Toronto's Critical Mass Takes over a Highway

IMG_7684
Originally uploaded by TObike

So reports Torontoist

Late Friday afternoon, more than two hundred cyclists rolled up the Jarvis Street ramp to slowly and steadily (and illegally) take the entire westbound expressway over.

According to Martin Reis, who was in the pack, the decision to ascend the ramp onto the Gardiner Expressway was spontaneous (even though it bears some resemblance to a similar but much smaller Los Angeles freeway ride from two weeks ago), and was not intended to be a huge statement: as Reis put it, the groupthink was more along the lines of "Here we are. Let's take the Gardiner."

Comments

[Jack]

Oh sure, that will help the cause.

[washcycle]

I don't know, but it makes for a cool photo.

[jeff]

It does make for a cool photo op, but I wonder how many frustrated motorists flooded neighborhood roads to get around this.

Critical Mass is great in theory, but not so much in practice.

[Chris]

I think too much is made about what a problem groups like this are. For starters, it was only a small section of the highway, and the highway was effectively shut down to motorized vehicles for only about 15 minutes at around 7:30 in the evening. Not as big a deal as it might appear.

But there's some larger points to be made here. Critical Mass is a radical organization, to be sure, and their approach is not necessarily my cup of tea. But I think I like that they exist, because they are change agents.

I look at Critical Mass in the same way I look at AIDS organizations like ACT UP. Specifically, without the radical organizations, the more reasonable organizations don't always look so reasonable. There's a risk of everybody be painted with a broad brush, to be sure, but change doesn't generally happen without that wide spectrum effecting that change.

Also, it makes for a cool photo.

[jeff]

I too agree it takes groups/activists on all parts of the spectrum to accomplish desired results. Generally speaking the further left a group goes, the further it moves the center. My problem with Critical Mass is that in far too many places it has nothing to do with cycling, cyclists rights or even a hint of cycling advocacy. You get Critical Mass to stop the war, Critical Mass against global warming, Critical Mass to free political prisoners, Critical Mass against zionism and my favorite- Critical Mass in solidarity for NYC cyclists being arrested at their Critical Mass. All worthy causes mind you, but how about Critical Mass in support of local cyclists rights and visibility? Oh, and try not to ride like a jerk while doing it, thanks.

But yeah, awesome photo.

[Chris]

I don't know about all that, but it seems to me the action taken is, in fact, about bicycle advocacy and not freeing political prisoners and whatnot. It seems like it's about greater bicycle access to roads. And, indeed, there are some places where an freeway does in fact allow bicycles - albeit on the shoulder. I've seen such a thing in Seattle, and indeed Whitehurst Freeway allows for bicycles. (I'd love to take over Whitehurst with a group of 250 cyclists!) What the group in Toronto did may also qualify as riding like a jerk, but that's where I get into this being the nature of a radical group.

[Joshua Perry]

It's more of a radical disorganization. The point of critical mass is that it is a spontaneous mass of people and anyone can show up. It happens in every major city worldwide on the last friday of the month! We're not a group.

Riding on the Gardiner Expressway was fun though ;). I am a jerk, but a jerk with style.