I am writing in protest…

I am writing in protest against Bill 212.

Passing Bill 212 with the framework to remove bikes lanes is anti-environmental, and lethal. Adding red tape by imposing applications to build protected bike lanes on roads slows down progress to environmentally sustainable future.

There are many ways to get around in a city: walking, biking, subway, bus, and driving by car. Bikes are often as fast as busses and use no gas. The least efficient way, and the least environmentally friendly way, is by car.

Protected bike lanes serve as a safe path for bikers to travel on. Without them, bicycles have to share the road with cars. Which is very dangerous. Cars and bikes do not mix. Bikes cannot travel on the narrow downtown sidewalks either; crowded sidewalks and bikes do not mix.

As such this will discourage people from biking to work, to shop, and to venues. It is bad for business. Instead they may choose to drive just so they can be safe again. This is worse for the environment, and will add to the car congestion instead of reducing it.

For the brave bicyclists who will stubbornly continue to commute by bike, an environmentally better way to travel, will have to contend with cars on the road. This year alone in Toronto, 6 bicyclists died in car collisions. Without a protected bike lane, do you expect the number to go down, or up? People will die.