Submission ID 115237
| Session Title | TP - Health and Equity in Transportation |
|---|---|
| Title | Monitoring where new bicycle infrastructure is built across Canada: Implications for health and equity |
| Abstract | Cycling can help to create cities that are healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable. Yet to achieve population health benefits, greater access to safe and comfortable bicycle infrastructure is necessary. Data inconsistencies—across jurisdictions and across time—limit the ability to identify areas that are good for cycling and where investments are happening. The Canadian Bikeway Comfort and Safety (Can-BICS) classification system was developed to provide a consistent nomenclature for infrastructure type and safety and comfort class (high/medium/low). Using OpenStreetMap data and Can-BICS, we developed Canada’s first national bicycle infrastructure dataset in 2022. We have now released a 2024 update. Our objective is to measure the change in bicycle infrastructure from 2022 to 2024 to understand: 1) what types of infrastructure changed; 2) where the changes happened; and 3) what population groups were impacted. We measured differences in length and type of bicycle infrastructure within all Census Subdivisions in Canada. We related differences in the Can-BICS metric with population composition for equity-deserving groups (children, older adults, recent immigrants, racialized people, and people with low incomes) within Dissemination Areas, overall, by size of city, and for specific cities. Beyond the 23,500 km of bicycle infrastructure identified in 2022, over 3,000 additional km were identified in 2024; 70% of this increase were multi-use paths. Many additions were in small- and medium-sized cities, whereas large cities with established networks showed little change. Overall, areas with more children or older adults tended to have less bicycle infrastructure while areas with more recent immigrants, racialized, or low-income residents had more, with variability in these patterns in particular cities. Understanding where supportive bicycle infrastructure exists nationally is not only important for monitoring access but has implications for policy and practice. We observed a shift toward higher quality and more equitable bicycle infrastructure, but many neighbourhoods with children or older adults continue to have gaps. |
| Presentation Description (for App) | |
| Author and/or Presenter Information | Meghan Winters, Simon Fraser University Karen Laberee, Simon Fraser University Colin Ferster, Other |
