Comments regarding Bill 212 …

Comments regarding Bill 212 – the so-called “Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024”

This bill deserves to be killed as soon as possible. It represents an outdated transportation policy, is a massive unwarranted intrusion by the province into municipal affairs, and, most important, would not solve the problem it claims to address.

Additionally, the part of the legislation that allows for the ripping up of existing bike lanes along Yonge Street, Bloor Street and University Avenue runs contrary to other sections of the very same act. The proposed bill says that the regulatory framework for its review of bike lanes is still “being developed” and will include analysis of “data, studies and other information.” The legislation, however, would require the ripping up of existing bike lanes without any such data, studies, or further information. That doesn’t make sense.

Even if the legislation is amended or altered to exclude the ripping up of existing bike lanes, this represents an extreme intrusion into municipal affairs. I am a Toronto resident and taxpayer. The city council that represents me developed a transportation strategy that includes bicycles as an integral part. It is outrageous that the Ontario government has, in effect, vetoed the actions of my local government, and now wishes to step in and impose its own outdated views on urban transportation.

Restricting, removing, or discouraging bike lanes is bad policy. It is well-known that the current Premier of Ontario does not like bicycles, nor does he understand the increasing use of bicycles for urban transportation in practically every major urban centre around the world. These cities have sophisticated planning departments, and have done extensive analysis on transportation systems. They have all concluded that bike lanes are a valuable addition to transportation infrastructure. And that sometimes, they are a valuable replacement – for a lane of traffic, for instance. This Ontario legislation pretends that all of those other jurisdictions are wrong. I don’t buy it.

Finally, the focus on bike lanes as the cause of Toronto traffic congestion is just wrong. In addition to being a cyclist, I am a motorist, and often need to drive across the downtown core. I have noted that over the last year, practically every major east-west route through downtown Toronto has been either closed or severely restricted due to construction – building construction that intrudes into roads, or roads dug up for infrastructure repair. There’s the real cause of congestion, and this legislation does nothing to address it.