I do not support this Bill…

I do not support this Bill in any capacity.

Scientific studies around the world have shown that bike lanes ease congestion and reduce emissions. Studies have also shown that businesses benefit the most from these programs because pedestrian and bike traffic are a majority of customers along major roads, not drivers. This bill is based on false information and factually incorrect rhetoric that gets repeated.

Personally as someone who has lived in Ontario for 8 years, I have seen first hand the positive impact on our communities. Previously when there were less bike lanes, roads were busier while the traffic was just as bad. With introduction of bike lanes and other municipal pilot programs such as removal of cars sharing roads with streetcars, there was a massive improvement in quality of life around these areas.

There is also no consideration for safety of bikers and pedestrians. Many of these bike lanes were installed after tragedies and yet the province prioritizes extra car space in exchange for human lives. The provincial government does not commit to building additional bike infrastructure along alternative routes, while only looking to remove these.

We have all seen the improvement in emissions due to the pandemic and air quality. We should be striving to reduce car traffic and give as many people as possible a viable alternative to driving. Instead, this bill destroys progress made by the cities in Ontario that have invested in public infrastructure without providing an alternative. Not to mention, the province is overstepping its already wide reach and encroaching on municipalities that invest in our quality of life, instead of increasing funding for these programs to improve traffic both for drivers and non-drivers.

This bill improves nothing to society, has no scientific or empirical evidence supporting it and is based on false dichotomy that traffic is zero-sum game between public transportation infrastructure and car infrastructure. Drivers, bikers, pedestrians all should be against this bill based on mountains of scientific evidence.