This is a move in the wrong…

This is a move in the wrong direction for Ontario. We need more, not fewer, urban bike lanes. Studies show (https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bike-lanes-impacts-1.7358319) that adding more lanes for vehicle traffic will only induce more people to use their vehicles. Moreover, as noted by the CBC (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-toronto-bike-lanes-1.7…) the Premier has exaggerated the impact of bike lanes.

Furthermore, he is going to induce increased anger towards cyclists. I live in an area where a noticeable portion of the vehicle drivers do not share the road safely with cyclists. Mr. Ford is making the impression that cycling is a cause of gridlock when the cause of gridlock is too many cars and trucks on the roads, and adding more lanes is going to allow more cars and trucks, and make the roads more unsafe for cycling. Other than superhighways, the highway traffic act is clear about cyclists being allowed to use the roads. Reducing bike lanes in urban settings is going to possibly cause more cyclists to take refuge from increased car and truck traffic by riding on sidewalks.

I feel this is a very badly misguided bill and that the provincial government is planning for a gross misuse of provincial resources (i.e. tax-payer money) in preventing and even removing bike lanes.

In addition, adding more lanes for traffic is going to increase the impact of car and truck exhaust on the increasingly damaged environment.

Having lived in large urban centres (Montreal, GTA, and Calgary) in my more than 50 years, I know that the more road space for cars and trucks, the more cars and trucks there are on the road.

Mr. Ford and his government would do well to instead increase bike lanes, fund more bike shares, increase public transit, and even use the funding that would remove bike lanes to subsidize public transit use either through reduced fares or income tax rebates. The plan, as it stands, is grossly misguided and damaging to the overall wellbeing of Ontario.

I ask Mr. Ford to remember that Ontario is more than the Greater Toronto Area and this bill, that he is so adamantly pushing for, can do harm to other cities in the province. I also ask him to make sure that his MPPs get on message. My local MPP told me, via an assistant, in writing, that this bill was not being tabled and that my concerns were completely misguided. Three days after that statement from the MPP's office, Bill 212 was tabled.