Bicycle Master Plan Update Engagement Summary Report · Executive Summary In the spring of 2014 the City of Victoria began an engagement process to help shape an updated Bicycle Master

Bicycle Master Plan UpdateEngagement Summary ReportNovember 30, 2013 – June 8, 2014

Contents

The Vision for Cycling in Victoria ...............................................................................1

Executive Summary........................................................................................................... 2

Part 1: Introduction, Engagement Objectives and Process Design ............ 3

Part 2: Engagement Channels ......................................................................................4Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition Workshop .................................................................4

University of Victoria Focus Groups ...............................................................................4

Information Station Open Houses ..................................................................................4

Workshops for Current Cyclists ......................................................................................5

Workshops for Future Cyclists ........................................................................................5

Bicycle Master Plan Survey ............................................................................................6

VicMap Route Improvement Suggestions ......................................................................6

Part 3: What We Heard, Next Steps and Lessons Learned ............................7

city of victoria | Engagement Summary Report 1

The Vision for Cycling in Victoria

“Safe, friendly and comfortable”

“Cycling is the desirable choice, the easier option over others”

“People young & old riding peacefully along separated bike lanes”

“A network of main cycling arteries (separated cycling track) on streets with flat terrain that connect major neighbourhoods and suburbs”

“Educated road users”

“Internationally competitive mode share”

“Cycling used for routine trips by most people”

“Diverse demographic of cyclists (age, gender, experience)”

“Major portions of downtown only accessible for pedestrian and cycling

“So safe helmets are optional”

“Interconnected & community focused City”

“People want to be a cyclist”

“Seniors getting around by bikes”

“Biking is the prime choice to get around over cars and transit”

“Relaxed, safe, inclusive and normal to all ages and abilities”

“Cycling is given priority over motoring”

“People feel safe to ride and park their bikes everywhere”

“Cycling shapes new development, housing and infrastructure”

“Culture shift: biking commuting as societal norm vs. car culture and cyclist subculture”

“Safe village to village connectivity via main & secondary arterial roads”

“A City where riding a bike is a joyful, everyday activity for people of all ages”

“Visible cyclist priority indicators: signage, road markings, art work”

“Separated cycle lanes on all major routes.”

“People feel safe to ride and park their bikes everywhere.”

Bicycle Master Plan | city of victoria2

Executive Summary

In the spring of 2014 the City of Victoria began an engagement process to help shape an updated Bicycle Master Plan. Over a two month period City staff hosted eleven information stations and three workshops speaking directly with over 1,500 people and receiving 1,307 competed surveys.

The feedback was used to inform an updated network map, a list of priority projects for the next five years and the scope for phase two of the Bicycle Master Plan update which will occur in the fall of 2014.

The feedback received from current and prospective cyclists was similar despite the variance in their cycling comfort levels.

The routes currently most enjoyed are multi-use trails (Galloping Goose) and local roads (such as Haultain Street, Moss Street and Vancouver Street). Participants mentioned they favour these routes as they are removed from high volume, vehicle traffic and are on quieter routes which are safer and provide a higher quality of experience when compared to cycling alongside traffic on major roads.

Routes most sited as needing improvements were arterials including Shelbourne Street, Johnson Street and Blanshard Street The lack of separation, high volume, high speed and incursion of motor vehicle traffic were most often referenced as deterrents to cycling on major roads. While a significant portion of the engagement focused on network improvements, several additional key themes consistently emerged across all engagement channels:

Safety Is The Largest Barrier:• Safety was the most common identified barrier to cycling for both current and prospective cyclists.

• The top recommendations to increasing the safety of cyclists were to physically separate cyclists from motor vehicle traffic on arterial streets, add quieter, local roads to the network and introduce more traffic calming measures on these quieter roads.

• Recommendations for more education to reduce conflicts between drivers and cyclists and increase the confidence of cyclists were also provided as solutions to increase safety.

