The Ottawa Citizen

For residents of Copenhagen, Denmark, up to 60 per cent of trips -- errands and commutes -- are made by bicycle. In most Canadian cities, residents use a bicycle for only about one or two per cent of trips.

The difference? There is a culture of cycling in Copenhagen that makes riding a bike "like brushing your teeth," as one municipal official there has put it. That culture exists thanks to the infrastructure and planning that makes cycling in Copenhagen accessible, convenient and safe.

A cycling summit organized by Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar at St. Giles Church in the Glebe last weekend was supposed to begin the process of taking Ottawa in that direction. The summit reflected a trend across Canada, a willingness to view cycling as more than just recreation. Many urban planners say the time has come for governments to take cycling seriously as an alternative to cars. The City of Toronto took a major step in that direction recently when it proposed the removal of a whole traffic lane on downtown Jarvis Street in order to accommodate bikes.

"Transportation is not about moving cars, it never has been and never should be. Transportation is about moving people," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. Miller is correct, of course. And yet civic leaders have been inexcusably slow in implementing this approach in their transportation planning.

But there are signs of change.

The City of Ottawa produced a plan last year that would factor cycling into infrastructure planning. However, action on the plan has been stalled, even though Dewar believes both the city and the National Capital Commission are keen to make the city more cycling-friendly.

Ottawa is blessed with some of the most beautiful and extensive bicycle paths in Canada, thanks largely to the National Capital Commission. But the network is designed for recreation, not commuting.

Most commuting cyclists prefer lanes on roadways to recreational paths, because roadways are more direct and faster. In Europe, lanes are separated from car traffic with barriers, which improves safety and, in turn, increases usage.

There are some traffic lanes in Ottawa, marked with painted lines, but they tend to be patchy and can end abruptly. Cyclists who use paths must often complete their commute on the road. Closing those gaps in the cycling network ought to be a priority for the city and the NCC.

The City of Ottawa and other levels of government must start thinking of cyclists as part of the overall transportation picture -- and an attractive one at that, given the low impact of cycling on the environment and on infrastructure. The health benefits are self-evident.

So what does this mean in practice? It means that Canadian cities need to carve out dedicated cycling lanes on major transportation routes, with safety barriers to protect riders from cars. Bicycle-sharing services are also worth looking at. There are plenty of European models from which to glean best practices. Federal and provincial governments should provide incentives to encourage municipalities to accelerate this transformation.

It's true that Canada is not Europe, and our winters make it impossible for many people to cycle year-round. But in many of our big cities, cycling is a real option for six months of the year. Ottawa in particular already has a strong recreational biking culture. With a few planning tweaks, the capital could become a centre for the new urban cycling movement.