Things Are Good: A Promising Biofuel

UC Berkeley chemical engineers have used an old way to make explosives to make biofuels more efficiently. They are using a technique that can turn sugar-rich plants (like corn and some grasses) into a liquid that acts like gasoline does know by providing a tiny explosive force when ignited. The

Continue reading

Things Are Good: On Solving Traffic Jams

Cities around the world have problems with vehicular traffic moving slowly. Slow moving cars negatively impact air quality and the ability for road-based mass transit. So what do we do? Jonas Eliasson, who hails from Stockholm where they’ve implemented congestion charges six years ago, provides some insight how cities can

Continue reading

Earthgauge Radio: Interview with John Bennett of the Sierra Club

Click the audio player to hear my interview with John Bennett, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Canada, about the federal government’s proposed changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Bennett explains why so many people and organizations, including the musicians Sarah Harmer, Gord Downie and Feist as well as Ottawa Riverkeeper Meredith Brown and Mountain Equipment Co-op, […]

Continue reading

Things Are Good: A Greener Asphalt

Roads are often overlooked when it comes to the impact of cars on the environment, but we can’t ignore the roads have on the environment when discussing the practicality of cars. Asphalt is used to make roads and the process of creating asphalt is very energy intensive. In Vancouver, they are looking into ways to […]

Continue reading

Things Are Good: NYC Mayor Bloomberg Loves Bike Lanes

As Toronto fights smart planning and removes sustainable transportation infrastructure (indeed, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so), New York City Mayor Bloomberg continues to espouse how great bike lanes are. In NYC they have added a lot of miles of bike lanes and found local business get more business, neighbourhoods become nicer, […]

Continue reading

openalex: Seriously Cycling: Bikes Are Getting More Attention All Across Canada

[Here’s my latest post over at @SustainableCitiesCanada ]

Anyone who has been cycling in Canadian cities over the past fifteen years knows that things are changing.

When I left Montreal for Vancouver in 2002 the city’s streets were still an aggressive dance between bike couriers, cars, and cyclists who wanted to ride like couriers (I’ll sheepishly admit to being one of them). Downtown cycling was only for the brave.

But by the time I returned in 2010 a sea change had occurred: in less than a decade the city had added over 600 kms of bike paths, many covering crucial commuter corridors that connect the length and breadth of the island.

It was like being in another world. Instead of weaving through traffic, I found myself in a curb separated lane with my own set of traffic signals. Cycling – in other words – had become an integral part of the city’s transportation strategy.

Unlikely Leaders

During that time a similar shift began in municipalities all across the country, and it continues to develop as I write. This week Toronto unveiled its first curb separated bike lane, with more to come (although simultaneous plans to remouve other routes have caused controversy). Last year Ottawa became the first city in Ontario to put in similar infrastructure, and has nearly doubled its cycling network since 2000.

Winnipeg has quintupled the amount of money it spends on active-transportation corridors and it will start work on an active-transportation master plan next year. Quebec city is about to adopt a cycling master plan. And this weekend Halifax will conclude public consultations on plans to create its first crosstown cycling corridor. All of these projects are the result of dedicated local activism combined with new interest among local officials.

Recognition that cycling is a real transit solution has spread well beyond traditional leaders. You’d expect Vancouver to be at the front of the pack, but Calgary?

This summer the municipality hired Tom Thivener as its first full-time cycling coordinator. Thivener hails from Tucson (Arizona) where he helped increase bike ridership by 58% between 2009 and 2010. Under his guidance, Calgary is poised to spend $20 million over the next three years to improve commuter cycling infrastructure.

New York city is probably the best example of this trend of unlikely leaders. Would you bike through Manhattan? Following a campaign to introduce cycling infrastructure and reduce conflicts between cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians, cycling increased 26% between 2008 and 2009. Every day more than 200,000 people now bike to work in the Big Apple.

If You Build It (right), They Will Come.

Investments in cycling infrastructure is clearly linked to overall ridership. But there is still a long way to go. Only a small percentage of people in Canadian cities bike to work. The average for most mid-sized and large cities is close to 2%.

There are many reasons to do better. For starters a large portion of urban greenhouse gas emissions are transportation related. But – picking up a thread Sarah posted on earlier this week – bikes are also a great example of the type of holistic solutions that will help us build deeply sustainable cities. Increased cycling, supported by proper cycling infrastructure, has positive impacts on health, air quality, street safety, and overall liveability.

Cycling is a transit option that is accessible regardless of income level. Studies have also shown that building cycling infrastructure creates more local jobs than a comparable amount spent on traditional auto-centric roadways.

Future Cyclists: Women

So what should our objectives be?

Specific targets will vary from city to city. But understanding who cycles now is one powerful way to try to increase future ridership. Currently young men represent the dominant group of cyclists in most cities. A better metric for success is women.

Cycling researchers have highlighted female cyclists in particular as an “indicator species” for the bike-friendliness of a given area. This may have some direct impacts on how we design the next generation of cycling infrastructure. In Tucson, for example, Thivener significantly increased female ridership by focusing on the type of facilities they preferred and putting in place “bike boulevards” rather than on-street bike lanes.

One way or another, creating infrastructure that is safe and appealing to a broader demographic is our next challenge.

Continue reading