The City should be prioritizing efforts to partner/support programs at Barrie's elementary and high schools to support students (and staff) in commuting to school by bike and making it safe to do so. The benefits of biking/walking to school (compared to being driven) are many, including physical health, mental wellbeing, better focus, increased academic performance, higher agency and confidence and they develop a greater sense of place as they actually interact with their community and streets and have a much richer experience compared to sitting in traffic in a car. Many places are developing 'bike buses' where students and parents all bike together to and from schools (largely to take up space and there's safety in numbers, since most places aren't safe for children to bike). These programs should also be co-developed by students, including younger children, to create something that is grounded in their experiences of biking, their own priorities and barriers, the unique ways they actually interact with and experience the streets, and to give them a sense of ownership and excitement about their commute to school and biking in general. There is a huge amount of potential for this experiential learning to be embedded into existing school programming and curriculum to create active citizens and engage youth in City operations.

The shift from cars to bikes and public transit is one of THE biggest things municipalities can do in terms of climate action - for both emissions and land-use efficiency. The City should be leaning into this fact to garner support for bike infrastructure. Land-use planning and transportation are major factor's in climate change and its mitigation, so this is something that should be communicated to the public to make sure people understand this, because it is often left out of discussions around climate mitigation. The City should also be advertising the many other co-benefits of biking (physical and mental health and wellbeing, better academic performance in children, higher social cohesion, etc).

The condition of the roads, even if they're acceptable for cars, are not safe for bikes. Cracks, uneven concrete and even small potholes can cause an accident on a bike or damage the bike itself. For example, I was biking down Georgian Drive and the sidewalk (because it's not safe to bike on that road) was so bumpy it bumped the bell right off my bike. As bike lanes are put in, this standard for maintenance should be kept in mind.

Showing people how to actually carry various items/running various errands/how to secure different things to bikes and the different cargo carrying options for bikes should be part of the City's Education and Outreach plan. A big barrier to taking a big is the perception that you can't carry much on a bike compared to a car, which, as cargo bikers have shown elsewhere, that's usually not the case. How to safely get groceries, secure larger items to a rear rack, etc would be a helpful and practical part of outreach.

Parking lots are stressful for everyone, including drivers. But large parking lots (for example, at North Crossings in the East End), the entire shopping centre is a large parking lot, which is difficult and dangerous to navigate on a bike. With so much of Barrie designed around these huge shopping centres (which are inefficient for livable communities and harmful to local businesses), redevelopment of these areas into more mixed-use areas would benefit cyclists and pedestrians by redeveloping these wasteful parking lots into more functional and efficient uses of land and space within our city.

City easements are 16’ if I recall , where possible one one side of street or other. PPerhaps use

BCRY Trail Development

Bike riders ride on the sidewalk and ignore stop signs endangering the non-riding public.

The cost of biking can be expensive to a family. Bikes cost over $200. These costs are too expensive for families, and they certainly will not purchase bikes if they will be stolen. Youth today do not have bikes, they are too expensive. Funding "bikes for youth (ages 8-17)" would be a great way to build a new generation of youth who understand how important biking is to climate control, and overall autonomy!