LETTER: Bike lanes and clean air measures protect children's health

Why is the premier removing bike lanes, ordering workers back to the office, rather than introducing measures to reduce air pollution, asks letter writer AuroraToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). Do we care for the health of our children, elderly parents, neighbours and those with respiratory challenges? Would the reduction of air pollution be a value we could agree on? We know that every little bit of carbon dioxide contributes to the warming of the planet. In Ontario, transportation accounts for 22 per cent or 176 megatons of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. 'Air pollution affects almost everyone on this planet. Yet global efforts to combat the scourge — which is associated with about eight million premature deaths worldwide every year — can damage nearly every part of our body and is linked to everything from miscarriages to dementia — lag decades behind our knowledge of its impacts …' Air pollution can be significantly reduced. One major way is to reduce transportation where feasible. It seems European countries do not have a problem with bike lanes. Paris (population 2,059,821) has become a model for cycling and has reduced particulate matter in the air. So, what is particulate matter? Particulate matter is everything in the air that is not a gas and therefore consists of a huge variety of chemical compounds and materials, some of which are toxins that may enter the bloodstream and be transported around the body, lodging in the heart, brain and other organs. Barcelona (population 1,748,128) has about 276 kilometres of bike lanes and a number of super blocks where vehicular traffic is prohibited. London has the latest good news after introducing the ultra-low-emissions zone (ULEZ), an initiative of Mayor Sadiq Khan in 2019 and expanded in 2021 and 2023. A study of the lungs of 1,700 children in London where the ULEZ had been introduced showed a correlation of lung size improvement. The study acknowledged that there were cleaner air and healthier children within the zone. It is unfortunate that attempts to introduce clean air measures are routinely met with vocal opposition from some politicians, particularly on the right, and some businesses. However, with persistence on the part of communities, air pollution is being reduced. This raises the question of why the premier is removing bike lanes. Besides the important issue of safety for both car drivers and bikers, the amount of taxpayers' money being wasted to remove the lanes is exorbitant. Hospitals and schools would benefit from this. Government workers have been ordered back to work in offices by the premier, which will further increase congestion, contribute to the amount of CO2 and particulate matter in the air. Ontario does not have greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets, which exacerbates the problem. Ontario's GHG emissions contribute to the county's target, which we already know we will miss. Given the existing congestion in downtown Toronto, why increase the problem? Why would the premier make such an order against the elected councillors who had listened to the people? Sharon Willan Aurora