There is much to be said…

There is much to be said about this proposal and how it will impact our future in Ontario.

It's obvious that we are suffering from gridlock. I absolutely HATE to be stuck in highway traffic when getting in our out of our city. And for sure we need to find a way out of this mess.

BUT

Building more highways NEVER solved the problem - reliable, cheap, efficient public transport does.
That has been proven again and again.

We need to be focussing our money and time building railways that can take more people around. Maybe big parking lots around stations so people only have to drive inside their towns and cities and not burn tons of fossil fuels to get to Toronto. Once they get here, they become the traffic that makes our streets a living hell.

Moreover, if this legislation passes, it will cause a MAJOR impact in our green lands and farming lands that we need to preserve in order to have a future.

LASTLY, THE BIKE LANES NEED TO STAY

My family depends on the bike lanes.
We don't own a car, so most of our commute is done by bike, walking and taking public transit.
I COULD have a car, but I choose not to, and I believe this is my right.

We are a family of 3, with a 18mo boy who has to be taken to Day Care, Doctor's appointments, Play dates, parks and museums and we do that by bike and TTC. He LOVES the bike and it's the fastest and easier way to get around.

We live in Midtown and my partner bikes downtown to work during the week. She takes Bloor Street West and University Ave in her route and that cuts her travel time by 30 minutes. She also gets her exercise that way. The thing is she is not a confident cyclist and she NEEDS protected bike lanes. If you take them out, we will have 2,5 hours less of her every week. PLUS the cost of the TTC tickets.

This is my personal take - I need the bike lanes so my family can have a reliable, cheap, easy and SAFE way of locomotion around the city.

My more expensive take:
- This Bill is an infringement on our city self government and sounds like a revenge against what the Conservatives see as "the Left".
- There is no basis for the removal, it's all based on pretend numbers from 2012.
- The bike lanes IMPROVE the time to respond to emergencies
- Bike lanes are Good for business
- Bike Lanes are good for the environment
- Bike Lanes make our kids safe
- It will be costly to take them out. It will also Create traffic.
- There is no single reason to carry this madness.

That's it.
Please dont make our lives even more miserable than they are right now