Be Bold And Be A Leader:• A significant portion of the feedback received mentioned the desire to see the City become a leader in cycling in North

America by exemplifying the political willingness to advance cycling improvements, increasing funding and implementing more innovative solutions to alleviate barriers.

Cycling For All Ages and Abilities • A network that is accommodating to all ages and abilities through strategic route location and safe infrastructure was

frequently mentioned when discussing the vision for cycling in Victoria.

Cycling Is Irresistible • The desire for cycling to be irresistible as a result of an integrated network, good connections to key destinations,

neighbourhoods and surrounding municipalities and an overall high quality of experienced was a strongly recommended achievable goal the City should strive towards.


Part 1: Introduction, Engagement Objectives and Process Design

IntroductionIn April and May 2014, the City of Victoria engaged with the community to solicit feedback on cycling improvements as part of the update to the Bicycle Master Plan. This report provides an overview of the public outreach and engagement and summarizes feedback collected through all engagement channels.

The findings outlined in this report will inform the update to the Bicycle Master Plan which includes:

• An updated network map.

• A list of network priorities for the next five years.

• A comprehensive scope for phase two outlining the remainder of the Bicycle Master Plan update which will occur in the fall of 2014.

Engagement Objectives The goal of the engagement process was to:

• Increase awareness of the existing cycling network and the process needed to update the Bicycle Master Plan.

• Develop a greater understanding of cycling needs, preferences and priorities.

• Seek input from stakeholders on desired cycling corridors within the City of Victoria, barriers to cycling and a vision or Victoria’s future cycling network.

• Engage non-cyclists on identifying ways to overcome barriers to cycling.

Process Design Initial meetings were held with key stakeholder groups including the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, Capital Bike and Walk, the City of Victoria Youth Council and Bike Victoria. These discussions were used to help ensure the engagement strategy was best designed to reach all impacted stakeholders as well as pilot some early engagement materials.

Realizing that creating a network which can attract current non-cyclists is the most effective way to increase cycling mode share, the City of Victoria partnered with SFU Carbon Talks to host a workshop for this ‘hard to reach’ stakeholder group. The City also hosted information stations throughout Victoria to try an engage a variety of stakeholders by ‘going to where the people are.’

Print ads, parking pay station ads, stakeholder emails, display boards at Beacon Hill Park, Central Park and along the Galloping Goose, eVites to community centres, neighbourhood associations and businesses, social media, a back of bus ad and posters distributed to local businesses (targeting bike shops), were used to raise awareness about engagement opportunities.


Part 2: Engagement Channels

Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition Workshop: November 30, 2013In anticipation of the upcoming engagement around the Bicycle Master Plan, the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition (GVCC) hosted a workshop with their members. Workshop findings informed the design of the engagement strategy and were provided as feedback to the overall engagement process.

Goal: To solicit information from GVCC members on three main themes: Network, Design and Education/Celebration.

Participation:50 cyclists participated.

University of Victoria Focus Group: April 4, 2014 City of Victoria staff collaborated with University of Victoria students from the Department of Environmental Studies and the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability in developing small-scale, focus group sessions with university students. A screening process was implemented to ensure a range of demographic representation including gender, age, bicycle ownership and frequency of cycling

Goal:The objective of the focus groups was to gain insight into student’s cycling habits, attitudes and perceived barriers to cycling in Victoria.

Participation: 13 students participated.

Information Stations: April 24 – May 26, 2014Staff hosted 11 information stations in six Victoria neighbourhoods, engaging over 1,300 community members. A prize wheel was effectively used to increase interest and raise awareness around cycling in Victoria. Locations were selected based on pedestrian/cyclist traffic and their potential to engage a variety of stakeholder groups. The workshops were promoted through these open houses. Feedback was collected through a mapping exercise and through surveys.

Goal: To raise awareness about the engagement process, to increase awareness about existing biking infrastructure in Victoria and to gather feedback about future cycling improvements.

