[theluketaylor]

North American fire departments are among the biggest blockers of urban road safety improvements here, demanding huge lanes for huge trucks. Those lanes leave tons of space for other drivers, leaving them feeling safe to speed, resulting in more carnage when pedestrians are hit.

Those huge trucks are also all custom built chassis and incredibly expensive.

European fire departments using customized versions of off the shelf commercial vehicles are so much more sensible for urban spaces and don't need to drive transportation decisions.

[jcgl]

My only familiarity with what you’re saying comes from a Not Just Bikes video. Pretty striking, though I’ve not done any research to corroborate it.

[theluketaylor]

Great example from just this week.

Here in Ontario the province passed a law directing themselves to remove separated bike lanes from Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Avenue Road in Toronto, claiming it would reduce traffic congestion. They are three important surface arteries in and around the downtown core.

A group of cyclists sued the government under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with the verdict being handed down this week. The cyclists won, though it's far from the end of the story since the government can appeal or invoke the notwithstanding clause.

One of the lone voices who filed court statements in support of the government was a retired Toronto fire captain, who stated without evidence that bike lanes increase both congestion and emergency response times. The judge was not convinced, in part from lack of supporting data, but also because the sitting fire chief said in a public meeting the fire department had not recorded an increase in response times.

Collisions involving cyclists have gone down around 50% on those roads since the lanes went in, despite cycling volume nearly doubling. A retired firefighter still felt compelled to testify it would harm emergency response. Wow.

[jcgl]

That is preposterous. Thanks for sharing. Really disappointing to hear that people who presumably care a lot about health and safety can be so blind on this stuff.

I wonder how successful it would be to have a hypothetical campaign like "Create a city-wide emergency roadway network." It would basically result in building out separated bike lanes across a city, with the explicit purpose of creating an expressway for emergency vehicles that can be used by cyclists when otherwise unused. Seems like a way to bring sides together and possibly get greater funding and scope.

That Toronto reality is depressing.