Principle

Support more people to walk or cycle for everyday transportation.

Walking and cycling provide environmental, community, and personal benefits by helping to reduce traffic congestion and overall greenhouse gas emissions, supporting cleaner air, and providing physical activity. While the relationship between the built environment and health is complex, a community can be designed to facilitate healthy choices. A built environment that supports walking and cycling provides the opportunity for physical activity in everyday routines. As well, pedestrians and cyclists help animate streets and the public realm, fostering social connections. More people will choose to walk or cycle if they have appropriate, safe, and connected routes with supporting infrastructure. The following policies ensure that streets and transportation infrastructure are designed to support more people to choose walking and cycling to move around the city and beyond.

“If we’re going to talk about transport, I would say that the great city is not the one that has highways, but one where a child on a tricycle or bicycle can go safely everywhere.”

– Enrique Peñalosa, urbanist and former mayor of Bogotá

What are the health benefits of active transportation?

Active transportation helps to increase physical activity levels by providing opportunities for people to be active not only during sports and leisure activities but also as part of regular trips like walking to transit or getting groceries. Active transportation includes any human-powered travel such as walking, cycling, running, using a non-mechanized wheelchair, or skateboarding. Active transportation can reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and depression. When people use active transportation to get around, the whole city benefits through increased road safety for all users, environmental benefits, and a stronger sense of community and local economy.

Policies

8.4.1.

Consider opportunities to support cycling and pedestrian needs in all street and transportation infrastructure projects, including, but not limited to, dedicated cycling infrastructure, improved and widened sidewalks, street lighting, and bicycle parking.
 

8.4.2.

Ensure that appropriate pedestrian and cyclist connections and facilities are provided between Neighbourhoods and adjacent Mixed-use Nodes and Trail Corridor Areas.
 

8.4.3.

Prioritize pedestrian safety, comfort, and convenience by:

1. Providing either sidewalks or multi-use trails on both sides of all roadways, designed and built to the satisfaction of the City;
2. Designing all pedestrian crossings to be universally accessible and enhance safety and comfort for pedestrians, with preference given to at-grade crossings;
3. Providing trees, street furniture, and lighting to create a comfortable, walkable environment in areas with an anticipated high volume of pedestrians, including Downtown, Trail Corridor Areas, and Mixed-use Nodes; and
4. Including an Active Transportation Connectivity Plan, completed by a qualified professional, for all new or amended statutory plans and major development proposals, as deemed necessary by the City.
    

8.4.4.

Support the ongoing development and enhancement of a continuous and interconnected cycling network in all new development and redevelopment by:

1. Re-allocating road space and vehicle parking space to provide cycling facilities where appropriate; and
2. Installing separated cycling facilities on high-volume roads, or on-street facilities on low-volume roads, in accordance with City standards.
    

8.4.5.

Collaborate with neighbouring municipalities and other partners to support a connected intermunicipal trail system.
 

8.4.6.

Provide covered and secure bicycle storage in new and retrofitted transit stations and park-and-ride facilities.
 

8.4.7.

Ensure recreational trails and dedicated cycling lanes are designed to minimize the potential for conflicts between all users.