This bill is a fiscal,…

This bill is a fiscal, environmental, and health disaster for the province. Cars are the least efficient mode of transportation available - for over 90% of their lifetime a personal vehicle does nothing but take up space, space that could be used for more housing or more businesses that the province desperately needs. For the 4-8% of the time a personal vehicle is actually in motion if they are within a city they are barely faster than a bicycle but take up 4x more space on the roads than a bicycle this slowness isn't due to congestion but because of stop signs, traffic lights, and intersections that are necessary inside any densely inhabited area. For example, traveling from the ROM to the Waterfront in Toronto takes 15 minutes by car vs 20 minutes by bicycle, or traveling from Leslieville to Kensington Market takes 20 minutes by car vs 25 minute by bicycle. This inefficiency causes millions of dollars of financial waste by both city authorities and the provincial government, as valuable land is taken up by parking lots that pay next to nothing in terms of property taxes compared to what could be built there, and maintaining road infrastructure costs billions of dollars a year. Note that a personal vehicle not only requires 4x bigger roads than a bicycle it also does 1000x more damage to that road each time it drives over it than a bicycle. Even just the 2% of trips where bicycles replace personal vehicles in Toronto represent millions of dollars in savings to the city and province. SAVE OUR PROVINCE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, VOTE AGAINST THIS BILL!

Cars are also a health disaster for the province, they are already the greatest source of death, disability, or serious injury for working-age people in this province. But beyond the two biggest contributors to healthcare costs in the province are old age and physical inactivity. Physical inactivity is a risk factor for high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease, type-2 diabetes, and cancer among others. No amount of PR campaigns have managed to make any significant dent in the rising rates of physical inactivity or these various diseases, because joining a gym costs people time and money that they do not have. But as I pointed out above using active transport like cycling or scootering instead of driving costs only a few minutes and it actually saves individual people money so people are much much more likely to do it than go out and get a gym membership and get healthy that way. And this is without even considering the healthcare costs associated with air pollution caused by particulates generated by car tires and car brakes, or from the tail pipe of gas-powered vehicles which similarly cost the province billions of dollars every year. STOP WASTING MY TAX DOLLARS ON PREVENTABLE HEALTHCARE COSTS!

Environmentally 28% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada are released by transportation, the vast majority of which are from personal vehicles. Personal vehicle emissions also contribute to acid rain, the asthma epidemic, metal particulates from the wear on mechanical components of vehicles contribute to heavy metal pollution (which the province/city then has to pay to remove from drinking water), and various lubricants and coolants contribute to chemical pollution. Beyond that the heat generated by pavement and internal combustion engines causes the city of Toronto to be 1-2 degrees hotter than the rest of the province which contributes to the strain on the province's electrical grid which already is having economic impacts with utilities asking large companies and institutions to reduce their energy use at least 3 times last summer. But beyond that personal vehicles are also the largest source of noise pollution in urban and suburban areas. Noise pollution contributes to mental health issues, sleep deprivation, stress, and cardiovascular disease all of which are already costing the healthcare system of Ontario billions in treatment and costing the economy billions in lost productivity.

Lastly, personal vehicles are also a huge financial burden to everyday Ontarians. The cost of buying a new car is skyrocketing, and ownership of a car costs an individual typically $2,000 per year in depreciation (closer to $5,000/year if a new car not including interest), plus $2000-$3000 per year in maintenance and fuel costs. The necessity of driveways, garages, and off-street parking adds ~$300 dollars/month to the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment and adds $20,000 of dollars to the cost of a house. When added up across all the residents of the province this represents ~$25 billion dollars disappearing from the Ontario economy every year due to asset depreciation from the ownership of personal vehicles without considering all the other costs I listed above.

PLEASE END THE DRAIN ON THE ECONOMY, PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL FINANCES, AND THE HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF ONTARIANS AND VOTE AGAINST THIS BILL!