I am absolutely 100% opposed…

I am absolutely 100% opposed to removing bike lanes. Toronto has FINALLY been making strides in the past years to become a modern developed city, adding additional ways to get around that aren’t just owning a car, and to try and back track on this is not only misguided but a huge waste of time and money.

Urban planning research is abundantly clear about this. Bike lanes don’t make traffic worse but make it better. The only actually way to reduce car traffic is to provide viable alternatives that are actually comparable in time, ease of use, and cost. Bike lanes do this. They make it fee safe to actually ride a bike on busy streets, and the density of people transported in a bike lane vs in giant vehicles, most often with only one passenger, is unmatched.

Having spent a few years living in Germany before returning to Ontario, I know how incredibly lovey it it is to live in a city that actually supports alternatives to cars. Not everyone wants to spend or can afford $50,000 on a giant box of metal, though the way we build almost all Ontario cities makes this a near necessity. Not everyone wants to live in sprawling suburbs with giant parking by lots and streets which are unsafe to bike or walk along. Many many people want to live in denser, walkable/bikeable/transitable cities where they can easily get around their local neighborhoods in a safe manner. Bike lanes help with all of that.

I don’t think we need to push them into every single city in the province. But to immediately start backtracking on one of the only cities in this entire province, one of the only places one has the possibility to live the life I described above is unacceptable. Leave the city alone. Let it decide what’s best for itself. Let’s the people who actually live there, not the people who just drive through, but the people who actually live there make the choice for themselves.

Do Not Remove the Bike Lanes.