I am an employee of the…

I am an employee of the University Health Network (UHN) and am writing to state that the removal of bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge, and University Avenue, as has been proposed, will directly impact UHN staff by increasing the risk of accidents for the large number of hospital employees who routinely bike to work, and by worsening congestion for those who drive. This is to say nothing of the incredible traffic disruption that will attend the actual decomissioning of the bike lanes, which have only barely been completed. City officials have estimated removing the lanes on University Avenue will require reducing traffic on that street to a single southbound lane for 9 months. I would remind you that the installation of these bike lanes was endorsed by the CEOs of the very hospitals located on that street. The uproar that will attend the construction delays of removing them now will be deafening.

More importantly, however, the removal of these bike lanes will result in public health effects that will be felt by all citizens, and in a manner contrary to our mission as a healthcare organization. The ActiveTO Midtown Complete Street Pilot, for example, demonstrated that the installation of protected bike lanes on Yonge Street between Bloor and Davisville resulted in a dramatic and sustained increase in cycling along that corridor, an increase that is continuing to trend upwards, and which has had negligible effects on car commute times, and no measurable effect at all on transportation times for ambulances or other emergency vehicles. This shift from driving to cycling for commuters results in a reduction in traffic pollution which studies have shown have measurable effects on population rates of acute respiratory and cardiac events in adults, as well as cancer diagnoses. The overall effect revealed in this model was that for every 1000 individuals aged 20-64 who take up cycling as their usual means of commuting, population mortality decreases by 17.5%. The benefits of decreased traffic pollution are even more dramatic in children. In a birth cohort study, every interquartile range increase in traffic-related air pollution was associated with a 30% increase in a diagnosis of asthma and a 20% increase in ear, nose and throat infections in first four years of life. Prenatal and postnatal exposure to various air pollutants has also been associated with reduced cognition, attention problems, and autistic traits in childhood. Pooled estimates from a meta-analysis indicated a 12% greater risk of preterm birth per 10-μg increase in particular matter per cubic millimeter of ambient air.

When one factors in the medical benefits of mitigating further climate change, an issue which the World Health Organization has declared “the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”, it would seem incomprehensible that we would allow limited tax dollars (approximately $75 million, according to a recent report by the City Manager) to be wasted removing bike lanes which are clearly serving their purpose of encouraging active transportation.

No one will benefit from this pointless exercise, least of all your government, Please reconsider