Removing bike lanes in the…

Removing bike lanes in the City of Toronto without any supporting data that would demonstrate their removal would have any positive impact on alleviating congestion is contrary to the public interest and completely misguided.

Why is it against the public interest?

The proposed legislation removes a transportation option for people who cannot afford to drive or to depend on notoriously unreliable public transit. For people who have chosen to cycle to help reduce congestion, as congestion is clearly caused by too many cars on the road.

It completely overturns the will of people who have elected the representatives on municipal City Council - the representatives who deal with local issues day in and day out and know the City best. It will increase emissions and reduce the City's ability to reach its climate goals.

It will remove a healthy choice of activity for many who cycle not only to get to work or to conduct errands but also as form of exercise at the same time.

It will needlessly put people's lives at risk who cycle - do cyclists not have a right to a safe commute? Will the province be liable when cyclists are inevitably injured while cycling on roads that previously had a protected bike lane?

It is a complete waste of money for taxpayers. There is no doubt that the City will need to install new bike lanes again in 10 years or so since the population is only growing, meaning we need to make other transportation options viable to facilitate the growing population. There will never be enough space for everyone to drive. We need options and protected bike lanes are one way of encouraging people to get out of their cars, even if it's for a limited number of a person's trips. It's about providing citizens with a variety of options and making them viable ie. safe and direct routes.

The public interest does not only consist of the interests of the constituency who drive so they can potentially save a minute or two in their commute while they add to the congestion problem in their personal vehicle.

If the province has data that shows that removing bike lanes will alleviate congestion, improve health, improve air quality, make commuting cheaper, save costs in the long run, provide a variety of transportation options etc. then by all means, remove the bike lanes. In only considering the commute times of drivers (and even here without adequate data), the government is abdicating their responsibility to its citizens by ignoring all these other critical factors that must be taken into account.