Please do not tear up the…

Please do not tear up the bike lanes. I am primarily a driver in Toronto (living in Etobicoke/York) and have a child entering the solo public transit& biking years (i.e., tween-teenage years).

The bike lanes force all of us to be more careful, with pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers alike. They also encourage us all to think about our routes more carefully and consider walking or taking transit when it makes more sense. I am even considering getting back on a bike now that there are more dedicated lanes! I was too scared to do this in the past due to lack of dedicated bike lanes and low awareness from drivers about sharing the road. This feels like an unnecessary expense (to rip up existing lanes) and a step backwards in planning a livable city (to restrict future bike lanes).

As we encourage housing density to address housing shortages, we should also be thinking about alternate forms of transport and accessibility for people at lower incomes.