This bill is proposed by the…

This bill is proposed by the government with very strong intent to remove the bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue in downtown Toronto, which is an extremely short-sighted decision. The bill will do nothing to address the gridlock problem while posing a significant danger for cyclists and degrading the accessibility and liveability of many regions not just in Toronto, but also the GTA.

The city of Toronto is old and many of the streets were not designed to handle the volume of car traffic it currently experiences to begin with. Removing the bike lanes on major roads only increases the throughput along these major roads, which is *useless* in reducing traffic as the bottlenecks occur at intersections which for the most part cannot be changed. Additionally, without bike lanes, cyclists will feel unsafe bicycling on the roads. As it is *completely legal* for cyclists to take the entire lane, but illegal to go on the pedestrian sidewalk while cycling, cyclists will *take up the entire lane* which will *worsen existing traffic*.

Good protective bike lanes allow safe cycling, which encourages people to bike and stay active. As the country and province experience increasing rates of obesity, diabetes and a myriad of health problems amongst the population, we should be encouraging people to stay active and use alternative methods of transportation which would *reduce the burden on our healthcare system* as people get healthier, an issue this government seems to be refusing to properly address that is definitely purely coincidental.

This Bill is one of the extremely disappointing examples of the government exerting unwanted and unnecessary pressure on major metropolitan areas where people who live there on a daily basis are being sacrificed to appease suburban commuters who refuse to even think about a life without driving everywhere. We should give people the freedom to explore alternative methods of travel, not force everybody into cars. Please repeal the bill and draft something that promotes alternative forms of transportation.