Fussbudgets like The South Bayview Bulldog hear the new mayor talk about how there will be zero-tolerance of “gridlock” and they get a silly look on their faces. The Bulldog looks silly most of the time with that funny tongue hanging out but both the mayor’s tone and the timeless realities of rush-hour traffic make one wonder how it will work. Never mind that heavy traffic is not “gridlock”. Gridlock is a state of interlocking blockages that are almost never seen on Toronto streets. There is heavy traffic, for sure, but no gridlock. Call us picky but the use of such language is typical of the media and politicians who see a common purpose in making things sound absolutely as bad as possible. Hey, no one likes heavy traffic. But let’s wander out onto Bayview Ave. at 5 p.m.and watch the 100 km/h dash to North York by drivers who look as if they would enjoy climbing up onto the sidewalks if they thought they could get away with that. Do some vehicles get more or less abandoned by drivers to block a lane of northbound traffic every now and then? Yes. Now they are going to be towed faster and pay more, says the mayor. But cars don’t vanish in front of tow trucks like an after school snack. The City-TV website is quoting tow truck drivers about how long it takes to authorize a tow, pick up the vehicle, tow it to the pound and come back.
