I am strongly against Bill…

I am strongly against Bill 212, this proposal to remove existing bike lanes and require provincial approval to add a bike lane if car traffic is affected. I am a pedestrian and cyclist who has travelled in cities across Europe, North America and Asia. Infrastructure for active transportation is very important to encourage people to walk and ride their bikes, and to keep them safe when they do. Far more people can travel by bike or public transit in the same space that a few cars, usually with only one occupant, take up on the road. Forcing cyclists and walkers into shared paths, or forcing bikes to ride on busy city streets will result in more injuries and deaths. I visited Toronto by bicycle during COVID days while the pilot Active TO bike lanes were open on University Ave and it was an amazing experience.

Encouraging and facilitating getting people out of their cars is what will reduce traffic congestion. Ontario should be basing its decisions on data, and data does NOT back up this proposal. Data from New York City also showed that adding bike lanes, even if it means reducing motor vehicle lanes, are a net benefit to downtown businesses.

Most bike lanes end up reducing on-street parking rather than lanes that move traffic anyway. We have dedicated far too much of our cities to cars and parking for cars.

Cities around the world are moving in the other direction, Ontario! Don’t go back in time! Other jurisdictions have seen that getting people out of their cars is the best approach. Building more lanes for cars only induces more people to drive, and the lanes fill up again quickly. We need more ways to travel, especially more non-emitting ways- not fewer! We need to reduce traffic by vehicles that emit air pollutants and greenhouse gases, and this proposal will only increase emissions.

Leave these decisions to the municipalities who know their spaces and transit needs better than Queens Park.