Toronto, and cities in…

Toronto, and cities in Ontario as a whole, need better alternatives to driving in order to reduce traffic. In a dense city environment like down town Toronto, vehicle lanes (and especially vehicle parking lanes) are a horribly space inefficient way of getting people around, and cost inefficient too. Cycling, taking transit, and walking are all better alternatives. Not only are these modes of transport more cost effective (which is extremely important in a time where cost of living is rising) but they are also more space efficient, are FAR more eco friendly, and are SAFER! Safety is incredibly important, and in a time when deaths due to cars are ever so high, adding more car lanes is ridiculous. Not to mention car lanes means more vehicle noise. Bike lanes are incredibly cheap to build and maintain compared to vehicle lanes too, keeping these bike lanes is a no brainer, and expanding the bike network in Toronto would be an incredible improvement, and will increase bike ridership, making roads safer, and taking what would otherwise be another car in gridlock, a cyclist who will be saving money, getting to their destination quicker, and helping the environment.

The Ontario provincial government has no business interfering with cities planning to replace car lanes with bike lanes. Interfering with progress is not what we need. Passing this bill will not only harm those who cannot afford to drive, but waste an incredible amount of money, if and when money goes into planning for bike lanes fully agreed upon within a city just for them to get rejected provincially. Instead of requiring approval from the Ontario government to build bike lanes, cities should be provided more opportunities to fund transit and bike lanes.