Bike lanes keep everyone…

Bike lanes keep everyone safe: cyclists, car users and pedestrians.

I have been living and working in downtown Toronto since 2006. I used to bike when most roads didn't have a bike lane. One windy day, the wind blew me onto the traffic - it was a near miss, but a frightening one at that. I decided to only bike on streets that have bike lanes. This meant that for some trips that do not have bike lanes, I had to use the car, therefore increasing the amount of cars on the road, contributing to traffic congestion.

I recall the times when there was no bike lanes on university avenue. I was a pedestrian, and some cyclists, not feeling safe on the road, would often cycle on the sidewalk, endangering pedestrians.

As a driver, the most significant traffic congestions are those on Gardiner and 401, where there are no bike lanes.

We voted for a mayor that is a champion of sustainable transportation and cycling. This overreach by the Ontario government is essentially undoing democracy.

The ontario government can require that studies be made to inquire on the effects of bike lanes on traffic. But actually specifying which bike lanes to keep and which to remove should be up to the city. Even if its up to the Ontario government, we haven't seen actual systematic studies done that support the idea that removing bike lanes from Yonge, Bloor and University will improve traffic. And even if it will, how much is the expected improvement, and is this worth the risk to lives?

I recall the story of a cyclist who got ran over by a garbage truck on Bloor street and he died. The government should be thinking of ways to improve protection of cyclists to avoid such incidents in the future. Instead, this proposal is removing the little protection that cyclists currently have.

The proposal also mentions the businesses. Yonge street in particular is full of restaurants that deliver food using bikes. Has there been a study to analyze the effect of removing bike lanes on these businesses? Will there be a decrease in the number of available runners to deliver the food as some decide its not worth risking their lives to do this job without bike lanes?

To improve traffic, it's well known that the best way is to reduce the number of cars by improving public transit and by encouraging alternate modes of transportation such as biking. So the amount of money that will go to removing bike lanes would probably be better spent on public transit. A major area with lots of room for improvement on the TTC is safety.