I am beyond disappointed…

I am beyond disappointed.
The proposed restrictions on future bike lanes and the removal of existing lanes will make traffic worse, commuting more expensive and ultimately people will die because of it.

Alternative modes of transportation such as walking, and cycling are absolutely essential. The stubborn focus on cars and the disregard for reality is frankly astounding.

Cars are huge. Geometrically there simply is not enough space in cities for everyone to drive. It doesn't matter how many paths and parks you demolish and pave, there will NEVER be enough space for everyone to drive. This has been known for decades. Removing alternatives forces more people to drive which will immediately overwhelm any new capacity and end up making the problem worse (which has been shown time and time again in studies looking at induced demand).

Cars are expensive. By removing affordable options like cycling you are forcing people to pay huge amounts of money for vehicles. Car payments, gas, insurance, vehicle maintenance, road maintenance. Do people really need to own 2 tons of steel and bring it with them to work every day? Of course not! Putting aside the societal and health costs associated with complete car dependence, removing the option of cycling effectively imposes huge financial burdens on everyone who must now purchase a car.

Safety. I often hear about cyclists being unsafe or interacting with traffic in ways that drivers find unsafe. But really, it is the involvement of cars that make things unsafe. If you were walking down the sidewalk and a child stepped in front of you, would you be furious and declare that the sidewalks are unsafe? Of course not. But if you are driving a car, the stakes are raised and this situation becomes one of life and death. Do you really want to force more people into life or death situations every single day?
Drivers are angry about times they have had to interact with cyclists. The answer is obvious: give cyclists somewhere else to be. Providing bike lanes gives cyclists space separate from cars which greatly reduces these interactions. Removing bike lanes will force cyclists to mix with traffic and/or pedestrians which will cause more of these conflict, more animosity between road users and more injuries and death.

In some statements, low bike lane usage is used to imply that they are not needed and are a waste of space. This is factually incorrect at best and a deliberate manipulation at worst. The existing bike networks are woefully inadequate. Bike lanes are incomplete and randomly just end, forcing cyclists into traffic. Or poor connectivity means people cannot reach destinations by bike and so they feel that driving is the only option. You cannot dismiss the need for a bridge because no one ever swims across the river. Quite simply, the network is incomplete and pathetic. You cannot dismiss the entire idea of bike lanes because a half-baked, poorly executed version of the idea is not instantly more popular than decades of car-centric infrastructure specifically designed to discourage cycling. Imagine if 90% of the car lanes magically disappeared and the remaining lanes were broken up and disconnected, would it be fair to say that nobody wants to drive, and thus remaining roads should be removed? Of course not. That is a ridiculous, inaccurate and unfair assumption.

If the goal is to reduce traffic, the answer is simple, there needs to be fewer vehicles on the road. Yet removing bike lanes removes an alternative means of transportation and forces more cars onto the road which will make things worse. I don't know what the actual reason for wanting to remove bike lanes is. Is it personal prejudice? Stubborn wilful ignorance? Was a cyclist rude to you one time? Do you stand to gain personally? I don't know. But one this is clear, the proposal to limit and/or remove bike lanes is not based on reality, evidence, or the best interests of the citizens of Ontario.

I urge you to looks at the data. Look to European cities who have embraced bike lanes and improved the lives of their citizens as a result.