Active Transportation - Hamilton by Bike

A revamp of Hamilton's cycling routes for renewed cycling enthusiasm

Problem:

When the city only has out-of-date information readily available, prospective bikers have to do much of the route planning themselves. This could be a deterrent to biking, undermining the city’s current efforts to make biking easier (new infrastructure etc). Biking is a healthy, green alternative to cars, and increasing the number of bikers is an achievable task our team hopes to accomplish through some integrated research and planning.

Project Summary: This group created and updated the 10-12 bike routes listed on the city of Hamilton website, targeting those who are new to Hamilton and cycling in an attempt to get more people out of cars and onto bikes. This included the creation of new routes and suggestions of how both the current routes and descriptions might be adjusted based on new infrastructure, community feedback, and incorporating features of Hamilton to be highlighted.

https://www.hamilton.ca/home-neighbourhood/getting-around/biking-cyclists/cycling-routes-maps

Background Research

-Which other cities are using biking for tourism and how have they implemented it? How have they encouraged bikers and non-drivers?

- History of biking in Hamilton: how has cycling changed in Hamilton? What kind of infrastructure and community is there now?

- What are the needs of current and future bikers? How can the routes that we develop grow with the city of Hamilton?

- How do you create cycling routes? How does the government of Ontario’s Cycle Route Manual work?

Goals

1. Updating descriptions on City of Hamilton’s biking website

2. Creating new, fun cycling routes to emphasize the city’s attractions.

3. Changing routes that are no longer relevant

4. Create ranking criteria including difficulty, and safety to add to the biking maps

City Staff: Rachel Johnson, Cairan Egan

Instructors: Randy Kay, Elizabeth bang, Kojo Damptey, Darina Vasek

Students: Adam Locke, Esther Kok, Fatima Hameed, Madhura Kadam,

Ramona Ribaudo-Begin