Bill 212 is fundamentally…

Bill 212 is fundamentally flawed in its intended purpose of bettering transportation options in Ontario. Removing bicycle infrastructure and building highway 413 has serious implications which negatively affect commute times, safety, the economy, congestion, wealth disparity, and the environment. It's almost shocking how little positive impact this bill would have on the residents of Ontario.

Commute times: Akin to the link between smoking and lung cancer, there is now irrefutable evidence that "induced demand" of adding lanes for vehicular traffic is a real phenomenon that has the impact of worsening vehicular congestion over time. The proposed bill 212 will not only increase commute times for cyclists, but also for motorists as traffic worsens.

Safety: This should go without saying that lack of bicycle infrastructure will increase fatalities for cyclists. A walk along Bloor/Avenue where 3 white bicycle gravestones are visible is a grave reminder of this fact.

Economy: There is evidence that removing or prohibiting bike lanes negatively impacts local businesses located along the throughway. As for highway 413, there is limited evidence that the "improved" travel times (again refer to the concept of induced demand) will not be worth the cost to taxpayers. The bill also seems to discount the fact that the induced suburban sprawl from the highway will negatively impact greenbelt ecosystems and long-term negative impacts from exclusively building car-dependent suburban communities.

Congestion: Cars do in fact cause traffic. Congestion is not the result of bicycles (ask beautiful cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam and Paris how they're doing) but the result of adding more vehicles (ask gird-locked cities like Los Angeles how they've fared from decades of building infrastructure exclusively for cars).

Wealth disparity: Ontario's government needs to be reminded that not everybody is privileged enough to own a car (or comfortably own a car, as many poor families forced to live in non-walkable transit deserts are forced to purchase one). By prioritizing only the wealthiest families in Ontario, bill 212 seems to do its best to exclude affordable transportation options for everybody else.

Environment: This truly goes without saying that prioritizing car-dependent infrastructure in Ontario WILL increase the greenhouse gas footprint per capita. This is contrary to any commitments that Canada has made to decrease its contribution to global warming as already one of the most polluting countries on the planet. It's embarrassing internationally to be having this debate about bike lanes when so many people are suffering from the devastating impacts of climate change and Ontario's government believes that more cars are the solution to problems.

I will conclude that I would be ashamed to be a resident of Ontario under bill 212. The lack of any foresight or common sense displayed by the government in proposing this bill is astonishing.