November 24, 2024 - A second “Fight for Bikes” protest organized by two University of Toronto students, Eva Stanger-Ross and Zev Godfrey saw over 1,000 riders converge at Queen’s Park to voice their opposition to Bill 212 that will give the province the right to restrict bike lanes that replace traffic lanes, and remove existing bike lanes.
As students they rely on cycling to get around the city and the Bloor St. bike lanes including those on College St. and Harbord St. provide much needed safety. Removal of the bike lanes will see their trips becoming more dangerous – they say “cycling should not be a choice only for the brave.”
Robin Richardson from Yonge4All encouraged everyone to “keep riding their bikes”, adding that the government may have the power to remove bike lanes but not to remove cyclists, and “if you take our bike lanes, we’ll take yours.” – watch here.
Other speakers stressed recognition of the need to fight gridlock but that removing bike lanes was not the solution. Nor is it in unison with the new guidelines for building developments in the city that have moved away from parking minimums, which are costly and need more space, vs bicycle parking and mass transit.
Riders then split up into three groups for Bill 212 protest rides along Bloor St., Yonge St. and University Ave.
With files from Two Wheel Politics…read more about the “Fight for Bikes” protest here and here, and the initial event in early Nov. here.
