As a Resident of Toronto, as…

As a Resident of Toronto, as well as a cyclist, transit user, and a driver, I am strongly against the proposal to remove bike lanes from the city and insert the provincial government into city planning matters. This would be a step backwards for the work that has been done in improving the liveability of Toronto, instead further increasing traffic congestion.

Congestion is at alarming levels throughout the city but this is not due to bike lanes, it is due to politically motivated decisions that have for decades stifled more effective forms of transportation. The answer to congestion is not removing other forms of transportation and giving priority to cars. If every Torontonian (and suburbanite) travelled by car, no amount of car lanes on our roads or highways would suffice to fulfill that demand. Instead, the provincial government should focus on what IS within its purview, building effective transit systems (and hopefully completing them within a reasonable timeframe) to reduce the number of people that see no alternative to the car.

This proposed law also goes against the (alleged) principles of a Conservative government, that pretends to be about streamlining government and "cutting red tape" while proposing to create a cumbersome bureaucratic approval process for what has been, and should remain, a municipal decision. Destroying existing bicycle lanes is another example of a politically motivated decision that is both wasteful and irrational. This decision would waste money, worsen congestion, and cost lives.

Again the provincial government has seen it fit to disrespect Toronto's democratic processes. Bicycle lanes, when incorporated into a network that transports people in a safe and effective manner using multiple modes of transportation, is the only way to reduce congestion in and around Toronto.