November 22, 2024 - Despite skyrocketing numbers of cyclists in Toronto and overwhelming evidence against the Ontario government’s controversial Bill 212, that will allow the province to restrict and remove bike lanes, Premier Doug Ford is moving ahead. In fact, his government admits there will be safety issues and is adding amendments to the bill to prevent injured or killed cyclists from suing the province – see CBC video here.
In addition, a draft of a briefing document prepared for Ford’s cabinet highlighted research showing that prohibiting bike lanes doesn’t solve traffic congestion and, instead, often has the opposite effect.
Moreover, due to the province’s own policies, Toronto developers are building more bike parking than car parking, noted Jacquelyn Hayward, Toronto’s director of transportation project design and management, in The Trillium.
According to Bloor-Annex BIA, bike lanes are good for business which countless studies have demonstrated. In fact, they say “it will be devastating” if the bike lanes are removed.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) declare that the province is overreaching. “Does anyone really believe that removing these bike lanes will solve the complex challenge of congestion in Toronto?” said executive director Brian Rosborough in The Trillium report. When asked if AMO was in favour of moving bike lanes from main roads to side streets he replied, “If it were a good idea, municipalities would surely do it without provincial intervention.”
To further complicate things, the Conservative government dropped a new 11-page amendment to Bill 212 at the last minute as tweeted by Jessica Bell MPP University-Rosedale.
The amendments include items such as: doesn’t require the government to pay all the city’s expenses to remove the bike lanes; the province won’t reimburse municipalities for the cost of installing the lanes in the first place; approves the removal of the entirety of the Bloor St. bike lane; directs the provincial minister to remove the Bloor, Yonge and University Avenue bike lanes themselves, without municipal action; bans municipalities from installing a bike lane on any road or street, including side streets, without provincial approval if a lane of vehicle traffic is removed; bans people from taking the Government to court for its decision to remove bike lanes, including any individuals who are injured or killed due to a collision between a bike and a vehicle
Pundits claim that the government’s attempt to prevent litigation from cyclists who are injured or killed is an admission that bike lanes provide safety and save lives – read more here.
In protest hundreds cyclists and advocates delivered two “ghost bikes” to Queen’s Park. Ghost bikes are memorials to cyclists who have died in road accidents to serve as a reminder that removing bike lanes will lead to more cyclist deaths on Toronto streets – read more here.
