In 2024 while we are deep…

In 2024 while we are deep into a climate crisis and multiple public health crises including those related to obesity and mental health, we should be doing everything we can to encourage active transportation in all municipalities. We should be encouraging, rather than discouraging, people from cycling to their daily activities such as going to work, meeting friends, running errands etc. Bike lanes alleviate stress from our healthcare system as not only do they help keep cyclists safe and out of the hospital, but their presence encourages people that may not otherwise feel comfortable commuting via bicycle, to do so, thereby promoting physical fitness and lowering the risk of conditions like obesity and heart disease, while also contributing to positive mental health, and thereby resulting in less strain on our healthcare system as less people need to be treated.

As a cyclist in Toronto, there is a misconception that bikes lanes are not used. I use the bike lanes on Bloor-Danforth daily, and have been a year-round cyclist since Covid. Prior to the construction of the Ontario Line, I was also using the bike lanes on University Avenue multiple times a week, and have also benefited from the bike lanes on Yonge St, which was a street I dreaded cycling on prior (and still do dread cycling on the portions without bike lanes).

As a taxpayer, I am enraged that my funds are being wasted on an initiative that will put more Ontarians in the hospital - or even cause them to get killed - instead of being used to fix our healthcare and education systems. I am also enraged that the tax dollars used to install those lanes in the first place will now have been wasted. I do not approve of my money being used to remove bike lanes. I want my tax dollars to go toward hiring more doctors and nurses and paying nurses more. I want my tax dollars to go toward the backlog of repairs that need to be done in TDSB (and other school boards) schools. I want my tax dollars to go toward subsidizing post-secondary education for those that can't afford it. I want my tax dollars to go toward ending homelessness. It's time for the Government of Ontario to grow up and start addressing the real issues in this province.