As a resident of Downtown…

As a resident of Downtown Toronto who works and lives in the Downtown Core cycling and walking are the only viable ways to move around the City. The subway is often delayed or severely overcrowded, paying for parking and owning a car is too expensive, and car traffic is too severe.

I am a resident of Ontario who has recently sold there car and cancelled their monthly metropass to help increase capacity on both of these transportation networks and move around more efficiently. Driving and cycling are often equivalent in the time it takes to get anywhere in the downtown core. Bike lanes were a huge reason why I was able to do this. I ride the Bloor and University Avenue bike lanes multiple times a week, wearing a helmet, and a bike bell. I finally feel safe enough to ride my bike and play my part in reducing congestion on these arterial streets.

If bike lanes are removed from these sections it will put cyclists either in the same lane of traffic with cars thereby slowing them down, OR it will require bikes to travel in lanes with parked cars thereby increasing the likelihood of getting doored which kills cyclists and leaves drivers with trauma and potentially charges. Cities know their transportation patterns best, our property taxes pay for our City streets, the Province has no jurisdiction nor any knowledge of travel patterns on this scale. My income taxes pay for highway regulation which is provincial jurisdiction.

This is an over reach, a clear bullying tactic and strawman argument and Premier Ford and the Minister of Transportation will have more than just blood on their hands, they will also have brain matter, broken bones, and death on their hands when cyclists are inevitably killed and crushed by 1 ton vehicles that could have been easily prevented by keeping our cycle system.