This proposed bill will be…

This proposed bill will be absolutely disastrous. It will result in more deaths, will not accomplish its stated goals and is an irresponsible waste of taxpayer money, all in order to overturn local decisions in Toronto. Here is a detailed breakdown of all the ways in which this bill is a disaster:

1. People will die. Bike lanes, even if they do slow down traffic (more on this later), provide cyclists with a safer option than cycling in the street. Making them harder to build or, God forbid, removing existing ones will result in more people dying or being severely injured. I cannot stress this enough. These are your constituents and you are proposing legislation that will see more human lives lost, all in the name of saving some minutes of someone's commute.

2. It will not do what the government claims it will do. For one, the premise itself is dependent on the assumption that current cyclists will no longer feel safe enough to cycle, and will thus abandon their bikes. No one in their right mind thinks a cyclist taking the entire car lane will do less to slow down traffic than a separated bike lane. But even if cyclists do stop cycling, this will not help traffic, as many people will now choose to commute by car instead, even shorter distances where they might previously been happy to take their bikes. This means more cars on the road, which will cause more congestion, as cars are less space efficient than bikes. It has long been known by planners that the only way to reduce congestion is to provide viable alternatives to driving. Which brings us to:

3. This is an incredibly irresponsible misuse of Ontario's tax money. Not only will the government add additional bureaucracy to what have so far been local decisions, all funded by tax payer money, they are also talking about using the tax payers' money to remove existing bike lanes, including ones that were recently completed. Not only does this make the initial money paid for the construction a complete waste, but why should taxpayers in Thunder Bay, Windsor, Ottawa or Sarnia (or any other place in the province, but you get the gist), have their money wasted to overturn local decisions in Toronto, simply because the premier live there? This proposed bill is spitting in the face of all Ontario taxpayers who live outside of the GTA, as well as anyone who voted for the OPC because they wanted a small government or fiscal responsibility. Add to that the increased strain on our healthcare system due to increases in injuries from collisions. All in all, just a baffling mismanagement of public funds.

4. It will be disastrous for our ability to combat climate change, as people will have to go back to using their automobiles more.

Lastly I want to address a few more talking points I have seen from the government, or others that have an irrational hatred of bikes and cyclists, that have been used to justify this decision:
The idea of using side streets instead of main roads for bikes has been proposed. First of all, this may not be feasible at all. In Toronto, there are no good side street alternatives to Bloor/Danforth for an east/west going route across the city. Cyclists would need to take a mismatched route of different streets that would significantly increase their commute times. But aside from this, people live on and travel to locations on major streets. Why should they not have the choice to do so, safely, on a bike?
Some people like to point out that not everyone can bike. This is obviously true, but also not everyone can drive, and yet we still have roads. Bike lanes are not forcing anyone to bike, it's just providing a more choices for people with different individual needs and preferences.
I have heard it said that bike lanes aren't even being used. Personally, I see plenty of use on the more recent bike lanes that are built to a higher standard, like the ones on College and on University. But generally speaking, we need to expand the network in order to see more usage. Many people don't want to bike if they know that they would end up having to enter a car lane for a big part of their commute. A lot of peole also don't feel safe in lanes that are only made of paing that cars can swerve into. Bike usage in the city has also increased a lot over the last few years as our bike lane network has grow. All this is a case for building more bike lanes, not fewer.

In conclusion; this proposed legislation will see more people die, will waste thr taxpayers' money and will not accomplish what it set out to do. I sincerely implore the Ontario government to reconsider this plan, as it will be an absolute disaster, and slap in the face of your constituents.