‘Fire your advisors,’ Advocates urge Doug Ford to keep his ‘hands off’ transit lanes as concerns grow over a potential ban

Transit advocates are calling on Premier Doug Ford to keep his “hands off” transit lanes over concerns the government is considering banning streetcar and bus lanes on major roads.

Toronto advocacy group TTCriders is leading the call which was sparked by concerns over a technical briefing for the province’s Fighting Delays, Building Faster Transit Act.

The briefing outlines the government’s plan to prohibit municipalities from removing vehicle lanes when installing new bike lanes, it then proceeds to mention that the province could give the Minister of Transportation regulation authority to prescribe “additional activities” that would prevent lane removals altogether.

“What are those additional activities? There’s not that many things that the City of Toronto does to eliminate a lane of traffic for private vehicles other than dedicated transit lanes,” Andrew Pulsifer Executive Director of TTCriders said in an interview with Now Toronto.

Pulsifer acknowledges that CafeTo, marathons and street festivals often do remove motor-vehicle lanes, but says it’s unlikely that the province would be referring to them as “additional activities.”

“The Minister of Transportation confirmed the street festivals were not at risk, so that eliminates that,” he said. 

Pulsifer added that a potential war on transit lanes would only lead to more congestion in the city.

“The reason that dedicated transit lanes work is because it inspires more people to take the bus or the streetcar instead of a car,” he said.

The concerns come amid Ford’s attempt to remove bike lanes on major roads in Toronto, such as Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue.

However, those plans were halted after an Ontario court granted an injunction to stop the province from removing those lanes. 

Now, as advocates attempt to protect transit lanes in the city, they are calling on Ford to let go members of his staff. 

“Our message to Ford is to fire your advisors. They are recommending policies that aren’t evidence-based solutions to gridlock, but will only score cheap temporary political points,” TTCriders said in a statement. 

The group says the only effective way to end gridlock is by having fewer cars.

“That means better transit service, and streetcar and bus lanes that actually work,” he added. 

As part of the City of Toronto’s RapidTO program, dedicated transit lanes run on Eglinton Ave. East, Kingston Road, and Morningside Ave. in Scarborough.

The city recently approved the installation of dedicated transit lanes on Bathurst and Dufferin streets south of Bloor despite community pushback.

The city, in collaboration with the TTC, will begin installing priority transit lanes on Bathurst and Dufferin streets beginning in November with the goal of improving travel times for riders in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup games.