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The budget item continues that 鈥渢he government is working to reinstate vehicle lanes on Bloor Street West, Yonge Street, University Avenue, Avenue Road and Queen鈥檚 Park Crescent鈥� (nevermind that bike lanes themselves are vehicle lanes). The city estimates that the cost for removing existing bike lanes will be around $48 million 鈥� and this was before the proposed addition of Avenue Road and Queen鈥檚 Park to the list.聽

Bike lanes alone will barely put a dent in reversing climate change (though they do play some role in reducing carbon emissions brought on by our car dependency). But this is precisely why spending this much time debating them is so maddening. The climate crisis is here, and it is affecting our jobs, our health, and our lifestyles. The problems will only get worse, and mitigating the most severe of its impacts will only get more expensive. Now is the time to explore sweeping, structural changes. That bike lanes 鈥� a basic part of infrastructure that allow for the safe and efficient movement of people who, for whatever reason are unable or unwilling to drive 鈥� have become part of a broader culture war does not bode well for our ability to cope with the more extreme and inevitable facets of climate change. We are staring down an approaching hurricane unsheltered and arguing over what size umbrella to use.

I am aware that by centring environmental concerns when advocating for city policy, I may be dismissed as a bleeding-heart hippie untethered from reality. But I鈥檓 also an excruciatingly pragmatic person motivated by logic, data, and facts. Here is what the facts have taught us.

We know that, no, not everyone is willing or able to commute by bicycle. We also know that, despite this, there are many people who are very much willing and able to cycle, but who choose not to because of lack of adequate safe infrastructure (such as dedicated bike lanes that will cover the entire route of their commute, not just a portion of them); this is regularly proven by the fact that . Likewise, we know that in recent history for 海角社区官网cyclists. Understandably, people who don鈥檛 feel safe cycling in the city may opt to instead drive or hail a car as their primary mode of transport. This leads to more cars on the road, which increases congestion and has negative impacts on commuters who have no other option but to drive. We also know that the more cars that are on the road, the more carbon emissions and traffic fatalities increase. And despite Ford鈥檚 claim that taking away lanes from bikes will reduce gridlock and save you time, we know that devoting more space to cars will only , creating a cycle in which our roads become more congested, while sustainable alternatives are put increasingly out of reach.

We know all of this, and yet we continue to have the same debates over and over again. And we are running out of time.聽

Many of the adaptations we will have to make to mitigate the effects of climate change will be expensive and inconvenient and, for many people, a very hard sell. But we have no other choice. The good news is that leaving our current bike lanes in place is the cheapest, safest, and most sustainable thing we can do. Entertaining other options at this point is a waste of time.