Cycling in Canada

[logan5]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Any idea how old those are or what their criteria is? I see a lot of bike lanes missing from the Toronto map.

Judging by the little dots on the Vancouver map, the standard would be bike lanes that are traffic separated with at least a curb. Not sure what the 4th city is though. I presume Ottawa.

There are some great bike trails on the North Shore mountains that are missing. Really second to none in Canada.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

In Southern Ontario there are hundreds of gravel rail trails that you can do touring vacations along. Some of them go substantial distances and you get to see scenery that you wouldn’t see otherwise.

Sure, I see what you mean. And not to belabour the point, but road cycling isn't about scenery. I've ridden 70,000+ km along the paved rural roads around Stratford, so I know what this place looks like. While I'm always happy to get out among the trees and the farm fields, and cruising along an empty road into the setting sun is a soulful restorative that I crave, it's not the primary motivation for getting on a bike.

[Airboy]

When people are looking for a new bike, if not mtb I push them toward gravel bikes now. (the gravel bike allows you to use a lot more terrain. Also they are quite good for winter riding. The tires I have on right now are WTB 42s. Depending on the gravel road we are going to be on I may go down to 35s. I still have my Willier for road riding. Getting a new bike is predicated on weather you can actually get one now. See where Giant cut 60% of orders. Most shops here are taking deposits on next years bikes. at lot of 2021s may come in by Oct. I have 3 bikes on my to get list. a new 29r MTB. (trails in Edmonton are great. A new Gravel bike with GRX. and an new Cross bike.(This might Arrive before the season starts). The others are on order for next season.

Also https://thegravelexperience.com/

There is a page on here that shows some other epic Alberta Rides.

The Ghost of Gravel is another one but painfully tough. Some friends are going to ride one of the highest roads in Canada later this year. Will require a gravel bike.

[rousseau]

Why don't Canadians bike in the winter? This expat Canadian in the Netherlands makes a compelling case that it's not the weather that keeps people from riding when it gets cold, it's the lack of properly maintained infrastructure. He points to the city of Oulo in Finland as an example of how cycling thrives year-round when you provide good cycling paths away from motor vehicles.

8:27 -- "Cycling in the snow is actually quite pleasant. I definitely prefer it, by far, to cycling in the rain."

• Video Link

I have to admit that I'm not completely sure we'll ever be capable of reaching European levels of cycling infrastructure. Seems like there's something fundamentally rigid in the North American mindset when it comes to giving priority to motorized transportation at all times.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Why don't Canadians bike in the winter? This expat Canadian in the Netherlands makes a compelling case that it's not the weather that keeps people from riding when it gets cold, it's the lack of properly maintained infrastructure. He points to the city of Oulo in Finland as an example of how cycling thrives year-round when you provide good cycling paths away from motor vehicles.

The idea that climate makes cycling impractical in Canada is something that has bothered me for a long time. It's one of those arguments that seems to make sense at first but falls apart when you look at the details. Even if the winters are so terrible, wouldn't people still want to cycle in the summer? And how well do cars work in the snow? And what about the rest of the world?

Vancouver has had pretty good cycling infrastructure for many years but Halifax used to be just terrible and the climate excuse was often trotted out to shut down debates around improving it. In recent years Halifax has gotten better cycling infrastructure and usage has gone up a lot (judged by usage counts at the specific places where the improvements went in). It turns out that in many cases the real reason people weren't cycling was that the roads were unsafe and unpleasant.

Another excuse you hear is that some places are hilly (not the Netherlands, so all the Amsterdam bike stuff is inapplicable to other places, etc.), which is a real factor but electric bikes have made a big difference to this. Improved batteries have expanded the potential for all kinds of different personal vehicles. Most cities don't do a good job of making room for them.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I have to admit that I'm not completely sure we'll ever be capable of reaching European levels of cycling infrastructure. Seems like there's something fundamentally rigid in the North American mindset when it comes to giving priority to motorized transportation at all times.

But despite all the European efforts, they don't really cycle that much either (relative to the car) and the net results appear to be basically just holding the line against the nearly irresistible appeal of the private car.

