I'm a Torontonian, a…

I'm a Torontonian, a motorist & pedestrian, and occasional TTC user. I stopped cycling about 10 years ago, after two friends died on their bikes in city traffic--one hit by a drunk driver on a road with no bike lane, and the other hit making a turn on his bike on a stree with no bike lane. These were athletic men in the prime of life, much more experienced cyclists than I. Both wore helmets. Both left behind friends, families, and giant, unfillable holes in many lives and communities with their absence.

When I commute to & from work 3 days a week, I drive mostly on streets with bike lanes. I notice absolutely no difference in commuting on a street with a bike lane and a street with one lane to drive in and one lane to park in, which is most of downtown (even between 7-9am and 4-6pm, when parked cars are supposed to be cleared out). Driving in Toronto is often an exercise in patience, and quite frankly, the endless shell game of construction--so little of it inspiring projects undertaken in the public interest, mostly condos condos condos--disrupts my route with MUCH more frequency than a bike lane ever could.

I want to live in a city that cares about its citizens and their future. Bike lanes make commuting safer and lighter on the environment. They don't eliminate risk, but nothing will. All of the studies I've ever read show that traffic will fill all the space you give it, and that more lanes do not result in higher speeds. All of the streets in Toronto without bike lanes now will attest to this.

I can't bring my friends back, but I can try and speak up, given the opportunity now, to unequivocally ask for NO removal of ANY bike lanes in my city or province. Thank you for your time.