As a university student…

As a university student living in the Rosedale neighbourhood, I use bike lanes daily for getting to and from U of T, to work and to see my friends and family across the city. I have been living in Toronto for around 8 years now and have memories of what cycling in the city was like along Bloor, Danforth, and other main roads I needed to take before the bike lanes and it was, and there’s no other word for it, terrifying.
The introduction of cycle lanes on these major roads have made life for me and countless people my age much safer and more affordable through opening different modes of affordable transportation. But we still have a lot of work to do, just a couple months ago a cyclist exactly my age was killed at Bloor and Queens Park/Avenue because of an obstacle parked in the bike lane. The fact that immediately after this, and during one of the deadliest years for cyclists in history, the provincial government, which I did not vote for, has seen this as a good time to suggest removing cyclist infrastructure we have fought so hard to install and that has still not been rolled out fast enough is just disgusting.
It is made especially disturbing by the loose use of facts and lack of consultation with local communities and the youth who will be the ones most likely to suffer the most and bear the cost of both their removal and eventually and inevitable reconstruction. Minister Sakaria’s flouting of studied facts and public safety is particularly disappointing, with just a little digging you can see that according to tomtom, the site he referenced saying that Toronto is the 3rd worst for congestion in the world, Amsterdam, a known cycling paradise and similarly sized city, is 151st, Copenhagen is 160th.
As far as costs, the Brimley cycle lane that was removed for “only” $80,000 were basically nothing more than painted lanes, only unused because they were still on a massive arterial in the middle of the suburbs. The protected, asphalt, curb level lanes will require lengthy and disruptive rebuilds of the whole street, this after years of enduring complicated and disruptive construction on Yonge and Bloor from their installation and the condos being built along side.
As someone who’s trying to find their place in the world, I do not want to be a part of a backward, regressive society that ignores facts and experts in favour of vanity projects. Bike lanes have massively improved businesses, pedestrian and cyclist safety, accessibility and pollution levels. They have revitalised Bloor, College and University into actually walkable, pleasant streets and made alternative, affordable commuting methods a viable alternative for so many to the underfunded and inflexible TTC and the absolutely unsustainable car-based commuting that this government seems to still think is relevant. At this rate, myself and many other young people will look to leave to places that actually care for their citizens and their health and future.