The proposed legislation…

The proposed legislation requiring provincial approval for new bike lanes that remove a lane of traffic will be detrimental to the functioning of cities. Increasing bike lanes increases the number of people who commute via bike instead of car. Cars take up significantly more space on the road and cause significantly more wear and tear. By increasing bike lanes, car traffic will decrease as more people choose to instead use safe and efficient active transit. The more people cycling instead of driving means people are more likely to frequent local businesses, improving local economies and making cities more livable.

In addition, the city should not be infringing on the rights of municipal governments to decide what is best for their constituents. Municipalities know best what is optimal for their residents. The province should instead focus on improving services under provincial legislation.