Cycling in Canada

Bicycle commuters in Toronto

Cycling in Canada is experienced in various ways across a geographically huge, economically and socially diverse country. Among the reasons for cycling in Canada are for practical reasons such as commuting to work or school, for sports such as road racing, BMX, Mountain bike racing, freestyle BMX, as well as for pure recreation. The amount and quality of bicycle infrastructure varies widely across the country.

Sport cycling

For more details on this topic, see Category:Canadian cyclists.

Sport cycling is a minority sport in Canada. Various disciplines are practiced across the country to different degrees. In Quebec older, more "European" disciplines like road racing and track cycling are popular (they also have smaller following in English Canada). Newer "extreme" disciplines like bicycle motocross, cross-country cycling, downhill mountain biking and freeride are relatively popular in areas with the appropriate facilities. Many ski hills and resorts in Canada are converted to downhill biking in the summer months. Mountain biking in British Columbia is quite popular, in particular freeride originated on the North Shore near Vancouver.

Canada's only cycling gold medalist in Lori-Ann Muenzer who won the Women's sprint in Athen in 2004. Canada's first winner of one of road racing's three most prestigious Grand Tours was Ryder Hesjedal in 2012.

Recreational Cycling

The bikeability or bicycle-friendliness of cycling in Canada varies considerably by region. There are thousands of kilometers of bike lanes or paths in Canadian cities. Many multi-use trails connect cities and suburbs on old rail right of ways, known as rails to trails. Rural bicycling is quite popular in less-remote areas using the many low-traffic rural roads or wide shoulders on rural roads. A long distance multi-use trail that will have many sections for cycling, is slated to be completed in 2017, see Trans Canada Trail. It is somewhat not uncommon to see cyclists travelling across Canada on the shoulder of the Trans Canada Highway. Most of Canada's northern landmass completely lacks any bicycle infrastructure.

In comparison to Europe, Canadian cities are not as bike friendly. Canadian cars are larger with more blind spots, cities have higher speed limits, highways often travel in or near the core of the city and there is more on-street parking which can present more door zone hazards for cyclists. Consequently, some inexperienced cyclist will use a "pedestrian" style of riding where no cycling facilities exist in order to feel safer cycling in the city such as by riding on the sidewalk, rather than on the roadway. Although pedestrian cycling is technically illegal - as bicycles are deemed to be vehicles under the laws of all provinces - it is a common method in small town and suburban Canada (where pedestrians on sidewalks are often rare). Canadian cycling advocates typically favour segregated cycle facilities (bike paths and bike lanes) so that cyclists do not have to ride in mixed traffic with motor vehicles. Protected bike lanes or cycle tracks have been adopted in strategic corridors in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Ottawa with plans to add protected bike lanes in Victoria, Winnipeg and other cities across the country wanting to improve rates of active transportation.

In 2011 the province of Nova Scotia passed a law requiring all motor vehicles to give cyclist 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) of clearance to protect people riding on the shoulder. The narrow streets of Downtown Halifax (the provincial capital) were originally designed for horse, cart and bicycle and they thus require drivers to share the road with a mix of other users. The city is small and reasonably easy to navigate by bicycle as infrastructure is gradually improved each year.

Commuting Cycling

Bicycling to work has been popularized by a grassroots cycling advocacy movements across Canada. A popular bicycle commuting campaign in British Columbia known as Bike to Work Week BC occurs in May each year and pits workplace teams in friendly competition with other workplaces in their community for a variety of prizes.

The 2011 Statistics Canada National Household Survey recorded that the highest proportion of bicycle commuting to work metropolitan areas in Canada were; Victoria (British Columbia) at 5.9%, Kelowna (British Columbia) at 2.6%, Ottawa (Ontario) at 2.4% and Kingston (Ontario) at 2.2%. Victoria states 11% of commuters went to work by bike in 2014. Victoria has a very mild climate year-round compared to the rest of Canada which may explain why the proportion of cycling commuters is so much higher.

In Toronto, the country's largest city, and the city with the longest average commutes in all of North America, cycle-communing has quickly gained popularity. In 2010, however, Toronto had the highest per capita rate of bike-car collisions of any Canadian city and bike activists have demanded more bike lanes to make cycling safer. This was derided as "the war on the car" by successful mayoral candidate Rob Ford in the 2010 election. He was supported by media personality Don Cherry's rant against "the pinkos out there who ride bicycles" at Ford's inauguration. In July 2011, Toronto City Council voted to remove three of the bike lanes added by the previous council. Toronto is not the only city to grapple with cyclist-motorist conflicts, however.

History

Before the widespread adoption of private automobiles, bicycles were a popular mode of transport in Canada, although Canada's snowy winters posed a problem for year-round use. Travel by horse and carriage (or sled) or streetcar offered a more robust alternative. As Canadian suburbanized after World War II, cars became the principal mode of transportation for many people, and cycling shifted to being solely for sport or recreation.

In the 1970's a bike boom saw a sharp increase of bicycle sales in Canada, documented in CBC archives. The advent of the mountain bike in the later twentieth century made off-road recreational bicycling particularly popular.

In the twenty-first century, with longer and longer commute times between suburbs and central business districts, there has been a trend towards urbanization, with people moving into cities. together with gentrification, this has created a more dense urban environment less like the mid-century New World norm and more like Old World cities where cycling commuting is more popular. This has led to a new era of cycling advocacy and conflicts with motorists over funding and planning decisions, and space on the road.

Cycle commuting facilities

The amount of purpose-built and segregated cycle facilities varies widely across Canada.

