This proposal seems to be an…

This proposal seems to be an overstepping of provincial boundaries that fails the address the issues it states concern over. It would need a complete overhaul to properly address the issues facing Ontarians today.

While it is my belief that all levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal) should be working together, the wording of the bill indicates that the primary intent is to stifle the decision-making powers of municipal governments. The need for provincial approval to introduce bike lanes would hamper the progress required to increase transit efficiency in urban areas, and introduce new overhead to the provincial government, decreasing it's efficiency too. A better approach would be to proactively provide municipalities with data collection tools to monitor transit efficiencies, rather than requiring it to exist as a prerequisite to development.

While Ontario is largely car-dependent, this car dependency introduces issues in urban areas, such as traffic, or gridlock as mentioned by the bill. the simplest way to remove traffic would be to remove or reduce the cars themselves, as they comprise the bottleneck to transport. Accidents, and traffic are a reasonable concern mentioned in the bill, but they are both caused by an overabundance of cars.

Cars are often an inefficient mode of transit. The average car is not fully occupied, meaning alternative methods of transport (public transit, cycling, walking) are generally more space-efficient, allowing for greater throughput and the potential elimination of bottlenecks. This is especially the case for commuter transit during peak hours, which often run close to full capacity. Long-distance transport could be better served through dedicated public transit (i.e., a train).

Bicycle use should be promoted as a method to reduce traffic. They occupy less space per person than the average car, meaning even when a bicycle is involved in traffic, it often has a lower footprint, meaning it will likely block fewer people, or allow for faster flow of traffic.

The people of Ontario need a bill that addresses the shortcomings of a car-based infrastructure, and promotes modes of transit that are more efficient. In doing so, everyone is benefitted, as the most important road users (trucks, emergency services) have less traffic to contend with, and the general populace may enjoy a better selection of transit modes to go where they need to be.