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Cycling and Active Transportation in Edmonton

Interesting how a winter city like Oslo, Norway, has moved to virtually eliminate downtown parking to increase active transportation as it looks to meet the various emissions goals of the Paris climate agreement and in the process "discovering that restoring historic spaces to their pre-automobile states is as good for tourism, local business, and overall civic contentedness as it is for air quality and a shrinking carbon footprint."

Bold move given that Oslo is similar to Edmonton in that it only has 10,000 residents living in its downtown versus 90,000 that work (at least pre-COVID). That means many people have to travel downtown in some way to shop/eat and by eliminating most parking, its not going to be driving. I'm not advocating this for Edmonton, although the following would be nice.

This past winter, they introduced a subsidy program to reimburse cyclists for half the cost of equipping their bikes with studded tires. The subsidy applied not only to the tires themselves, but also to bike shops for fitting and installing the tires. More than 4,000 people applied for the funds within the first five days, prompting city officials to expand the program to accommodate more riders.

www.sofn.com

Studded tire subsidy is a hit with Oslo’s winter bicyclists | Sons of Norway

Norway is well known for its ambitious—and successful—efforts to encourage greener, healthier lifestyles among its residents. But the latest of these efforts may come as a surprise even among those who are accustomed to Norway’s overachieving outdoorsiness...
www.sofn.com www.sofn.com
 
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TAS said:
More than 4,000 people applied for the funds within the first five days, prompting city officials to expand the program to accommodate more riders.
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This last sentence really struck me - such a different response than I imagine our government having. It would be "oh, the funds ran out? I guess we're done for this year. Try again next year"
 
CplKlinger said:
Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but the only bike I managed to find is in the ballpark of ~$500. It's on its way, but I know that $500 isn't the price of a high-end bike. Do you think it could last me a few years? I'd love to use it to commute to work instead of driving.

globalnews.ca

Edmonton bike industry experiencing ‘overload of demand’ - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

A boom in bike sales, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to continue for years to come.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
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Congratulations! I don't think it's easy to assess the quality of the bike by the price, but I'm sure with a little bit of love and care, it'll last you decades. I've ridden Dutch bikes from before the moon landings. Most Dutch people I know don't even take very good care of their bikes and leave their chains to rust in the rain, which actually led to one snapping on me as I was biking once. Not fun! My city bike right now is from 1974, ordered through Sears, and cost $150 on Kijiji. I just cleaned the chain and re-lubricated it recently. I expect it'll give me a good 20 years even though I've put it through some nasty winter riding.

Once this panini is finished, you should check out Bike Edmonton! They have two workshops where they have the supplies and know-how to help you fix or maintain your own bike. They won't do any work for you because they value the learning more than the work :) Right now, they're doing paid service though. https://bikeedmonton.ca/repair-service-booking

Edit: Bike Edmonton is a treasure and I missed it dearly when in the Netherlands.
 
Hey! Thought I would share this here in case it is useful for anyone here!

I created a map of #yeg's Bike Network that you can add to Google Maps so that it is easier to plan and visualize your #yegbike route on your device. I thought I would share it here in case others find it useful! I will make sure to update it as new routes are made in Edmonton.

Steps to access the map:

  1. Open the link on your device (Note: Make sure you are logged in to your Google account)
  2. Select ‘Legend’ and then select the ‘Star’ icon to save this map to your Google Maps account
  3. Open Google Maps on your phone/tablet
  4. Select the ‘Saved’ icon at the bottom of the screen
  5. Find and select the ‘Maps’ Icon
  6. Select the map to add it as a layer onto your Google Maps
Note: If you remove the bike network layer from your map, you will have to re-add it.

See something missing? Is there an inaccurate route? Submit a change request here!

Created by: Daniel Morin (Twitter: dangao95)

**Sources:**Edmonton Open Data. Bike Routes. https://data.edmonton.ca/Transportation-Infrastructure/Map-View-Bike-Routes/2bqu-nck6Additional routes provided by Daniel and feedback from users.
edmonton.png
 
DutchBoy said:
Congratulations! I don't think it's easy to assess the quality of the bike by the price, but I'm sure with a little bit of love and care, it'll last you decades. I've ridden Dutch bikes from before the moon landings. Most Dutch people I know don't even take very good care of their bikes and leave their chains to rust in the rain, which actually led to one snapping on me as I was biking once. Not fun! My city bike right now is from 1974, ordered through Sears, and cost $150 on Kijiji. I just cleaned the chain and re-lubricated it recently. I expect it'll give me a good 20 years even though I've put it through some nasty winter riding.

Once this panini is finished, you should check out Bike Edmonton! They have two workshops where they have the supplies and know-how to help you fix or maintain your own bike. They won't do any work for you because they value the learning more than the work :) Right now, they're doing paid service though. https://bikeedmonton.ca/repair-service-booking

Edit: Bike Edmonton is a treasure and I missed it dearly when in the Netherlands.
Click to expand...
That was very reassuring to read, thank you! I'll definitely check out Bike Edmonton at some point. I'd love to learn how to take care of my bike myself, so they sound like the perfect organization :D
 
CplKlinger said:
That was very reassuring to read, thank you! I'll definitely check out Bike Edmonton at some point. I'd love to learn how to take care of my bike myself, so they sound like the perfect organization :D
Click to expand...
Check on line, there are a number of basic maintenance videos. But get some chain lube, and chain cleaner. the longer you can keep the drive train clean and lubed the longer it will last. If you are looking for a higher quality bike. Check in with all the LBS and get on a call list. also check out pink bike for used bikes for sale. Bikes and parts are hard to find now. My shop found a chain for my bike and have sat on it for 2 months waiting for my service appointment that was 4 weeks wait.
 
danimori said:
Hey! Thought I would share this here in case it is useful for anyone here!

I created a map of #yeg's Bike Network that you can add to Google Maps so that it is easier to plan and visualize your #yegbike route on your device. I thought I would share it here in case others find it useful! I will make sure to update it as new routes are made in Edmonton.

Steps to access the map:

  1. Open the link on your device (Note: Make sure you are logged in to your Google account)
  2. Select ‘Legend’ and then select the ‘Star’ icon to save this map to your Google Maps account
  3. Open Google Maps on your phone/tablet
  4. Select the ‘Saved’ icon at the bottom of the screen
  5. Find and select the ‘Maps’ Icon
  6. Select the map to add it as a layer onto your Google Maps
Note: If you remove the bike network layer from your map, you will have to re-add it.

See something missing? Is there an inaccurate route? Submit a change request here!

Created by: Daniel Morin (Twitter: dangao95)

**Sources:**Edmonton Open Data. Bike Routes. https://data.edmonton.ca/Transportation-Infrastructure/Map-View-Bike-Routes/2bqu-nck6Additional routes provided by Daniel and feedback from users. View attachment 313653
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Love to see how that matches up with the Strava heat map this Month.
https://www.strava.com/heatmap#10.16/-113.73931/53.49663/hot/all
 
thommyjo said:
Does edmonton have open data on cycling? Montreal and Calgary both seem to! Would love to see some numbers for ours as we build out infastructure.

Here's an example of calgary's counter map: http://www.eco-public.com/ParcPublic/?id=4190
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I found this database on Edmonton's open data portal! It's not the most intuitive, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get a count for each month instead of each day, but I do like that it breaks down the numbers by area so that we can get a sense of where the bicycle traffic is busiest. Here is a map of the counters. There's also this database, which is no longer updated but goes back further than the current one. Lastly, I found this counter which is specifically for one stretch of bike lane 100th Avenue and east of 107th street.
 
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CplKlinger said:
I found this database on Edmonton's open data portal! It's not the most intuitive, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get a count for each month instead of each day, but I do like that it breaks down the numbers by area so that we can get a sense of where the bicycle traffic is busiest. Here is a map of the counters. There's also this database, which is no longer updated but goes back further than the current one. Lastly, I found this counter which is specifically for one stretch of bike lane 100th Avenue and east of 107th street.
Click to expand...
How do you find the counts? I only see the locations
 
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