Participation:

Changing Gears .......................................................................... 150

Camosun College Sustainability Days .......................................... 75

Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre .................................................. 200

Creatively United for the Planet at St. Anne’s Academy.............. 400

Galloping Goose at the Selkirk Trestle .......................................... 40

Victoria Public Market .................................................................... 75

Fernwood Square .......................................................................... 50

Fairfield Thriftys ............................................................................. 75

Quadra Village Days ................................................................... 250

Selkirk Waterfront Festival ........................................................... 100

Bike to Work Week at Dockside Green ......................................... 65

Total:......................................................................................... 1,480


Workshop for Current Cyclists: May 12 and May 14, 2014 The City of Victoria designed and hosted two workshops to gather input from current cyclists.

The workshops provided an update on the past 19 years of cycling infrastructure improvements and a few details about the projects that were being planned for the next two years. The workshop then moved to a facilitated dialogue format with small group discussions relating to the next five years and also next 20 years of cycling infrastructure improvements.

Goal: To collect feedback on routes currently being enjoyed, where network improvements are needed, a vision for the future of cycling in Victoria and recommended actions for the City to increase cycling in Victoria.

Participation: All neighbourhoods in Victoria were represented. Fairfield/ Gonzales had the highest participation, followed by Victoria West and James Bay. Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and View Royal were also represented.

Victoria Conference Centre Workshop .......................................... 39

DaVinci Center Victoria West Workshop ....................................... 43

Total:............................................................................................. 82

Workshop for Future Cyclists: May 26, 2014In collaboration with City staff, Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue designed and led a workshop engaging non-cyclists. An online registration program was shared through social media, neighbourhood association newsletters, Parent Advisory Committee email lists, community centre bulletin boards, personal phone calls and emails, local thought-leader blogs and twitter feeds, and community event websites. The workshop was designed for residents of the City of Victoria whose primary mode of transportation did not include cycling.

Goal: To better understand barriers to cycling and to explore actions the City could take to create a more inviting network for everyone.

Participation:Ten Victoria neighbourhoods were represented at this workshop. The group included three men and 13 women:

• 42 people were invited

• 23 confirmed they would attend

• 16 attended the event


Bicycle Master Plan Survey: April 16, 2014 – June 8, 2014An online survey was created with 17 questions relating to:

• Current interest in cycling and frequency of trips by bike,

• Types of trips made by bike, average trip distance and time,

• Comfort levels with a range of cycling infrastructure,

• Current barriers to biking in Victoria,

• Actions needed to create a more inviting bicycle network,

• Top cycling destinations,

• Routes that are working and routes that need improvement.

• A parallel print survey was available, which was very popular at the Information Stations.

The City’s new ipad was also used to collect responses. This survey was the first to be hosted on the City of Victoria’s online engagement portal.

Goal: To better understand cycling behaviours in Victoria and to collect feedback relating to cycling infrastructure improvements in the next five and next 20 years.

Participation:1,307 surveys were completed.

VicMap Route Improvement SuggestionsAn interactive mapping tool was utilized to provide the community with an opportunity to map their current cycling routes and destinations. This was the first time the function of submitting a route via VicMap was used during an engagement process. A short tutorial video was created to demonstrate how to draw and submit a route.

Goal:To collect information about the existing network.

Participation: 72 maps were submitted.


Part 3: What We Heard

The feedback received from current and prospective cyclists was similar despite the variance in their cycling experience and comfort levels.

Consistent themes were found throughout all engagement channels. Due to the nature of the various engagement sessions, more qualitative feedback regarding visioning and the required ‘big moves’ to increase cycling were obtained from the workshops. The surveys offered a wide range of valuable feedback which was more quantitative in nature.

The information outlined below is a summary of findings from all engagement channels.

