I have lived in Toronto,…

I have lived in Toronto, Ontario since immigrating from the US in 2005. I do not own a car, nor do I wish to. I do not wish to contribute to climate change, nor do I wish to sit in gridlocked traffic. Many studies have shown that no matter how wide roads are, motor vehicle traffic will always increase to use all available capacity until traffic congestion becomes unbearable. And so it seems quixotic to continuously attempt to relieve gridlock by adding more lanes, since the studies unequivocally show that no number of lanes will ever be enough. Look no further than my hometown of Houston, TX for evidence of this truism.

Furthermore, as a non-driver, my preferred mode of transportation is to use a bicycle. They are speedy, efficient, I get exercise, it's faster than walking and in some cases depending on distance, it's faster than driving. One might argue that in order to combat climate change, as we are encouraged to do on an individual basis since our governments will not properly regulate major corporate polluters, we should encourage more people to use bicycles to get around instead of motor vehicles, in order to reduce emissions and keep the city's air cleaner for everyone.

If major arterial bike lanes like the ones on Bloor, University and Yonge are ripped out, the entire bike network built over many difficult years in Toronto will be gutted at a stroke. Not to mention the construction snarls it will create on those roads while the work is being done, the cost of ripping out bike lanes which were only completed a matter of weeks ago, and all of the pollution that goes along with yet more construction. This legislation is a slap in the face of regular Torontonians who would like to see our city become world-class and on-par with other international cities which also offer excellent bike infrastructure. Instead we'd be losing upward of a decade's progress on providing good alternate modes of transportation to people who cannot afford to drive a car, or merely wish not to since other ways of getting around involve less hassle, danger, expense and pollution.

Please do not pass this authoritarian legislation giving the province yet more power to disrupt the will of the people as expressed through their municipal governments. This is not what most people in the areas served by these bike lanes want; if anything, they want more bike lanes. Of course, some car-minded people are very loud about their dislike of sharing the road with anyone; they are trained to think this way because of the way cars are marketed to them.

Taking out bike lanes or blocking the construction of new bike lanes will significantly increase the risk to bicyclists, including the growing bike delivery sector, at a time when people are struggling to house and feed themselves. These people are not in a position to own a car in order to use infrastructure that their tax money pays for -- so their tax money should pay for infrastructure, like bike lanes, that they _can_ use.

Ford said he was running "for the people." Let him show it now by retracting this pernicious bill and ceasing to make the people's lives hell by giving public infrastructure over entirely to drivers when it is paid for by drivers and non-drivers alike.