Ask any transport planner,…

Ask any transport planner, city planner, or engineer, not only will Bill 212 cause incredible violence on vulnerable and racialized citizens, it will INCREASE gridlock.

Reducing cycling lanes will not only lead to the reduced physical safety of many road users (WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT - remember the death of Alexandra Amaro on Dufferin St?), it will also result in increased congestion and gridlock.

Transportation planning 101 tells us that adding driving lanes only momentarily reduces congestion. Induced demand, which means travellers from other routes, modes, and times, will use up that additional capacity and the system will return to equilibrium and the same level of service as before. There is simply not enough physical space to have enough lanes for everyone to sit in a 5 x 2 metre steel box (AKA car). The math doesn't add up, and there is no amount of lanes you can add that will make it add up. The only way to reduce congestion is to have better transportation demand management, which means getting some portion of people to use transit, bikes, and walk. That way, only the people that need to drive are driving.

If you actually want to reduce gridlock, provide users with alternatives: add more bike lanes, add more frequent and reliable transit, and enhance the pedestrian realm. This will not only reduce congestion, it will also enable people to have healthier lifestyles and more environmentally sustainable communities.