Vision When workshop participants were asked to describe what the future cycling network would look and feel like three dominant themes emerged:

CyclingisSafe

• Bikes are separated from motor vehicle traffic on main roads

• Clear understanding of bike symbols, cyclists rights and responsibilities

CyclingisforAllAgesandAbilities

• Cycling is used for routine trips by most people

• Cycling is irresistible

• Cycling route location and infrastructure is inviting to all ages and abilities

CyclingisConvenient

• Good connections exist between key destinations, neighbourhoods and surrounding municipalities

• Biking has become more cost and time competitive compared to other transportation modes

Big Moves to Achieve the Vision Six prominent ‘big moves’ were identified to achieve the vision outlined for cycling in Victoria.

1. Separation between cyclists and motorists

2. Increasing the amount of bike lanes

3. Completing gaps to create a connected network

4. Education for road users to reduce conflicts between motorists and cyclists and build the confidence of cyclists

5. Ensuring adequate funding for cycling infrastructure

6. Political willingness to prioritize cycling improvements


General Barriers to Cycling The most common identified factors which prevent people from cycling as captured in the surveys and discussed in the focus group were: safety; weather, distance and time. Workshop participants were not directly asked about barriers to cycling as the discussion focused more on recommended actions to achieve the vision; however, many workshop participants also completed surveys either online or at the end of the session.

Barriers to Cycling for Non-Cyclists Barriers for non-cyclists were similar to those who currently cycle as safety was also the number one concern. Through research, it has been identified that there is a significant drop-off of women cycling after the age of 34. Subsequently, SFU Carbon Talks placed substantial focus on attracting this demographic to the workshop in order to ensure their barriers were captured and understood. In addition to safety, weather and distance common barriers to cycling mentioned included too many items to transport, travelling with children, confusion around bike infrastructure such as bike boxes, the need for better connections to key destinations and a strong desire for physical separation on busy streets.

Trip Types The top three types of trips which survey respondents stated they cycle for are work, recreation and running errands.

Trip types were not directly discussed during the workshops; however, when participants were asked to map key destinations, schools, work and recreational cycling along the Galloping Goose and Dallas Road were most frequently identified, aligning with the survey findings.


Trip Distance and Time The most common current cycling trip distance reported by survey respondents was three to five kilometers with trip time between 15 to 24 minutes.

Workshop participants were asked to map common routes, which when viewed on the map were between three to five kilometers in length. Some longer distances were also represented, most commonly by long distance commuters and sport/race training trips.

Comfort Level “I want to feel relaxed as I ride, which means I must feel safe from lots of cars. I want to hear birds as I ride.”

All engagement channels asked participants to identify the types of routes on which they feel most comfortable. During the workshops, information stations and through the VicMap mapping tool, the feedback was captured on a map by asking participants to outline in green where they enjoy cycling.

The top routes which offer the greatest comfort for cycling were quieter streets off major roads, multi-use trails (e.g. Galloping Goose) and major streets separated by traffic with a physical barrier. These routes were stated as preferred not only for the perceived safety they provide when compared to major roads but also due to the overall quality of experienced offered. In addition to being favoured, there were also several recommendations on how to improve the comfort on these types of routes including:

• Better directional wayfinding connecting key destinations.

• Enhancing the quality of experience by incorporating public art, water fountains and benches along the route.

• Ensuring the routes accommodate all ages and abilities.

In addition, there was substantial feedback in support for physical separation on major roads and a desire to create a network that is irresistible through high comfort, safety and convenience.

Iamcomfortablecyclingon:


Favoured Existing RoutesThe most favoured cycling routes as captured through the survey, information stations workshops include:

• Galloping Goose Trail

• Moss Street (from Fort Street to Dallas Rd)

• Dallas Rd (from Simcoe Street to Foul Bay Rd)

• Vancouver Street (from Bay Street to Park Blvd)

• Haultain Street (from Cook Street to Richmond Rd)

Even though these routes were mentioned as highly favoured, recommendations for improvements were still provided, including:

• More integration of traffic calming measures to reduce vehicle volume and speed.

• Better connections to key destinations along the route.

• More focus on making the route aesthetically pleasing.

