I am a resident and taxpayer…

I am a resident and taxpayer of Toronto and Ontario I find it wasteful of taxpayers hard earned money to destroy bicycling infrastructure that has been installed over many years after much consultation with the general population. Bike lanes have not been installed on major highways which are the primary area of congestion concerns . They have been mainly installed on roads in mainly high density areas of the urban core. Bike lanes are busiest at the busiest times of the rush hours which is when they are in fact reducing the number of single occupancy cars on the roads therefore reducing congestion. In hours outside rush hours there is less use by autos and bikes and already less congestion . It is construction, incomplete transit infrastructure like the Eglinton LRT and the number of single occupant drivers which are the real source of the congestion. This issue is really about catering to singe occupant car drivers who often are driving in neighborhoods they do not live in and choose to drive singly from the suburbs instead of taking public transit during the busiest times of the day. Removing bike lanes will lead to more residents and citizens and taxpayers that ride bikes being run over and killed . It will lead to more people choosing to drive and increase the release of carbon and contributing to climate change. Major and minor cities around the world are increasing bike lanes to mitigate climate change, reduce pollution , improve the health of citizens, reduce biker deaths and make cities more pleasant places . These include New Yorik, Paris , London , Chicago, San Fransisco, Los Angelos, Bogota, Copenhagen and numerous others. Bikers are residents and deserve respect from elected officials like car owners . There has to be a balance. Removing bike lanes is a move backwards for the city and it’s residents. Some find change difficult to deal with but in this case it is better for the health the city.