I strongly disagree with…

I strongly disagree with this proposed legislation. I am someone that occasionally cycles to work in Ottawa and around the city for leisure and I rely heavily on safe bike lanes. I prefer cycling in the summer as it is a way to get exercise while getting to my destination, and is a cheap and easy way to get around the city when there is increased congestion from vehicles. However, I was hit by a car once while biking on the road and while not seriously injured, I was extremely shaken up and have been nervous ever since to ride my bike in an area that isn’t a multi-use pathway or a protected bike lane. If these lanes did not exist, I would not ride my bike, it is as simple as that. This is not an uncommon experience.

Further, research shows that the way to reduce traffic is not to build more roads and lanes and highways, but to provide alternate modes of transportation that are reliable and safe. This includes not only bike lanes (that should be protected) but public transportation. Countless traffic studies and research show that when you build more lanes of roads, traffic actually increases because more people think they should be driving, thereby adding more cars to the roads. However, when you provide alternative modes of transportation that people can trust and feel safe using, they will use those instead of driving, thereby reducing traffic. Not to mention the environmental benefits of taking more cars off the road, and the physical benefits of people using active transportation.

The province is overreaching in their powers to step into municipalities and require them to remove existing bike lanes that have been carefully planned and gone through many stages of approvals at the municipal level. The province should be focusing on improving the provincial public transportation and perhaps even providing funding to municipalities to improve their public transportation and building more and safer bike lanes. This legislation is not the solution to reducing traffic congestion, and will in fact achieve the opposite of its goal and increase traffic, while also increasing cyclist accidents and deaths. It is an irresponsible, regressive piece of legislation that has no place in Ontario in this day and age. I strongly recommend that this legislation does not move forward and is instead revised to improve active and public transportation.