• Calgary: 960 km of total bike routes including 355 km of on-street bike lanes (some which are not marked by lines painted on the road, only by signs)
• Edmonton: 117 km of on-street bike routes (12 km of marked bike lanes, 105 km of signed but unmarked bike routes), plus 275 km of routes shared with pedestrians (including sidewalks and 160 km of paved multiuse trails), and 450 km of unpaved trails; 500 km of new bike lane and paths planned over 2009-2019 period
• Halifax: By 2013, HRM had 226 kilometres (140 mi) of AT facilities (131 kilometres of greenway and 96 kilometres of bike lanes).
• Montreal: 530 km of bike lanes and shared routes, plans for 800 km total network by 2015
• Ottawa: 140 km of lanes reserved for bicycles and 205 km of paved shoulder used by cyclists and for on-street parking, Capital Pathway is a 220 km network of urban and trails through parks. First segregated bike line opened in 2011 of Laurier Avenue, Bixi shared bikes introduced in 2011.
• Regina: five total bikes routes, both shared and bike-only
• St. John's: first bike routed scheduled to open in August 2011
• Toronto: 117 km of bike-only lanes, 145 km of shared roadways and 168 km of off-road paths, plans for 500 km of bike lanes, 249 km of off-road paths and 260 km of shared roadways, some bike lanes removed in 2011. Bixi shared bikes introduced in 2011.
• Vancouver: 400 km total bikes routes (330 km of which are on-street bike lanes), 55 km of new routes planned for 2010-2011 period
• Winnipeg: 149 km total, including 13 km of bike-only road routes, plans for 375 km of active transportation routes, which includes multi-use pathways, neighbourhood pathways bike lanes, sharrows and bike boulevards
• Victoria: 41 km of bike lanes in the city with 775 km in the Capital Regional District. Victoria's first protected bike lane is planned as a two-way lane on one-way Pandora avenue.

For an international comparison, New York has about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of total bikes routes.

Long-distance bike travellers can use the 4000 km Route Verte network in Quebec as well as other smaller trails across the country. Most of the Trans-Canada Trail will be multi-use, allowing bicyclists for portions of the trail.

Cycling by city

Calgary

Main article: Sport in Calgary § Cycling

A City of Calgary's report showed that from 1999–2010, there consistently were 9,200 weekday cycling trips entering or leaving the CBD.

In 2010, Calgary had 712 kilometres of multi-use pathways and 355 kilometres of on-street bikeways, 328 kilometres of which were signed bikeways and 27 kilometres of which were bikeways with pavement marking — bike lanes and marked shared lanes.

In 2015 Calgary has launched a strategic protected bicycle infrastructure plan that has been lauded for its ambition by cycling advocacy organization People for Bikes.

Montreal

Main article: Transportation in Montreal § Bicycle

Montreal's began a pilot implementation of Bixi bike sharing in 2008. Users purchase daily or subscription usages for bikes, located in various depots throughout the city. The Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal female professional racing event has been held in Montreal since 1998. the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal has also been held since 2010.

Ottawa

Many of Ottawa's major urban streets have lanes that are for cyclists only. These lanes are not demarcated by any type of barrier such as those that are increasingly being installed in Vancouver and Montreal. These lanes occur frequently enough so that most cyclist commuters can spend most of their commute relatively free from traffic.

Ottawa also has its portion of the 220 km long Capital Pathway that it shares with the city of Gatineau. This shared use path extends to most suburban neighborhoods and into rural areas beyond, so that many long-distance commuters use at least part of it. It is a recreational pathway that is shared with walkers and runners, and not only apart from traffic, but mostly through parks, green spaces and along waterways. Ottawa closes over 50 kilometres of Colonel By Drive, Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, the Rockcliffe Parkway to traffic every Sunday morning May to September, effectively turning the streets into wide recreational lanes. Gatineau Park has a 90 kilometres of trails for mountain biking and for extreme thrill riders near Camp Fortune.

There is a commercial public bike-rental system. Ottawa's city transit have bike racks on all buses that are part of its express routes (transitway routes), but quite infrequently on its buses which do local routes. Bicycles are also easily taken aboard the light rail train.

A City of Ottawa plan intends to increase cycling from 1.7% in 2001 to 3% in 2021, and to increase the number of peak-hour cyclists from 4500 to 12,000.

Toronto

Main article: Cycling in Toronto

Toronto has 117 km of bike-only lanes, 145 km of shared roadways and 168 km of off-road paths. The city plans to implement 500 km of bike lanes, 249 km of off-road paths and 260 km of shared roadways.

In 2011, some bike lanes were removed and the Bixi bike sharing was introduced.

The City of Toronto reported from a downtown study that 46% wore helmets, over 19,000 cyclists enter the downtown core daily, and the 24% of roads with bike lanes carried 45% of the bike traffic.

Vancouver

Main article: Transportation_in_Vancouver § Cycling

Cycling is the fastest growing mode of transportation in Vancouver. Translink data indicates that cycling has increased by 40% in Vancouver between 2008 and 2011. Statistics collected show that the protected bike lanes (or cycle track) serve thousands of cyclists every month, even in the wet winter months. Over 1 out of 8 of its lanes, bikeways and paths was a separated lane.

Vancouver promotes cycling to events in the city by suggesting bicycle valet services to event organizers. These bicycle valet services that are usually no cost for cyclists but corral bikes for event coordinators while providing bike owners with a secure place to store their bike under watchful volunteers while they visit the event.

Halifax

Main article: Transportation in the Halifax Regional Municipality § Walking and cycling

As of 2013, Halifax Regional Municipality had 226 kilometres (140 mi) of AT facilities including 131 kilometres of multi-use trails (called greenways) and 96 kilometres of bike lanes.

See also

• Segregated cycle facilities