The only way to improve…

The only way to improve traffic is to create viable ALTERNATIVES to driving. Making driving the ONLY OPTION means MORE CARS on the road, which means more traffic, which means longer commutes. The fact that the Ford government is willing to ignore the abundance of evidence collected in Europe, Asia, and North America in recent decades that proves that good cycling infrastructure IMPROVES traffic AND SAFETY is astonishing to me. The evidence is clear. There is NO REASON to privilege and prioritize car travel over other types of travel, and the fact that we still do is an indictment of our inability to think critically about the hold that the car industry has on our collective psyche via propaganda and on our government via lobbying. Transit, cycling, and walking are safer, healthier, better for the environment, better for travel times, and cheaper (the high cost of yearly road maintenance is almost entirely due to the effects of cars, not bikes!). Almost more astonishing is the idea that the provincial government would attempt to override municipal decisions about how the people of Toronto choose to travel. We elected Olivia Chow (convincingly) for a reason. Bike lanes are her jurisdiction. If the people of Toronto were against bike lanes, they would have elected one of the anti-cycling candidates. Worst of all is the proposal that bike lanes that are already built should be removed! This is completely beyond belief. Toronto is, for the first time in ages, on a 21st century trajectory: a more robust TTC system, better connectivity between TTC and GO, more "third places", mixed use developments, intelligent zoning changes, dutch-style intersections, and better cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Turning back the clock to the 60s is not in line with what other serious cities are doing. And it's not just the obvious ones, like Copenhagen, Paris, and Uttrecht. Chicago too. Montreal. The provincial government needs to step back and allow their LARGEST AND MOST PRODUCTIVE CITY to continue becoming the serious, intelligent, respectable city it always should have been.