As someone who has bike…

As someone who has bike commuted for 25 years, the growing trend of protected bike lanes has been welcome. Bike lanes, like all infrastructure should be well planned. In my experience, good local planning happens when it is directed from the local level. The bike lanes here in London have made a significant difference to may safety as a cyclist and have had no meaningful impact of my ability to drive through the city. Yes, driving through London is miserable, but this is related to population growth and few alternatives to driving. Furthermore, all the research suggests that bike lanes make good economic sense for local businesses. I have real concern that this legislation will hamper local business, make cycling less safe, cost significant tax dollars, and lead to almost no change in congestion on our streets. If the province wants to be helpful on bike lanes, develop informed best practices that will use bike lanes strategically to reduce the number of people on our roads and drive up profits of businesses for whom the presence of bike lanes has often led to economic growth. Yes, curmudgeonly neighbours don’t like the looks of them, but they are demonstrated to be effective and keep people safe. This legislation works against that.