I live in west end of…

I live in west end of Downtown Toronto and go into the office everyday. As more office workers are moving to back to in office work, commuting experience will become more important. My options right now are a 17 minute bike ride, 28 minute Uber ride, or 33 minute TTC ride (includes streetcar and Line 1 Subway down University). The cheapest and quickest option is to bike to work. The safest North-South bike route between my office and home is through University Avenue. With the new bike lanes, my bike commute to/from work has been MUCH safer and more convenient. Cycling in toronto has not felt safe in the past, and over the last few years since covid, after more bike lanes were installed, my sense of safety while bike has improved significantly! I've heard so many horror stories from friends and colleagues who have gotten into accidents while biking in Toronto, usually because a car is turning and did not watch for cyclists because they don't expect them to be there. This is a huge issue when there are no DEDICATED bike lanes on the roads. Cars do NOT look for cyclists, and they just turn as soon as they see an opening between other cars, rather than scanning for cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. Adding the extra lane of dedicated bike lane puts us cyclists in a safer space for drivers to actually look for cyclists. Without the bike lanes, our safety is significantly at risk. My commute time will be significantly increased if I cannot bike to work, and if I continue to bike to work, my safety will be at risk without the bike lanes on University. Bike lanes create a better safe environment for all, as car drivers will pay more attention to their surroundings when turning and lane changing, keeping a closer eye on pedestrian and other cars in addition to cyclists. We cannot remove this essential safety feature of a bike lane along major roads such as University, it will put the safety of pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists at risk. I can only speak on University from my personal experience since I use it daily, but I know all bike lanes in the City are essential to the safety of the neighbourhood.

Please keep the existing bike lanes and make it easier for the City to add more bike lanes for the safety of everyone! Too many people have died from accidents with cars while biking, we cannot go back to a less safe environment when the City is already becoming an unsafe place.