This bill proposes…

This bill proposes provincial approval for bike lanes that remove traffic lanes on municipal roads, adding unnecessary red tape to the process. Bike lane projects already take years to implement, with plans reviewed by traffic engineers and local councils, making provincial oversight redundant. If approved, these projects will take even longer, even more resources and still, if done with integrity, come to the same conclusion. That conclusion will, in most cases, be that the bike lane does not impede regular traffic or the movement of emergency vehicles. This has been shown time and time again.

Bike lanes are essential for safety, reducing cyclist injury risk by 30-40% and promoting active transportation, two factors which ultimately reduce provincial health care costs. Bike lanes will also have a null effect on traffic congestion, or even reduce it in some cases, which has been demonstrated, particularly when controlling for other upwards pressure on traffic such as increasing population. Removing existing bike lanes would waste time and money, while increasing traffic and safety risks.

Rather than removing bike lanes, funds should be directed toward public transportation to better reduce gridlock. I hear talk of common sense solutions. What is more common sense to solving traffic congestion (made of motor vehicles) than reducing the number of vehicles on the road. More active transportation solutions and better transit achieves that. Reducing the options for people to get around without motor vehicles does the opposite. It is that simple.

This will not reduce gridlock. It may increase it. It doesn't save anyone time. It will have negligible effect on motorists, perhaps increase commute times for cycling commuters, or even cost lives as it increases the high-risk points of contact between cyclists and motorists. For a government supposedly dedicated to cutting red-tape and finding common sense solutions, this is a big, disappointing miss.