Recently, Bike Ottawa sent all mayoral and ward candidates a list of questions on transportation policy, cycling infrastructure, City budget, and more. We’ll report back in about a month. We want you to be able to make informed decisions based on their answers.
Don’t hesitate to ask your ward candidates and mayoral candidates if they’ve answered Bike Ottawa’s questions. Tell them it matters to you. Ask your own questions too.
Here’s the list:
How do you typically get around your ward and Ottawa, and how does that shape your policy outlook?
Do you personally cycle in Ottawa, even occasionally, and what does that experience tell you about what needs to change?
If elected, what would be your top three transportation priorities?
Ottawa’s Official Plan sets a goal of having the majority of trips within the City made by low-carbon modes, including cycling. Do you support that target, and what concrete steps would you take to achieve it on your watch?
Cyclist deaths and serious injuries on Ottawa roads remain a persistent problem. Do you believe in the Vision Zero tenet that no loss of life or serious injury on our roads is acceptable? If so, through which policies (road design, speed limits, enforcement, etc.) will you champion it in the next Road Safety Action Plan?
What is your assessment of the current state of the City’s (not the NCC’s) cycling infrastructure in your ward? Its strengths and weaknesses?
One of the consequences of the ban of speed cameras by the provincial government is that the Road Safety Action Plan has seen its budget divided by 3. Will you pledge to increase the active transportation budget in order to build a true connected network and so that all the most dangerous intersections (as identified in the March 2020 Cycling Safety Review of High-Volume Intersections Study) can get safe infrastructure within the next term of Council?
What is your position on the content of the bikeshare feasibility report released in April 2026 and its proposed system (publicly-supported network of 90 docked stations and 900 bikes in Ottawa, as a start)? Do you support the public funding of this service?
What do you think of winter cycling, and what would you do to ensure safe cycling infrastructure is maintained year-round, including winter plowing of bike lanes and pathways to the same standard as roads?
Many barriers can make access to safe cycling difficult: income, gender, age, race, disability, etc. How would you reduce those barriers and make sure those communities get equitable investment in safe cycling?