As a concerned citizen, one…

As a concerned citizen, one who drives and commutes to my office using the TTC, i respect those who choose to cycle and i am very concerned about their safety.

We are bringing more people into the city, they have to commute, our transportation system is not adequate, there are not room for more cars, bikes are necessary, we need to accommodate them and keep the cyclists and drivers safe - bike lanes is the best way to do so. - Their impact on traffic is overstated. What is actually causing our congestion is too many people driving relative to our road capacity. We need more alternatives to driving. The more we encourage people to drive, the worse our congestion is going to get. The congestion on the 401, the Gardiner, on Kingston Road in Scarborough, Hurontario Street in Mississauga, or Queen Street in Brampton, are not because of bike lanes. This is a regional issue that is far more complex than three bike lanes.

- Removing these lanes will not improve traffic. This is because of induced demand which shows us that as road capacity is increased for cars, more people drive, eating up that added capacity. This is something that has been proven all over the world, including here in Toronto.

- One of the oft-repeated reasons against these bike lanes is that they negatively impact emergency response times. This is false. The deputy fire chief has said so himself. The hospitals on University Avenue are very supportive of the bike lanes given the high number of hospital workers who cycle to work. If emergency response times were being impacted, these institutions would not be so supportive. Why would this government ignore what these hospitals and medical professionals have said about these bike lanes?

- Bike lanes are great for local businesses! This has been noted all over the world, including in Toronto where the Bloor Annex BIA recently came out in support of the lanes noting that it has increased their customer base and revenues. I would think that this would be something important to the current government. While I understand that some businesses have come out against the lanes in the areas where they are relatively new, this is a typical response when these lanes get built - initial response is negative with fear that they will hurt businesses, but once the lane has become established after a few years these businesses generally see their benefit.

- There has been some talk of moving these bike lanes to 'secondary streets' as a compromise. I believe they need to be on main streets because that is where people's destinations are! Main corridors are where people work, shop, dine, and live. There are also few streets that run parallel to major corridors for long distances. Moving them to other streets will either lead to zig-zagging routes or will put them on corridors that do not have destinations that people need to get to. Either way, cyclists will still use the main corridors. This means that drivers will have to share a lane with the cyclist rather than being separated from them. This is frustrating from a driver's perspective, and it also increases the chances for conflicts or collisions.

- Cycling is in its infancy in Toronto but is increasingly becoming a popular transportation option, particularly in central locations. By the end of 2024, the number of Bike Share trips will surpass 6 million rides if it hasn't already, almost 10x the number in 2015! And Bike Share only accounts for 12% of bike trips in Toronto - we're talking well over 100,000 bike trips per day on average in Toronto and potentially 50,000,000+ per year at this point. As the Downtown and areas like Midtown Toronto continue to intensify, the number of cyclists is only going to increase - these new buildings often have very few car parking spaces, but do have a significant number of bike parking spaces, often at a ratio of more than 1 per unit. We need to expand our bike infrastructure, not contract it - cycling is going to keep growing in Toronto.

- The data that has been quoted by the Premier, Minister Sarkaria and others in this government is incredibly misleading. Using a Toronto CMA commute mode data point from 2011 is not a serious approach to data analysis. Regional data and commute patterns in other municipalities should not impact how streets are planned in Downtown Toronto. Instead, decision-making should consider local modal splits. Commuting data for areas served by bike lanes show many locations with 10%+ bike commuters. But even then, the number of cyclists is far higher than this. The commuting data only captures primary mode of commute - so someone who bikes 2 days a week and drives 3 days is captured as a driver not a cyclist, someone who commutes by bike to school is not captured in the data, someone who cycles for reasons other than commuting like going to the grocery store or visiting friends and family is not captured. To boil this down to the fact that 1.2% of people in the Toronto CMA cycled as their primary mode of commuting in 2011 is incredibly misleading.

- Cycling can be the fastest and cheapest way to travel in central areas. While I totally understand that cycling from Etobicoke or Brampton to Queen's Park may not be feasible, there are thousands of people for which it does potentially make sense. For myself personally, it takes me 25 minutes to bike to work and costs me about $100-$200 per year. If I chose to take transit it would take me 45-75 minutes and cost me about $1,000 annually. If I drive, it would take me 25 to 45 minutes depending on traffic, and cost me $4,000 or $5,000 annually. Which of these options provides me with the most time with my family? Which one is best for my cost of living? If you remove safe cycling infrastructure though, I am far more likely to get in my car given the unreliability of my transit options. That will give me less time with my family, less money in my pocket, and only add to our congestion challenges.

- Lastly, bike lanes make our roads safer - for all road users, including drivers. This is something that has been proven to be true. You, This change will make my lives less safe. Is that worth it in the hopes that a small number of drivers on these routes MIGHT save what, 2 minutes?

This decision about bike lanes does a number of things - it adds red tape, it reduces choice, it hurts small businesses, it reduces public safety, ignores evidence, prioritizes inefficiency, and wastes money. My understanding is that this government is against all of these things, however, this move seems to show otherwise.

If the government has evidence that these bike lanes are harmful to the community or that the above is false, I would strongly encourage you to release this data to be scrutinized. If it is strong evidence, it will hold up to that scrutiny.

The solution to our congestion problems is to get more people out of cars by giving them reliable and convenient alternatives to driving. We need to move away from the idea that we should be able to drive quickly anywhere anytime, particularly in central areas. We also need to stop thinking of bicycles as a niche recreational activity and start recognizing that they are an important part of urban transportation systems. Designing cities with more choice in how to get around works better for everyone, including drivers. Car dependency has always been the biggest single contributor to car congestion.

Please remove the bike lane portion of Bill 212. There is no evidence that removing bike lanes will ease congestion in Toronto - but removing them will negatively impact a lot of people's lives and safety.