This morning a bunch of volunteers and I went out to count the traffic arriving at Bay and Laurier from 7:30-8:30 am. It’s a busy intersection with inbound commuters and especially with inbound cyclists near the start of our spine-route Laurier bike lanes. I was curious as to how much of the traffic is bikes given what I’m perceiving as a big leap in cycling numbers with the new return-to-office rules.
What we found surprised all of us. We knew that there would be significant bike traffic, but it turns out 42% of the traffic at that intersection is bikes (with some e-scooters and a skateboard thrown in for good measure). Here’s the stats (inbound is just north and eastbound traffic – a large chunk of which I’m assuming are downtown commuters).
| Motor vehicles | Bikes | |
| Southbound | 0 | 41 |
| Eastbound | 232 | 178 |
| Northbound | 117 | 78 |
| Westbound | 129 | 51 |
| 478 | 348 | |
| 826 | ||
| 57.9% | 42.1% | |
| Inbound | 349 | 256 |
| 605 | ||
| 57.7% | 42.3% |
In a couple of months (or sooner), many of those riders are going to put their bikes away for the winter. If they don’t take transit – and the current state of transit is likely why so many are on their bikes to begin with – then they’re just going to add to the congestion and parking woes we’re already hearing about if they drive instead.
Great transit doesn’t just serve those who ride it – we all have a stake in promoting its use and investing in its success.
Thanks to Derrick, Amanda, Patrick, Jim and Jay for joining Steph and I at 7:30 in the morning to get this done.
