Bike lanes are essential…

Bike lanes are essential infrastructure: reject Bill 212!

I understand that Bill 212 would prohibit new bike lanes if they would require removing automobile lanes. Worse, Ontario could review—and perhaps remove—existing bike lanes. Indeed, Premier Ford has been clear that the result of Bill 212 would be that the province will force Toronto to remove the Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue bike lanes. This is profoundly concerning to me. My family and I rely on bike lanes for safe, efficient transportation everyday. For us, bike lanes are essential infrastructure.

We live near Bloor West. Several new developments representing thousands of units are being built around us right now. This is a necessary response to the housing crisis. But, the neighborhood cannot sustain thousands more cars, no matter how many lanes of motor traffic are opened on Bloor. The future of our neighborhood cannot rely on automobiles for transportation. We would strangle ourselves in congestion. Bike lanes—which support bicycles, e-bikes, mobility scooters, and more—are a flexible alternative that keep people moving.

Without bike lanes, essential thoroughfares--which even non-motorists must use--can be treacherous for anyone not in a car. I have been hit. My wife has been hit. My biggest fear is that my children will be hit. I do not want to raise my children in that environment. The success of existing bike lanes shows I don’t have to.

Bike lanes allow us to navigate a busy urban environment where cars have a place too. Disallowing or removing bike lanes would unnecessarily endanger me and my children, and for what? The evidence shows that increasing lanes of motor traffic provides, at best, short-term relief to congestion. True congestion relief requires giving people safe alternatives to driving.

Please reject Bill 212 and protect bike lanes. For my family, they are essential.