• Closing gaps to create longer, continuous routes.

Routes Recommended for Improvement Improvements for the entire region were provided throughout engagement. The scope of the project focuses solely on the Victoria; therefore, only segments of routes within the city’s borders have been identified.

The routes most frequently mentioned as requiring improvements as captured through the survey, information stations and workshops include:

Bay St (from Tyee Rd to Richmond Rd) • Bike lane ends near Blanshard St• Bay St & Graham St intersection

Blanshard St (View St to Tolmie Ave) • Large volume of parked cars• High volume

Cook St (from Maplewood Rd –double check to Park Blvd)

Most commonly mentioned segment: Cook St & Bay St to Cook St & Park Bvld

• Better signage needed• High volume• Narrow lanes• Congestion in village• No separation

Dallas Rd (from Fairfield Rd to Simcoe St) • Tour buses and traffic• Not great infrastructure for recreational cyclists

Douglas Street (from Belleville St to Tolmie Ave) • Incursion of cars into bike/bus lane• No dedicated space for bikes• Parked cars

Fort Street (Wharf St to Foul Bay Rd) • Narrow lanes with no space for bikes• No physical separation• High volume

Johnson Street (Wharf St to Fernwood Rd) • High volume• Poor yields to cyclist• Difficulty to access bridge• Surface texture• Merging issues• Limited visibility• Wharf St intersection, bike box not understood

Johnson Street Bridge • Unsafe at turn northbound onto the Johnson St. bridge• Often cars parked in the bike box at the East end of the bridge• “Squished” on Johnson St bridge – Cars pushing into cyclist space


Pandora Ave (from Store St to Harrison St) • No physical separation• Bike lane ends

Shelbourne St (from Pemroke St to North Dairy Rd)

Most commonly mentioned segment: Shelbourne St & Bay St to Shelbourne St & North Dairy Road

• No physical separation• High volume• Right turn onto Hillside• Poor pavement• No space for bikes• Bike lane ends

Vancouver St (from Bay St to Park Blvd)

Most commonly identified problem areas: Vancouver St & Bay St – intersection Vancouuver St & Southgate St to Vancouver St & Kings St

• Too many stop signs• Narrow• High volume• On-street parking• Poor signal coordination (coordinated for E-W)• No lane/no physical separation• Princess intersection, high volume for bike route, on-street parking• Caledonia intersection, disrespect for turn restrictions, Bay St

intersection

Douglas St (from Belleville St to Tolmie Ave) • High volume• Bus-bike conflict• No space for cyclist• Douglas & Gorge intersection• Incursion of cars into bike/bus lane

Wharf St (from Government St to Johsnon St) • On-street parking• No room for bikes• Slow tourist traffic• No physical separation

Hillside Ave (from Douglas St to Shelbourne St) • High speed• High volume• No physical separation

Government St (from Dallas Rd to Yates St) • No physical separation• Challenging left turn from Belleville onto Government• Tour buses/taxi/pedicab parking conflict

E&N Trail • Needs completion


Setting Priorities With a plethora of potential projects on the horizon it is challenging to determine which ones should come first. Workshop participants were asked to explore this conundrum by identifying how they would prioritize projects for the next five years.

According to public feedback, the top recommended considerations for prioritizing projects were:

1. Comfort for all ages and abilities (e.g. physical separation; integration of quieter, local roads into the network)

2. Safety (e.g. route along path of low recorded cycling collision, bikes separated from motor vehicle traffic)

3. Closes a gap (e.g. route completes a missing link in the network)

4. Serves key destinations (e.g. route connects key destination and future growth areas)

5. Value for investment (e.g. route offers biggest ‘bang for our buck’)

6. External funding opportunity (e.g. route is eligible for external funding)

7. Quality of experience (e.g. the route is aesthetically pleasing and provides a connection to nature)

Lessons Learned The engagement process was resource intensive, extensive and far reaching. Some new tools were integrated into the engagement process and proved quite favoruable while others were challenging.

