I am submitting this comment…

I am submitting this comment as someone who grew up in Brampton, currently lives in Ottawa, and spends much of my time visiting family in friends in the GTA. I drive, bike, walk and take public transit in my daily life.

As someone who grew up in the suburbs, I deeply appreciate the stress that gridlock inflicts on drivers and that this is a complicated issue to tackle. I very strongly object to this proposal, which (1) will not appropriately address the issue of gridlock, but will also (2) add excessive burden on municipalities, resulting in poor use of public funds.

1) Bike lanes provide dedicated, safe space for people to move around communities on bikes instead of vehicles. They reduce the number of vehicles on the road, and reduce conflict between cyclists, vehicles and pedestrians by providing a dedicated lane for bikes. These make our roads safer for everyone, makes the roads more predictable for drivers, and reduces injury or death as a result of vehicle-bicycle collisions.

I grew up in Brampton in the 1990s, when it had no bike lanes and a very poor public transit system: driving was the only reliable way to get around. My parents still live there and, because the community was planned and designed for the car, this is still the case. Brampton has grown so much since the 1990s, and we only see more and more drivers on the same roads. Bike lanes and dedicated spaces for public transit have helped to reduce the number of cars on the road: This is the leadership we need to make communities across Ontario (especially more urban and dense communities) more sustainable and safe.

The City of Ottawa has invested in bike lanes in many places across the city core, and I have seen enthusiastic uptake by families who take their children out for bike rides around the city. I myself am a federal public servant and I bike into work in the spring, fall and summer: I am one less vehicle on the road, and my bike takes up far less space than a car would. Ottawa's investment in bike lanes have only made the city's streets safer for everyone by making biking more practical for people of all ages.

2) Municipal staff across Ontario are seized with the housing crisis. They are struggling to streamline the process for development approvals so that we can build more housing as soon as possible. This proposal adds unnecessary bureaucratic red tape by requiring a higher level of approval for a basic local amenity. Municipalities are best placed to determine where bike lanes should go, and revoking this power will add more burden on both municipal and provincial staff and make them less able to address more important issues.