This proposal is based on…

This proposal is based on misinformation and will result in little to no improvement to traffic congestion but instead a predictable increase in injuries and deaths.

It’s unclear what statistic would ever represent enough people for this government to value their lives enough to separate them from fast-moving vehicles weighing over a tonne, but more than the government-cited figure of 1.2% “commute” by bicycle in more recent years, there are many more kinds of trips taking place than just commuting, and the specific neighbourhoods where most of the mentioned bike lanes are located have much higher rates of cycling than the city’s average and especially the metropolitan area that includes other cities. In some neighbourhoods the majority of households don’t own a vehicle, including my own, so it is completely unjustifiable to remove safe alternative options except to convince us to buy cars and create more traffic than before.

There are almost never “side streets” available to which bike lanes could be relocated for any significant distance, and if claims that bike lines should simply be moved were serious the proposal would allow for a viable route to be confirmed and built BEFORE removing the current bike lanes. People on bicycles also have a right and need to visit destinations on main streets as much if not more-so than drivers who are more likely to only pass through.

The proposal’s goal is to reopen “traffic” lanes, but in many cases including the majority of Bloor street before bike lines were installed, these “traffic” lanes were nearly always used as parking and loading zones. Even if these are officially reserved for moving traffic for a few hours during rush hour, these restrictions are often ignored by drivers, and the people still willing to ride bicycles in the unsafe conditions you’ve created will be occupying those lanes, so that you will have accomplished nothing in terms of your stated goals. The government has also shown zero recognition of the fact that people on bicycles are also “traffic” and that their numbers in a bike lane has been comparable or even higher than the number of people moved through a larger car lane.

If there are concerns with bike lanes, there are many better solutions available than to blindly remove them with complete disregard for evidence, local elected representatives, and people’s lives.