Bill 212 is an unnecessarily…

Bill 212 is an unnecessarily harmful proposal to the wellbeing people living in Ontario, as well as being especially harmful to people who live in Toronto, and should be opposed. I am concerned that this bill will have the effect of chilling bike lane development across Ontario. On top of that, this bill proposes to remove existing bike lanes! What should be supported is the current status quo where municipalities have the opportunity to decide for themselves where bike lanes should be located within their jurisdiction, and the bike lanes on Bloor St, Yonge St, and University Avenue should be allowed to remain as they currently are in the city of Toronto.

Bill 212 undermines Vision Zero and will contribute to increased car-cyclist conflicts, cyclist-pedestrian conflicts, and cyclist injuries and deaths.

This bill is also based on the untrue premise that bike lanes are unnecessary because there is little demand for them. Data shows that demand for cycling infrastructure can be induced through the construction of bike lanes. People cycle more when they know their route will be safe from potential collisions with cars. This effect is amplified when there is a broad network of bike lanes; every bike lane is thus crucial since it contributes to this network. Deliberately offering infrastructure that induces biking trips supports the City of Toronto's goal that "75% of school/work trips under 5km are walked, biked, or by transit." However, Bill 212 would create an unnecessary obstacle to that policy target by reducing biking demand.

Having bike lanes also benefits car drivers. When more people are using bike lanes and thus out of cars, it decreases the amount of downtown car traffic, making travelling easier for car drivers as well. This is especially true in densely developed areas like downtown Toronto, but is a pattern that exists in all urban areas within Ontario.

Inducing cycling demand also helps the province meet its climate target. Over a third of Toronto's emissions come from burning gasoline in cars. Not enough people own EV's to make that a viable solution to the climate crisis, but facilitating the use of carbon-zero trips on a bicycle is. Bill 212 is likely to result in stalling development of cycling infrastructure. This will reduce cycling demand and increase demand for personal cars. This accelerates the climate crisis, resulting in harmful environmental conditions for Ontarians.

Bill 212 is damaging because it is an overreach by the provincial government into municipal affairs. Municipalities are the government most close to the issues that their taxpayers are concerned with. Thus, they should continue to be able to develop the infrastructure projects that they believe will benefit their constituency. The province is too far removed from these incredibly local issues to be able to make accurate, informed decisions about the trade offs of a particular bike lane proposal.

Bill 212 also unnecessarily wastes public money, and unnecessarily damages public trust in provincial and municipal government. The City of Toronto spent taxpayer dollars creating bike lanes on its streets. And, the majority of public opinion in the city is in favor of their continuation and timely expansion. Tearing them out will waste these taxpayers' money, undoing a project that they believe benefits them. Proposing to tear out these bike lanes so soon after their creation also damages public trust in municipal and provincial government. It makes it appear that the province goes one step forwards and one step back with respect to providing necessary services for its constituency. Also, like mentioned earlier, it makes it seem like the Government of Ontario is not concerned with the wellbeing of people who live in the province.