Do New Bike Lanes Lead to A More Equitable City? An Equity Analysis of Cycling Infrastructure

Keywords: equity, disparities, accessibility, cycling
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 63

Abstract

Montreal made significant additions to its bicycle network in order to promote cycling as a mode of transportation. Yet, advocacy reports have argued that certain groups have disproportionately low access to bicycle networks, restricting their opportunities to connect with employment opportunities, health and educational services, and the community at large. Using the Island of Montreal as a study case, the main objective of this research is to investigate how the bicycle investments and their benefits were distributed throughout society. We addressed this objective by exploring longitudinal associations among sociodemographic characteristics at the Dissemination Area level, bike lane access, destination accessibility, and network connectivity. We found that low-income neighborhoods experienced better access to bicycle network and provided greater levels of destination accessibilities, while neighborhoods with higher percentage of visible minorities and residents with low level of educations lacked bike lane provision and destinations. Furthermore, we classified DAs based on a composite measure of destination accessibility and connectivity. Recent immigrants, minority, Black, and less-educated populations were consistently overrepresented in the category defined as having low accessibility and low connectivity, reflecting an environmental injustice. These results highlight the need to incorporate equity into transportation plans, and this methodology represents a useful tool for informing transport policy initiatives to advance bicycle equity.