Dear Ontario Premier Doug Ford (@fordnation), My 10-year-old son was identified with a need last year and had to change public schools. I now bike him 2.2km to school in the mornings and he bikes home alone. We use the 8-year-old Bloor Street bike lanes which make the roads safe for him to do this. With the roads full of Amazon delivery vans, speeding Ubers, massive buses, and whizzing food delivery e-bikes my son was nervous to bike alone. We got him a rear view mirror and bike lights and practiced together a few times. He uses the Bloor Street bike lanes which are full of many other kids riding to and from school. You are now proposing to spend $48M in provincial taxpayer money (1) to overrule the wishes of the City of Toronto (2, 3, 4) to rip out these bike lanes, which you know pose a direct safety threat. (5) If this happens we’ll need to ask his grandfather to pick him up in his car. I’ll likely start driving him in the morning more since his grandfather's car can’t fit his bike on the way home. Instead of what we need and want—*more* bike lanes that are proven to ease congestion, traffic, and pollution (6)—you’re proposing I spend more money, use more gas, spew more fumes, get less exercise, and create more car traffic. In 2017 you spoke about bike lanes on @TVO and said: "You're nervous when there's no bike lanes. At least I was. We have to make sure there's never a death in the city. One death is way too many when it comes to bicycle riders. I felt so much safer when it's separated." (7) Please reverse course here. Keep the bike lanes. It’s not too late. Thank you, Neil Pasricha // (1) cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/r… (2) cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/t… (3) thestar.com/news/olivia-chow… (4) cycleto.ca/ilovebikelanes (5) thestar.com/politics/provinc… (6) epub.wupperinst.org/frontdoo… (7) instagram.com/p/DAV_NkJxi7J/ // CC: Ontario Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria (@PrabSarkaria), Ontario MPP Marit Stiles (@MaritStiles), Ontario MPP Jessica Bell (@JessicaBellTO), Ontario MPP Chris Glover (@chrisgloverndp), Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow (@oliviachow), Toronto Councillor Alejandro Bravo (@bravodavenport), Toronto Councillor Dianne Saxe (@DianneSaxxe), Doctors for Safe Cycling (@Docs4Cycling), Cycle Toronto (@CycleToronto) Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland), Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau), Jon Haidt (@JonHaidt), Lenore Skenazy (@FreeRangeKids), and Jeff Speck (@JeffSpeckFAICP)