I am a bike commuter and I…

I am a bike commuter and I ride my bike from Burlington to Hamilton and back to go to work 3 times a week, all year round. Protected bike lanes and bike lanes are essential to keeping me away from car and truck traffic and whenever I get forced into a regular traffic lane I make every driver more frustrated. This frustration often leads to cars passing me and swerving dangerously into other lanes or oncoming traffic as I can’t go as fast as of vehicles. On several occasions this frustration from drivers can lead to swerving very close to me out of what seems to be anger at my speed and the fact that I slow traffic. Removing bike lanes will not only cause more car traffic to slow down, but people will likely become more likely to be hit by vehicles and more cyclist deaths. Please listen to actual evidence when making decisions about traffic and urban planning and not just focus on car centric rhetoric.