The proposal to remove…

The proposal to remove existing bike lanes from Bloor, University and Yonge St is so short-sighted, foolish, and truly a waste of time and money - which apparently is par for the course with this government. As a Toronto resident and Tax-Payer, I am sick of Premier Ford punishing the people of Toronto for his personal, petty grievances.

Every study ever conducted about bike lanes and traffic congestion shows that bike lanes DO NOT cause traffic congestion. The only thing that causes traffic congestion is cars. We have known about the concept of induced demand for decades. Adding car lanes has never once improved traffic conditions. The only thing that will ease congestion is providing safe, reliable and desirable alternatives to driving.

The Bike Lanes that the premier has selfishly decided to remove offer just that - a safe, reliable and viable alternative to driving. By being located on major arterial roads, they offer people a way to get around the city safely and efficiently. I understand that the Premier cannot conceive of the fact that most of the people in the city who cycle are not doing it as a mere hobby - they are cycling to get to their jobs, to take their children to school, to run errands, and to visit friends and family.

By removing the bike lanes you are directly putting these people in harms way. The "us vs them" rhetoric that THIS GOVERNMENT has stoked between drivers and cyclists has put cyclists and other vulnerable road users directly in harms way. When you remove the bike lanes, cyclists end up in road lanes, where aggressive and angry drivers feel entitled to endanger the lives of cyclists BECAUSE of the framing of this issue by this government.

Lastly - and perhaps most simply - the issue of Bike Lanes is NOT a provincial matter. These decisions should be left up to the municipalities - THOSE are the people the city votes for to deal with things like this. Just because the Premier is still upset that he was not elected as mayor of Toronto a decade ago, doesn't give him the right to cosplay as mayor of Toronto whenever he feels like it.

Focus on our crumbling (due to privatization and lack of funding) health care and education. Do your ACTUAL jobs and work for ALL of Ontario. The Premier and the Transportation should be ashamed of themselves. Keep the province OUT of municipal matters.