapsed at the Glenorchey gorge in Oakville, Ontario as shown in the above photo from that era. The small bailey bridge that replaced it caused a dangerous downslope to exist for many years before a cyclist lost his life in a tandem bike collision in 1992. The trial resulting from that could have caused future municipalities to pay more attention to the dangers of such slopes, but that never occurred.

Steep downgrades cause recreational cyclist high speeds. Not surprising but difficult to accept, it seems.

The tragedy is that a pedestrian paid the ultimate price for that realization. On Saturday, April 1, 2023 an elderly pedestrian was struck by a cyclist travelling along the downgrade of Queenston Street in the Niagara region. News media interviewed residents at the site who commented that cyclists wanted to travel quickly on the downslope and this was the focus of the news report.

Yes, the speed of the cyclist was likely a factor in the consequences. But that is nothing new. If anyone had conducted any research they would have discovered that high speed cycling is correlated with downslopes. Not just at the Queenston Street site, but essentially everywhere.

The focus of any discussion about this tragedy will be on the recklessness of the cyclist who killed a pedestrian. While no focus will be paid to the fact that those responsible for road safety had decades of opportunity to understand what can happen when cyclists ride on steep downslopes.

Research at Gorski Consulting has spelt this out through a number of website articles posted over the last five years. Testing has shown the speed that a cyclist attains while coasting on a downgrade and this has been supplemented with observations of the speed of actual cyclists travelling on the same downgrade. The results have shown that cyclist speed is correlated to roadway downslopes. And the steeper and longer length of a downslope the faster the speed of the cyclist. These are not new data. They have been reported on the Gorski Consulting website since 2018. But that data has been essentially ignored.

Not only has the data been ignored but the courts in Ontario are at fault for contributing to the lack of corrections to the problem. As an example, in a fatal tandem bike collision in Oakville Ontario in 1992, the original verdict of Justice G.E. Taylor was made moot by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2008 when Justice Michael J. Moldaver claimed that Justice Taylor erred in finding the Town of Oakville 100% at fault for the collision in which a cyclist died as a result of travelling down a steep downgrade of a poorly maintained road in the historic area of Glenorchey. At no point did Justice Moldaver provide any credible argument as to why Justice Taylor had erred. In fact, through a series of flowery commentary he presented a sequence of illogical comments. These comments were never challenged because Moldaver was a member of the Court of Appeal, a status that, regardless of what was stated, gave him the authority to say it.

Moldaver concluded that, because a witness saw the cyclists were pedalling intermittently at the top of the hill, these cyclists were attempting to gain speed. Yet that same witness estimated the cycle’s speed at 45 km/h at the bottom of the slope. If Moldaver had any understanding or experience in acceleration he would have agreed with my testimony that a speed of 60 km/h could have been attained just from coasting alone. So how could the cyclists be attempting to gain speed when their observed speed was slower than if they had simply been coasting? The point that Moldaver did understand is that, while coasting at relatively high speed intermittent pedalling may contribute nothing to increasing or maintaining that speed. At high speed it requires the cycle to be set to a high gear and then it requires a substantial cadence in the pedalling action before that pedalling action “catches up” to the speed of cycle and begins to contribute additional force. As a Justice in the Ontario Court of Appeal Moldaver never had to explain what experience he had with cycling and there lies the crux of the problem. The arrogance with which he ignored the objective evidence was because there was no way that his opinion could be appealed. The result was that the opinion created a precedent as to how future incidents of a similar nature would be adjudicated. Any defendants in cyclist collisions where dangerous conditions existed on steep hills could rely on the judgement of Moldaver to protect their interests.

And so this reverts back to the present tragedy where it should have been known that dangerous conditions existed. The area where the pedestrian fatality occurred is known for its cyclist traffic as it is where cyclists travel when riding the Niagara Parkway Recreational Trail between Niagara-on-the-Lake and the City of Niagara. It would not have been difficult for anyone to count the number of cyclists travelling the route and then also to count how many pedestrians that might be walking in the area. A resident correctly observed that in the winding downslope of Queenston Street the speed of cyclists cannot be easily judged, nor can cyclists be easily seen and there is no engine noise to announce their presence. These facts could have alerted officials to the potential safety problem if they understood that they could be faced with a hefty civil suit. Instead, defendants throughout Ontario can essentially do as they please when it comes to safeguarding the lives of both cyclists and pedestrians at steep downgrades.

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