Edmonton Bike Plan

Edmonton: Where people are invited to bike, for all reasons in all seasons.

Invitation acknowledges biking may not be the choice for everybody, and that’s fine! Inviting people to bike is about creating an environment where biking is both an enjoyable and practical option.

All reasons recognizes there are lots of reasons to travel by bike, and those reasons are different for each person. It recognizes that people make choices based on where they are biking to, when they are biking, who they are biking with, and their abilities and comfort levels.

All seasons acknowledges some people continue to ride their bike through the winter so the bike network needs to be designed to be used year-round.

Values

The values will help guide the development of the Bike Plan to ensure it reflects what’s important to us.

Equitable

Biking is a valid and practical option for people of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and walks of life.

Fun and Functional

Biking creates happier cities to live in. Edmonton puts the fun back in cycling and reignites the joy in adults that was found in childhood cycling.

Urban Spirit

Edmonton is a vibrant city and weaving cycling into our urban design allows people to thrive and enjoy the City. People bike because it is easy and it encourages people to experience and explore Edmonton.

Cultural Shift

Biking is accepted as a common way for people to move around Edmonton and people that walk, drive, roll and bike appreciate that biking is both fun and functional.

What We Heard - Phase 1: Aspiration and Values

Health and Comfort

Providing a bike network grounded in safety gives people a comfortable and secure way of getting around by bike. The network minimizes stress and anxiety about personal safety and security and other health and safety-related issues such as noise, vehicle pollution, headlight dazzle and spray from passing vehicles.

Connectivity 

The cycling network provides access to places where people want to bike without gaps or missing links. The network provides a diverse range of route options and experiences for users and opportunities to link to other modes of transportation.

Directness

The cycling network prioritizes direct and straight routes and minimizes out-of-direction travel and unnecessary stops.

Network Density

Grid size (distance between parallel routes in a network) depends on demand—higher demand areas have higher density.

Attractiveness

The cycling network is composed of routes that are aesthetically attractive, interesting, or pass through sociable places.

Integration

The function, design and use of a bike route is carefully considered so that it provides added value from an economic, social and safety perspective. Bike routes fit into an area’s and/or street’s context and are integrated into the road network in a way that makes sense to people who walk, roll, bike, take transit or drive.

What Does All Ages and Abilities Mean?

During the development of the Bike Plan, input received from Edmontonians, stakeholders, City of Edmonton staff, and partner agencies highlighted the need to provide bicycle infrastructure that is comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. Designing for all ages and abilities requires an approach that considers both the safety and comfort of a broad range of potential users.

Elements of bike design for all ages and abilities includes:

1. Design so that everyone will enjoy biking
2. Design for interactions with other transportation modes
3. Design considering all users
4. Design for effective maintenance
5. Design intersections with bikes in mind

Sharing Space

Communities are experiencing an evolution in the types of people who use bike routes. Those using bicycles, inline skates, skateboards, and scooters are being joined by those using powered micromobility vehicles such as e-bikes, e-scooters, and power-assisted cargo bikes. Considering how people rolling and walking share space will ensure the safety and comfort of both groups.

What We Heard - Phase 2: Preferences + Principles

The physical bike network is supported by program areas that help make biking an easier, safer and more enjoyable option. The program areas of focus include:

• Integration with transit
• Bike Share and Shared Micromobility
• Wayfinding
• Lighting
• Maintenance
• Education
• Encouragement
• Laws & Policies
• End-of-Trip Facilities

What We Heard - Phase 3: Priorities and Trade-offs (12.39 MB)

Details

The  Bike Plan Implementation Guide provides more detail on:

• Prioritization
• Resources and Timelines
• All-Seasons Network
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Implementation Examples
• Governance and Decision-Making Processes

Bike Plan District Connector Map

The future bike network map will guide the expansion of biking in Edmonton by identifying the general location of future bike routes in the city.

The future bike network is guided by the network principles and will continue to adapt and expand over time in response to community feedback, empirical evidence and changes to demographics or technology.