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Royston
@roystond.bsky.social
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An absolute banger from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute outlining how Bill 212 will make affect cities, including that it adds inefficiency, mucks with housing plans and isn't in line with the Planning Act (which was just updated). ontarioplanners.ca/inspiring-kn...
With regard to the Ministry being the approval agency for the implementation of cycling infrastructure, OPPI is concerned that this approach may not improve efficiency and is counter to streamlining the approvals process. More specifically: • Developments have been approved with assumptions around multi-modal travel including the completion of numerous traffic impact studies. These developments may be delayed as a result of additional time and effort that needs to be spent by ministry staff to determine the appropriateness of those systems. Affordability: Automobile ownership is unaffordable for many, especially when considering the increasing costs of other necessities including housing and food. Cycling provides an affordable mode of transportation, particularly for those who do not drive cars due to age, income, or ability. Equity: Providing safe streets for all users is fundamental to ensuring equity in mobility. Historically, streets have been designed with a ‘vehicle-centric’ focus. Better protecting vulnerable street users, including people who cycle, improves equity for all modes. It also improves equity for people who do not have access to other modes, for whatever reason (including financial, age, disability, not having a driver’s license, lack of viable transit options, etc.). Lifestyle Decisions: Many Ontarians are also choosing to use bikes and e-scooters as an active lifestyle choice for all or select day to day trips. This isn’t about the economic opportunity as many of these individuals come from a wide range of economic backgrounds. They are selecting to choose alternate modes of transportation over vehicles for personal ethos reasons. In many municipalities, new housing such as condominium apartments and rental buildings are built without parking, meaning that transit and micromobility options are the primary ways that people travel. Policy Conflicts: New Provincial Planning Statement: The Provincial Planning Statement (2024) establishes policies with which land use and infrastructure planning decisions must be consistent. Section 3.2 details policies for Transportation Systems, which include facilitating the safe and energy efficient movement of people and goods (policy 3.2.1), making efficient use of existing infrastructure including transportation demand management strategies (policy 3.2.1), and creating a multimodal transportation system (policy 3.2.3). New Housing Units: The Ontario government is focused on unlocking 1.5 million homes over a 10-year period. Many of these homes will be in large urban areas with already strained road capacity. Removing or slowing down the implementation of bike lanes will increase congestion and reduce the viability of many potential housing developments as studies will indicate that the road capacity cannot accommodate a significant increase in users in many situations, barring transportation alternatives such as increase in road capacity due to separated bike lanes Removal of Parking Minimums in PMTSAs: Ontario’s Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, 2024 not only removed parking minimums in Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSAs), it prohibited Official Plans and Zoning Bylaws from requiring an owner to provide and maintain vehicular parking, an ambitious decision which will result in more homes near transit which rely upon alternative transportation modes including cycling. Notably, bicycle parking was specifically exempted from this provision. The City of Toronto has proposed several PMTSAs under OPA 570 that includes ones with existing bike lanes that the Province is proposing to remove. To support the Bill 185 policy, it is imperative that cycling infrastructure be kept and/or provided as an alternative to driving as parking for cars will become less frequently available.
November 19, 2024 at 5:14 PM