Increasing Cycling in Canada: A Guide to What Works, offers municipalities ten recommended actions to grow cycling in their communities. Evidence for the guide comes from five years of Canadian-specific work by researchers from Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver. Between 2014 and 2019, we analyzed national demographic, geographic and transportation data sets, evaluated cycling programs, conducted interviews with municipal staff and community organizations, and gathered costing information for infrastructure projects and cycling programs from across the country. We also carried out research on how to measure cycling benefits, particularly those that cut across the silos of economic, social and health factors.
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Metcalf Foundation, we published our findings in a series of academic papers and reports, which the guide draws upon. The original research can be found under Supporting Research.
While the guide points to high quality, protected cycling infrastructure as a key contributor to cycling growth, it also makes recommendations covering programming and engagement, culture, policy and addressing hills and inclement weather. For example, in suburban and smaller communities where cycling growth has been slower, the guide recommends using data to identify neighbourhoods with high cycling potential and developing partnerships with local community organizations to build cycling culture. The guide’s recommendations all include examples of how these actions have been implemented in communities across Canada.