The description of your plan…

The description of your plan sounds wonderful but it is clear that your government is more interested in promoting car use than active transportation. You spend hundreds of millions of dollars to widen roadways through city centres, provide subsidies for electric and hybrid cars, and fail to provide leadership on issues that would result in safer roadways for cyclists and safer pedestrian facilities such as photo radar and lower speed limits. When planning facilities like the new Maitland bridge over the 417, pedestrian safety is thrown aside so that commuters can have their slip lanes for high speed turns through crosswalks to save a few seconds on their travel times.

In your section on Safer Highways, the onus seems to be completely on the pedestrians and cyclists to look out for themselves. There is no talk about reducing the carnage on the roads by designing streets that force drivers to obey the rules. We have an epidemic of speeding, running red lights, distracted driving, tinted windows, and general flaunting of rules. We need more enforcement, stiffer fines, and a justice system that doesn't treat a car license as a license to kill with impunity. We need drivers to realize that they are driving lethal machines. How else are we expected to allow our children to cycle or walk to school without the fear that they will never come home again?

At the same time, you are investing billions of dollars in unsustainable motor vehicle facilities while throwing spare change at active transportation. The cost to society is incalculable. We need leadership to push for healthier and cost-effective modes of transportation. Your proposal sounds very nice but the proof is not in your words, it's in your actions and so far, you are on track to fail in this noble initiative by undercutting your own efforts.

[Original Comment ID: 213551]