I strongly object to the…

I strongly object to the control that Bill 212 gives to the province over bike lanes in municipalities.

Transportation planning within a municipality is is properly a municipal responsibility. This is because

(1) municipalities are much beter placed than the Province to take into account local circumstances, and

(2) bike lanes are an important component of many municipal policies, including transportation planning (providing alternatives to automobile use, and Vision Zero reduction of cyclist injuries/deaths), public health (providing opportunities for active transportation) and climate change (providing low carbon transportattion options).

Changing or removing bike lanes will interfere with the integrity of these municipal policies.

The province is competely unsuited to reviewing in an informed way these municipal policie\s and the role that bike lanes play in these policies. What will result if Bill 212 is passsed will be a costly, bureaucratic and inefficient process for approving bike lanes, and ripping oout existing ones, with a lack of accountability for decisons made. This is especially suropring for a goevrnment that rides itself on reducting red tape to get things done.

It is particularly objectionable for the Province to have the authority to order that long standing and successsful existing bike lanes be removed. I ride my bike regularly downtown from the east end of Toronto as an alternative to using my car. Bike lanes provide a safe way for me to do this.

The proposed s. 195.2 of the Highway Traffice Act should be removed in its entirelty from Bill 212