Media Releases and Opportunities

Cycling is the fastest growing mode of transportation in Canada, yet there is little understanding of who is opting for a bike and where they are choosing to do that.

To fill that knowledge gap, researchers from Dalhousie University and other institutes launched Pedal Poll/Sondo Vélo 2021, the first-ever national cycling count that collected data on the gender, age, location and race of people cycling in Canada.

More than 1,000 volunteers collected the information during the first week of June 2021, counting 79,735 cyclists across 68 sites from Vancouver to St. John’s, N.L., with a focus on 14 pilot cities.

The researchers found that Toronto and Vancouver had the highest cycling volumes, with more than 400 cyclists an hour on bike paths and cycle tracks. There were twice as many men as women, about 78 per cent people were adults and the majority of cyclists were white.

Sara Kirk, a professor of Health Promotion in Dalhousie’s School of Health and Human Performance and the scientific director of the Healthy Populations Institute, helped lead the project and is available to discuss how these important data could be used to promote the more equitable uptake of cycling in Canada.

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Media contact:
Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca