This legislation prioritizes…

This legislation prioritizes the convenience of a few over the health, safety, and economic development of my community.

The Government's proposed plan will cost money and create red tape. It will inevitably result in injuries and deaths that would be entirely preventable.

My primary method of transportation to work, grocery shopping, and recreational activities is via bike or, on the few days a year where it is unsafe to bike (and probably drive a private passenger vehicle), I take the TTC.

My wife and I do not own a car. This is not because we cannot afford it. Our household income puts us in the top 5% in Canada. It is a choice. A choice made possible by the infrastructure currently in place. I regularly travel along the Bloor, Danforth, and University bike lanes.

I stop at shops along the way. I visit my friends across the entire city. I invest in the local economy. I can only do this because of the cycling infrastructure that has been put in place over the last several years. This infrastructure has created a safe and reliable method for myself, and others, to support small businesses in our neighbourhood and the surrounding areas. If there is no safe infrastructure, I will not go there. Or if I go there, I will go there in a car. A car that would previously have not been on the road. I will be adding to the traffic you are seeking to reduce.

If the bike lanes are removed, there will be injuries. People will die. I know this from my experience as a personal injury lawyer and from my own "near misses" on roads without appropriate infrastructure. I have seen what happens when drivers fail to "share the road". I have seen the burden it places on our healthcare system. On the lost economic input because the victims can no longer work.

There have been six cycling deaths in Toronto this year already. There will be more. You can help prevent them. Studies repeatedly prove that bike lanes reduce all forms of traffic conflicts: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/05/29/protect-yourself-separated-bike-…

Please reconsider this course of action. This legislation is short sighted. It is not supported by evidence, or common sense. It does not reduce red tape. It will actively hurt Ontario residents, and my community.