Congestion has become a regular complaint in Toronto these days. Photo Credit: iStock.
For those on the progressive side of the political spectrum who don’t understand why Ontario Premier Doug Ford, well into his second mandate, is still riding high in public opinion polls, look no further than his government’s recent announcements over bike lanes.
Long a battle between drivers of cars and riders of bikes, bike lanes have become a darling of “progressives” or “downtown political elites” depending on your point of view. And Ford has jumped right into the middle of the fray by introducing legislation that requires municipalities to seek permission from the province before they can install new bike lanes that would remove existing lanes of traffic.
“Cities in Ontario have seen an explosion of bike lanes, including many that were installed during the pandemic when fewer vehicles were on the road and their impacts on traffic were unclear,” said Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria when he tabled the new bill in the Legislature. “Too many drivers are now stuck in gridlock as a result.”
As part of the new approval process, the law would also require municipalities to prove that the proposed bike lanes would not have a negative impact on traffic before they could be put in place.
The popularity of the initial bike lane announcement has caused the government to go even further, promising to actually remove controversial bike lanes on Bloor and Yonge Streets and University Avenue in downtown Toronto. They have been the subject of complaints from frustrated local neighbourhoods as well as from first responders who have to navigate the new bike lane barriers to respond to emergencies.
In some neighbourhoods, the bike lane installations just make no sense. For example, on one major road, four lanes have been reduced to two but there is no space for a vehicle, like a municipal garbage truck to pull over when it is making its rounds. Consequently, it must stop in the lane of traffic at each house to pick up the garbage while cars idle behind it.
Congestion has become a regular complaint in Toronto these days, everyone talks about it as they arrive late for meetings, family or social events, frazzled and frustrated. It was even the talk of Toronto’s International Film Festival when several visiting movie stars had to get out of the cars they were in and walk or run to their destinations to get there in time for a film opening.
The only response the public has heard from too many politicians has either been silence, empty rhetoric or promises of even more bike lanes and “traffic calming” initiatives. In other words, reducing traffic capacity even more. And major new transit projects underway in Toronto are either not yet operational or years from completion.
As far as many stressed out drivers are concerned, Ford seems to be the only leader who not only “feels their pain,” but is actively trying to fix things.
Often lost in this debate is the fact that roads must also support commerce, the transportation of goods and the deliveries of services as well as commuters. Cities, particularly Toronto, are major contributors to the province’s economy.
Strangle them and you are undermining our economic growth. And there is already too much of that caused by faulty economic policies emanating from our federal government and red tape from all levels.
Both Ford and Sarkaria have taken pains to point out that they are not against bike lanes. They are against bike lanes that actually reduce road capacity, particularly on major city routes.
Public policy should be seeking to add to, not reduce the city’s transportation capabilities; something that the provincial government has recognized with its multi-billion-dollar transit and highway projects across the province.
Ironically the Toronto Star, no fan of Ford’s move, makes his case every time they post a picture to accompany a bike lane story. The photo inevitably shows a road with bumper-to-bumper cars and beside it, a virtually empty bike lane.
In a country with both an aging population, miles long commutes and something called winter, bike lanes are never going to be the foundation of a successful transportation plan.
So far, the public response is showing the government is on the right track.
Janet Ecker is a former Ontario Finance Minister, Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Social Services and Government House Leader in the governments of Premier Mike Harris and Premier Ernie Eves. After her political career, she served as the founding CEO of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to building Toronto region into an international financial centre. She currently sits on a number of corporate and non-profit boards, agencies and advisory committees.
Ms. Ecker received the Order of Canada for her public service contributions and was recognized as one of the “Most Influential People in the World’s Financial Centres” by Financial Centres International. She also received a “Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award” from the Women’s Executive Network and the Richard Ivey School of Business, among other awards. She is also one of the founders of Equal Voice, a national, multi-partisan organization working to elect more women.
