The measures in Bill 60, the…

The measures in Bill 60, the "Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act", to ban new bike lanes that remove a lane of vehicular traffic and possibly banning other purposes for removing lanes of vehicular traffic is handcuffing municipalities from making meaningful decisions about the use of public infrastructure. Safe cycling infrastructure enables my partner and I to leave the car at home, take up less room on the road, take up less car parking space, reduce our carbon footprint, and obtain physical and mental health benefits from the additional exercise.

Additionally, it is concerning that CafeTO installations and bus lanes could also be banned due to this new legislation. I enjoy CafeTO outdoor dining in the summer and bus lanes are needed because transit moves people more efficiently than single occupancy cars.

Bill 212, the "Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024" already had the effect of creating additional red tape that stalled the construction of the Sheppard Complete Streets project because the province never created an approval process for bike lanes that would remove a lane of vehicular traffic. Now a year later, the province is moving to outright outlaw bike lanes that remove a lane of vehicular traffic, which shows that there was not going to be a good faith process to come to a compromise on this issue.

It was shown in court that the provisions to remove bike lanes in Bill 212 would decrease safety and not decrease congestion. It is unreasonable that after this court ruling, and after it has been shown that the province cannot prove that removing bike lanes would improve congestion, that the province is moving to handicap the creation of new bike lanes. It is also ridiculous that the province was stating that we should be less dependent on speed cameras to enforce speed limits and we should create traffic calming measures to slow down cars, when banning bike lanes over the claim that they slow car traffic.

Toronto is only growing, and we have limited public space to move people. Single occupancy cars are the least efficient way to move people. In some places in Toronto, it is impossible to widen the streets for bike lanes or bus lanes, which is why vehicular lanes are removed. If protected cycling infrastructure or dedicated transit lanes are built, it would encourage people to use these alternative modes of transportation if they are able to, and TTC service could be improved. It is unfair for TTC buses full of 50 people to get stuck behind cars only holding a single person each.

Additionally, often the very right vehicular lane is used simply for parking cars, which is why two lane streets are effectively one lane in some parts of Toronto. We have many streets that are effectively one lane due to need for parking, yet if we want to reimagine how our roads are used by making dedicated transit lanes or bike lanes, this bill would block that.

Cycling is a popular form of transportation for people in Toronto. Bike Share Toronto registered 7 million rides in 2024 and is on track to register 8.1 million trips this year. Demand for biking is also present year round. When I lived downtown, I would bike year round including in the winter. According to data from Bike Share analyzed by the University of Toronto School of Cities, in January 2024, there were 204 121 bike share trips, and in February 2024 there were 260 981 bike share trips. Many Toronto food couriers use ebikes, and for them to do their jobs, they also bike year round.

We should invest in modes of transportation that more efficiently move people. We should not be encouraging car dependency and taking away the rights of municipalities to decide what their local roads will look like. I am very disappointed in the actions of this government and I hope that you consider the points I have raised.