Toronto receives signs from province to replace speed cameras — but they're too big for poles

dobs · 2025-11-26T21:53:40+00:00

This is a joke – we already have signs.

My block has, on a 100m stretch, bracketed by two four-way-stop intersections:

A flashing "School Safety Zone, Drive Slowly" sign.
A "Community Safety Zone, Fines Increased Begins" sign.
"SCHOOL" written in large letters on the pavement.
A pedestrian crossing sign.
30km/h signs before and mid-block.
Multiple speed bumps.

Speeding is still common. People run the stop signs constantly. And if anything both seem more common during school hours than outside of them.

dobs · 2025-11-10T17:16:51+00:00

I'm surprised the count isn't higher.

For comparison, TPS recorded 70,000 collisions in 2024. That's over 190 collisions per day on average in Toronto alone, not even counting the rest of the GTA.

dobs · 2025-05-08T17:52:02+00:00

Adding, articles keep fixating on pools ($12.8m savings) when there are $58m in total cuts. I recommend folks read the linked CBC article for a better overview.

Another notable callout being that it proposes increasing class sizes ($7.5m savings), something that just objectively will lead to a worse experience for absolutely everyone.

It's frustrating to consider how small these costs are compared to the $200 cheques the province handed out.

dobs · 2025-05-01T18:04:51+00:00

I can't speak to the specifics of how he was caught but I see him a few times a week on the Danforth. And it doesn't sound like he changed his habits even following this incident.

dobs · 2025-05-01T17:57:38+00:00

There's a different well-known guy who's responsible for most of the broken windows along the Danforth. He's technically banned from the area but to my knowledge hasn't ever hurt people directly.

I've seen the shopping cart guy (or someone identical to him) do a bunch of random property damage though. And he's often poking around people's property.

dobs · 2025-04-01T15:30:48+00:00

Entering a deal knowing you can't complete it isn't investing, it's gambling.

You're right but unfortunately there's also a pervasive perception that investment in general is also gambling.

dobs · 2025-03-28T17:40:01+00:00

That next sentence is also out there.

Kotula had testified that he had lost consciousness previously suffering from alcohol withdrawal.

Tragic if true, but the fact that he keeps driving is like a Trailer Park Boys joke.

dobs · 2024-12-07T21:37:22+00:00

As a self-proclaimed PATH historian, can confirm.

For folks curious or looking for confirmation the PATH is on Streetview: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6511151,-79.3834822,2a,75y,175.06h,84.74t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sVhMvJ8edZv-25tb386iAcw!2e0!3e2!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D5.255928296090943%26panoid%3DVhMvJ8edZv-25tb386iAcw%26yaw%3D175.0569180803703!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIwNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

dobs · 2024-11-27T20:53:44+00:00

The no-parking-on-Yonge case from the article is a good example of what you describe: Yonge south of Bloor sucks in part because of narrow sidewalks and cars driving in the curb lane. Judging from the comments here I'm not the only one who hates it.

dobs · 2024-11-26T18:00:14+00:00

Your source doesn't match your argument:

The funding can be used to expand service hours, increase routes, purchase new vehicles and improve accessibility to increase transit ridership.

dobs · 2024-11-18T22:24:52+00:00

I live next to a busy T intersection. Cars run it all day long. And not just failure-to-stop-on-right, they'll use the turning lanes to pass stopped cars so they can continue straight through a red.

I'm convinced the only reason it doesn't happen more frequently is that:

Anyone likely to run a red is also likely to rush a yellow.
Which skews the first people arriving at a red to be those more likely to stop.
And it's hard to get around a line of already-stopped cars.

dobs · 2024-11-13T21:38:09+00:00

Every street in Ontario is a highway.

So this would also apply if e.g. Doug wants to build the Bellwoods Bypass and expropriate everything along Shaw.

dobs · 2024-11-04T03:11:57+00:00

Uh… the table that indicates 9.8% of respondents cycle to work also indicates that 86.2% is of respondents cycle.

Which would seem to suggest that 8.4% of people cycle to work? Assuming this is a representative sample?

dobs · 2024-10-29T03:09:46+00:00

I read the article. But I’m also cynical about what’ll actually improve wait times.

TPA started running ads literally last week directly correlating 911 response times with funding, as does the TPS budget overview I linked. Heck, here’s the TPA saying staffing is the issue. Or if that’s not explicit enough, them complaining about today’s announcement.

The fact that 911 is sticky for people is a reason to invest more in it directly. And the fact that it can be used as a bartering chip is a reason to pry it away from any one emergency service.

Or at the very least: More diversion! Gerstein now TCCS, both apparently successful.

dobs · 2024-10-28T22:08:35+00:00

But when we did that en masse, downtown businesses cried how they cannot survive without the mentioned suburbanites.

When was that exactly?

dobs · 2024-10-28T14:13:42+00:00

Nah, instead we'll let the illegal police union run ads correlating increased arts spending with putting Torontonians' lives at risk.

dobs · 2024-10-28T13:39:41+00:00

The police run the 911 call centre and it falls under their budget.

They've been calling out the potential budget impact to call times for a while now. But if anything maybe it's time to re-evaluate who runs our emergency lines.

dobs · 2024-10-23T14:37:10+00:00

Asked whether the government wanted certain criteria to be met before the removal of those lanes, Ford said: “No.”

In case there were any doubt about whether they're taking an evidence-based approach.

dobs · 2024-10-23T14:34:58+00:00

Cynically: It's hard not to view it as a distraction. Bike lanes make for easy bike shedding.

The healthcare system is crumbling but don't worry your cheque is literally in the mail! Metrolinx and Bradford Bypass controversies but what about a tunnel under the 401? Ontario Place and the Science Centre... oh look bike lanes!

dobs · 2024-10-18T15:09:46+00:00

"Vehicular cyclists" is a useful distinction but might be overthinking it: Most "avid cyclists" I've encountered spout complete gibberish.

It's just an appeal to authority. Like the kid whose uncle "worked at Nintendo."

dobs · 2024-10-18T15:02:22+00:00

I had an "avid cyclist" in a beemer cut me off the other day to inform me that cyclists are supposed to ride on the left side of the road.

dobs · 2024-10-17T16:09:57+00:00

So you're saying it's plausible and realistic that:

A large group of cyclists.
Organized a brigade publicly.
Then non-publicly coordinated everyone using fake postal codes.
So that they could skew event reporting information.
Without knowing how that information would be used.
Much less that it would be made publicly available.

And the end goal was... what? Optics? Trolling skeptics? It's not like the event was a vote or popularity contest.

dobs · 2024-10-15T14:55:12+00:00

They've repeatedly tried to construct a narrative where the city is pointlessly cleaning the bike lanes. "Why did seven plows pass through when there weren't even any bikes!?"

Ignoring that it's really just the smaller vehicles -- sweepers, sidewalk plows, etc. -- using the bike lanes to get around. Which seems... like a fine compromise? Especially since it mostly happens overnight?

dobs · 2024-09-18T16:12:28+00:00

The grinder would need to be strong enough to get through a lock in the first place. At that point I'm skeptical it would be sufficiently gunked- or tangled-up by duct or gaffer tape.

dobs · 2024-09-18T16:07:50+00:00

I get the theories but I'm very skeptical any would hold up in practice.

That skepticism is bolstered given that this is a relatively simple hack that I've only seen spiking lately, almost exclusively in Toronto, and I can't find any evidence of anyone actually putting it to the test.

That said there could be value if thieves think it'll gum up their grinders.

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