I was born and raised in…

I was born and raised in rural Ontario, where cars are a necessity of life because of long distances and a lack of alternatives. I've since lived in Switzerland, where you can travel the entire country (even to far-flung mountain villages) by transit and bike. I've traveled throughout Europe and Asia, where people have incredible choices and flexibility in how they move around. I now live and work in Toronto - the best place in the province for mobility choice and affordability. I have thus seen how poor policy has made cars the only option, while good policy has improved the quality of life of me and my community.

This bill will be disastrous to consumer choice, climate goals, safety, efficiency, and the province's reputation. I and most of my community in Toronto do not own cars, nor should we need to. They are expensive too own, maintain, fuel, and find parking for. The city is growing rapidly, and there simply is not enough room for everyone to drive. We use transit often, but it can only accomplish so much - the TTC goes down because of a lack of funding, routes are not comprehensive, and it can be slow for a variety of reasons. Cycling is consistently the fastest, healthiest, and cheapest way to get around the city. Just look at BikeShare Toronto's incredible growth. People enjoy and want to cycle, full stop. And we need to be safe. In this bill, the province will be publicly saying that the lives of cyclists matter less, that we are disposable. I am a Registered Nurse working in health policy and administration. The health harms to encouraging driving (stress, sitting, pollution) and increasing risks to cyclists (concussions, fractures) will be felt in our health system. Communities that cycle are simply safer and healthier. The arguments citing bike lanes worsening driving times, harming local business, and being underutilized are not grounded in evidence. I and many of my loved ones cycle for the vast majority of our trips - for work, errands, leisure. The adage goes, 'if you build it, they will come', i.e., induced demand. Cycling is growing rapidly in Toronto. Removing established bike lanes and limiting future development will not get rid of existing cyclists. We will now be weaving in and out of traffic, getting into altercations, slowing down actual driving lanes. An actual solution to improving driving times? Properly funding transit and removing on-street parking. Why is a bike lane that moves thousands of people a day worth less than an entire lane blocked my parked cars?

For our collective benefit, please rip up this bill and partner with us on actual solutions. Implementing this bill would make Ontario a laughing stock in the developed world, a place people don't want to visit or enjoy. We can do so much better than this silly culture war. Choose choice, safety, and efficiency. Please, for the sake of me and my loved ones.