Below are a few items that I think you might find interesting:
Statistics Canada has begun data collection for the “Canadian Survey on Everyday Travel”, and I am excited! This new survey aims to provide a more accurate picture of everyday travel, not just the commute to work. This approach will better reflect daily travel habits, including multimodal trips, caregiving trips, and leisure trips, and will inform infrastructure investment decisions for all Canadians, including people driving, cycling, walking, and riding transit. Looking through the specific questions, it's great to see data collection on access to various micromobility devices, use of subscription services like bike share, and capturing trips not made due to inadequate transportation options.
On the topic of national transportation surveys, data from the National Survey on Transport Poverty by Mobilizing Justice is now available. This is the first national survey designed specifically to understand transport poverty, receiving responses from over 27,000 people. The survey provides important data for researchers, governments, and organizations, including data on who can't afford the trips they need, who has a hard time reaching jobs, schools, and health care, who is forced to travel long distances and times, and who is exposed to pollution or unsafe conditions.
Currently, there are no specific regulatory requirements for lithium-ion batteries in Canada. The federal government is thinking about regulating them, but not (yet) for electric mobility devices like e-bikes. I've put a blog post together with more information, but the short version is that because e-bikes fall into the Motor Vehicle Safety Act's definition of a vehicle, they are excluded from current regulatory efforts for lithium-ion batteries through the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act.
A survey of more than 120 youth in Yellowknife conducted as part of Mobilizing Justice captures youth experiences with active transportation in the Northwest Territories. Over two-thirds of respondents indicated that active transportation is something that can be done all year (provided certain structural and environmental conditions are met). More than half of respondents reported using active transportation daily to get to school, a friend's house or for leisure trips, and responses indicate that active transportation is a group activity, typically done with a parent/guardian or a friend.
I wanted to give a shout-out to the Guelph Community for Active Transportation (GCAT) who, earlier this year, rallied to save winter bike lane maintenance. The proposal was made as part of the budget, with the City identifying a potential $650,000 in savings by closing bike lanes between December 10 to April 15 each year. The community came together to highlight the importance of winter bike lanes, including a 50+ person winter bike rally. The community was heard and the Mayor used their strong mayor powers to immediately reinstate winter maintenance.
Partners across the Ottawa-Gatineau National Capital Region are pushing for the launch of a public bike share system, and I am here for it. A few months ago, EnviroCentre published a bike share feasibility study, including regional vision, evaluation of service areas, and a bold and practical implementation plan. Recently, Bike Ottawa and Ecology Ottawa launched a petition calling on Ottawa City Council to launch the first phase of a bike share system by spring 2027. It's a fantastic community effort that is building a solid case and community momentum for the initiative. You can check out both items at the links below.
Vancouver bike share bike #1079 is officially the most-travelled shared bicycle in the Mobi bike share network. A fun analysis of bike share data posted online shows that the bike has travelled more than 17,300km across 2,263 trips since 2017. The bike is one of nearly 90 bikes that have travelled over 10,000km.
I had made a note a few months ago to include some interesting results from a survey by the Glebe Business Improvement Association (BIA). As shared by Bike Ottawa in their March newsletter, the survey found that patrons cycle to the Glebe BIA almost as much as they drive (13% vs 14%) and that business owners vastly overestimate the share of their clients that drive (94% in their opinion vs 14% in reality). Unfortunately, when I went to click on the link to the survey I received a 404 error. When I did a little more digging, it appears the BIA has taken down the survey results showing high pedestrian, transit, and cycling rates, and it's a hot topic of discussion on Reddit.
Did you know that Rovélo Creative (operated by Tom Flood) has launched a Patreon? I signed up as a member a few months ago, and love the weekly email with thought-provoking content about mobility and urban planning. If you're in a position to support the work, I encourage you to check it out and join as a member.
Congratulations to the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Transit on winning the Transportation Association of Canada's Mobility Achievement Award for its E-bike Rebate Program! The program distributed 7,040 rebates valued at $10 million between June 2023 and September 2025, leading to an average 20% reduction in car travel amongst participants.
Nova Scotia's recent budget was widely criticized for cutting $130 million in provincial grants, including funding for the arts, youth transit passes, African Nova Scotian organizations, people with disabilities, Mi'Kmaq cultural activities and History Month, active transportation, and more. A list shared by Future of Good (linked below) outlines the full list of devastating cuts. Due to pushback, Premier Houston eventually changed course and reversed about $53 million in cuts, reinstating funding for programming for people with disabilities, seniors and African Nova Scotian and Indigenous students. By my calculations, the nearly $1.5 million in cuts to active transportation funding remain in place, including cuts to the Blue Route Provincial Cycling Network, bicycle safety initiatives, Connect2 program, and trail maintenance grants.
It's been reported that Alberta plans to copy Ontario and make it harder for municipalities to build bike lanes. A law rumoured to be coming this fall will ask municipalities to justify implementing bike lanes, and possibly require the removal of existing ones. I know inter-provincial trade has been getting a big push these days, but I could do without the trading of terrible laws that ignore decades of research and the mobility needs of many. Advocates are mobilizing, and Vélo Canada Bikes' monthly cross-country advocacy call will be focused on Alberta this month. All VCB members are invited to participate. Join VCB as a member if you have not done so yet.
Municipal election season in Ontario officially underway and election day is scheduled for October 26, 2026. I encourage you to get involved. If you're not running as a candidate yourself (and I know several of you are, which is awesome!!), find a candidate you support, and support them. Volunteer (door knocking, phone banking, data entry), display a lawn/window sign, or make a financial donation. The past few years in particular have demonstrated how important it is to have political support for active transportation, and elections are a time to help make that happen. I am particularly a fan of dock knocking and have knocked on thousands of doors for municipal, provincial, and federal candidates. It's interesting and a fun way to meet cool people. Start making your election plan today and help elect the representatives our communities need.
Thanks for reading the full newsletter! Here are a few interesting job postings in the active transportation sector you, or someone you know, may be interested in:
