Public Prsentation at Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC, Match 2012

1. Cycling Towards Sustainability:
Two Wheels Good, Four Wheels Bad
R.J. Payne
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, Ontario

2. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Introduction
Bob, the cyclist
● Vancouver-Thunder Bay; Quebec (my wife cycled there); Netherlands; Britain
● A recreational cyclist
● Thunder Bay's Active Transportation Committee
● Lives in Ontario
The “Good” and the “Bad”
● NOT moral
● Benefits vs. costs
– To people
– To the environment

3. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Introduction
Three things today
● Who are cyclists?
● What Infrastructure is needed for cyclists?
● What are the challenges facing cycling's contribution to sustainability?

4. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Who are Cyclists?
Cyclists differ from each other: how?
● By age,
● By gender,
● By socio-economic status,
● By motivation,
● By type of bike,
● By type of biking
– Recreational
– Competitive
– Utilitarian
Can cyclists be “segmented” into meaningful groups?

5. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Not much academic research on Home Adventurers Fashion Practical
BoysGirls Pursuers Users
segmenting cyclists; however,
Education College ↑ Graduate College ↑ High
School School ↓
● A Taiwanese study
● 35 Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles Usage Rate Seldom Often Seldom Usually
(VALS) questions in scalar form
● N = 193 respondents Usage Roads Challenging Bike Lanes Bike Lanes
Ocassion Roads Challenging
● Found four (4) cycling segments: Roads
● Fashion cyclists - 32% Purpose Transport Exercise Leisure Leisure
● Adventure cyclists - 17%
● Home cyclists (boysgirls) - 20% Type of Normal Mountain Normal Normal
Bicycle bikes bikes bikes bikes
● Practical (Utilitarian) cyclists - 31% Folding
Bikes
ApplicabilityUtility to us?
(source: Chu et al., 2010)

6. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Needs for infrastructure
i. A wide definition of “infrastructure”:
● on-road lanes and bike paths, including rail trails
● Interconnected networks (local, regional, provincial, national?)
● Signage and Guides (maps, books, GPS)
● Parking, bike racks
● Bike plans (Alternative transportation plans)
● Bicycling policy
● Health promotion policy
● Tourism policy
If infrastructure = provision, then several levels of government are
implicated here; room too for NGOs and community organizations.

7. Cycling Towards Sustainability
ii. Three Case Studies on Infrastructure
1. The Netherlands
2. Province of Quebec
3. Victoria, BC
What lessons might we learn from these case studies?

8. Cycling Towards Sustainability
1. The Netherlands
● With Germany, and Denmark, the
Centre of the Cycling Universe?
● Cycling in Utrecht, Netherlands
● Long-distance routes, connected to
regional and local routes, with ● Cycling in the Dutch Countryside
signage
● Bike lanes and bike paths, with
separation from vehicular traffic the
norm
● Guides and maps
● Racks and parking
● Drivers are also cyclists
● Tourism: cycle touring companies,
B&Bs, hotels and hostels

9. Cycling Towards Sustainability
2. Province of Quebec
● Canada's most cycling-friendly
province?
● Strategic direction: Bicycle Policy
(2008) under the Transport Ministry
● La Route Verte
● 4000+kms
● Maps and signage
● Cyclists on less busy roads
● Cyclist safety
● Cyclists' responsibilities
● Tourism: promotion of cycle
tourism, cycle touring companies,
B&Bs, hotels and hostels (e.g., Lac
St. Jean)

10. Cycling Towards Sustainability
3. Victoria, BC
● Canada's most cycling-friendly
urban area?
● CRD Bicycle Strategy provides
strategic direction
● Lochside and Galloping Goose
regional trails and feeders
● Victoria and Saanich leadership
● Several other municipalities have
bike plans or initiatives in OCPs
● Bike lanes
● Signage and maps
● Events (Bike to work week)

11. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Lessons?
1. Separation (bikes from vehicles) is safer and attracts more cyclists, including
children
2. Networks provide opportunities for different sorts of cyclists
3. Signage, maps, guides - branding
4. Involvement(s) of governments crucial – funding, development, policy
integration
5. Different levels of government → different purposes
6. Strategic direction from plans andor policy necessary
7. Integrated policies (bicycle, tourism, health) desirable
8. Positive economic impact through tourism
9. Follow-up monitoring: does it all work as planned?

12. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Challenges
1. Politics
● e.g., Toronto's last municipal election: cycling an issue
2. Strategy
● Direction: what, for which cyclists, to what standard, for what purposes
● e.g., Thunder Bay, Ontario
3. Integrated policies
● Transport ministry in Ontario has a bicycle policy and is revising it
● Meanwhile, lead on policy integration for cycling comes from elsewhere
4. Evaluation
● Users? Maintenance? Renewal? Effectiveness?

13. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Selected References
Capital Regional District, 2002. Bicycle Strategy, Draft Working Paper No. 3, Victoria, BC
(available online at
http://www.crd.bc.ca/reports/regionalplanning_/generalreports_/transportation_/cycling
_/archivebackgroundinf_/3bicyclestrategy/3bicyclestrategy.pdf ).
Chu, Y., Su, K., Chen, Y., Wu, C., and Hung, P. 2010. The Craze for Cycling: Who and Why?
Unpublished paper; (available online at URL:
http://www.cuc.ac.jp/eng/gpac/papers/nccu/Paper_Management.pdf).
Lamont, M. 2009. Reinventing the wheel: a definitional discussion of bicycle tourism.
Journal of Sport and Tourism, 14 (1), pp. 5-23.
Lumsdon, L. 2000: Transport and tourism: cycle tourism – a model for sustainable
development?, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8 (5), pp. 361-377.

14. Cycling Towards Sustainability
Quebec, 2008. Bicycle Policy, (Available online at
http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/page/portal/Librairie/Publications/en/amenagements_
cyclables/pol_velo_en2008.pdf).
Share the Road Cycling Coalition, 2010. When Ontario Bikes, Ontario Benefits: A Green
Paper for an Ontario Bicycling Policy (available online at
www.sharetheroad.ca/str_green_paper_2010_03_02-pdf-r155217).
Stantec and Vandermark Consulting, 2008. Ontario Bike Plan, prepared for the Ontario
Cycling Alliance (Available online at
http://www.tbn.ca/forms/OntarioBikePlan-2008-web.pdf).

15. Thank you!
Questions?