Jane’s Ride gains momentum
LAUNCH OF BIKEMAPS WEBSITE EMBRACED BY LOCAL CYCLISTS
A “small, but mighty” group of cyclists braved chilly, wet weather for the second annual Jane’s Ride on Sunday.
Building upon the popular Jane’s Walk, which aims to get residents out and about to learn more about the history of their neighbourhoods, Jane’s Ride puts a different spin on similar goals. The event was organized by the BikeBridge Cycling Association.
“We’re hoping to showcase cycling as an every day activity, and a social and community activity, so a Jane’s Ride is a great way to do that,” said Tyler Stewart, president of BikeBridge Cycling Association. “Jane’s Walk is really cool idea. Jane’s Ride is just a bit faster version.”
This year, cyclists went on a guided tour of the river valley beginning at Fort Whoop-Up. They were met by guest speakers from the community and the City of
Lethbridge at various stops along the way.
It was also the launch of a new website in Lethbridge,
BikeMaps.org, a research project aimed at improving cyclist safety.
BikeMaps.org is a web map created in the Geography department at the University of Victoria in 2014.
“It’s a place where people who bike can report collisions, near misses, falls, hazards or thefts,” said Karen Laberee, executive director of BikeMaps.org. “It’s a good way to highlight problem areas, hopefully before something really tragic happens.”
The reason they started it is they found out most cycling collisions aren’t captured by official data through police or insurance claims, she explained.
“So a lot of times when cities want to upgrade their infrastructure or do some planning for active transportation, they just don’t have the data.”
The website also allows other cyclists to see where the problem spots are.
People can map all over the world on BikeMaps.org, but promotion efforts are focused on certain cities. Last year, they received a Public Health Agency of Canada grant to bring BikeMaps.org to several Canadian cities. Lethbridge is one of them.
The BikeBridge Cycling Association applied for the opportunity. Stewart said they saw it as the perfect chance to gather more data that city transportation planners can use to see where cycling infrastructure needs to be created, expanded, or improved.
“With the City of Lethbridge currently undertaking their Cycling Master Plan, we knew that this was a really great time to gather more data in support of additional cycling infrastructure,” said Stewart. “We have awesome multi-use pathways here, and awesome trails in the coulees, but what we don’t have is a safe streetscape for cyclists in Lethbridge.”
We have awesome multi-use pathways here, and awesome trails in the coulees, but what we don’t have is a safe streetscape for cyclists in Lethbridge.
– Tyler Stewart – BikeBridge Cycling
Stewart hopes with better infrastructure in place, more people will choose cycling not just for recreation, but for every day transportation.
“We know that more cyclists means a happier, healthier, lower carbon community,” he said. “So if we can be part of that trend to get some cars off the road and to have more people cycling to and from work, or to shopping, it will be a net gain for the community.”
Laberee hopes to see the public using the website, which also has a mobile application.
“We’re really excited to see it take off in Lethbridge,” she said. The reports are anonymous but they do want people to provide as many details as possible.
“That is one of the benefits of reports on BikeMaps.org, is cyclists can give a detailed description ... of what the issue is from the cyclist’s perspective. That’s been the real strength of the tool.”
Users of the site can also register to receive account notifications of any incidents within a certain geographical area, or even for the entire city.
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