Dear Ontario government, I…

Dear Ontario government,

I live in downtown Toronto, and have done since I moved here in 1977. I own a car, use a bicycle frequently, and also use the TTC. I have worked, paid taxes, shopped, eaten in restaurants, enjoyed the parks, and I love living here.

Please don't take our bike lanes away. So many more people (including me!) now are biking, now that they feel safer. I can bike to work appointments far faster than either driving or TTC. It is a step in the right direction. Please keep on stepping into a healthier future, for the sake of your beautiful families and mine, for the sake of a healthier city, and healthier province, and world.

The problem of gridlock in Toronto is NOT solved by allowing more cars to enter and circulate downtown. It is NOT solved by building more, bigger, wider freeways. In fact study after study has shown that all that does is push the problem a couple more years down the road, and increase pollution-causing activity.

It is solved by improving public transit, improving fast rail around the Golden Horseshoe, making work from home, or from thriving satellite communities, easier. It would be better solved by building large parking areas at the ends of the transit system, and improving the train and bus service so people can zip downtown in minutes, instead of creating a gridlock for the rest of us, as they crawl toward downtown.

We cannot pretend that the population in Toronto, in Ontario, in Canada, and the whole world, hasn't doubled in the past few decades. We cannot go back to the sixties. We cannot ignore climate change. We cannot ignore the heat sink, and catastrophic flooding, created by burning fossil fuels in Toronto. We cannot ignore the continuing habitat destruction that is harming our food and clean air supplies. Covid sent people back into their cars for their privacy and health, but we are ready to come out now, if the transit was there to carry us safely and efficiently.

We cannot ignore that in fact 28% of Toronto households don't own a car, and need to get around by public transit or bicycle. That most people who work downtown on minimum or close to minimum wage cannot afford neither a car, nor to live downtown, so spend hours every day commuting by public transit. Taking bike lanes away doesn’t help them. And redirecting the money it would cost to rip up already-built bike lanes would be better spent on transit for those people.

Many cities in Europe have proven that a walking-friendly city becomes a thriving healthy city, one that is a pleasure to live and work and do recreational activities in. And a draw for international tourists. Not a smoggy dirty noisy place full of aggravated car drivers stuck in gridlock who are so frustrated and tired they are happy to run over you.

Please let Torontonians continue to work toward a healthy happy thriving city!

With respect and thanks for your well-meaning efforts.