Dear Doug Ford and the…

Dear Doug Ford and the Conservative Party,

I am vehemently opposed to Bill 212 as it is exactly the opposite of what should be done. The mentioned bike lines should not be removed as there is a strong statistical fact based assessment showing their benefit to both biking safety, businesses, and traffic flow along these routes. There is no evidence suggesting that these and other bike lanes slow vehicular and EMS (and they have stated as much!) movement. Other major cities are only increasing their bike routes as they see the positive benefit to their cities, regarding health, safety, reducing carbon emissions, and traffic flow. We should not be going backwards on this issue! What causes traffic congestion is road, TTC, and building construction that obscures and blocks traffic lanes. Let's get these finished faster - particularly the TTC lines. The City of Toronto has conducted endless hours of real and serious research, not ones based on personal anecdotes or personal interest, that identifies where and when bike lanes should be established. Our Urban specialists know and understand the issues related to traffic flow within its jurisdiction. This is should not be based on Provincial partisan opinion, and the bias of this Bill is glaringly obvious that this is the case. No research has gone into this Bill whatsoever. The City alone should decide when and where bike lanes should be added based on qualitative and quantitative research. This Bill will only endanger more cyclists, a number in Toronto that is growing dramatically and will continue to grow as people see the benefits of this mode of transportation, and evident in the increase in the use of Toronto's Bike Share Programs. Traffic will be reduced when we invest more in Public transportation and alternative methods (ie: cycling, drive share etc).

I write this not as over-enthusiastic cyclist looking out only for self interest, but as a citizen of the City of Toronto, a car owner and driver, a cyclist, a TTC user, and a pedestrian. Toronto streets need to be safe and efficient for all its users, and this Bill is not only costly financially (ripping out newly installed bike lanes is a ridiculous waste of our tax payers money), but is the exact opposite a progressive world class City like Toronto should be doing, let alone the Provincial Government. Please do not pass this Bill!!