More and more inhabitants of Ottawa use their bikes daily, while the number of accidents decreases. Ottawa slowly strengthens its biking culture, but not all wards are equal on creating a safe environment for cyclists.

When Marina Cañellas, 26, arrived in Ottawa in early September, she was delighted to find out that biking is relatively safe in Ottawa : “I think Ottawa is a great place to go by bike everywhere. I love it !”

Cañellas has not always been an avid cyclist. “I’m from Barcelona”, she explained. “I think it’s more dangerous to bike there, because there are too much cars and no bike lanes. ”

But after living for just a few weeks in her new home city, she decided to give biking a second chance. “The first time I tried, I was a little bit scared,” she said. “I was thinking about the cars, etc. But now, it’s totally normal for me.”

“In fact, I was a little bit surprised that it was so easy to bike here,” she said.

The young Spanish woman lives in the Capital ward, just a few steps away from the Rideau Canal. She follows the bike path along the Canal everyday to go to work at the University of Ottawa, where she started an internship in bio-informatics. An ideal trail, that saves her time without having to worry about encounters with drivers.

Her roommate Savannah de Boer, 21, follows the same bike path to go to the University, where she is an exchange student in psychology.

“The pathway helps us a lot,” the young Danish student said. “You feel safer and you can go faster and you know you would meet only other bikers and people walking.”

The bike path leads directly to the city center and the University of Ottawa, and can enable many people to safely reach their workplaces in a short time. It might be the very reason why the Capital ward is one of the areas with the highest number of people who list bicycle as their main transportation to work, according to the 2011 Household Survey.

Map : The highest concentration of people who go to work mainly by bike can be found in the Glebe and Old Ottawa East, near the Rideau Canal. Another high concentration can be found in the Kitchissipi ward, where there is another secure bike path along the Ottawa River.

Source : 2011 Household survey

De Boer realized that some areas of the town might be more safe for cyclists than others, as she went one day by bike to a danish shop on Clyde ave, in Nepean.

“Cars drive faster there, and if they don’t see you after a turn, they can hit you,” she said. “I rode on the sidewalk, and I was not the only one !”. She felt safer when she finally arrived on the familiar bike path near the Canal.

Recently, concerns about the safety of cyclists on busy streets of the city center made headlines. This September, a 24 year-old woman was killed after being hit by a truck on Laurier ave. Three collisions took place just a few days after the opening of a new bike lane on O’Connor St in October.

David Chernushenko is the Councillor of the Capital ward and has been an advocate for encouraging a biking culture in Ottawa. According to him, biking is not without risks, but the general situation improved in the city.

“It is safer, it is much safer than in my childhood and teenage years in Ottawa,” he said. “It is safe enough to attract thousands of people to ride now who wouldn’t have ten years ago.” He cites the creation of segregated bike lanes, foot and cycling bridges, better signalisation, as well as efforts in education about sharing the road, as reasons for these improved safety. 

Ottawa becomes more and more safe for cyclists. The number of bike trips increased by 40% between 2005 and 2011 in Ottawa, according to a survey directed by the TRANS committee. At the same time, there is a decrease in the number of collisions involving bikes over the last few years, according to the yearly road safety reports issued by the city of Ottawa.

Chernushenko said that the next projects for improved infrastructure will concentrate in the center, citing the example of the biking lane from Laurier to Parliament hill that will be finished in 2018. He explained that the accepted logic is too create a continuous network in the center before developing other wards’ bike paths.

In the meantime, cycling will not be as easy for everyone as for the two young exchange students. For the moment, the only thing that might dissuade them from riding their bike is the Canadian winter.