August 4, 2020 - There are many components to Bike Calgary, one of which is our Infrastructure Taskforce, currently led by Pratim Sengupta. This multi-disciplinary, diverse team of volunteers actively review, research and engage in improving our infrastructure.
Its Mission Statement is “to promote the development of safe, comfortable and efficient cycling infrastructure that caters to a wide range of age and ability, level, is accessible 24 hours/day and 365 days per year, with the goal of achieving city-wide cycling network that makes an easy and desirable travel option for Calgarians”.
Riding, research and advocacy are at the forefront of the group’s agenda. Working on infrastructure development involves multi-dimensional expertise, ranging from “live checks”, technical expertise on engineering design and construction, engagement with civic leadership, an ever evolving understanding of city and provincial laws, and the undeniable value of historical knowledge.
ALL Calgarians — new and longtimers — are welcome to join this group of volunteers. Diversity of our members only strengthens our mission of making the bike infrastructure more sustainable and equitable throughout our wonderful city.
The group also carries out “live” checks to pathways and routes (rides not currently advertised due to Covid restrictions) based on community/safety feedback or areas marked by the City for improvement, in order that we can advocate and advise the City on the best cycling solutions, holding the City to account in terms of bylaw, planning best practices or Council approved targets and strategies.
The group’s current research focus includes how to make our active transportation infrastructure safer, more sustainable and diverse. One particular issue that they are working on now is how the use of cargo, ebikes, recumbent and all ability bikes is impacted by (and impacts) the existing infrastructure, and its needs for the future. There is much to learn by looking at cities nationally and worldwide that are also focused on similar issues, especially as cities are making their transit data more public. It is an exciting time for doing this work.
The members of this group will also be posting their experiences and lessons learned from time to time as public blog posts on our site.
If you are interested in working with this group or being part of our active advocacy team, please reach out to connect@bikecalgary.org or through our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Strava Group pages.
For more information visit here.
