Bill 212 is short-sighted in…

Bill 212 is short-sighted in its thinking and backwards in its philosophy. Bike lanes were conceived of and installed in order to provide alternatives for commuters so that they could SAFELY choose an alternative to driving. I am one of those commuters. After the completion of a network of bike lanes between the area where I live (Leslieville) and my workplace (College and Bathurst) I bought a new bike and began cycling to work on a daily basis. Using the bike lanes on Dundas St., Gerrard St. and College st. I am able to get to work in a consistent amount of time and I finally feel safe doing so, after years of being pinched by cars on those same roads.

Drivers, however well intentioned, have a lot to focus on and many have difficulty remembering to check their blind spot or to look for cyclists when they are changing lanes or turning. When you combine that risk with the risks posed by sewer grates that often force cyclists to mover further away from the curb the result is that there are many people, like myself, who won't risk being a cycling commuter. I am a father with two young children and I won't put my life at risk for the sake of getting some exercise or helping the environment. With the updated cycling lanes on many downtown streets I have been able to balance my need for a safe commute with my desire to help the environment and my cardiovascular health by cycling to work.

In the past three years I have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of people cycling to work on the same lanes that I am using. I regularly wait at stop lights behind a row of 6-10 other cyclists. I am dismayed by the proposal by the Ontario government to rip out existing bike lanes and to make it more difficult for newly proposed bike lanes to go forward. This feels like the same kind of thinking that stalled the development of public transit for decades and resulted in the painful re-development of existing commercial areas (such as for the Eglinton line) that we have recently witnessed to try to make up for lost time. People need alternatives to driving that allow them to meet their commuting needs. As more and more people adopt cycling or public transit as a viable alternative the demand for car lanes will naturally balance itself out. Toronto is a world class city and it needs to look forward towards a greener and more progressive future, not backwards towards a narrow-minded perspective that cars are the only solution. Invest in the alternatives, and keep our bike lane networks intact.