As a Car owner in Toronto. I…

As a Car owner in Toronto. I find many of the suggestions within this bill insultingly unscientific and without any consideration of empirical evidence. Study after study highlights how encouraging bike use leads to safer and less busy roads for all (one cited below). Other cities provide strong evidence that installing bike lanes in Paris has lead to a 5% decrease in the amount of cars on the road (less cars means less traffic). Evidence of the well known and empirically backed up phenomenon “induced demand” showcases how increasing car lanes does not lead to less cars on the road. The complete opposite occurs, with roads becoming more clogged as more people turn to cars as their only option to commute. Supporters of this bill point to a report showcasing how Bloor street has rapidly increased in traffic since the installation of bike lanes; however, the inference that this is due to bike lanes is shaky. The extreme confounding variable present here is the end of Covid and the return to office that has brought people back into the city. More data is required in this post Covid era before one can start pointing at scape goats.

Again, as a car owner, I feel as though these policies will make my commute and ability to easily travel around the city and gta harder. To meet the ever growing population and transit needs of the gta, Ontario must invest in ALL means of transit (trains, subways, bike lanes, and busses) to encourage less cars on the road for better commutes. The obsession with roads will bring minimum relief to traffic. As a young professional working hard to make Toronto a great place to live for all, I feel compelled to move to more transit friendly cities such as New York or Chicago should these types of short sided policies continue to plague our legislative. I urge you to support bills that are founded in strong research and empirical evidence, rather than vague hutches that hurt everyone.