As someone who has been car…

As someone who has been car-free for seven years and gets around by bike or transit, I am very disappointed with the Ford government's proposal to require provincial approval for bike lanes which remove traffic lanes, as well as require reviews of existing bike lanes. In large cities like Toronto, there is very little room to add new roads or widen existing ones. In order to move around more people, the only option is to reallocate space away from cars to encourage walking, cycling, and transit. Not to mention, this bill represents a serious overreach of jurisdiction given it's municipalities that are best positioned to make decisions on bike lanes.

While withdrawing the bill is the best option, any use of data to determine whether bike lanes are effective needs to focus on safety first, as well as whether they increase cycling volumes. Impacts to commute times should be the last thing that gets considered given there could be other activities such as construction that could have a much greater impact. Even if commute times do get increased with bike lanes, municipalities can tweak the streets to minimize the impact on drivers as has happened with Bloor Street in Toronto. For the few times a year I rent a vehicle, I find streets with protected bike lanes are less stressful to drive on given cyclists have their own space.