The provincial government…

The provincial government should not be adding red tape and bureaucracy to prevent municipal governments from being able to develop traffic infrastructure how they see fit.

Bike lanes are an essential part of our infrastructure for preventing gridlock, particularly in current day where population density is so high and our roads do not have the capacity for everyone to be travelling by car. We need to be prioritizing availability of public transportation, walkability, and safe bicycling infrastructure to remedy this problem. These are all options where higher volumes of people can be transported using much less surface area of the roads.

Surveys have indicated that many more people in Toronto would be regularly choosing bicycles as their form of transportation if we had a safer, more connected network of bike lanes than we currently do. The people wish to have the option of biking, however do not feel that the infrastructure is safe enough yet for them to do so.

If we were to expand rather than restrict our network of bike lanes, much of the urban populace would switch from driving to cycling when possible. This would have an alleviating effect on traffic congestion, fossil fuel emissions, and air pollution. This would also have a positive effect on public health due to increasing commuters’ physical activity.

The freedom to safely ride one’s bike should not be a partisan issue. Learning how to ride a bike is a cherished part of growing up for so many people. Riding a bicycle is not merely a method of transportation, but a low-cost, high-quality activity wherein the rider is able to exercise while taking in and appreciating their surroundings, thus improving their enjoyment of life. Our cities should be places where children, families, and individuals are able to ride their bikes in the street safely – and a robust network of bike lanes is crucial to enabling this reality.