I am an urban planner with a…

I am an urban planner with a specialization in transportation planning living in Toronto.

Arbitrary removal of bike lanes by the province will reduce mobility options and make roads more dangerous. It is inconsistent with the Provincial Policy Statement as well as Toronto's Official Plan, Vision Zero Strategy and TransformTO Net Zero Strategy. Surely it is not consistent with the mandate of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to expend $48 million to make roads less safe.

Further, City of Toronto statistics have shown a huge increase in the number of people cycling on routes where safe cycling infrastructure has been installed and a greatly reduced number of collisions. The Province has not provided any data that proves removing cycling lanes will reduce congestion, nor released any data from the Transportation Tomorrow Survey about the number of people who commute by cycling.

Local roads should remain the sole responsibility of municipalities and elected local councillors, not the Minister of Transportation.