To Whom It May Concern, It…

To Whom It May Concern,

It is beyond contradictory that a government that has established a Ministry of Red Tape Reduction would propose to introduce a provincial red tape process for municipal affairs. Municipalities may exist at the pleasure of the province, but they exist with a democratic mandate and this proposal is nonetheless an afront to voters who have made their preference clear for years now by continuing to elect municipal governments that expand the cycling networks in their jurisdiction.

Setting aside the anti-democratic nature of this proposal, it is also gallingly terrible policy. The three bike lanes that have clearly earned the particular ire of the premier serve the downtown core of Toronto, an area that has seen a massive population boom as people from around the world have flocked to this increasingly dense and multi-cultural city with jobs and opportunity. Toronto cannot sustain this as a car centric population - ripping out the bike lanes would not be enough. There just aren't enough bike lanes to rip out.

The only sustainable way for Toronto to accomodate even the population it now has, much less the growth expected, is to encourage greater use of public transit and alternate modes of transit. If these bike lanes, which serve thousands of users each day, are removed that will just mean yet more drivers on the road. Many of those cyclists in those bike lanes represent one less car on that same street.

Putting bike lanes on side streets is no answer either. There aren't side streets that run the length of the Bloor, University, and Yonge lanes proposed for removal. And the point of a transit network, whether roads for cars or train lines or bike lanes, is to provide access to a wide variety of destinations in as direct a way as possible. Replacing these three bike lanes with a bunch of disconnected and indirect lanes is not replacing them at all - it's simple destruction of the cycling network.

Beyond the value destroying and short sighted nature of the proposal, it is also violent. Bike lanes save lives. Cyclists and other vulnerable road users have a right to safety. The pandemic has broken the driving culture in Ontario, with reckless driving now the norm. Speeding, running red lights, blocking intersections - all behaviours of drivers that are much more common than they were, and which makes our streets less safe for everyone - cyclist, pedestrian, and driver alike.

Lastly, and personally, I appreciate streets with dedicated (and ideally fully separated) bike lanes. As a driver I find it encourages predictable cycling behaviour and makes driving less stressful for me. As a father of a young child, I want to encourage healthy habits and lifestyle, and that includes active modes of transit like walking and cycling - which is only possible when those modes are safe.

If this government wants to reduce gridlock, I would encourage them to look for policies and proposals that would improve driver behaviour. I would encourage them to look for policies and proposals that would reduce the number of drivers on the road in the first place - including ways to encourage journeys currently being done by car to happen with other modes.

It doesn't matter whether you walk, bike, take transit, or drive, I think we all want the same thing: fewer drivers.