Dear Ford Government, If you…

Dear Ford Government,
If you really want to “reduce gridlock” and “save” Ontarians time, ripping up bike lanes and creating more red tape for municipalities is not the way to go.
Let’s look at this from a pragmatic standpoint:
-bikes produce fewer emissions
-ripping up asphalt and repaving lanes is a waste of resources
-more people can get to where they are going in a smaller amount of space when biking (cars take up way more coveted space)
-local Business Associations in areas where there are bike lanes have data and proof to show that bikes lanes have actually increased their revenues; more than cars.
-studies and examples from amazing cities around the world have proven that bike lanes are the future for growing cities.
Yes, congestion in the city is the worst it’s ever been. However, this is not due to bike lanes. This is due to a lack of investment in high quality, reliable public transit, as well as the fact that MULTIPLE streets downtown are ripped up for a myriad of reasons and there is nowhere else for cars to go.
If you really want to reduce gridlock and save us time – we need to get people out of their cars. We should be walking/biking/taking transit wherever we can, especially when we are within a 10 km radius of work/home/running errands.
Cities around the world are moving away from cars and many cities like London, England actually have tariffs on cars within the city. Let’s be bold and do something similar. These fees could help fund transit and get Ontarians moving.