VicMap

VicMap, the City’s interactive mapping tool which provides users with a wide range of data and uses, was utilized for engagement purposes for the first time. It was anticipated to be a good input mechanism for network feedback. While the mapping tool did provide feedback in a visible form which was easy for staff to review, it did pose some challenges. The time required for the map to fully load was a deterrent for some online participants and the staff time required to merge all the maps together was longer than initially planned. In the future, new mapping tools might be examined or ways to overcome these barriers with using VicMap to collect engagement feedback will be explored.

Haveyoursayvictoria.com

The Bicycle Master Plan engagement launched the City’s online engagement portal haveyoursayvictoria.com. In retrospect, a smaller project should have been used to launch the site and the engagement tools as a couple of challenges emerged which needed immediate attention. In particular, the survey function was not as advanced as initially thought and collating all survey responses required substantially more time than anticipated.

IntegratedPlanningTeam

A team comprised of Communication and Civic Engagement, Engineering and Planning staff was developed to oversee and implement the process to update the Bicycle Master Plan. The integrated approach was successful in ensuring a variety of views and knowledge were involved in shaping the process.

EarlyEngagement

Engaging the community early on to help design the engagement process and test initial engagement materials was successful. The scope of the project was consequently expanded to ensure all of the community’s needs were addressed and that participants were equipped with all information required to provide informed feedback.

TargetedPromotion

In order to raise awareness, attract interest and participation from community members who might be less likely reached through newspaper advertisements and social media, the promotional strategy adopted the principle to ‘go to where the people are’. Display boards were placed along the Galloping Goose, at Beacon Hill Park and Central Park. An ad was placed on the back of a bus to reach motorists across the region while in traffic. This promotional approached proved to be successful as some workshop participants mentioned it was how they heard about the various sessions.

PartnershipwithUVicStudents

The City’s partnership with students from UVic’s Department of Environmental Studies programs was a great way to receive quality information and foster an important relationship with a key stakeholder group. Students were able to learn more about City issues and planning while providing staff with valuable information from their peers to help inform the Bicycle Master Plan update.


SFUCarbonTalksPartnership

The goal of the City’s partnership with SFU Carbon Talks was to have a neutral third party engage with a ‘hard to reach’, but very important segment of our community. SFU had dedicated resources available to assist with this and experience engaging on similar issues. Their work in recruiting the participants, co-designing and hosting the engagement process was an important contribution to the larger cycling engagement program.

For future engagement programs that have multiple workshops, it would be best to work on all elements with one consistent team. This would streamline the advertising efforts, recruitment process and the time required for the design of the engagement session. It was very valuable to work with the Centre for Dialogue as they are experts in the field. If opportunities to partner with them arise in the future, the best approach would be to work on all engagement elements together.

How Feedback Will Be Used Updating the City of Victoria’s Bicycle Master Plan is a two-phased process. The outcomes of this report will inform both the current and upcoming phase. The feedback on the network and qualitative feedback on setting priorities will assist in developing a list of network priorities to be implemented over the next five years. All first-phase engagement findings, the updated network and network priorities will be presented to Council for consideration in July of this year.

The second phase of updating the remainder of the Bicycle Master Plan will begin in the fall of 2014. Public feedback on the vision for the future cycling network and the ‘big moves’ required to achieve it will be used to inform the scope of phase two and outline the remainder of work required to update the Bicycle Master Plan which will be occurring this fall. The lessons from the first phase of public engagement will be useful for directing potential future stages of engagement. An updated plan is anticipated to be presented to Council early in 2015.

All input received through the engagement program is highly valued and will be used to help shape the future of the cycling network. Engagement findings, next steps, and general information on the process of updating the Bicycle Master Plan will continue to be updated and made available online at www.victoria.ca/cycling.

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Bicycle Master Plan Update Engagement Summary Report · Executive Summary In the spring of 2014 the City of Victoria began an engagement process to help shape an updated Bicycle Master