I am a resident of Toronto…

I am a resident of Toronto. I own and operate a car as well as using a bicycle. I want to be explicitly clear and succinct: This bill does not meet the needs of Ontarians. Not only is it not good for cyclists, it is not good for drivers. The proposal to remove the bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue is *scandalous* and this bill should be immediately withdrawn.

I say this not as a cyclist but a driver. When I drive in Toronto, I want cyclists to be *safe* and *separated* from me as I drive--never in the same lane as me. My *favourite* streets to drive are in fact the roads which have cycle lanes, and particuarly those that have fully separated lanes (such as Bloor, but preferably College) where I do not have to concern myself with cyclists apart from at intersections, where I am concerned for pedestrians anyway.

It is rank foolishness to believe that removing these lanes or stopping new lanes will somehow affect "gridlock". For one, cyclists *will still use theses streets.* With shops and destinations on them, they will become "desire paths" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_path) for cyclists even if they are replaced with less direct cycle paths elsewhere, leading to a huge amount of disruption only to make cyclists and drivers less safe.

In addition, I do not believe that such a change would make any difference. First: assume all cyclists in the city suddenly stopped cycling. What do they do instead to commute? are you telling me we want one more car on the street for every cyclist? How will that help gridlock?

As a driver, do you want to know what *actually* makes it harder to get around the city? On-street parking! There are so many areas of Toronto where cars, trucks and more are parked, and once the lanes are gone the space where they were will just be, guess what, replaced with parked cars! Why not remove all on-street parking if you're so concerned? As a driver, I literally never use it, instead parking in lots.

I also believe that the city should not require provincial approval for new bike lanes. Again, *as a driver* I want bike lanes all across the city because *I do not want bikes in the same lane as me.* I also fully believe that more bike lanes will lead to less congestion because *more people will use them* decreasing the number of cars on the road.

This bill is a grotesque waste of provincial time that will only lead to a huge waste of funds on ripping out lanes and even more gridlock. I'm stunned that I have to even write this.