Doug Ford and Apathy for Urbanism
- Ian Welsman
- Dec 19, 2024
- 2 min read
By Ian Welsman
Current Events Before the pandemic, Ontario Premier Doug Ford appeared on an episode of Political Blind Date with federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. Ford invited Singh to drive along St. Clair Avenue West to see the nightmarish traffic conditions. In turn, Singh took Ford, popular among suburbans reliant on cars, for a bicycle ride in downtown Toronto streets. The two saw the potholes and bike lane-less roads which made commuting dangerous. While this made for great TV, it clearly did not impact Ford’s mindset, as he recently decided to remove bike lanes from some arterial roads in Toronto [1]. Many Torontonians can sympathize with Ford’s logic. Celebrities, when visiting the city, have opted to walk to their events rather than drive. Something should be done about this, as the province’s initiatives are all about “getting Ontario moving;” but adding more lanes to traffic has proven to be an inadequate solution. Drivers crossing the city have two types of streets to take: one with bike lanes, or one with recently removed lanes. Obviously, most would choose the latter over the former. However, everyone would congest the bike lane-free road, and the traffic would be as bad as it was with bike lanes.
Urban planners have been devising solutions to these paradoxes for decades. It’s generally agreed that denser communities with efficient public transit and public gathering spaces improve civilians’ quality of life. Seems like a win-win, right? Denser communities allow more people to take up less space, meaning cheaper housing options, less need to travel long distance, and less congestion on the roads.
The demand for housing in a rapidly growing province has put developing transit on the back burner as the government has put more focus on single family dwellings in car-centric areas. This mindset seeps into the philosophy surrounding bike lanes. If a road is built, then it is good enough, even if it doesn’t serve the community to its fullest potential. In turn, bike lanes are viewed as an obstacle to progress , especially in the wintertime when they are used less.
The reality is, removing bike lanes on Bloor Street doesn’t stop people from cycling, it only makes their commutes more dangerous. Unless those in positions of power realize that a healthy community is one that serves all members, progress will be slow. Even if officials encounter the city’s issues on live TV.
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