I oppose Bill 212, the…

I oppose Bill 212, the ripping up of bike lanes on Yonge, University and Bloor Avenue and the provinces interference with municipal transportation infrastructure that supports the livelihoods of their residents. As someone who uses bike lanes daily, these bike lanes have increased my ability to navigate the city further than I have done in the past due to the increase in safety that they provide. I use bike lanes to commute to work, to visit family and friends, go out to restaurants and shows, and to go shopping. I frequent more of these places now that I can move around the city more easily without zigzagging or having to merge on to busy roads such as University Avenue and Bloor Avenue with heavy traffic. The reality is, is that people will still ride these same routes but will risk their lives in the process. There are destinations that can not be reached without riding on these streets. Because they are main streets it is where many of us still need to go to shop and work. Building multifunctional/complete streets that support pedestrians, cyclists, public transit vehicles and cars is what high density, high class cities around the world do. New York City has bike lanes on major streets along with older cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Removing essential cycling infrastructure and impeding the development of more bike lanes will put Toronto and other Ontario cities behind and perpetuate transit issues into the future.