This proposed bill is a…

This proposed bill is a huge overreach from the provincial government, which should not be dictating to municipalities how they can or cannot allocate municipal road space to the various forms of traffic. The appropriate number of bike and car lanes should be determined on a case-by-case basis, by local governments that have a better knowledge of the traffic situation on the ground and of future planning for the various forms of transport. Introducing this bill would introduce a truly ridiculous amount of unnecessary red tape and prevent cities from being able to effectively plan and influence transportation in their cities. The province cannot and should not be able to control the specific number of lanes of car traffic on each road of each city in Ontario, and it is conceited to think that the province would be able to make better decisions on this front than individuals living in and governing a particular city.

Beyond that, the proposed framework ignores all of the body knowledge about traffic congestion and induced demand, and will in no way improve the existing traffic congestion issues and travel times, and will in many cases make them worse. Encouraging car-dependency by hindering the construction of bike lanes and in some cases demolishing existing bike lanes will only route existing bike lane users back onto the road, either on their bicycles (which is less safe for everyone), or in cars, in either case worsening traffic congestion and increasing travel time. Similarly, pushing the construction of another highway will only reinforce the car dependency for a huge number of Ontarians, on top of destroying large swaths of the greenbelt, farmland and rural communities.

Wilfully ignoring the science and pushing the premier's car-brained agenda solves nothing, and will worsen traffic, road safety for the most vulnerable users, and our environmental impact in one fell swoop, on top of costing Ontarians and the government more than the alternatives (per user, and accounting for future repairs due to wear and tear, see work by Strong Towns for costs). Please do not pass this bill, or anything resembling it.