Cycling in Canada

[Aylmer]

All other arguments aside, one helps to justify the other. A well-run bikeshare helps to further justify good infrastructure, and good infrastructure helps to further justify bikeshare. Especially considering the relatively paltry sums bikeshare requires, it's not really an either-or situation.

[Kilgore Trout]

Yes, exactly. It's definitely not either-or, it's both-and.

When Bixi launched in Montreal it reached a whole new segment of people who wanted to get around by bike without the hassle of owning/maintaining/storing a bike. (It also appealed to many existing cyclists who wanted a low-commitment alternative to bringing their own bike somewhere.) That led to a large increase in bicycle traffic, which created more demand for improved bicycle infrastructure.

It's also important that cities don't half-ass bikeshare. Bixi was originally a kind of public/private for-profit Frankenstein's monster kind of thing, but when it went bankrupt in 2014, the city bailed it out and it's now run more like a regular public transport operator. And it has become ubiquitous. There are stations every few blocks in the middle of town, and the system now covers almost every moderately dense part of Montreal, plus a few off-island neighbourhoods in Laval and Longueuil. That never would have happened if Bixi was still run like a private company. Just look at Ottawa.

[UrbOttawa]

Nice to see some positivity around Ottawa's bike infrastructure:

• Video Link

The city has made a lot of progress the past few years and there are some significant projects in the pipeline:

New Albert and Slater lanes and reconfiguration at the library, extending O'Connor bi-directional extension to Wellington, Wellington bi-directional - which has more momentum post convoy, Mackenzie Ave connection, Bank st south of the Rideau River to name a few

[Nouvellecosse]

I'm extremely envious of any city with a bike share program. It's one of the top 5 things I would change about Hfx if I was King.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

It's also important that cities don't half-ass bikeshare. Bixi was originally a kind of public/private for-profit Frankenstein's monster kind of thing, but when it went bankrupt in 2014, the city bailed it out and it's now run more like a regular public transport operator. And it has become ubiquitous.

Toronto went through something very similar, also involving Bixi. As a P3, one of Bixi's main flaws was that it chose a very small geography to roll out its bike share system. There were no bike stations west of Bathurst, for example. On paper, this seemed to be a cautious, profit-maximizing approach but bike share systems, like any other transportation system, require a large catchment area, much of which might be unprofitable, to generate the network effects to sustain themselves.

After bixi went belly up in 2014, the city took over and gave control of the bike share system to the Toronto Parking Authority. Now, giving control of a fledgling bike share system to a parking authority might seem like letting a fox take control of the henhouse, but the system became vastly better almost overnight.

Whatever your thoughts might be about the role of parking in a city, the TPA is a very well-run municipal corporation. It's known for providing good customer service and well-maintained infrastructure, and a lot of that mentality has trickled down to impact the Bike Share system. Also, I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, but Toronto's cycling network has gone from being embarrassingly bad to actually being somewhat decent since the TPA took over TO Bike Share.

[Innsertnamehere]

The TPA is actually a quite well run organization, albeit one that operates parking facilities.

It was an excellent choice to hand the system over to, IMO, even if the TTC seems like a more natural solution.

Toronto's bike share system is an amazing municipal piece of infrastructure which was built quite affordably and is a huge benefit for mobility in the city. I would love to see it continue to rapidly expand, though the expansion ambitions seem a bit more subdued today.

[J.OT13]

Some images of the Albert and Slater re-design. This was the central Transitway that carried hundreds of buses per hour through Downtown Ottawa. This is part of a larger project that will result in a 6.3 kilometer east-west bike way from Westboro to the University of Ottawa mostly running along the O-Train corridor along Scott Street, Albert Street (still Scott, but with new name), Albert/Slater (where Albert splits into opposite one ways through downtown) and the Mackenzie-King Bridge (where Albert and Slater converge to cross the Canal).

Albert, one block south of O-Train Lyon Station.

Originally Posted by zzptichka

That was also in the Downtown Moves plan. But ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Intersection going down hill from the traditional Downtown (east) to LeBreton Flats (west). The red dotted lines at the top, left corner is the O-Train leading to Pimisi Station not too far out of frame to the west.

Originally Posted by rocketphish

https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/do...recplan_en.pdf

Mackenzie-King Bridge, the east end of the old Central Transitway where Albert and Slater converge. Four lanes will be narrowed down to two, with raised bike lanes, wider sidewalks and trees.

The bridge is one of the best spots to view the City, uOttawa, City Hall, the Elgin skyline, NAC, Parliament, Senate of Canada Building with the Château Laurier peaking out and the Convention Centre. It was an extremely hostile environment when the Central Transitway was running, and is still quite dreadful today. With this rebuild, it should result in a far nicer environment to spot and enjoy the views.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4234...7i16384!8i8192

Originally Posted by UrbOttawa

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/publi...bridge-renewal

[J.OT13]

Posted on Rail Fans Canada Discord, the overview and cycling/ped networks around Iris and Algonquin stations. Iris will be a local station, mostly serving sfh. One station over, Algonquin will be the south-west terminus until the extension to Barrhaven. The train platform will be underground and feature storage tracks, retail, washrooms and a bus loop.




https://discord.com/channels/8942969...07795851345970

[JHikka]

Shaw Street is Toronto’s first with more bikes than cars
By Mike Layton
Thu., April 21, 2022


When we think of ways to improve Toronto’s cycling network, grand projects like the bike lanes across the city’s core on Bloor St. and Danforth Ave. might come to mind. The smaller, quieter changes that also improve road safety for cyclists tend to be underrated and under-celebrated. When we create a road with more bikes than cars it’s worth celebrating.

