Winter Cycling

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Calgary AB, Winter Cyclist, Bow River Bike Trail, West of Downtown, Evening Winter Cycling Commute Home
©Photograph by J Chong, 2012

Want to increase winter cycling in your city?  So, What does it take to increase winter cycling?  Well, maybe a winter cycling program must be actively undertaken.  Such a program has a number of components, including the cycling infrastructure (including the roadway, road lighting, winter road maintenance), End of trip facilities (including bike parking, clothes storage, change facilities, clothes drying), efficient trip time from home to bike parking and to the office, and a social marketing component, focusing on selling the concept of winter cycling for commuting, for shopping, getting to transit stops with high service levels, and for other trip purposes. 

A cycling infrastructure needs to be there that is conducive to cycling in winter along with snow and ice clearing for bike trails, bike paths, bike lanes, and neighbourhood cycling streets, and maybe even some heated toilets.   As a lot of the winter commuting is done during hours of darkness, cyclists do not want the unexpected – black ice in intersections, build-up of water and ice at the side of roads, being forced by cars towards the curb with ice and snow build-up, and so on.  Adequate street lighting for commuting in the dark is a condition so that the challenges of the road can be seen in advance and in time for corrective action.

So, why should people cycle in the winter?  What is in it for the city?

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