As a frequent cyclist in a…

As a frequent cyclist in a mid-sized Ontario city, improving our bike lane infrastructure would allow more people to cycle, increasing physical activity and also decreasing congestion on traffic infrastructure. As evidenced by studies on larger, more populous cities (e.g., New York; FLOW, 2016), increasing bike infrastructure allows for significant reductions in traffic. In New York, when bike lanes were installed on a major thoroughfare, there was a 35% decrease in the amount of time cars took to travel through that thoroughfare. If the concern is to "save people time" - this is an evidence-based way that will save individuals time.

Furthermore, we have evidence to indicate that increasing car infrastructure does not ease congestion, but instead increases it due to the principle of induced demand. Simply put - if you build an extra lane, the cars will come (RAND, 2018). Building extra lanes and building extra highways will not solve problems with congestion in Ontario. Prioritizing non-car, greener forms of transportation will solve problems with congestion, will reduce our carbon emissions and will improve the health and longevity of citizens throughout Ontario. Creating policy that incentivizes municipalities to add bike infrastructure, reduce boundaries to adding that bike structure, and meaningfully collect data about cycling use is critical in our mission to do this.

Lastly, overarching all of this is our current climate crisis. The earth is warming rapidly - all of us have to take action to reduce our carbon footprint. We have a bloated car culture in Ontario, and increasing access to cycling and feasibility of cycling allows us to get around without continuing to add to the climate crisis.