City Cycling Strategies

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A stop sign in the foreground with three young cyclists in the background at a active school travel event.

Active School Travel: Tools for Change

Why should school communities promote active transportation modes for school travel? Some data to consider: According to the baseline Family Travel Survey collected by Ever Active Schools between 2019 and 2024 in Alberta, 32.8% of families (n=6190 responses) use active modes of transportation most often for trips to school, while 36.7% of families (n=6403 responses)…

Stories From the Field

Reflecting on Stories from the Field As Ever Active Schools, we are often in so many places in a school year, that it’s hard to sit back and reflect on some of the moments and impacts we had in communities. So we sat down to collect “Stories from the Field” from some of our amazing…

Earth Day blog image with a background of various outdoor images with text that reads "A Time to Reflect, A Time to Act".

Earth Day: A Time to Reflect; A Time to Act

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Welcome Earth Day! “Earth Day is an annual celebration that…raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations.” (National Geographic, Education: Earth Day, 2024). The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970; today, Earth Day is celebrated on either April 22 or…

The 2024 Winter Cycling Congress: What a Ride!

Written by: Tracey Coutts and Katie Mahon, Ever Active Schools Has this ever happened to you… You invite people to your favourite place, maybe it’s a pizza parlour, a place known for its delicious pizza but, just as your guests start to pour through the door, the parlour runs out of cheese. Like, completely.…

Scooter rack full of scooters to promote active school travel

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN AN ACTIVE SCHOOL TRAVEL CHAMPION FACES CHALLENGES? REALLY GREAT SOLUTIONS.

Writers: Trevor Henderson, Black Gold School Division Wellness Lead, with support from Tracey Coutts and Shauna Miller-Shaker Ever Active School supports many Active School Travel (AST) projects across the province which boast some pretty amazing outcomes, one of which continues to shine in Leduc, Alberta. In 2020/2021, Black Gold School Division Wellness Lead, Trevor…

WINTER CYCLING IN ALBERTA

Winter cycling may seem exotic and strange, but if you’ve ever biked in the warmer weather, or cross-country skied, snowshoed, or even walked outside in the winter, you’re 89.6% prepared to ride your bike in winter! How so, you might ask? Well: You already own the clothing. You know how to dress in layers so you…

A group of people with bicycles stand in a circle during a consultation meeting in Leduc.

BUILDING THE LEDUC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION CHARTER

The municipality of Leduc, Alta., has laid much groundwork to make it an active living superstar. From its 85 km+ of multi-use pathways, to Telford Lake, to its Parks, Open Spaces, and Trails Master Plan – when it comes to active living, Leduc has some good bones. It is clear that Leduc prioritizes wellness, but…

GRANTING PERMISSION TO TRY WITH CYCLING

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Watching young cyclists discover the freedom and thrill that comes with learning how to confidently navigate new neighbourhood and community routes is the equivalent of reading about C. S. Lewis’ Lucy moving deeper into the wardrobe, brushing past fur coats that transform to fir tree branches, on her…

THINK OUTSIDE THE (CLASSROOM) BOX

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools Welcome sweet Spring, “when the world is mudluscious…(and) puddle-wonderful” (In Just-, E.E. Cummings) and beckons us outdoors to partake in its miracles. Yes, teachers, we know that many of you have been slipping on those rubber boots and taking your classes outdoors to Explore Your 2.4s and your…

CELEBRATIONS MATTER: HALLOWEEN 2020

Written by Tracey Coutts, Ever Active Schools THIS TIME LAST YEAR, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED THE DIFFICULTY OF THE DECISIONS TO COME AROUD HALLOWEEN 2020? A Halloween night, with a full moon, falling on a Saturday for the first time in five years, should be a spooky season lover’s dream. And yet, here we are,…

Bike Smart. Bike Safe.

It is a wonderful thing when municipalities invest in infrastructure that supports active travel modes and the City of Edmonton’s Bike Plan is a good illustration of that. However, as the Bike Plan comes to life, young cyclists need to grow with it. The Bringing City Cycling Strategies to Life for Edmonton Students project was designed with these cyclists in mind. City Cycling Clinics invite participants to improve skills, increase safety awareness, learn basic bicycle maintenance, expand their knowledge of emerging cycling infrastructure, connect with YEG’s cycling community, and have fun. In addition to that, all bicycles are inspected by certified bike mechanics and participants are treated to a 10km guided ride through Edmonton’s downtown core.

Thanks to funding provided by the Alberta Traffic Safety Fund, Edmonton Community Foundation, and Jumpstart Charities, 14 cycle clinics have been delivered to 200+ Edmonton youth participants. In collaboration with Karly Coleman and Bike Edmonton, we have produced a comprehensive City Cycling Clinic Guide, available as a free download.

Our hope is to see more confident, informed Edmonton youth using the city's expanding bike network to travel actively — not just on their daily commutes to school, but whenever they can!

Scaling of the City Cycling Strategies project continued in Spring 2020 when it was adopted by the Tri-Region and broadened to include mental health awareness for clinic participants. Through funding from Achieving Community Together (ACT), three Wheeling for Wellness cycling clinics were planned for 90 youth cyclists. Strong community partnerships with ACT, Family and Community Support Services, Parkland School Division, and the Stony Plain Youth FCSS Gears program allowed for Ever Active Schools to implement these clinics in Stony Plain, Wabamun, and Spruce Grove.