The Biking Life Is Catching On In Canada

- Friday October 29th, 2010

Bikes have proven to be an economical, environmentally friendly and healthy means of transportation for getting around, even in the largest cities. It was discovered during the Vancouver Olympics that even in February, if bike lanes along with increased access to public transit is made available, people will get out of their cars and onto their two wheeled wonders.

Exercise and a decrease in traffic are both excellent by-products of biking around town. But a real estate industry magazine, the Canadian Property Managers, also showed that neighbourhoods that were built near public transit points tended to have higher property values. Depending on the area and the type of property involved, that increase could be anywhere from three to 40 percent.

Tourists are also finding getting around by bike easier to deal with than by car. In Montreal a service called Bixi rents bikes for $5.00 per day. It has multiple pick-up and drop-off points throughout the city and is invariably cheaper than renting a car and a lot easier on the nerves than having to drive and then find and pay for parking.

Bixi-like rental systems are being considered in other cities, including Toronto which is coming out with a membership based system. Edmonton is getting on the bike-riding band wagon by planning an additional 500 km of bike lanes to be installed within the next eight years. Pretty soon you will be able to grab your helmet and bike garb and go for it.