Shaw St. – the quiet, garden-lined residential street tucked just east of Ossington Ave. – quickly became one of Toronto’s most popular cycling routes when it was installed in 2013. In 2020, to further improve the street, a City of Toronto project implemented changes in road direction and new traffic markings on Shaw to reduce cut-through traffic and create safer conditions for people walking and cycling. Now, recently collected traffic data shows the project was able to accomplish exactly that.

Overall, the data shows an increase in cycling volumes on Shaw St. and a decrease in both the speed and number of motor vehicles. To highlight a few outstanding statistics, between Harbord and Bloor, cycling volumes are up by 205 per cent while car trips are down by 60 per cent. Between Dupont and Essex, cycling trips increased by 110 per cent; car trips were down by 48 per cent.

These are not small sample sizes. We are talking about thousands of trips. At its peak, we see 4,300 bicycle trips being made along Shaw, compared to just 1,479 car trips between September and November, 2021. This trend continues across other sections of Shaw, where we see sharp increases in bicycle trips and steady decreases in car trips.

This has improved traffic safety for the many commuters, families and residents who travel and live along Shaw. More people are cycling than ever before and bicycles now easily outnumber cars on the street. The changes also resulted in lowered traffic volumes on surrounding residential streets and a reduction in the number of cars cutting through the neighbourhood, improving safety for all road users.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...than-cars.html


https://mobile.twitter.com/TO_Cyclin...96637910745088

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Shaw Street is Toronto’s first with more bikes than cars

That's really amazing and wonderful.

[J.OT13]

Mike Layton talking about bikes. Is he related to Le bon Jack?

Great news story from Toronto. We need to learn from this. More bike lanes, fewer cars. Most of us can ride a bike 5-10 km without too much trouble. Sometimes easier to run an errand on a bike than by car. The reason for low cycling rates in Canada is not speed or even winter, it's terrible or non-existent bike infrastructure. Build it and they will come.

[LikesBikes]

Wow, that's great to see. I also like just how pretty they made it with the flowers, map signage for the bike share and street markings. You can tell they didn't half ass it which is the impression I get with most AT infrastructure.

[Airboy]

Finally got around to riding in this morning. Quite a mix of road and path conditions. Having to share the road is tough when the drivers don't give you room. The Bike paths are in need of repair in downtown Edmonton. At least the one I was on. They are upgrading the roads but the path is in bad shape. The multi use path system was in good shape and kept me out of traffic.

Its a 22km ride for me and with a 20-40kph head wind it took an hour today. Normally its 45 min. Which is 5-10 minutes longer than my drive. But much less stressful.

[rousseau]

A coffee place in St. Marys, just down the road from me, received recognition for being cyclist friendly. Nice to see. I'm not a coffee drinker, can't handle the caffeine, but I do feel sort of envious about missing out on the cyclist and coffee thing.


https://www.facebook.com/snappingtur...6848232150105/

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Mike Layton talking about bikes. Is he related to Le bon Jack?

Son from first wife.

Originally Posted by LikesBikes

Wow, that's great to see. I also like just how pretty they made it with the flowers, map signage for the bike share and street markings. You can tell they didn't half ass it which is the impression I get with most AT infrastructure.

BikeShare hasn't been messing around the past few years. Wide expansions, cohesion with expanding bike lanes and network, pretty consistent service. A steal for $100/year.

[Acajack]

Rousseau might be the only one who cares, but Hugo Houle of Ste-Perpétue, QC is really doing awesome at the Tour de France!

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Rousseau might be the only one who cares, but Hugo Houle of Ste-Perpétue, QC is really doing awesome at the Tour de France!

I just heard that as he won a stage today!

[jamincan]

Not only was it his first TdF stage win, it is his first WT win ever (after ~10 years in the WT).

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Rousseau might be the only one who cares, but Hugo Houle of Ste-Perpétue, QC is really doing awesome at the Tour de France!

First Canadian stage winner at the TdF since Steve Bauer in 1988. And Michael Woods came third, resulting in two Canucks on the podium.



This is unprecedented. And it's actually good fodder for argument. To wit: where does this rank among this the greatest achievements for Canadian cycling?

With the Tour de France you have the very best cyclists in the world competing for the ultimate prize, while the Giro is definitely ranked slightly lower at number two in terms of the calibre of its competitive field. You can't really race both in the same year, so you have to choose one or the other (only the most legendary cyclists have ever won the double: Coppi, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Pantani).

But Hesjedal won the whole thing in 2012, while today Houle "only" won one stage, so for me I'd have to call today the fourth greatest Canadian cycling achievement after Hesjedal's Giro win in 2012, Steve Bauer's 4th place finish overall in the 1988 TdF and Bauer wearing the yellow jersey for nine successive stages in the 1990 TdF.

Though this is just academic. What a great win for Houle!

[Airboy]

He has had a pretty good Tour so far. a top 10 a few days before as well.

Plus the rest of the Israeli Premier Tech team have been ok as well.

Woods has had a few good days. and Bovin was 17th a couple of days earlier. (not bad for a guy that was the spare and had to fly from Canada only a couple of days before.

Plus all the Canadians are still riding

GC
H Houle Isreali Primier Tech 41
A Duchesne Groupama FDJ 43
M Woods Isreali Primier Tech 72
G Bovin Isreali Primier Tech 128