I do not support this bill. …

I do not support this bill.

I am a cyclist, driver, pedestrian and public transit user in downtown Toronto and the greater Toronto/Hamilton area.

I am encouraged by the increased use of options like cycling and the expansion of cycling networks around the GTA. It’s an important option for that last-mile transportation of people working in or out of the downtown core.

Regions/municipalities, policy developers and researchers, have been working on these kinds of initiatives that prioritize modes of transport other than cars alone for many years now. Please see this resource page that Ontario itself has compiled: http://www.ontario.ca/page/resources-transportation-planners

Wasting money on removing bike lanes that are already installed by obstructing traffic is completely counterproductive. Not only are you making traffic worse during construction but you are pushing cyclists into regular traffic lanes with cars causing dangerous road conditions and slowing traffic even more. You are creating an environment where the fight between cars and bikes becomes even more amplified and polarized.

As a cyclist, I am confronted daily with unprovoked aggression by motor vehicle drivers. I follow road rules and cycling tactics to make myself more visible to avoid accidents. Aggression or intentional neglect for road safety by drivers that cause injuries to cyclists are not accidents, that is assault.

Because of this, I believe it is imperative to continue to install infrastructure that creates a safe barrier between cyclists and motor vehicles, in part, to reduce the increased animosity of drivers towards cyclists.

The safer we can make our cycling networks, the more people we can get onto bikes around our cities. I hear from people all the time who would like to ride in the city but they are too scared of the roads and the drivers- for some, it’s because they have already been injured while cycling.

Our cities are growing and they can’t accommodate every person driving a car, regardless of how many bike lanes you rip up. Most new residential buildings downtown already embrace this fact by offering far fewer car parking spaces than bike parking.

I also warn the province of the impact on our local economies, particularly in Toronto, when delivery people using bikes and e-bikes, can no longer safely and efficiently traverse the city. When deliveries cannot be made efficiently, the number of delivery drivers will significantly fall because they cannot break even. This will be terrible for restaurants that rely on the income from delivery apps. These riders rely on the already limited cycling network of Toronto.

There is a myth that more lanes will reduce congestion. The truth is that more lanes causes more demand. More people will NEED to use motor vehicles to move around the cities, and that is not what we need. That will just cause more congestion, more pollution and a worse city to work, visit and live in. Do we not need the tourism dollars? In the past couple years, I’ve talked to more tourists on bikes than I could count.

The more cycle and transit networks made available, the more people will use it.

If you don’t see people using certain parts of a cycle network as much as others, it’s because it’s not properly connected to a full network. When a bike lane lasts for a few city blocks but then stops at a dangerous intersection, that needs to be fixed before you’ll see full usage. Cities need more funding to improve these networks.

Now is not the time to prioritize car lanes.
Put the money into making the city accessible for everyone. Improve public transit, improve wheel trans and other accessible transit options, improve cycling networks, improve connections to go trains and regional transit, make municipalities more walkable, improve sidewalk snow removal.

There is so much more you could do instead of spending money and time ripping up already built bike tracks and making municipalities go through endless proposals to make our regions better.

Thank you for your time.