I own a vehicle and use…

I own a vehicle and use public transit, but my prime choice of transportation is by bicycle. I ride all-year around. There are many reasons for this: 1) My personal health: be it through the extra daily activitiy, or the fresh air vs sharing the air with many people on transit. 2) The environment - anything I can do to reduce emissions / energy use. 3) It's often faster. 4) It's the cheapest option - while I can afford other options - not everyone can.

Just today, I rode 8 kms of the Danforth and Bloor street bike lanes with my 10-year-old step-daughter to drop her off at her day-camp and then head into the office myself. She is a great bike rider and fully aware of her surroundings, but this is not a journey we could have made if it were not for the additional safety that bike lanes provide. These are the very same bike lanes that are subject to removal in Bill 212.

It's true - the bike lanes are not ideal in terms of safety- we still ride extremely cautiously and I'm constantly reminding her to be vigilant of all the cars we share the road with. But - they are certainly better than no bike lanes! In fact, we are lucky to live in an area with bike lanes that enable us to bike as much as we do. More bike lanes are needed, not fewer, so that more people can take advantage of the benefits of commuting by bicycle.

In addition, a lot of city planning and city funding has gone into the creation of these bike lanes. It is a waste of our money to remove them when they serve an invaluable service.

Regardless of whether removing the bikelanes would actually improve vehicular travel time, I do not think any amount of time savings is worth the increased risk to the safety of the people that use the bike lanes.

Kate