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NEWS: Ford government is intent on removing bike lanes in Toronto (Dec. 2024)

December 16th, 2024 · No Comments

Bloor Street tops the list in the “Get You Home Faster Act”

Bike lanes on Bloor have become part of the fabric of the street.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

By Ammara Khan

In a move to “combat congestion,” the Ford government has set out to reduce the number of bike lanes starting with the removal of lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue. 

“We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill,” said Ford, according to Global News.  

This province-wide legislation is aimed at the areas where Premier Ford lives, in Etobicoke, and where he works, at Queen’s Park. It has been speculated that the first bike lanes to be targeted will be those that impact his regular commute to work. The premier’s office did not respond to the Annex Gleaner’s interview request. 

Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, was introduced by Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria on Oct. 2, and it initially aimed to regulate the construction of new bike lanes and require justification for old ones. 

On Oct. 31, the Ontario government proposed an addition, requiring the City of Toronto to support the province in removing the bike lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street. 

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria posted on X on Nov. 7 that “Poorly installed bike lanes have only worsened Toronto’s record-breaking gridlock, making us the worst city in North America.” Bike lanes are likely to be pushed onto the side streets, he said.

Food delivery bikes congregate midday at Bloor and Brunswick awaiting their next orders from Bloor Street businesses.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

In an email, Dakota Brasier, director of media relations for the transportation minister’s office, said that the city’s approach to battling congestion is not working, and they need to listen to “the thousands of common-sense drivers to help clear our major roads and get people out of traffic.”

She reiterated the government’s argument that “less than one per cent of people shouldn’t be making decisions for the majority of people who travel on our busiest roads and sit in gridlock every day.” (Data from Statistics Canada from 2011, before the bike lanes.)

Citing the City of Toronto’s supplemental report on the impact of Bill 212, Brasier said that the “average daily cycling volume on the Bloor, University, and Yonge lanes makes up between 0.005 percent (low estimate) and 0.019 per cent (high estimate) of the Toronto region’s population.”

These percentages skew the perception of the number of cyclists on the three targeted streets because Brasier compares the number of cyclists on three bicycle lanes to the population of the entire Toronto region.

Re-calculating the data provided in the report shows that a low estimate of 2.9 per cent and a high estimate of 11.9 per cent of the Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street populations use their bicycle lanes. 

“We know the numbers are wrong,” said Albert Koehl, author of Wheeling Through Toronto: A History of the Bicycle and its Riders. “It’s embarrassing for the minister of transportation.”

Micheal Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto said, “I think it’s pretty disappointing that those are the numbers that are being publicly used by the province when their own studies show that those numbers are much higher.”

In an episode of TVO’s Political Blind Date series in 2017, where Ford was cycling around Toronto with the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh, Ford stated in regard to bike safety, “We have to do everything we can to make sure there isn’t a death in the city; one death is way too many.” This episode has since been taken down. 

One death used to be considered too many, according to Ford, but now the safety of a so-called one per cent does not need to be considered. 

According to a study conducted at the Toronto Metropolitan University, there were 2.57 times more cyclists after the installation of bike lanes. Collision rates have also dropped 38 per cent on bike lanes. 

These proposed, anti-biking solutions to congestion have met with heavy opposition from cyclists, residents, and business representatives in the Annex, where bicycling makes up an integral part of the community. 

On Oct. 23, the Bloor-Annex Business Improvement Area (BIA) did a media release response to the transportation legislation with data showcasing the numerous benefits of the bike lanes in the area. 

Bike lanes have increased the number of monthly customers, and monthly spending in the Annex and the number of retail vacancies has not changed in the 8 years since they were installed. Toronto paramedics and Toronto fire chiefs have also stated that there is no evidence bike lanes have increased emergency response times.  

Bike lanes have been a part of the Annex for nine years, and an estimated 8,000 cyclists use these assets every day. Road safety has also increased since the addition of bike lanes for all road users. 

Cycle Toronto created a petition called I Love Bike Lanes after hearing rumours about the proposed legislation in September. The petition has now surpassed 23,000 signatures.

Longfield said in a Cycle Toronto media release that “It’s not just about road safety and enforcement. It’s about public health. And the discussions of where bike lanes do or do not make sense are best handled at a municipal level.”

Harry Xu, a student at the University of Toronto and regular cyclist, feels the removal of bike lanes could pose a threat to their safety when using the roads. Not only would Xu’s rides now be more dangerous, they would also be a lot less time efficient. 

“Ford’s lack of consideration as someone who lives distant from the downtown core where we have at least one million residents is ridiculous,” expressed Xu. 

This new legislation caused Xu to reflect on representation issues. “It makes me feel like I’m not at all represented at the provincial level,” they said. “If the provincial government is interfering with cities’ bike lanes, I highly doubt their inclusivity in legislation.”

Bill 212 also fails to account for the environmental impacts of motorized transportation. In Toronto, transportation makes up 36 per cent of emissions. 

The proposed bill’s negative impacts will be seen very soon. Removing bike lanes from Bloor, Yonge, and University will undo the $27 million that has already been invested. The removal of the lanes and the installation of motor vehicle lanes is estimated to cost over $48 million. This comes at the cost of the taxpayer. 

Additionally, the reconstruction would also cause a significant increase in congestion. The city’s report estimates four months of single lane traffic between Spadina Avenue and Avenue road, four months of only one vehicle lane in one direction, and four weeks of full intersection closure at St. George Street.

“There is no major study around the world that says bikeways are a significant contribution to traffic,” said Longfield. “The city’s own data actually said that a lot of the traffic issues that the City of Toronto is dealing with right now is actually related to construction.” He said that the construction is good since it is building housing and transit. 

“I think if the minister’s comments about dealing with tackling traffic and congestion had been focused more on committing to an opening date for the Eglinton Crosstown, which is now in its 14th year of being constructed, or the Finch LRT…I think those are real tangible things the province could have done to help give people more transportation options and get more cars off the roads,” said Longfield.  

The creation of more motorized vehicle lanes might even cause more congestion down the line. The promise of less congestion and more car lanes might create an induced demand, urging more people to take their cars due to a lack of other options. 

Koehl said that despite the removal of bike lanes, many people might continue to cycle. “It’s an affordable way to get around. They’ll continue to ride, but they won’t be safe as they are today.  As I like to put it, removing bike lanes does not remove cyclists from the road, it simply deprives them of their safety.”

“No one is fooled by this bill,” he said. Ford’s new bill is “intended to distract attention from his failures, and that being, the Green Belt scandal, homelessness, the lack of housing starts, the problems with health care and education, all of these things.”

“This is just a distraction, and it’s really a shameless distraction, because nobody who understands congestion is suggesting that this is the way to deal with congestion,” said Koehl.

Koehl says that congestion is a result of cars on the road. The solutions would be to invest in transit, invest in walking and cycling, and encourage people to leave their cars at home. 

“The irony is Doug Ford’s government has reduced the cost of driving,” said Koehl. “In other words, encouraging people to drive.” 

“And of course, if you widen roads by taking out bike lanes, he’s going to induce more driving. And we know where that leads,” said Koehl.

The Ford government’s arguments of congestion and a lack of cyclists all fall apart when closely examined. Bike lanes, say opponents to the bill, are an integral part of the city and a solution to the issue of congestion.

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