Bicycling in the Waterloo Region – A Viable Option

By Karin Kliewer

Published June 2002

The impact of the automobile on human health and the environment is clear. Increasingly cities, municipali­ties and governments across North America are starting to promote trans­portation planning that reduces per­sonal vehicle use. A move in this di­rection is especially relevant here in the Waterloo Region where we have developed a well-known reputation for poor air quality. In a study done in May 2000, Kitchener was rated the highest out of 24 Canadian cities for concentration of ground-level ozone and fifth for particulate matter, corn­ing in ahead of cities like Toronto, Windsor and Hamilton. On a provin­cial scale, Waterloo Region’s local carpooling website estimates that 1900 people in Ontario will die prematurely this year, and 1400 more will be hospi­talized due to illness caused by particulate matter. The Ontario gov­ernment spends approximately $1 bil­lion a year on health care related to air pollution alone. While we can’t change the various factors coming from outside of our region that contribute to air quality, we can make very real contributions when we minimize our personal vehicle use.

Reducing automobile use holds ecological savings for the planet, but it also holds financial savings for us. The real cost of owning a car is much higher than it seems at first glance. Consider the physical costs of road maintenance and repair, fuel production and clean up, parking fees and building new lots. Add in the more intangible costs of traffic congestion, medical care, air and noise pollution, urban sprawl, isolation of people and the breakdown of com­munity. When factoring in all of these “hidden” costs, only 10% of the world’s population can afford a car whereas 90% can afford a bicycle. The Nova Scotia Climate Change Centre esti­mates the average Canadian could save $850-$1000 per year by using bi­cycle transportation instead of driving.

Bicycles are affordable not only for people. The infrastructure needed for bicycles is affordable for cities as well. Ivan Illich demonstrates the effective­ness of bicycles in urban space when he calculates that “eighteen bicycles can be parked in the place of one car, thirty of them can move along in the space devoured by a single automo­bile. It takes two lanes to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using modern trains, four lanes to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only one lane for them to pedal across on bicycles.” He shows how bicycles add further to their simple efficiency by being the only mode of transportation (other than pedestrian) that allows people to travel directly from one destination to the next.

The challenge we face then is to begin to remove vehicles from our cit­ies, while continuing to provide suffi­cient mobility. However, without an accessible, realistic and safe non-mo­torized transportation system very few people will feel encouraged to get out of their cars and onto their bicycles. As a response to the inequities and negative impacts of an auto-domi­nated transportation system, we are seeing an endorsement of cycling and integrating bicycles into new transpor­tation plans.

The Waterloo Region has re­sponded by beginning a study that fo­cuses on creating a long-term vision for a network of cycling facilities that will meet the needs of both cyclists and non-cyclists in the region. This study, known as the Regional Cycling Master Plan, looks at implementing this “integrated cycling system” over the next 50 years in our region, devel­oping awareness of the benefits of cy­cling, and enforcing safe cycling prac­tices.

Short-term components of the Plan include a five year goal to provide es­sential cycling route links that will connect with all major existing cycling traffic areas, and a modest ambition to have doubled cycling trips to 2% of all trips taken in the region by the year2016. Several focus group meetings have been held to determine issues that should be addressed in the Plan, and a Regional Cycling Advisory Commit­tee comprised of both citizen and mu­nicipal representation has been set in place to provide a formal citizen voice to the planning process. Currently the Plan is in a process of review, with the expectation to again include public input into the process in mid-June 2002 when new policies, networks and de­sign concepts will be discussed. It is important to see an increased citizen voice at this time on issues such as a commitment to safety, making con­nections between existing cycling routes, and public education around cycling, in order for our region to reach beyond the 2% goal that has been set.

At the same time as cycling strate­gies are being developed on a regional level, we can find personal ways to pro­mote cycling. Finding bike-friendly routes, cycling with a partner, partici­pating in the monthly Critical Mass rides, safely taking up a lane, and learning basic bicycle maintenance are all ways to become more familiar with cycling as a basic mode of transporta­tion.

Beyond cycling, other viable alter­natives to single automobile use in­clude living near work, walking, telecommuting, carpooling, car shar­ing, and taking public transit. Discover the sustainable modes that can become part of a daily routine for you, to help reduce urban sprawl and improve the health of your community.