What do you envision when you think of cycling in Calgary? Is it a casual ride through a park? Groups of kids pedalling around your neighbourhood? Maybe you’re one of many Calgarians who cycle to work, to go shopping, because it’s good for the environment and one’s health, or just because it’s fun.
Whatever your vision of cycling, Calgarians truly enjoy riding their bikes. In a 2010 survey conducted by the City, 59% stated that they’d “generally like to cycle more often.” (2011 Cycling Strategy – The City of Calgary, pg 78). That figure reflects the views of all survey participants, regardless of how they were defined for the purposes of the survey as Reluctant, Interested, Confident or Fearless cyclists.
As any Calgarian who cycles regularly knows, however, getting around town on two wheels isn’t always an easy ride. Yes, Calgary boasts one of the most extensive pathway systems in North America (some 700 kilometres of pavement dedicated to recreational use), and its grid of streets and avenues in and around the core offer fairly direct routes from one destination to another. Calgary also tops all major Canadian cities in both hours of sunshine and days with at least some bright sun; so (arguably) weather shouldn’t be a deterrent to cycling other than when it’s too cold or too wet for anyone but diehard pedalheads to venture outside in.
Nevertheless, apart from those advantages several challenges to cycling in Calgary exist. Winter should be the most obvious one, but in fact the most pressing is safety. The City reported through their survey results that while 72% of Interested cyclists – the category representing more than half of the survey respondents - would like to ride more often, the number one obstacle to their doing so was biking safely in traffic (ibid).
It’s likely that even Fearless cyclists find some Calgary roadways simply don’t allow enough space for both cars and bicycle users. Many roads barely accommodate two lanes of vehicular traffic each way, never mind cyclists, as well. Since riding on city sidewalks is illegal, taking the pathways is generally the only option available to safety-minded cyclists, especially during peak traffic periods.
Using the paths can be frustrating when route planning, though. Even assuming that most cyclists have sense enough to stay off of major arteries like Calgary’s Trail system (Macleod, Blackfoot, Crowchild, et al), there are other roads that - were they able to use them with less anxiety for their safety – would help them get around town a lot quicker than using the recreational pathways alone. As an example, a forty-five minute cycle to downtown from the community of Evergreen along Elbow Drive takes at least double the time traveling the Bow River pathway, and that’s riding full out in good conditions. Sure, the latter route is a pleasant ride, but commuting – whether by bike or by car – doesn’t always lend itself to enjoying the sights along the way. Time in that instance is the crucial factor, not how scenic the journey might be.
There are yet many opportunities to cycle securely from one area of the city to another, even when one needs to traverse the length or breadth of it; though going north or south is generally easier than east or west. Beyond the pathways skirting the Bow River, traveling east or west outside of the city core gets trickier. Paths are fewer, commonly include using city streets, or are non-existent. East of Deerfoot Trail the pathway system is woefully inadequate; going from the northeast to points west (like downtown) is circuitous at best, and requires a lot of travel on heavily-used roads.
Sure, one can use the suggested travel routes on the City cycling map, but those involve too much road travel for most cyclists’ peace of mind, and even more time as a result of the many direction changes involved. Carrying a copy of the City’s cycling map in order to navigate those changes is apropos, but it’s not always accurate, nor is it even available at present. A digital version can be downloaded from the City of Calgary website, but it’s too large to print off at home (39” x 54”).
Impediments aside, Calgary City Hall is obviously interested in getting more cars off the roads and more people on bikes, which is the reason why they undertook to study the situation and subsequently published the 2011 Cycling Strategy. In the document, the City defines three key strategic pillars towards achieving their vision of becoming “…one of the premier cycling cities in North America.” (ibid, pg. 4).
Briefly summarized, the first pillar includes actions such as the implementation of on-street bikeways, bike lanes, and a public bike-share system to be introduced by 2013. The second pillar proposes a higher standard of maintenance and operations of the bike path system in areas like signage, gravel clearing, and ice and snow removal. The last pillar covers increased and ongoing education programs for cyclists and motorists alike, as well as partnership opportunities and events to provide cycling initiatives.
A great deal of the suggestions listed in the 2011 Cycling Strategy are positive, like the possibility of pathway lighting, widening the existing paths by half a meter, and twinning the system to separate “wheels from heels” (ibid, pg 6). Additions to the pathway system along the West LRT are also appropriate, as are more – and more secure - parking areas for bikes at existing LRT stations.
The introduction of a public bike-share system is an interesting addition to the City’s cycling strategy. PSBC - the organization that founded the Bixi Bikes system for the city of Montreal in 2009 - has since exported their multiple award-winning design to major centres around the globe, including (among others) Toronto and Ottawa-Gatineau; Boston, Minneapolis and New York City in the US; Melbourne, Australia; and London, England. It’s an excellent idea that promotes alternative transportation, is good for the environment, gives system members and non-members alike an accessible in-town ride without forcing them to cycle long distances from the suburbs on their own bikes; and allows one to tour a city center without relying on transit or expensive taxis to get around. It’s also meant to pay for itself – indeed, to turn a profit – after two or three years in operation, money which can then be used for other needs.
Still, factors like updated cycling infrastructure and biking safety need to be examined before such a system is introduced. Richard Zach, spokesperson for Bike Calgary – an organization that represents cycling groups throughout the Calgary area, and which provided input on their behalf when the cycling strategy was presented at the City’s Land Use and Transportation Planning session last June– stated that, “Minds were divided on that question. There’s a school of thought that says we need the infrastructure first, then we can think about introducing a bike share; but the City’s original idea was if you get more people on bikes then the requests for infrastructure will come.” While the option to go to a bike share system seems to be a bit of a Catch-22 at present, the City is taking a proactive approach before they make any decisions; a feasibility study on it will begin this coming December.
The challenges to the City of Calgary with following through on their cycling strategy are many, and include addressing the aforementioned infrastructure and safety issues, creating three new administrative positions to oversee the plan, and finding the $12.2M outlined in its budget to fund the capital costs. There’s also the proposed operating expenses, which run upwards of $1.4M annually (ibid, pg 4). Should City Council decide not to budget new money for the strategy, City planners will still move forward with it. City of Calgary Transportation Engineer Blanka Bracic states that, “Council has approved the policy, which means the direction is set. If no new funding is approved, we’ll have to do the best that we can with existing sources, which means some actions (within the Cycling Strategy) might become a lower priority because there’s no funding to implement them.”
Regardless of where the funding comes from, Calgary cyclists can look forward to very positive improvements to the current system. The City is busy honing its approach to getting more bikes on the road that will appease and inspire both motorists and cyclists, help reduce Calgary’s carbon footprint, and benefit the health and safety of its cycling population. Of course, whether all the proposals found in the 2011 Cycling Strategy are successfully implemented or not depends on the will of City Council to fund them, as well as road users working in concert to see them realized.
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© REAP 2011
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