"CycleLink?" TransLink ponders name for bike lane network | Daily Hive

"CycleLink?" TransLink ponders name for Metro Vancouver's bike lane network

Metro Vancouver bikeway network level of completion. (TransLink)

TransLink is exploring name options for Metro Vancouver’s growing bikeway network, aiming to create a unified identity for cyclists across the region.

A recent public survey sought feedback on a potential new name for what is currently known as the “Major Bikeway Network.”

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To date, some of the new names that have been floated include CycleLink, C-Line, Super Cycleway, Regional Express Cycleway (REC), Cycle Connector, GoCycle Network, GreenLink, and Major Cycleway Network.

“TransLink, with support from HUB Cycling, was seeking public input for new names for the Major Bikeway Network, as we continue to partner with municipalities to build out the network,” a TransLink spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized.

They also noted that no name has been selected at this time, and the final name is not limited to the aforementioned suggested listed in the survey.

According to a recent TransLink report, the Major Bikeway Network reached 4,870 lane km of bike lanes in 2023 — up from 4,404 lane km in 2019.

Of the 2023 figure, 78 km (2%) is a bike path, 123 km (3%) is a protected bike lane, 980 km (20%) is an unprotected bike lane, 1,695 km (35%) is a multi-use path, 1,526 km (31%) is a shared road, and 460 km (9%) is a bike-accessible shoulder.

Metro Vancouver bikeway network level of completion. (TransLink)

Progress on providing “comfortable for most” cycling facilities along the Major Bikeway Network. (TransLink)

There are varying degrees of perceived comfort/safety for the 4,870 lane km, including 2,261 lane km (46%) deemed “comfortable for most,” 876 lane km (18%) deemed “comfortable for some,” 1,332 lane km (27%) deemed “comfortable for few,” and 401 lane km (8%) deemed “comfortable for very few.”

Bike paths, protected bike lanes, and multi-use paths are overwhelmingly deemed “comfortable for most.”

The vast majority of residents in Vancouver, University of British Columbia, University Endowment Lands, New Westminster, and Port Coquitlam are within 400 metres of a “comfortable for most” bikeway.

It is estimated roughly 400,000 adults in the region cycle at least once per week in the summer, and the share of people cycling to work was under 2% of all trips in 2021 at the height of the pandemic.

Percentage of Metro Vancouver population within 400 metres of a “comfortable for most” bikeway. (TransLink)

Protected bike lane on North Grandview Highway in East Vancouver. (TransLink)

TransLink previously noted that its funding programs supporting municipal governments in building new and improved active transportation infrastructure, including bike lanes, could be cut due to its forthcoming fiscal cliff.

Between 2017 and 2024, TransLink’s “Local Government Funding Programs” have provided municipal governments across the region with a combined total of $887 million towards 733 projects.

For 2024, TransLink provided a total of $144 million in program funding, including $38.8 million for 60 walking, cycling, and/or multi-use path projects, $40.6 million for 40 road, structure, and/or bus speed upgrade projects, and $64.5 million for operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the Major Road Network of arterial and collector roads that are key for regional traffic movement.

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