Dear Premier Ford, I live in…

Dear Premier Ford,

I live in the Bloor West area of Toronto, but I'm from Etobicoke and drive there and back almost daily.

I only drive and never use a bike, and I am asking you to KEEP THE BIKE LANES in Toronto.

The bike lanes on Bloor have made my drive so much smoother and safer. There are no more cars unsafely ducking in and out of lanes to speed along Bloor. There are no more bikes sharing lanes with cars so that it's difficult and dangerous to get around them. And the bike lanes provide a good buffer between the pedestrians on the sidewalks and the car lanes, which is especially important where there are no sidewalks, like at ParkLawn, so that people practically walk on the road. The bike lanes also mean I'm encouraged to allow my kids to bike to school because they will be much much safer.

If keeping these bike lanes means people will be safer and doing so will save even just one life, it would be absolutely foolish and abhorrent to take them out. Why put the wrong idea that you're saving a few drivers some time ahead of the lives of others?

On top of that, the idea that us drivers will be saving time with more car lane is shown to be not even the case (https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bike-lanes-impacts-1.7358319). My rush hour drive has actually BEEN FASTER WITH THE BIKE LANES.

AND I've seen emergency vehicles get through with no problem.

Then there is the cost of taking the bike lanes out. Why would you waste more tax money than you already have (i.e. the cost of making liquor available at convenience stores, the fines for cancelling green energy projects) taking out a system that's making us safer?

Keep the bike lanes!