I am a 27 year-old Toronto…

I am a 27 year-old Toronto resident. I have been cycling in Toronto, both recreationally and as a commuter, for most of my life. I was also a recreational and commuter cyclist in Ottawa for three years between 2019 and 2022.

I am also a driver. I have driven throughout Ontario, including in Toronto, Ottawa, and in between, in everything from small sedans to moving vans. I have spent hours stuck in traffic on the streets of Toronto and 400 series highways. I know how stressful traffic is. I hate it just as much as you do (I assume "you," whoever you are, are a driver, or at least in favour of this bill).

This should not matter, but I work as a lawyer. I say this to make clear that I pay a substantial amount in taxes to the provincial and federal government. I am "The Taxpayer" whose interests your government says they want to protect. Despite this, given the astronomical and still-rising price of rental housing, I am unable to regularly afford a car, or a parking space to put it. Even though I can drive, biking is really the only affordable, reliable way to get around to places that are not along a subway or streetcar line.

Biking in Toronto is dangerous. Drivers are uniquely aggressive towards cyclists here. Main arteries usually have high speed limits that I cannot reach by pedaling. Parked cars line the side of the road in many areas, meaning that I am forced to risk getting doored or hit by a car pulling out if I want to stay out of a traffic lane. If I try to stay off main arteries and use side streets, I quickly find hat those are usually poorly maintained, forcing me to go slowly and swerve all over the road to avoid potholes. This both endangers me and (understandably) aggravates drivers.

The bike lanes along major arteries have been a gamechanger. I use them regularly. Getting from north in the city, where I live, to the downtown core has never been easier. As those bike lanes have evolved from narrow painted-line lanes to broader, protected, and sometimes even grade-separated lanes, my experience using them has only improved. I have never felt safer biking in this city.

This bill would destroy that for no reason and a high price tag. I am concerned, and find it telling, that the government has not pointed to any evidence suggesting that bike lanes impede car traffic. Leaving aside the concept of induced demand (explained in a document linked below), basic logic and observation would say the opposite: if I am biking in a bike lane, I am not compelled take up a lane of car traffic while moving at half of the road's speed limit.

The government has also not stated the cost of ripping out the bike lanes. Given that many are now grade-separated, I think it is a fair assumption to say this would be extremely expensive. I don't think it mattes whether the city or the province foots the bill - either way, I, as the taxpayer, will be left on the hook.

What's more - and this is key - bike lanes save lives. Cars in Toronto are massive and drivers are aggressive. I do not want to get crushed by an Escalade. I do not want to crash into a turning delivery truck. Similarly, cars do not want me slowly crawling up University Avenue in their lane because I have nowhere else to bike. They do not want to wait as I struggle to get up to speed after stopping at a red light at the bottom of a hill. I do not want to be in a car lane any more than car drivers want me in the car lanes. Stick me in my own lane, let me get out of the way of car traffic, and everyone is safer, faster, and happier.

As a driver as well, I empathize with other drivers over how bad traffic is. It is really bad. But traffic would not improve if all of the city's bikers suddenly returned to the car lanes from their separated bike lanes. Clearly, it would worsen. Traffic in this city was bad before bike lanes were installed on a handful of the roads. Returning an extra lane of traffic to cars would not fix that. Giving more people the option to not drive is the only solution, and that requires investment in transit, densified and walkable urban areas, and yes, bike lanes.

If you are looking for a cheaper way to get a lane of traffic back, get rid of street-side parking. Spots are never available anyway so the negative impact would be minimal. At least cyclists move. Parked cars just sit there taking up an entire lane.

Please do not spend my taxpayer money to rip out expensive, established infrastructure that saves lives and makes the city more accessible. This bill will endanger lives and make this city, and other major cities, worse to live in. It is taking my money to endanger my life, and the lives of those around me.