Closing Cycling's Gender Gap — CityLAB Hamilton

What barriers do women in Hamilton face to cycling, and what can be done to increase the rates?

Project Description:

Despite the growing popularity of cycling in Hamilton, there remains a gender gap in participation. While the number of local trips made by bike more than doubled from 2011 to 2016, women are cycling at lower rates and account for one-third of trips. Several factors have been attributed to this imbalance, including safety concerns, lack of appropriate infrastructure, and cultural attitudes toward cycling. Women often report feeling unsafe cycling on busy roads, and the lack of separated bike lanes and bike parking facilities exacerbates this issue. Additionally, cycling is often seen as a male-dominated activity, which can discourage women from participating. Addressing these issues and promoting cycling as a safe, accessible, and inclusive mode of transportation is critical to closing the gender gap in cycling and promoting more sustainable and equitable urban transportation systems. The City's Sustainable Mobility Team leads the delivery of cycling facilities, programs, and services that help expand mobility options. We will start an update to the Cycling Master Plan and Pedestrian Mobility Plan, and tackling the gender gap will be a priority.

In Scope

Students will be making maps on gender and cycling. Maps will highlight how the gender gap in cycling varies across the City of Hamilton and explore some potential reasons behind these trends (concerns over safety and household serving travel). Students will also be invited to make any additional maps they seem as related to the topic as part of their assignments.

City staff: Rachel Johnson

Instructor name: Léa Ravensbergen, PhD Assistant Professor, School of Earth, Environment & Society

Course name: ENVSOCTY 3LT3: Transportation Geography School of Earth, Environment, and Society

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