Good Evening, I spent two…

Good Evening,

I spent two years living in Mississauga, Ontario. As I felt the cost of living put more and more pressure on me I decided that I would try to ride my bike to work. I’ve always enjoyed riding my bike and any chance to save some money and be a bit healthier was good for me. What was a 15 minute drive became an 1 hour nightmare. The lack of cycle infrastructure mixed with the aggressive drivers made for an exceptionally hostile environment. I was almost hit by cars twice while acting as I was supposed to in traffic, and it was a terrible experience and very disappointing. I of course always have the “choice” to cycle, but in this moment I felt like I truly had no freedom, no options - that I would always have to drive. Making everyone drive doesn’t fix traffic, in fact it tends to make it worse. For Toronto this bill will mean the death of more cyclists, and for other cities it will kill their hopes of building communities with options. A fiscally conservative and “small-government” minded leadership also shouldn’t be wasting tax dollars ripping up infrastructure and introducing more red tape to prevent good progress at the municipal level - it’s completely at odds with the conservative mindset. Let the cities deal with it how they choose. The congestion in Toronto is not caused by bike lanes (as I’m sure all studies would show), in fact I much prefer to drive in environments where they operate separately. In downtown Toronto there are tons of cyclists and having to watch them and make space and pass them slows everything down. It all moves faster and safer with bike lanes. Above all, this is about safety, if you pass this bill, people will die. good innocent people will die, all so drivers can feel like they’re going faster.