I’ve lived in and near…

I’ve lived in and near Toronto’s downtown for 56 years and have ridden my bike for everyday travel on a most of those many thousands of days. It’s been and still is my main means of getting around. About eight years ago, when I was approaching 80 and we were downsizing, I thought of giving up cycling.

I decided not to in part because the City of Toronto was becoming serious about providing good facilities for cyclists. The bike lane in front the apartment we moved into is among the best in the world, and I’ve seen very many while travelling and working on five continents. Now, perhaps two thirds of my bike riding is on good bike lanes, most occupying a sliver of the width of major roads.

If these bike lanes are removed, I’ll stop cycling. The sidewalks are becoming more hazardous for elderly people. I feel safer on my bike in a bike lane than when walking on an uneven sidewalk. Transit has become unreliable. I’ll stay at home more. I’ll become less healthy, and I’m of an age when getting sick costs the community a lot.

You may think I’m too old to be riding a bike. But I see many of my age in the bike lanes. I see children too, in a safer space for their bike riding than on the sidewalk or the regular pavement.

And I’m not even touching on the absurdity of a provincial government obsessing about bike lanes when there are evident major challenges in almost everything in Ontario a provincial government is normally concerned about.