I am incredibly disappointed…

I am incredibly disappointed to see the Ontario government continue to get in the way of new bike lane construction. Protected bike lanes make roads safer for everyone, including car drivers. As someone who bikes, walks, and drives in Toronto, I can assure you that however I get around, separated, protected bike lanes make things safer and traffic smoother for everyone.

People who are biking on roads aren't going to stop biking just because you don't have a protected bike lane. Whats going to happen is that cars are going to have to slow down and avoid these bikers, risking accidents and slowing traffic. It is comical to think that reducing bike lanes will "Fight Delays" as the title of this bill says.

This bill's broad wording also means that dedicated transit lanes could be blocked by this legislation. If the goal is to make transportation fast and efficient across cities, then this is the exact opposite of what needs to be done. A bus or streetcar is the size of 3 - 5 cars, but instead of transporting only a handful of people, these public transit methods move dozens or even over a hundred people at a time. If we want to have efficient movement of people and reduce commute times, we should be doing more to give public transit the right of way, not less.

In general I am sick and tired of seeing the provincial government meddle in municipal matters. Each city and town has completely different needs for how its people move around, and something as broad as Bill 60 can never work for all municipalities. I really wish that the provincial government would instead focus their time on matters they are wholly responsible for, like education and health. Please stop wasting your time on things like this and focus on what your government can uniquely provide to the people of Ontario.

I am someone who generally agrees with (small c) conservative values, but I can't bring myself to vote for the (big C) Conservative party when you continuously go against the values that you name your own party after. While your government continues to behave this way, I will have no choice but to place my support behind other parties.