This is utterly ridiculous. …

This is utterly ridiculous. Each city should be able to make decisions about 'traffic' independently. This seems to be more a 'Toronto' issue. The number one complaint about driving in Ottawa is about speeding, street racing and loud vehicles. The congestion we do have in our city is due to a completely dysfunctional public transit system, combined with above normal construction (due to LRT). So 'solutions' to traffic congestion in Ottawa are simple (not easy): better public transit (more frequent, more reliable, more coverage, cheaper fairs), and a real active-transport network (not the existing patchwork of disconnected paths).

Study after study shows two things: 1) active transport users (walking, biking, scooters, etc) spend MORE $$ in local shops and 2) adding lanes for vehicular traffic, simply creates MORE traffic and congestion. Maybe Toronto should take a look at the 401 and ask itself....how many more lanes would we need to get rid of all the traffic congestion? Are the 14 existing lanes (in some places) not enough? Did the 401 always have this many lanes or did it start out with less and then we increased its capacity thinking 'if we just add another lane or two will it reduce traffic congestion'? I think the hwy systems in and around TO have been expanding over the decades, and yet traffic is getting worse. Can our leaders not spot the irony here? It's insane to keep doing the same thing, expecting different results.

Finally, its hard not to feel this is nothing other than a petty issue that Mr. Ford has with they cycling community. I have yet to hear a coherent argument with evidence based reasoning why this is a good idea. We want our communities to have amazing livable cities, with healthy citizens, that contribute to the local economy. Cyclists do this. They use less healthcare, they have less impact on infrastructure, they spend more in local shops, the decrease carbon footprint which has a positive impact on our environment, they KILL far fewer people (traffic accidents), etc, etc. Let's just give them a bit of space, and stop running them over with cars.