A group calling itself Fight for Bikes has planned a protest at Christie Pits this Saturday against provincial legislation that could see Toronto bike lanes torn out.
University of Toronto second-year students Eva Stanger-Ross and Zev Godfrey, 20 and 18 years old respectively, founded the organization shortly after a well-attended demonstration was held on the Queen’s Park lawn last month.
Their frustrations with the Ontario government boiled over when Bill 212 — the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, and its subsequent regulatory proposal — was revealed last week.
The bill suggested the province could remove bike lanes on portions of Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue while barring new bike lanes from being created in the future if the province determines they would impede traffic.
Relying on bike lanes to get around the city, particularly on those major streets, the two cycling advocates are hoping to keep the issue in the headlines by using their voice on a larger scale this weekend.
“I get to school on them, I get to my volunteering commitments on them,” Stanger-Ross told TorontoToday of bike lanes. “Without those bike lanes, it would be a lot harder to navigate the city and get to the places I need to get to.”
Stanger-Ross said last month's protest was “amazing” because “it just showed us how many people are interested in making a difference.”
“But I didn’t feel like one protest alone, no matter how inspiring, was going to make a big difference,” she said. “We want to keep the momentum going and build another protest.”
According to Fight For Bikes, the group isn’t buying what Doug Ford has been trying to sell.
Improved traffic flow, safer streets and emergency vehicle accessibility are all points the provincial government has said would be improved with its legislation.
Stanger-Ross argued those items would be worsened if Ford’s proposals came to fruition.
“While bike lanes may slightly impede traffic, even though it’s not even proven, removing bike lanes is not going to be the answer,” she said. “You’re just going to get more traffic as the city grows since more people would need to start driving as there will be no other option.”
“Instead of phasing out bike lanes, we should be encouraging people to use bike lanes and public transit so we can make the city work in the future — make it safer,” she added.
She called Doug Ford’s plan “a very short-term, close-minded view that villainizes bike lanes.”
As young and busy university students, Stanger-Ross and Godfrey admitted they’re slightly nervous about how their upcoming demonstration will turn out.
So far, they’ve been relieved by the number of supporters who have reached out since Fight For Bikes established its platform last month.
“We’ve gotten so many messages of support and there are so many people saying they want to help — it’s been very exciting,” Stanger-Ross said. “There’s no way to challenge this thing if we don’t have a group of people. We’re hoping to get a good crowd so we can build more of an advocacy network and have more large-scale events happening.”
The protest will take place at Christie Pits Park this Saturday at 2 p.m.
