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Ottawa bicyclists have easy access to the O-Train but are desperately short of routes to get through the downtown core, according to a new study comparing bike commuting in five Canadian cities.
In fact, Ottawa ranked last in the number cycling paths and bike lanes through the downtown, according to the study, Cycle Cities, released Thursday by the Pembina Institute. Researchers compared bike commuting in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa.
“What we found was that Ottawa really relies on its multi-use trail network — it’s an extensive network — and it’s expanding its on-street cycling facilities, but there’s still some work to do in connecting the gaps,” said Nithya Vijayakumar, a transportation analyst with the Pembina Institute.
“It needs to look at where people are going, either for their employment or other destinations, then filling the gaps in the network. It doesn’t necessarily have to be door-to-door, but closer than they are now.”
Ottawa has just five kilometres of segregated bike lanes in its downtown, last among the five cities, and was last again in the total length of downtown bike routes (segregated lanes, painted lanes, separate bike paths or signed routes) with 221 kilometres. In comparison, Montreal has 72 kilometres of segregated lanes and 648 kilometres of total bike routes.
The researchers acknowledge that Ottawa is difficult to compare with other cities because so much of it is rural and the Greenbelt separates the suburbs of Orléans, Barrhaven and Kanata from the downtown core. In fact, the Pembina study limited itself to the area and the 333,000 people who live inside the Greenbelt, meaning much of the roughly 600 kilometres of NCC paths and the city’s suburban bike routes wasn’t factored in. Ottawa did score high, however, in integrating its bike network with the O-Train, with every stop within 400 metres of a bike route.
Each city had its strengths and its own way of encouraging bike commuting, Vijayakumar said. Vancouver makes good use of signed bike routes to channel cyclists along quieter residential street. It also had the lowest crash rate, with less than one collision per 100,000 bike trips. Montreal has the most bike lanes, but the highest crash rate (seven per 100,000 trips). Ottawa was in the middle of the pack for safety, with three crashes per 100,000 trips.
Ottawa is making progress in its efforts to make downtown bike-friendly, said Alex deVries, vice-president of Citizens for Safe Cycling. The planned O’Connor Street bike lane from Lansdowne to Wellington, a bi-directional bike path beside the U.S. Embassy on Mackenzie Avenue and the newly named Adàwe Crossing, which opens Dec. 4 over the Rideau River at Strathcona Park, will all make a difference, he said.
“The bridge is going to be a big improvement,” deVries said. “If you live in Vanier and worked downtown you would have to use the Cummings Bridge, which is horrible. Now you get to go entirely on residential streets and over a comfortable bridge.”
The Calgary-based Pembina Institute bills itself as a “clean energy thing tank.” The full report is available on its website, www.pembina.org.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
In fact, Ottawa ranked last in the number cycling paths and bike lanes through the downtown, according to the study, Cycle Cities, released Thursday by the Pembina Institute. Researchers compared bike commuting in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa.
“What we found was that Ottawa really relies on its multi-use trail network — it’s an extensive network — and it’s expanding its on-street cycling facilities, but there’s still some work to do in connecting the gaps,” said Nithya Vijayakumar, a transportation analyst with the Pembina Institute.
“It needs to look at where people are going, either for their employment or other destinations, then filling the gaps in the network. It doesn’t necessarily have to be door-to-door, but closer than they are now.”
Ottawa has just five kilometres of segregated bike lanes in its downtown, last among the five cities, and was last again in the total length of downtown bike routes (segregated lanes, painted lanes, separate bike paths or signed routes) with 221 kilometres. In comparison, Montreal has 72 kilometres of segregated lanes and 648 kilometres of total bike routes.
The researchers acknowledge that Ottawa is difficult to compare with other cities because so much of it is rural and the Greenbelt separates the suburbs of Orléans, Barrhaven and Kanata from the downtown core. In fact, the Pembina study limited itself to the area and the 333,000 people who live inside the Greenbelt, meaning much of the roughly 600 kilometres of NCC paths and the city’s suburban bike routes wasn’t factored in. Ottawa did score high, however, in integrating its bike network with the O-Train, with every stop within 400 metres of a bike route.
Each city had its strengths and its own way of encouraging bike commuting, Vijayakumar said. Vancouver makes good use of signed bike routes to channel cyclists along quieter residential street. It also had the lowest crash rate, with less than one collision per 100,000 bike trips. Montreal has the most bike lanes, but the highest crash rate (seven per 100,000 trips). Ottawa was in the middle of the pack for safety, with three crashes per 100,000 trips.
Ottawa is making progress in its efforts to make downtown bike-friendly, said Alex deVries, vice-president of Citizens for Safe Cycling. The planned O’Connor Street bike lane from Lansdowne to Wellington, a bi-directional bike path beside the U.S. Embassy on Mackenzie Avenue and the newly named Adàwe Crossing, which opens Dec. 4 over the Rideau River at Strathcona Park, will all make a difference, he said.
“The bridge is going to be a big improvement,” deVries said. “If you live in Vanier and worked downtown you would have to use the Cummings Bridge, which is horrible. Now you get to go entirely on residential streets and over a comfortable bridge.”
The Calgary-based Pembina Institute bills itself as a “clean energy thing tank.” The full report is available on its website, www.pembina.org.
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
