The decision to remove bike…

The decision to remove bike lanes in Toronto goes directly against the stated goal of reducing congestion. Many of the cities across the globe that have the lowest rates of vehicle congestion also have the largest bike lane networks. This is not a coincidence, and the move to methods of active transportation such as biking, is the only viable solution to congestion both in the short- and long-term. Not only does this proposal spend taxpayer money on the bulldozing of existing infrastructure, but does it for a reason not supported by said bulldozing. While the Minister of Transportation has vocalized that only 1.2% of trips in Toronto are completed by bicycle, this statistic is over a decade old. Statistics Canada has not collected this data since, though other sources suggest that number has skyrocketed. From a City of Toronto study on bike lane use, Adelaide and Richmond corridors saw a 1095% increase in bike traffic after the installation of bike lanes, a number so staggering that it alone should exemplify the need for these lanes.

As well, to offer a rebuttal to the Government's position that bike lanes belong on side streets, the question remains how this would effectively offer a viable route for those taking it. Toronto's street layout rarely offers a single, comparable, side street to the main avenues, and so cyclists would be forced to take a meandering and often noticeably longer route. Not only does this fly in the face of the point of bike lanes, but also reduces their use.

If this government is serious about reducing congestion, adding lanes of traffic is not, and will not be the solution. Induced demand created by adding vehicle lanes will create a never-ending loop of the widening of roads, something that is unsustainable by any view. Creating viable alternative options to vehicular transport is the only way, both short- and long-term, to reduce congestion. Bettering public transport, changing zoning laws, and adding to the bike network are the solutions agreed upon by the vast majority of experts, yet this proposal ignores every shred of evidence on this topic.

With all this considered, I cannot fathom a reasonable explanation for this Government's desire to spend money on removing existing infrastructure in the name of a goal that physically cannot be accomplished by the proposal at hand. I urge all officials involved in this proposal to scrap it entirely, if not even to rethink or restate its goal. If the Government wants to remove bike lanes because they simply don't like them, that is one thing, but to remove them with a goal that makes no logical sense in comparison is to treat the people of Ontario like children. We deserve better than this treatment, and I urge this proposal to not be enacted as laid out.