1,018 people have died in…

1,018 people have died in traffic crashes in Toronto since 2006. I am writing to voice my opposition to Bill 212 - "Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act", 2024. As proposed, Bill 212 threatens to undermine public health, safety, and efforts to combat both climate change and congestion.

As a young resident of Midtown Toronto, the safe street infrastructure and bike lanes that would be removed due to Bill 212 will have a harmful impact in my community. I depend on public transit and walking to go to work, go to school, get to appointments and run errands in this city. Safe street infrastructure on Midtown Yonge has vastly improved the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and transit users like myself from speeding, dangerous drivers.

This is a matter of safety for my community. While I do not bike, I do walk in my community and constantly face the risk of injury and death when crossing heavily trafficked corridors on foot. At the same time, many of my friends use BikeShare to get around the city, and their safety and lives depend on the type of infrastructure that Bill 212 promises to remove.

Bill 212 promises to undo efforts to increase road safety and instead further the crisis of injury and death on our streets. I urge members to consider the human toll that the passage of this Bill would produce, and instead pursue evidence-based solutions to congestion. Provincial ransit projects like the Eglinton Crosstown are 4 years late on their opening date, while frequent all-day two-way GO expansion remains a delayed pipe dream. We need evidence-based solutions to congestion: investment into public transit service, the delivery of long-overdue transit projects, bike infrastructure, and deliver on affordable housing in our urban areas. I urge members to vote no on Bill 212.