Commuting In Toronto And Its Danger To Cyclists

The following article is about commuting in Canada’s largest city and its danger to cyclists. Toronto is said to be a very dangerous city to be a cyclist. “From just the months of May to June, three cyclists had died”. The city has its own flaws in the sense that there should be more road safety for people so that we can prevent deaths. Cyclists and drivers should be separated in a way to prevent the number of fatalities. “Toronto has a population of about 2.8 million people”, so there is no doubt that commuting in such a large and vast city will be slow and dreadful. But since we are garnering growth in population, all types of commuters are starting to fight over space. A solution to the problem is giving cyclists their own bike lanes. Bicycling separate from vehicle drivers, this will not only lower the cause of accidents, and deaths, but it will also make the cyclists feel a sense of safety and encourage them to ride (cycle) to get around a crowded city. Though there is a growing concern that it can attract an increase in traffic in an already congested city, as there will be less space for cars to drive and to park their cars. The city has taken some measures and added a couple of bike lanes, but there needs to be more on many major roads to indicate that we care for all citizens and are willing to accommodate to all types of transportation. This article is more of an informative piece, as it lets the audience know of the dangers that cyclist face while riding on roads in Toronto. Torontonians are shown the problem through the eyes of the cyclists themselves. The audience of this article would then be the general public, specifically, cyclists, drivers, and city council. This article was written by Jessica Murphy for the BBC.

BBC (British Broadcasting Company) is a national broadcasting organization and is funded through TV license fees. “The licence fee is necessary because it ensures that it is the British people who pay for the BBC, not the government”. Due to this, the article is very credible because its first service is to the people and it is committed to serving everyone. However, this could affect the quality of work because, since BBC is in the best interest of the people, it may not show every perspective, exclude some, or be biased to fit the public’s views and opinions. Nevertheless, BBC is an organization with a great track record because they work to inform the public not only in the UK but in other parts of the world, by television and other BBC platforms. For instance, this was an article written by a British author for the people of Canada. The author makes her case by giving facts, evidence, data, and even stories related to the dangers of city cycling. She compiled this and presented it to back up her stance on the issue.

To persuade the audience she used prominent facts and recent data, this was also used to grab the attention of the reader. She also used emotion to persuade the reader through the stories of cyclists and of cyclists’ deaths. For example, Murphy mentioned the uplifting story of Geoffrey Bercarich. Geoffrey painted bike frames white and set them up in places where cyclists were killed, as a memoriam. The author’s evidence and examples come from reputable sources. She used statistics compiled by the city of Toronto and by a non-profit think tank - Pembina Institute. She also used geographical perspectives, for example, when she touched on the fact that Toronto is not the only city with cycling versus car debate. Cities like LA, New York, and many more, also have this issue.

Relatable content to readers was used to get the main points of the story across, like when the story touched on traffic. Traffic is something we all hate and dread but living in a large city like Toronto, one is bound to encounter it. This connection to readers, in a way, elevated the story to a more personal level. The form of writing and the words used were very academic and informed the reader that this is good quality writing and is, therefore, a good source of information about the topic at hand. The article does not fully address the feelings of drivers when it comes to having and adding more bike lanes. Yes, the author touches on the fact that drivers dread traffic and that “a recent poll indicated that almost half of Torontonians supported more separated cycle lanes being added”.

The author did not have any evidence or stories through the eyes of drivers. This could have substantially changed the route of the article and it would have been nice to see the issue from a different (or in this case from the issues oppositions) perspective. This would have been a great perspective because it lets you hear an alternate point of view and maybe even a different opinion, that is crucial for a problem like this.