How many people in Edmonton cycle, and how much do the bike lanes get used?
· Discussed by 25 people · 9 claims
Going ahead
City counters, census commute data and trip surveys can show how often Edmonton’s bike lanes are used and why counts, riders and trip shares are different measures.
The automated counter data, the census commute figures and the City's ridership reporting settle every count, share and denominator here at once.
People arguing in both directions raised this question, and every claim they made about it is checked, whichever way it points.
Where it came from
Taken from Yegscoop post on council's 2026-08-26 bike lane decision, read end to end. Every factual claim in it was extracted and merged, so this question is listed whatever became of it.
Facebook post · captured · 621 comments
The names below are pseudonyms, one to a commenter within this source; the number is the comment's place in the captured thread.
The claims under it
Edmonton's bike lanes carry little or no bicycle traffic when residents observe them.
Discussed by 10 people
when out I see very few bikes on these very expensive bike lanes.
Rustic Hare L. · comment 21
i have seen bike lanes summer and winter with little or no bike traffic on them.
Hardy Grouse D. · comment 35
These are for a few people while the major don't bike
Snowy Crow C. · comment 75
I drive daily all over this city and hardly ever see bikers and sure don't see them in winter.
Snowy Crow C. · comment 80
We have had one for the last year on 119 ave and no one uses it. In a week there may be 1 rider on the lane.
Chilly Squirrel O. · comment 320
there are almost no pedestrian or cyclists using it.
Boreal Chickadee M. · comment 383
Driving over to whyte ave, peak bike season time mid August, not one bike to be seen
Misty Jackrabbit D. · comment 403
I see a cyclist very rarely.
Quiet Marmot J. · comment 415
They aren’t even that busy.
Granite Bluejay B. · comment 430
The vast majority of cyclists don't even use the lanes still
Sunny Grebe K. · comment 440
Thousands of vehicles vs 10 bikes maybe.
Icy Bluejay C. · comment 589
Only about 1 to 2 percent of Edmonton's population rides bikes or uses the bike lanes.
Discussed by 8 people
we are talking about huge expenditures for only 2.3% of the populations usage.
Bright Bluejay K. · comment 60
2% of constituents ride bikes! What about the other 98%?
Willow Nuthatch C. · comment 186
1 percent of population to use.
Wintry Raven B. · comment 330
500 people using the bike lanes 4 months of the year.
Bright Woodpecker B. · comment 363
The 1%
Snowy Grouse D. · comment 368
bike lanes for the .001% of the population
Sunny Sparrow M. · comment 399
The whole 1-2%
Misty Sparrow P. · comment 426
Waste of money on 1% of population
Chilly Beaver B. · comment 433
Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters through the first seven months of 2026.
Discussed by 3 people
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters.
Boreal Hare I. · comment 2
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters.
Boreal Hare I. · comment 81
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters
Boreal Hare I. · comment 111
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters.
Boreal Hare I. · comment 121
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters.
Boreal Hare I. · comment 213
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters.
Boreal Hare I. · comment 369
that never happened
Snowy Hare F. · comment 4
The numbers must be fudged
Misty Jackrabbit D. · comment 403
The people using Edmonton's bike lanes are mostly recreational or short-distance riders, not commuters.
Discussed by 2 people
Lots of recreational riders.. commuters not so much.
Wintry Raven B. · comment 338
usually within a short distance, or for recreational purposes.
Bright Elk G. · comment 375
City reports and 2021 census figures show fewer than 1 percent of Edmonton commuters travel by bicycle.
Discussed by 2 people
City reports have census numbers in 2021 less than 1 percent.
Wintry Raven B. · comment 338
Less than 1% on bikes.
Amber Merlin A. · comment 456
About 2 percent of all trips in Edmonton are made by bicycle.
Discussed by 1 person
*2% of trips are done by bicycle, although it's higher in neighborhoods with bike infrastructure.
Cedar Pelican C. · comment 187
transportation that includes >2% of trips
Cedar Pelican C. · comment 295
considering 2% of all trips are by bicycle
Cedar Pelican C. · comment 333
stats Canada document titled "Main mode of commuting for the 10 largest census metropolitan areas"
Cedar Pelican C. · comment 335
the 2% figure is corroborated by "2015 Edmonton and Region Household Travel Survey".
Cedar Pelican C. · comment 337
87 percent of Edmontonians commute by car.
Discussed by 1 person
87% of Edmontonians commute in cars.
Amber Merlin A. · comment 456
Only 1 percent of Edmonton's population uses the bike lanes year-round and fewer than 15 percent use them the rest of the year.
Discussed by 1 person
only 1% of the pop use them year round and less than 15% the rest of the year.
Dusty Marmot K. · comment 179
More than five people rode bikes to Heritage Days within an hour of opening on the Saturday.
Discussed by 1 person
Looks like more than 5 rode to Heritage Days (this was within an hour of opening on the Saturday).
Mossy Beaver J. · comment 70