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The State of Edmonton's Cycling Infrastructure, 2024

Picture of Aaron Budnick

Assessing Edmonton’s Cycling Infrastructure: Insights from Can-BICS and What’s Needed for a Robust Network

Edmonton’s cycling infrastructure is at a critical crossroads. While investment in active transportation has increased, the city still lags behind in providing a safe, connected, and accessible cycling network that functions year-round. The Canadian Bicycle Infrastructure Classification System (Can-BICS), a national standard used to assess cycling infrastructure, provides a data-driven lens to evaluate the quality and safety of Edmonton’s bike network.

Using Can-BICS data, this report examines Edmonton’s current infrastructure, its alignment with safety and perceived comfort levels, and the changes needed to develop a truly functional, year-round cycling network.

The State of Edmonton’s Cycling Infrastructure

According to the Can-BICS 2025 Report, Edmonton has 226 km of cycling infrastructure, but much of this falls into low-comfort categories. In reality, the city has only a small fraction of true high-comfort infrastructure.

To put this in perspective:

🚲 Total Length of High-Comfort Bike Infrastructure: Under 40 km (protected bike lanes)

🚲 Total Local Street Bikeways Claimed: 200 km (but these are majority low-comfort shared streets, not true bikeways)

🔴 This means that protected cycling infrastructure represents less than 0.3% of the total road network in Edmonton.

Even worse, Edmonton’s modal share for cycling is just 1-2% year-round, meaning that cycling infrastructure is drastically underrepresented compared to the number of people who rely on it.

How Does Edmonton’s Infrastructure Compare?

Can-BICS categorizes cycling infrastructure into three safety and comfort levels:

  • High-Comfort (Best for Most Riders)

    • Protected Bike Lanes (Only 40 km) – Physically separated from traffic with dedicated barriers. Think about 102 Avenue in Wîhkwêntôwin =.

    • Bike Paths (4%) – Paved, off-road routes with no vehicle interaction. Think about linear parks like the Ribbon of Steel.

  • Medium-Comfort (Some Riders Comfortable, Many Unsafe Intersections)

    • Multi-Use Paths (27%) – Shared with pedestrians, often alongside roads but lacking cyclist priority at intersections. Think about 102 Avenue shared use path in Glenora.

  • Low-Comfort (Few Riders Feel Safe)

    • Local Street Bikeways (30%) – Shared streets with cars, no separation. Think about any roads you've biked on with a painted bike on the road and nothing else.

    • Painted Bike Lanes (26%) – Minimal separation from traffic, high crash risk. Think about 121 Street near the Brewery District.

🚨 Major Concern: Over Half of Edmonton’s Cycling Network Falls into Medium or Low Comfort Categories 🚨

With 53% of the bike network classified as either painted bike lanes or shared roadways, it’s no surprise that many residents find cycling unsafe, particularly in winter conditions.

The Problem: Perceived vs. Actual Safety

🚴‍♂️ Many cyclists feel safer on Multi-Use Paths (MUPs), but they are not actually safer.

  • MUPs lack intersection priority, meaning cyclists must yield to vehicles frequently.

  • Many vehicle-cyclist collisions occur at MUP crossings, where drivers fail to yield.

  • MUPs mix cyclists with pedestrians, leading to conflicts and unpredictable movements.

✅ Protected bike lanes provide actual safety.

  • They place cyclists where drivers expect them, reducing crashes.

  • Dedicated signals and priority crossings make cycling more predictable.

  • They support a wider range of users, including parents with children and those new to cycling.

Solution: The city must stop relying on MUPs and painted bike lanes as the primary cycling infrastructure. Instead, we need to prioritize a connected network of protected bike lanes and safe crossings.

What Edmonton Needs: A Year-Round, Safe, and Connected Network

To make cycling a viable, year-round transportation option, Edmonton must focus on:

1️⃣ Expanding High-Comfort Infrastructure 🚴‍♀️

  • Convert painted bike lanes into protected lanes with physical barriers.

  • Upgrade key multi-use paths with continuous crossings to reduce driver conflicts.

  • Implement more protected bike lanes in high-traffic corridors.

2️⃣ Building a Fully Connected Network 🔗

  • Close gaps between existing routes, especially short missing links that prevent direct, safe travel.

  • Ensure every ward has a direct cycling connection to its adjacent wards.

  • Improve connectivity between bike routes and major destinations (workplaces, schools, transit stations, shopping areas).

3️⃣ Investing in Winter Maintenance ❄️

  • Expand Priority 1 Snow Clearing to include more bike infrastructure.

  • Purchase dedicated snow-clearing equipment for bike lanes.

  • Ensure key cycling corridors are plowed immediately after major storms.

The Bottom Line: Cycling Infrastructure is Drastically Underfunded

Considering that:

  • Less than 0.3% of Edmonton’s road network is protected bike lanes, and

  • Only 1-2% of Edmontonians cycle year-round, but this number could be much higher with better investment,

🚲 Cycling infrastructure is not proportional to the needs of Edmonton’s population.

If Edmonton is serious about mode shift goals, reducing congestion, and providing equitable transportation options, we must fund and build a year-round, high-comfort cycling network.

🔹 More protected infrastructure. 🔹 Better intersection treatments. 🔹 A true Active Transportation Arterial Network with winter maintenance.

🚴‍♂️ The evidence is clear: Edmonton must stop treating cycling as an afterthought and invest in a real, safe, and connected cycling network for all seasons.