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An Example to Follow? Vancouver Is a Pioneer with Its Protected Cycling Network

By Monica Buck
An Example to Follow? Vancouver Is a Pioneer with Its Protected Cycling Network

Four years ago, Vancouver’s city council set a very ambitious goal to reach a bike mode split of 7% by 2020. That was achieved in 2015, 5 years ahead of the plan, which is a pretty amazing feat. And the number of cyclists in the city is still growing. The work commute mode split is at an astonishing 10%, which puts Vancouver in a category of its own in North America. So what is behind this massive improvement?

The riders themselves say that they feel safe to ride in Vancouver, and it is no wonder why. Vancouver started to build separate protected bike lanes which seem to be really safe and a joy to ride on. Plus the city council is constantly trying to re-engineer and tweak some parts of the lanes to make them even better. That example should be followed all around the world.

Here’s just one fact from Dale Bracewell from the City of Vancouver: “When the city had just painted bike lanes on Hornby Street, the share of women cycling was 28%. After the landscaped protected bike lanes were constructed and after years of growth, the share of women cycling by 2015 has grown by 40%. They now make up 39% of the total people cycling.”

Amazing news, right? You can watch the video above and see for yourself what a progress the city of Vancouver has made.

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