How to stop the war on bikes (and the war on cars)
The bike lane debate in Toronto shouldn't be a matter of life and death
Except for my 16th year, when driving a car was my version of transportation heaven, I’ve been using a bike to get around my city. And in my twenties and early thirties I was often full of road rage against the car drivers who shared the road with me. I remember racing after one driver for blocks, with my two year old in the bike seat, just so I could catch up to him and scream at him for endangering my child - who was probably scared and holding on for dear life as I dodged through traffic to deliver this important PSA.
My righteous indignation began to drain away when I went to a municipal hearing in 2018 about the proposed bike lanes at Bloor and Bathurst. Some of the local business people attended to say that they didn’t want the lanes. Some of the cyclists threatened boycotts of said businesses. And suddenly I got confused. Didn’t we cyclists want local businesses to thrive? And the businesses weren’t against bikes per se - they were just afraid of how it would affect their livelihood or their own commute to work. I felt certain there must be a way of bringing both groups together to forge a common solution.
Eventually proponents of the bike lane prevailed, and for a few short years, we had an uneasy truce between those who didn’t like the lane, and those who supported it - with countless two-wheelers enthusiastically using it.
Enter 2024, when the bike lane expanded west into car-loving Etobicoke. It’s unfriendly territory for bicycles, as well as the home of Premier Doug Ford - and a lot of his supporters. While there was indeed some local support, and a strong argument to be made that if you build it, the cyclists will come (and leave their cars at home), it was the last straw for bike lane opponents.
Now the backlash is huge. Major arterial bike lanes are to be ripped up and no new ones allowed without provincial approval. And with a provincial government that has seemingly unlimited power over municipalities to impose its will, there seems little to do in the face of it except organize protests, write angry op-eds, and cry over the injustice. The topic of bike lanes has become incendiary among some - one friend told me the topic was verboten at the family Thanksgiving lest it destroy the occasion.
Part of me shares in the city’s angst. I love cycling, and I love the safety of being able to ride down University, Yonge and across Bloor. The city has come so far in its relationship with the bicycle since my early twenties, and I’ll mourn the loss of these lanes should it come to pass.
Yet I also see the reality. This city can not accommodate more cars. So we can remove the bike lanes, and traffic will stay the same or slightly increase, but ultimately, without finding alternative ways for people to move around - like good transit, safe and accessible walking routes, and yes, good bicycle infrastucture, we’ll be left with the problem of gridlock. And so the need for solutions will arise again and again, until we are finally ready for the transformation that will give us the freedom of mobility we all want.
Until then, it makes no sense to fight over the issue. Having been on the wrong side of public debate, I know what it’s like to be seen as the enemy. I know what it’s like to be shut down, ignored, accused of evil motives or stupidity. And I see that is what those of us on the pro cycling side of the issue are doing to the drivers opposed to the lanes, and to the premier. It’s not a winning strategy - and it doesn’t feel good.
There are a million ways to increase cycling, improve safety and enhance the city. There are a million ways for city residents, city government, and city staff, to adapt to the premier’s political power and flow around it. But by focussing on the battle, we lose sight of what else is possible. So let’s lay down our arms, value the opinions of those who don’t want the bikes and are wielding the power right now, and really listen to them. We might just find some common ground. And if we can’t, we then find our own power, and exercise it where we can.
War is never won by might - such peace is fragile and easily overthrown. I feel no fear that that bikes will be forever banished in this city - this too shall pass. And in the meantime, we’ll travel much further if we focus on what we love instead of what we don’t.
