In a move that has sparked widespread debate and protests, Premier Doug Ford’s government recently passed Bill 212, a controversial legislation aimed at dismantling major bike lanes in Toronto.
The bill titled “Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act” passed on Monday and focuses on easing traffic congestion in the city and accelerating the process of building highways, including the new Highway 413. The bill also requires municipalities to receive approval from the province before installing new bike lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic.
The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act has received Royal Assent! 🚗💨 This bill will:
— Prabmeet Sarkaria (@PrabSarkaria) November 25, 2024
🦺 Speed up construction of highways like Highway 413 & the Bradford Bypass
🚦 Tackle gridlock by removing poorly planned bike lanes
🥶 Freeze drive test fees
🛣️ Improve towing services… pic.twitter.com/FkxCoaH5B8
Additionally, the bill solidifies the province’s plans to remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue to help combat gridlock.
Last month, Ford said the three roads caused the most backlog forcing commutes to be twice as long, in speaking to NewsTalk1010 with Deb Hutton.
He claims he’s heard complaints from first responders such as paramedics, police officers and firefighters who are forced to take alternate routes to their destinations.
“We promised to get drivers out of gridlock by bringing sanity back to bike lane decisions and we’re getting it done,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement on X on Monday.
Based on a recent staff report, installing the bike lanes cost roughly $27 million and their removal for car lanes would cost about $48 million.
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During the interview, Ford states his government is not “against bike lanes.”
“When Rob, my brother, was mayor, he invested over $90 million on bike paths and bike lanes, but we put them on the secondary roads and let the main arterial roads flow with traffic,” he said on Oct. 24.
Ford cited data showing that about 1.2 percent of people in Toronto commute by bike compared to over 70 percent who drive. However, an unreleased $6.2-million transportation study obtained by the Toronto Star found that 3.1 percent of residents commute to work by bicycle every morning.
The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act has received Royal Assent! 🚗💨 This bill will:
— Prabmeet Sarkaria (@PrabSarkaria) November 25, 2024
🦺 Speed up construction of highways like Highway 413 & the Bradford Bypass
🚦 Tackle gridlock by removing poorly planned bike lanes
🥶 Freeze drive test fees
🛣️ Improve towing services… pic.twitter.com/FkxCoaH5B8
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY
Despite Ford’s agenda to remove bike lanes and mitigate traffic congestion, many critics argue that the impact of his law goes beyond this goal and tampers with the safety of road users and greatly affects urban cycling infrastructure.
Cycling advocates including Dave Shellnut, also known as The Biking Lawyer, say that the removal of bike lanes will not alleviate congestion but instead, make it worse by increasing the number of drivers on the roads.
“…General data and reports show that reducing bike lanes or taking bike lanes out means more people will drive and that’s more congestion. So, this is just him playing politics. It’s not even about bike lanes. Unfortunately, the result is going to be increased death, injury and mayhem on our roadways,” Shellnut said to Now Toronto on Wednesday.
Shellnut notes that the population has been booming in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and currently, the city’s infrastructure cannot support every person having their own automobile or motor vehicle. That’s why he says it’s vital to have other options available such as public transit, buses, subways, light rail, electric rail, and bike lanes.
“The impact will be increased by colliding and incidents of harm. It’ll increase insurance rates across the province. It’ll increase hospital wait times. The huge costs on OHIP. These are all secondary costs to the actual absurdity of paying to take out infrastructure you paid to put in,” he said.
“So, to set us back, five to 10 years by ripping out bike lanes in our transportation planning in Toronto, is going to be crippling to the economy, to the congestion and to the well-being of the people in the city,” he continued.
Cycle Toronto’s Executive Director Michael Longfield also agrees that Bill 212 would be dangerous to the community.
“The 11 page amendment to Bill 212 the Minister put forward last week–without giving the public or the opposition a meaningful chance to respond–spells out clearly that the government knows what advocates have been saying for months: ripping out some of Toronto’s busiest bike lanes will do nothing to ease congestion but will put people’s lives at risk,” he said to Now Toronto on Wednesday.
He mentions other metropolitan cities such as New York, London, Paris, and Montreal as examples of areas where bikeways are prevalent on major streets. Longfield says these cities have successfully integrated bike lanes on major streets, allowing people to ride bikes to the same places as those driving and taking transit.
“The Bloor St W bikeways at the centre of this proxy war have now been voted on (and approved) by Toronto City Council four times. What gives the province the moral authority to override local democracy?” he concluded.
