The “Reducing Gridlock and…

The “Reducing Gridlock and Saving You Time Act”, which restricts the construction of bike lanes where motor vehicle lanes would be reduced, will have the very opposite effect. The data are clear: facilitating cycling and pedestrian traffic divert drivers to methods of transportation that reduce the number of cars that would otherwise occupy space on roadways. This is a dangerous inititative, evidenced by the number of cyclist fatalities in encounters with motor vehicles. Portraying bike lanes and cycling as a cause of gridlock stokes the growing antipathy towards cyclists. I am a responsible, cautious, and rule-abiding rider who uses a bike as an alternative to my car, whose safety has been enhanced by the measures implemented to separate cyclists from drivers. Nonetheless, I have been the subject of unprovoked profanity from drivers who yell at me as they speed past, angered, it appears, by my mere presence. Misrepresentation and misinformation contribute to an unnecessarily adversarial, and potentially perilous, relationship between drivers and cyclists. I am also a volunteer with 'Cycling Without Age' (https://cyclingwithoutage.ca/), an internationional organization that uses specially built trishaws to give the cycling exeperience to seniors and people with limited physical and cognitive ability. Again, the data are clear: such opportunities reduce social isolation and contribute to passengers' emotional and psychological health. Bike lanes and paths ensure passenger and pilot safety. This is an equity issue: seniors and people with limited physical mobility would otherwise not be able to enjoy the benefits of cycling: being out and about, experiencing social interaction and conversation, making new friends,etc. Thanks to CWA, they are able to participate in a way that their circumstances would otherwise preclude. Dedicated, safe bike lanes facilitate their social and physical participation in an activity from which they would otherwise be foreclosed.