This proposal is extremely…

This proposal is extremely short sighted and deceitful, like many of other proposals by this administration. It is so problematic on so many levels, as I'm sure the provincial staff are aware:

1. PROVINCIAL OVERREACH
1a) In the example of Toronto, Premier Ford was quoted saying the major bike lanes, like the ones on Bloor, Yonge, and University, will be targeted for removal, based on no real criteria. Perhaps the criteria will be based on Mr.Ford's feelings? Since when does the premier get to decide what gets removed on city roads??
1b) Do motorists need both major and minor roads? So do cyclists. The three he mentioned are major thoroughfares for cyclists, too. Putting bike lanes only on secondary streets doesn't solve gridlock.
1c) Bike lanes are only installed after YEARS of study, planning, piloting, AND community input. The municipalities have already done this. It is a gross overreach of the province to suddenly butt in and announce they will rip out any that "fails" according to this non-existent criteria. The province should do their actual job, like completing higher order transit. Metrolinx, a PROVINCIAL entity, has been struggling to complete several LRT lines on time. I don't see the premier and the Transportation Minister Sarkaria doing much about that.

2. WASTE OF TIME, MONEY AND RESOURCES - all the bike lanes are already put in. It took years of time from various departments at municipalities, consultants, and construction crews. The carbon footprint to rip out all the materials and re-install asphalt is a huge waste of resources and means more construction, which DOES contribute to gridlock. It also took A LOT of money to build the networks we currently have in Ontario, TAXPAYERS' DOLLARS. The province announced that it will pay for any bike lanes that it wants removed. BUT WHERE IS THAT MONEY COMING FROM? If you have all that money lying around, why hasn't it been used for public transit or hospitals?? Stop wasting our money.

3. UNSCIENTIFIC - congestion is a big issue in many places around the world, and lots of studies have been done. No study has ever shown that putting more cars on the road reduces congestion, also none has ever demonstrated that bike lanes cause gridlock. In fact, it is the opposite: see article attached. It is also worth to point out that cars are not IN traffic, they ARE the traffic. We need to promote less cars on the road, not more, by promoting alternate modes of transit (i.e. LRT, subway, BIKE LANES, etc).

4. BACKWARDS - this proposal is not only based on feelings and no real evidence, it is backwards. The world is facing a climate crisis. We, collectively as human species, need to be moving towards more sustainable modes of transit, not promoting carbon inducing single passenger vehicles.

5. CYCLIST SAFETY - just like motorists, cyclists want to stay alive and unharmed! Removing bike lanes not only puts cyclists at danger, but motorist as well. With bike lanes, everybody knows where to be and there is less confusion and/or mixing of the two road users. Perhaps this administration is forgetting that cyclists are also Ontarians, and their safety matters just much as motorists. And in case you didn't know, bike helmets don't save you from dying when you get crushed by a car.

6. DECEITFUL - buried in this proposal is a clause that will allow bypassing of the environmental assessment required for the proposed Highway 413 (also, do we really need another highway?). It seems like this administration has complete disregard for safeguarding or protecting natural and environmental resources of Ontario, as was already demonstrated by the greenbelt scandal. Highway 413 will be an enormous piece of infrastructure if built, and it is paramount that we are fully understand the environmental impacts. We are facing a climate crisis and having to deal with extreme climates more and more. We need to more equipped with knowledge, not less. Such an infrastructure will last many decades, we owe the future generations of Ontario a better than this.

This proposal is an insult to the people of Ontario. There are so many other problems in our province, like the housing crisis or the buckling healthcare system. Yet here is the premier with a bogus proposal with a bogus name, wasting taxpayers' time and money that he claims he wants to save.

As a resident and cyclist of Toronto, I'd urge Mr.Ford and Mr.Sarkaria to try riding around those Toronto streets without bike lanes at peak rush hour and see if they can propose a bogus bill like this after that. Oh, wait, Mr.Ford already did: “You’re nervous when there’s no bike lanes. At least I was. We have to do everything we can to make sure three’s never a death in the city. One death is way too many when it comes to bicycle riders," he said on TVO back in 2017. I guess he conveniently hasn't heard about the deaths of multiple cyclists in this year alone. Mr.Sarkaria lives in Brampton and commutes to Queen's Park by car. He is part of the gridlock problem, yet he has the audacity to question the validity of municipal bike lane studies that exclude bad weather months. Cyclists bike less in the winter partly because the lanes are never cleared of snow or ice, therefore unsafe. But how would he know that? He does not ride a bike in my city to know.