Walking and cycling is particularly popular among children and young people. However, the results of the survey suggest that walking and cycling among children, young people and young adults is decreasing. At the same time, there has been a slight increase in walking and cycling among people of more advanced age. Cycling has become more popular among women that have reached retirement age. When walking and cycling is examined at the level of the Finnish population as a whole, the combined distance travelled by walking and cycling was almost the same as five years earlier. The changes are minor and within the margins of error.

There is potential for growth in sustainable travel modes. Finns are increasingly moving to urban growth centres where services are conveniently located. Walking and cycling are more popular in cities than in rural areas because many activities and services are within easy reach for users of these travel modes. However, the changes have not yet led to a higher share of sustainable travel modes.

Each Finn made 2.7 trips every day, totalling 41 kilometres. Passenger car was the most popular travel mode. An average of 1.6 trips, totalling 31.1 kilometres, were made by car. Most of the trips were leisure-related.

In built-up urban environments, walking, cycling and public transport are attractive options. As the Finnish population is increasingly concentrated in large urban areas and especially in city centres, a gradual shift from car use to sustainable travel modes is expected. So far, there have been few signs of this at national level. Compared to previous surveys, the modal share of walking and cycling has remained more or less unchanged, while the modal share of public transport has decreased and that of car use increased.

https://www.traficom.fi/en/news/publ...nable%20travel

[someone123]

Originally Posted by accord1999

But despite all the European efforts, they don't really cycle that much either (relative to the car) and the net results appear to be basically just holding the line against the nearly irresistible appeal of the private car.

Do anecdotes from Oulu really prove that there's been a big yet ineffective push in Finland toward more bike use?

I don't see the cycling infrastructure improvements so much as a replacement for cars, as though 1980's Beijing is the goal. It is good to provide people with more options and aside from transportation cycling offers benefits as leisure and physical activity. Most cycling infrastructure costs very little and is targeted at a small area so it's unlikely to create big modal shifts in metro areas or countries.

Cycling can also fit in well with the notion of "complete streets" that work well for pedestrians. Often the streets get completely redesigned and shrinking vehicle lanes and separating cars from pedestrians is a part of it too.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by accord1999

But despite all the European efforts, they don't really cycle that much either (relative to the car) and the net results appear to be basically just holding the line against the nearly irresistible appeal of the private car.

The Youtuber cites the comparative example of a neighbouring Finnish city without the infrastructure of Oulo: it has far lower rates of bike use. He doesn't cite chapter and verse, but does mention that there is extensive literature on cycling rates in Europe, and the correlation between infrastructure and cycling use seems clear.

Twenty-two percent of all trips in Oulo are taken by bicycle year-round. One can only dream of how transformative it would be if Canadian cities got close to the double digits percentage-wise.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Bike networks in four of Canada's largest cities.








https://twitter.com/HansontheBike/st...45337907777549

What is the source of this? Obviously Calgary should have been included since we have the longest bike pathway system on the continent Maybe whoever made them is somehow unaware of that fact, or that Ottawa isn't even the fourth largest metro anymore? God I wish I knew how to make maps!

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Obviously Calgary should have been included...

Don't worry, you're not an SSP cliché, you've hit on an egregious conspiracy that goes far beyond these hallowed forum threads. This unjust ignorance of Calgary is in the Twitter machine now, and who knows how much farther it will spread?

Quick, to the social media battle stations! The fate of Calgary's eminent standing in <insert social, political, cultural or financial metric here> must be defended at all costs!

[rousseau]

Having said all that, it occurs to me that the Nordics have winter traditions like saunas and jumping into icy rivers that we North Americans don't because we're the cultural descendants of the English and the French, so maybe the mindset there is just generally more amenable to doing things in the cold.

[Peggerino]

Considering how many people here skate and play hockey in Winter I wouldn't say we're that big of wimps (at least those of us in inner city Winnipeg). If we get more winters like we had this year (overall pretty mild with like 2 weeks of extreme cold) then I don't see why we couldn't be a year-round biking city.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by someone123

I don't see the cycling infrastructure improvements so much as a replacement for cars, as though 1980's Beijing is the goal...

