Bike lanes save lives,…

Bike lanes save lives, bottom line. Many of my loved ones have been injured by drivers while cycling. I saw my sister get her front top and bottom teeth smashed out by a person who opened their door without looking. A friend was involved in a hit and run, he was thrown off his bike and now has brain damage and needed to get reconstructive surgery on his face. Another friend was T-boned by a driver, her leg was badly damaged and she couldn't work for months. Another friend was hit by a driver and now has a permanent back injury, he was unable to work for 2 years. This should not be the norm! I don't want to see more of my loved ones get injured.

I have daily unsafe encounters on roads without bike lanes: drivers speeding within inches of me, squeezing me between their cars and the curb so I can't get by, nearly turning into me on left and right turns, drivers running stop signs and red lights. I should not have to put my life at risk just because I don't use a car to commute.

I use the Bloor bike lane everyday to get work (even in the colder months), I feel safer having a barrier between myself and cars, and it is about the only option for a safe, continuous east-west route as Dupont, College, Dundas, Queen, etc. do not have proper, divided bikes lanes and are extremely unsafe for cyclists.

If the government was truly committed to reducing gridlock in the city, the money would be invested in public transit. Our transit system is poor, unreliable and disconnected. If people were able to rely on transit to get them to work on time, traffic would be reduced. I've lived in the city for over 20 years and have seen the density of folks moving here increase year over year and the transit system has barely changed.

I urge the government to focus their efforts elsewhere. Removing bike lanes is not it.

If you want a "world class city" you need to increase other ways of getting around and make it safer to do so: like cycling, walking and transit. NOT more cars.