I am a Toronto resident,…

I am a Toronto resident, been living here almost 20 years, and I am writing in opposition to this proposal. 

If the Province wants to reduce gridlock - encourage more people to choose biking or public transit, especially for short inner-city trips. 

Removing bike lanes will negatively impact health, quality of life, and, notably, the economy.

Top concerns with removing bike lanes and stalling new bike lanes:

1. Gridlock - Encouraging more cars will increase traffic and lead to worse gridlock. Highways are a perfect examples of this. There are no bike lines on Lakeshore, Gardiner or 401, yet traffic moves extremely slowly during peak times. On the contrary, diversifying model of travel by having bike lanes actually balances traffic, thus reducing gridlock. Like good monetary strategies, good traffic management also requires diversifying.

2. Safety - Cars switching lanes on narrow or local roads (like Bloor St. and Yonge St.) can lead to collisions, fatalities, and gridlock. On the contrary, dedicated properly installed bike lanes reduce chances of car collisions, thus reducing gridlock for those travelling by car.

3. Housing Affordability - More housing options and taming the housing affordability crisis will require building homes that have safe access to bike lanes - to move people to stores, schools, and work without adding cars and thus adding congestion.

4. Air Quality and Public Health - More cars means more congestion, more idling engines, and poorer air quality for Ontarians, leading to negative health impacts.

5. Economic Consequences for Businesses - Bike trips increase customers to businesses - especially along Bloor St. and Yonge St. Having bike lanes on prominent inner-city streets supports retail, restaurants, and services, providing frequent, repeat customers. Cars cannot as quickly support businesses, or, in doing so, would block traffic lanes, causing gridlock and congestion.

6. Loss of Competitiveness as a Global City (for Toronto, therefore impacting Ontario too) - Successful safe bike lanes gain attention on the world stage, and bring in tourism and money. Making it harder for residents and visitors to use active transportation to travel within the city will make Toronto less desirable to visit, spend money, and live. This will negatively impact Toronto's and Ontario's economy.

Regarding Bloor St., Yonge St. and University Ave. - these are near high frequency major transit (TTC subway lines). Cars should not use these local roads. Cars should use roads that go around cities, not through them.

In summary, the legislation as proposed legislation will do the opposite of what it claims to promote. Less diversion of car traffic [to bike lanes] will actually create more gridlock. Moreover, the analysis of where to install bike lanes, to support safe, healthy, and mobile cities, is most appropriately dealt with at the local level.

Please roll back this proposed change and leave bike lane decision-making to municipalities.