No red tap and bureaucracy …

No red tap and bureaucracy
Bill 212 will just slow down local governments across all of Ontario providing essential and alternative modes of transportation. People should have the freedom to choose their preferred mode of transportation.

Essential transportation infrastructure
If there was better cycling infrastructure many other people would be using it more, including myself. Unfortunately, in my area it is not currently safe enough to do so and very disconnected. This bill will make it more difficult to improve safety and effective bike infrastructure.

Basic standard of safety
Bill 212 is a step back in safety for road users. By taking out bike lanes, cyclists and drivers will now be sharing the same lane. This increases the danger to road users/cyclists while not improving car traffic since cyclists would still need to use the lane. Also, by increasing the number of lanes, it will induce demand for more cars, which will increase the number of cars on the road, resulting in even more car traffic.

More simple for drivers
As a driver, it will be easier, less stressful, and safer if cyclists were in their own lane. Specifically with the removal of the Bloor St or Yonge St bike lanes, finding an alternative side street route for cyclists is not viable since the routes wound not be direct.

Bike lanes support transit
Better bike infrastructure solves the "first mile, last mile" issue, by making it easier to get to transit stations quicker and more efficiently. This bill will make commuting more difficult for people if there is a lack of connected infrastructure.

Common sense
A large amount of time and money has already been spent implementing these bike lanes. Planning, design, material acquisition, road closures, construction, etc. have all gone into implementing these bike lanes, and now we are going spend more time and money to do it again to go back to what is was, it is a devolving and wasteful plan. The demolition of bike lanes will also increase traffic due to road closures and increased construction workers in these areas. Instead of disconnecting infrastructure, we should be connecting and expanding it.

People do not need to drive everywhere, if someplace is within a 15 minute bike ride, it makes more sense to bike instead of drive. 70% of people in Toronto already walk or bike for trips of this duration. For these short trips, it would just be adding to the existing car traffic. Having the choice in alternative modes of transportation gives people freedom of movement.

Bikes are smaller, more affordable, and better for everyone's health than cars. Getting more cars off the road should be the solution, it would make transportation better for everyone by improving traffic, health, and reducing overall harmful emissions. If all the current cyclists converted to driving cars, since bike lanes were removed or infrastructure was lacking, this would make car traffic even worse. Alternative modes of transportation is better for everyone. By making other modes of transportation worse, it forces people to choose the most funded/primary option, Bill 212 will make driving a car the primary option. Encouraging everyone to drive will increase gridlock.

Schedule 3 - Highway 413 Act
Exemption from the Environmental Assessment Act is a side step to avoid environmental considerations and public opinion when developing a project of this magnitude. Especially when Highway 413 is planned to cut through the Greenbelt and three parcels of conservation land north of Toronto and prime farmland. This will endanger the natural wildlife and remove viable farmland for Ontarians. It is also a hypocritical portion of the bill, reducing the bureaucracy for building highways but increasing it for building bike lanes.

Schedule 4 - Highway Traffic Act
This portion of the bill is very vague for municipalities to get approval from the Ministry for constructing bike lanes. It only states municipalities need to provide the Ministry with information but nothing else with no specifics on what is required for approval. The information could prove to be beneficial for their community but the Ministry could still deny the request. This bill just adds to the bureaucracy and will hinder the construction of all bike lanes.