I urge you not to pass Bill…

I urge you not to pass Bill 212.

I live in Toronto’s east end, and when I first started cycling regularly, Danforth Ave. did not yet have a bike lane. As a cyclist, the street was daunting, with cars moving quickly on the left as doors opened on the right. There was little room for a bike. I would often take the side streets instead, but these were less direct, and I’d find myself stuck at major roads, waiting minutes at a time for a gap in car traffic so I could cross.

The Danforth bike lanes have changed my life. I use the lanes to run errands, to get from place to place, and to come home from recreational rides. They offer safety and protection that wasn’t there before. They encourage me to cycle more (and to avoid adding yet another car to the streets). Cycling offers me freedom, mobility, and independence, and allows me to feel a part of my own city.

I want bike lanes on major roads because major roads get me to where I need to go. Side streets are side streets because they are less efficient for traffic—all traffic, cars and bikes alike. And there are no side streets that could effectively replace the Yonge, Bloor, or University bike lanes.

When I stand at any intersection along Bloor during the evening rush hour, watching streams of cyclists going past, the idea that Toronto’s bike lanes are underused is instantly dispelled. With food couriers out on delivery, parents collecting their children from daycare, and commuters coming home from work, the city is alive and vibrant and beautiful. This is the kind of city that I, and so many other Ontarians, want to live in. Please protect that vision. Please protect Ontario’s bike lanes.