Cycling can also fit in well with the notion of "complete streets" that work well for pedestrians. Often the streets get completely redesigned and shrinking vehicle lanes and separating cars from pedestrians is a part of it too.

I think that's fair for certain parts of a city, but (at least my impression) is that a number of NA advocates use Europe to advocate against road infrastructure in general by suggesting walking, cycling or transit can replace cars on a wide scale.

Originally Posted by rousseau

The Youtuber cites the comparative example of a neighbouring Finnish city without the infrastructure of Oulo: it has far lower rates of bike use. He doesn't cite chapter and verse, but does mention that there is extensive literature on cycling rates in Europe, and the correlation between infrastructure and cycling use seems clear.

Twenty-two percent of all trips in Oulo are taken by bicycle year-round. One can only dream of how transformative it would be if Canadian cities got close to the double digits percentage-wise.

My thoughts about this is are the cycling infrastructure improvements converting car trips and getting drivers to cycle more? Or, based on the national modal share data, are they simply attracting people more inclined to cycle to begin with, while pushing people more inclined to drive to drive elsewhere?

Similar to Finland, we've seen a lot of footage of recent Copenhagen policies and infrastructure to prioritize the bicycle over the car that seemingly is successful and is considered a cycling capital akin to Amsterdam. But the Denmark-wide data shows that cycling has been slowly declining since its data was first collected in 1990, even as total mobility has increased. You may have transformative impacts on the central core or certain neighborhoods but not over the entire metro area.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by rousseau

The Youtuber cites the comparative example of a neighbouring Finnish city without the infrastructure of Oulo: it has far lower rates of bike use. He doesn't cite chapter and verse, but does mention that there is extensive literature on cycling rates in Europe, and the correlation between infrastructure and cycling use seems clear.

Twenty-two percent of all trips in Oulo are taken by bicycle year-round. One can only dream of how transformative it would be if Canadian cities got close to the double digits percentage-wise.

As others have mentioned these high cycling rates are often only for relatively small inner city areas with metros often holding surprisingly similar automotive rates as Canadian cities, outside of the largest European centres.

Toronto has several neighbourhoods where cycling exceeds 30% modal share, for example. The effective cycling rate for the old city of Toronto would likely be quite high today.

Europe also achieves low auto rates by often having far higher walking rates related to how their cities are laid out. Cities like Berlin have a 26% automotive modal share but also have a 30% walk share - something that really will never be achievable in Canada given how we have laid out our cities.

[Airboy]

This past winter I have seen an incredible amount of cyclist out even on cold days. (Cold being -20 or colder).

But talking with the store I ride for and others. The numbers of bike sold has not been seen before. You can't even get a average bike now. (CDN Tire and Walmart maybe but from a LBS no).

I am noticing quite a number of people now learning the adventure of Gravel riding. The trails here in Edmonton are quite full most weekend afternoons. Friends and I get out early just to avoid the crowds.

[Airboy]

with Highway 1 closed pretty much from Lake Louise to Golden. There is chatter on the cycling pages about having clear roads to ride past Field BC for the next moth. add closing 1A and that is quite the ride from Banff.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Toronto has several neighbourhoods where cycling exceeds 30% modal share, for example. The effective cycling rate for the old city of Toronto would likely be quite high today.

Got a link? I'd like to see the rates for different neighbourhoods, or even cities.

[Kilgore Trout]

I'd love to see that, too. All of the figures I've seen for Montreal and other cities are based on the 2016 census, which at this point is pretty out of date, considering the improvement of cycling infrastructure and the growth of bike share systems. There's also the problem with defining modality. The census only asks which mode of transportation you use to get to work, which misses out on people who may drive or take transit to work but use their bikes for everything else.

[JHikka]

It's from 2007 but the below pdf does pretty well at comparing Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary with cities like Chicago, New York, Berlin, and Vienna

https://www.tcat.ca/wp-content/uploa...Highlights.pdf

Near the end there's a mode breakdown for Toronto by subregion (ie Toronto at 35% transit modeshare with Mississauga 15%, Markham 14%, etc.) with a further breakdown for walking and cycling.

[rousseau]

"Our a priori expectations around meteorological indicators were that there would be no significant correlations. This proved to be the case."

Just what I thought.