The City of Toronto has…

The City of Toronto has performed years of consultation and traffic studies in their decision to implement the bicycle lanes on Yonge, Bloor, and University, with results demonstrating increased spending at local businesses, a significant mode shift to cycling, and minimal impacts to auto travel times. 23 of 25 of City Councillors plus the mayor voted in support of the lanes. This was further solidified in the 2023 municipal election, where candidates that pledged to remove the bicycle lanes on Yonge, Bloor, and University received a combined total of less than 15% of the vote.

Meanwhile, the Province has not performed any analysis whatsoever to demonstrate that Bill 212 will decrease travel times by car. In fact, travel times by car may increase due to cyclists switching to driving (either by Uber or their personal vehicle), and drivers switching from transit due to the perception of increased road capacity downtown.

Moreover, this legislation is in contradiction with previously approved legislation such as the Provincial Policy Statement and Places to Grow Act, both of which encourage the development of "Complete Streets" that provide residents with safe alternatives to driving.

Additionally, this legislation attempts to remove all environmental impact analysis from the 413, which at a cost of billions will provide minimal time savings, especially after the recent 401 widening in Mississauga. These billions could be better spent on actually reducing congestion, by expanding transit, such as the subway into Vaughan and Mississauga.

This act will be detrimental to cyclist safety while, without any study performed, will almost certainly increase traffic congestion downtown. For all of the above stated reasons, I strongly oppose this legislation.