Save the bike lanes

The Environmental Registry of Ontario asked for comment on the province’s plot to kill Toronto’s bike lanes. Comments are open until November 20, 2024.

Here's what my submission said:

As someone who actually lives in a high-density urban environment, I can say from first-hand experience that adding bike lane infrastructure has made my life better and safer. I'm a frequent pedestrian, occasional cyclist, and occasional driver. In all these situations, I appreciate the presence of separated bike lanes. Even if bike lanes slowed city traffic — which they don't — I would still be in favor.

This government should not backpedal on the significant improvements that have been made to Toronto’s street infrastructure in the last few years. The obvious underlying instinct at work with this proposal — removing existing bike lanes to appease a small number of frustrated drivers who don't actually live here — shouldn't be the basis for public policy. A few people’s road rage doesn't make for good law.

If Queen’s Park insists on tinkering with municipal affairs to improve the city's traffic situation, here are some alternative policies:

• Automated speed cameras, to enforce the speed limit (something the police^[1] have evidently abandoned)
• Automated red-light cameras, to penalize reckless driving that endangers pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers
• Automated Block-the-Box cameras, to discourage drivers from blocking cross-traffic in intersections (another neglected police duty)
• Enforcing no-stopping zones (yet more police inaction), so the whole street doesn't grind to a halt for a single Uber or DoorDash driver with their four-way flashers on.
• Expanding the no-parking hours on major thoroughfares. There are large segments of the day where Avenue Road, Mount Pleasant Road, Bathurst St, Lawrence Ave, Eglinton Ave, and more effectively lose the use of entire lanes in both directions because of a handful of (legally) parked cars.
• More frequent and more reliable GO Train service, to make rail commuting viable for more users, from greater distances
• A downtown congestion fee to incentivize more efficient use of city streets, and to pay for the other required improvements

The behaviour of drivers, not cyclists, has created Toronto’s traffic problems; only changes to driver behaviour can fix them. I suggest you start there.

Now, do I find it extremely galling to be writing crank letters to the government? Yes I do. Do I think it’s ultimately a futile gesture? Also yes. But it's a stupid policy, even by the degraded standards of this government, and they deserve to hear it.