This proposal will set back…

This proposal will set back the city a few decades. We can look to cities that lack public transport and biking infrastructure like Los Angeles, where the traffic is so bad people choose to stay at home, to know that having motor vehicles as the only form of transportation cannot scale with city size. We need viable alternatives to driving. Not only is this better for residents who choose not to drive, it is also better for those who choose to drive as the number of cars on the road is decreased.

The provincial government should not be adding red tap to city issues. The residents of the city are best placed to know what kinds of transportation infrastructure is required for their needs. The province should help them achieve these needs and not dictate what the province thinks they need.

Personally, I use bike lanes every day to get to work. I am fortunate that I can take protected bikes lanes alone my entire route and it is by far the most convient option. I take Tecumseth street to Adelaide and then follow Adelaide all the way to at Yonge. I also use the university bike lane to get around to various friends and complete shopping tasks.

On my commute, there are usually the same number of bikers alone Adelaide as there are vehicles. Assuming that each vehicle contains a single person, this proves to be a much more efficient use of space than a motor vehicle lane. There are so many bikes at times I end up in bike traffic, although unlike vehicle traffic, it does not slow down my commute by very much.

I have had a large number of close encounters with cars outside of protected bikes lanes, to the point where I avoid biking if I cannot take a protected bike lane along all major streets along my route. Even in bike lanes, drivers can be agressive. I once had to force a car driving down the bike trail on lake shore to turn around and get off the bike lane. They were trying to get to a parking lot they missed and did not want to take the long way around. This was at night and had the driver not seen me he would have run me over in a dedicated bike lane.