The proposed bill put…

The proposed bill put forward with the intention to remove protected bike lanes and prevent bike lanes from being implemented by local communities if they do not meet the requirements of the Provincial Ministry of Transportation is a huge step in the wrong direction. Protected bike lanes make our developed urban environments better by promoting a more efficient and safer method of transportation, that is compatible with successful and pleasant human environments. While for the more suburban environments, protected bike lanes provide residents an opportunity to access ammenities, with close to zero transportation costs, that might otherwise be out of their walking reach but still close enough to be easily doable by bike ( 2km to 5km are distances that can be biked under 15 minutes at a relaxed pace). Providing better alternatives to driving is the only sustainable way of freeing up congestion from our roads while making our streets safer places to be in.

Congestion in our developed urban areas (such as Downtown Toronto) is a sign of success as it tells us that the built environment has succeeded in creating destinations that lots of people want to frequent, this by necessity means that the streets will have to naturally carry slower vehicular traffic as otherwise it would be impossible for a destination to be pleasant to the people in it. It is fundamentally incompatible and impossible for a street to be both a place where private vehicles can go through really fast while also being a platform for building wealth and developing human life.

A productive solution for this kind of congestion is to create more powerful destinations throughout the province that people want to visit and live in so that excess demand can be relieved from Downtown Toronto, the provincial government can achieve this by changing land use regulations to legalize missing middle housing forms and mixed-use zoning for every lot in every urban area in the province.

Congestion in our through roads network and suburban areas are a symptom of the built environment not being dense and mixed-use enough to mitigate the need for every resident to drive in order to meet their every day needs and live close to work. In addition to the last solution, a productive solution to reduce this kind of congestion is to improve the alternatives to driving so that travel times can be anchored thanks to the alternatives and Ontarians can have true freedom of choice for their transportation needs.

Some practical measures and projects the provincial government can implement are: completing existing transit expansion projects as fast as possible (particularly with GO Service expansion so that all existing lines can have all-day two-day 15 minute service); build a cross GTA GO Line possibly along the existing CNR alignment south of the 407 that starts at Bramalea GO and ends in Pickering GO; expand the Sheppard Line Subway Eastward to the Rouge National Park and Westward to Pearson Airport; and fully fund the TTC's State-of-Good-Repair capital program so that existing subways and streetcars can run to their maximum capacity.

I urge the government and our representatives to bring down this bill, if it is passed then it will only result in more traffic congestion and cyclists dying in our streets from lack of safe protected biking infrastructure