How many people in Edmonton cycle, and how much do the bike lanes get used?
· Said in 35 comments · 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.
- How far the work has got
- Registered
- Whether it is worth checking
- Going ahead
- What a reader can see
- Not published yet
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 claims under it
Edmonton's bike lanes carry little or no bicycle traffic when residents observe them.
Said in 11 comments
when out I see very few bikes on these very expensive bike lanes.
Rustic Hare L.
i have seen bike lanes summer and winter with little or no bike traffic on them.
Hardy Grouse D.
These are for a few people while the major don't bike
Snowy Crow C.
I drive daily all over this city and hardly ever see bikers and sure don't see them in winter.
Snowy Crow C.
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.
there are almost no pedestrian or cyclists using it.
Boreal Chickadee M.
Driving over to whyte ave, peak bike season time mid August, not one bike to be seen
Misty Jackrabbit D.
I see a cyclist very rarely.
Quiet Marmot J.
They aren’t even that busy.
Granite Bluejay B.
The vast majority of cyclists don't even use the lanes still
Sunny Grebe K.
Thousands of vehicles vs 10 bikes maybe.
Icy Bluejay C.
Only about 1 to 2 percent of Edmonton's population rides bikes or uses the bike lanes.
Said in 8 comments
we are talking about huge expenditures for only 2.3% of the populations usage.
Bright Bluejay K.
2% of constituents ride bikes! What about the other 98%?
Willow Nuthatch C.
1 percent of population to use.
Wintry Raven B.
500 people using the bike lanes 4 months of the year.
Bright Woodpecker B.
The 1%
Snowy Grouse D.
bike lanes for the .001% of the population
Sunny Sparrow M.
The whole 1-2%
Misty Sparrow P.
Waste of money on 1% of population
Chilly Beaver B.
Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters through the first seven months of 2026.
Said in 4 comments
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters.
Boreal Hare I.
Through the first seven months of 2026, Edmonton recorded nearly 1.3 million cycling trips across its automated counters
Boreal Hare I.
that never happened
Snowy Hare F.
The numbers must be fudged
Misty Jackrabbit D.
The people using Edmonton's bike lanes are mostly recreational or short-distance riders, not commuters.
Said in 2 comments
Lots of recreational riders.. commuters not so much.
Wintry Raven B.
usually within a short distance, or for recreational purposes.
Bright Elk G.
City reports and 2021 census figures show fewer than 1 percent of Edmonton commuters travel by bicycle.
Said in 2 comments
City reports have census numbers in 2021 less than 1 percent.
Wintry Raven B.
Less than 1% on bikes.
Amber Merlin A.
About 2 percent of all trips in Edmonton are made by bicycle.
Said in 5 comments
*2% of trips are done by bicycle, although it's higher in neighborhoods with bike infrastructure.
Cedar Pelican C.
transportation that includes >2% of trips
Cedar Pelican C.
considering 2% of all trips are by bicycle
Cedar Pelican C.
stats Canada document titled "Main mode of commuting for the 10 largest census metropolitan areas"
Cedar Pelican C.
the 2% figure is corroborated by "2015 Edmonton and Region Household Travel Survey".
Cedar Pelican C.
87 percent of Edmontonians commute by car.
Said in 1 comment
87% of Edmontonians commute in cars.
Amber Merlin A.
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.
Said in 1 comment
only 1% of the pop use them year round and less than 15% the rest of the year.
Dusty Marmot K.
More than five people rode bikes to Heritage Days within an hour of opening on the Saturday.
Said in 1 comment
Looks like more than 5 rode to Heritage Days (this was within an hour of opening on the Saturday).
Mossy Beaver J.