Overview
Despite significant investment in cycling infrastructure within municipalities across North America, little is known about how people engage with multiple new facilities of varying accessibility within the wider urban geography, and especially who benefits the most from them. This study examines 46 cycle tracks and bike lanes constructed between 2020 and 2022, totaling over 91 km in three major Canadian cities – Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal.
Study Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand who uses newly built cycling facilities in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal, three of the largest urban areas in Canada.
Methods
- Facility selection
- Spatial analyses and estimations conducted in ArcGIS Pro
- Online travel survey in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal
- Logistic and weighted Bayesian cross-classified multilevel models
Key Findings
- Findings suggest that comparable amount of new infrastructure may not translate into comparable use across populations.
- Accounting for proximity, facility attributes, and sociodemographic differences can support more equitable, demand-responsive infrastructure planning.