Project Context
Kelowna is the fastest-growing municipality in British Columbia and the 6th fastest in all of Canada (Hayes, 2017).
While it is a city with a relatively low population, its rapid growth rate presents an excellent opportunity for planners to prepare for the future by designing good transit networks to reduce private vehicle use. Since the 1950’s North American cities have been developed with an emphasis on automobile infrastructure, leaving walking and biking as low priorities (Harvey, 2009). Things like wider roads or large highways have been given precedent over safe bike paths or walkable streets. As cities grow, people move further out of the walkable urban center, towards the distant “commute by car” suburbs. This increases the demand for higher capacity roads and highways and further reduces the need for good walking or cycling infrastructure. Though modern urban planning has seen a slow shift away from car favoritism, many cities are severely lacking in a comprehensive and accessible cycling network.
Kelowna’s current bike lanes are primarily centered around its urban centers such as downtown where there are higher-density housing and shopping. These areas see the higher traffic of people throughout the day, and tend to be where most people commute for work. Most of it’s existing bike infrastructure is located within these areas, yet there are relatively fewer bike lanes to reach these areas, which makes commuting by car the favored method of transport.
While Kelowna already has a fairly comprehensive set of bike lanes, we wish to expand upon this by suggesting suitable locations for upgrading the existing infrastructure or recommending additional bike lanes if needed. Beyond purely describing gaps in the network and suitable topography, we approached our analysis through a lens of social equity and maximum community impact. To address social justice we prioritized areas with higher rates of poverty and higher rates of visible minorities. These groups usually have reduced access to public infrastructure and amenities, such as bike lanes, thus we give them special consideration to address traditionally inequalities. With respect to maximizing community impact, we conducted an analysis of potential points of interest, as well as communities that would benefit the most from better cycling infrastructure. This allows us to suggest bike lanes that would see the most use and be relevant to Kelowna’s citizens to reach their desired destinations. Overall our project focuses on upgrading the accessibility of existing bike lanes while filling a few key gaps in Kelowna’s bike lane network.
Project Objective
A) Identify areas where new bike lanes should be built, based on neighborhood demographic data, point of interest data, and road condition data in Kelowna.
B) Conduct an analysis to see if Kelowna’s existing bike lanes are socially equitable.