Removing bike lanes on our…

Removing bike lanes on our major city streets will be bad for business, increase commute times, and reduce access to the city for many people working downtown.

Bloor, Yonge and University are not major artery roads. They have been treated as such, but reality shows they are major shopping, health care and entertainment areas. The amount of cars trying to park on these roads proves this. We should stop treating them as major arteries as that is bad for business. Many BIA's have proven that bike lines have calmed traffic and brought in more customers. Major arteries are never a nice place to be. Who would want to shop on the Gardiner? Or Allen Road?

Additionally, research has time and time again proven that bike lines improve traffic. Induced demand on roads makes commuting times grow exponentially. Even if we can only convert 10% of car drivers to cyclists for inner city traffic to be cyclists, traffic and commute times will drop by 20%. This exponential increase is important when designing lanes. If we look at major traffic, it is often caused by intersection and exit-capacity. This will not be reduced or changed by adding bike lanes.

Bike lines do not belong on residential streets, as they are messy, hard to navigate, do not have the places we want to be (Bloor is a shopping and entertainment street, and thus a destination, not a through road).

For many people cycling is the only viable option. With cost of living being high, many cannot afford a car anymore. For inner city commutes it is the best and most flexible option. For many working off-hours it is the only option. Go take a look at the bike stands at Mt. Sinai hospital, or any hospital along University. The amount of bikes is exceeding the amount of cars at many hours of the day. It is the only way to commute for many nurses and doctors working at odd hours.

What I know, when bike lanes along these streets are added I will:
a) take the lane. I will slow down cars by driving in the middle of the road. I have this right and it will be the only safe option.
b) I will drive my car downtown, without an actual need to do so, it will be my only option. Cars cause traffic and commute times will significantly increase.

Be very careful with this policy. It will cause massive grid lock and make the city a bigger mess than it already is.

Additionally I would like to comment on the STEAL LAND part of the act.

Why do we want to give the provincial government the ability to STEAL OUR PROPERTY. This sounds like a colonial measure and an act that you'd of DICTATORSHIP. The conservative party will be known as the Colonial party. I have no trouble advertising it as such among my peers if this bill will be pushed through.