Cycling in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

The biggest trouble I've actually had is on a handful of bike lanes I've encountered with lights which don't trigger unless a car is present, and where the bike lane has no sensor.  Thus, if I rider where I'm supposed to, I never get to go.  Very frustrating.

I’m of the opinion that you can take the lane if you so choose, even when there’s a bike lane present. I do this regularly on one part of my commute because there seem to be a lot of right-turning cars that sometimes don’t signal, and I find it simpler to just get in line up with them. I signal to get out of and then back into the bike lane, so I don’t think it’s a problem, but maybe someone can correct me if it’s a faux pas. I would say that getting into the other lane for the reason of activating the signal is a pretty good one.

Thanks to everyone for all the info on sensors! I simply haven’t been paying enough attention to them; next time I’m at Weber and Guelph, I’ll try to get them to notice me.

Oh, I don't think there's anything wrong with taking the lane, and activating the sensor is a perfectly good reason.  However, the context I'm in, I'm unaware the light is sensor triggered till I've waited it the bike lane for a while, I cannot simply approach in the next lane.

As for not using the bike lane, sometimes going behind turning vehicles makes sense, for example if traffic is moving, but other times, I'm perfectly willing to ride up to the front.  As long as it isn't a large vehicle, and I can reasonably expect to get to the front before the light changes, and no vehicle has moved into the bike lane to turn (as is legal at the point the dotted line begins).

Failure to signal is an epidemic in our city however, I see police officers fail to signal on a regular basis.