New data is now available from observations of cyclists in London, Ontario carried out by Gorski Consulting in the year 2024. This data is obtained from a dashcam mounted at the windshield of a car. It shows the status of cyclists riding on the roadway or adjacent to it, on a sidewalk for example. This data can be compared to previous years, since the year 2021.
Below is the data from 2024.
The summary shown at the bottom of this table shows that 1204 cyclists were observed in 2024, 1032 of those were male and only 151 were female. In 21 instances the gender of the cyclist could not be identified.
Sidewalk usage was defined as all those cyclists who were observed either riding, walking on standing on a sidewalk accompanied by their cycle. This also included cyclists who were observed riding or walking through a pedestrian crossing because any such cyclists almost exclusively entered the pedestrian crossing from a sidewalk. It can be seen in the summary that 62.8% of males and 70.9% of females were observed on a sidewalk.
In 2024 only 12.54% of observed cyclists were females. This is fairly consistent with results from previous years as shown in the tables below.
Data From Previous Years
The following table shows cyclist observations from the year 2023.
The next table shows data from the year 2022.
And the final table below shows the data from the year 2021.
Discussion
As shown in the above tables, a total of 3884 cyclists were documented in the 4-year period of 2021 to 2024. These observations can be broken down to the following categories:
Male = 3221
Female = 501
Gender unk = 162
Thus, in the 3722 observations where gender was known, the 4-year average for female cyclist observations was 13.46%. While minor variances exist from year to year the general conclusion is that the female percentage of cyclists has remained relatively stable. Or there is no indication that the percentage of females has been increasing over the past 4 years. This conclusion is stubbornly concerning. If the cycling mode of transportation is to be increased the greatest opportunity to do so is through an increase in the low values of female participation. Yet the observations documented by Gorski Consulting indicate that female cyclist participation is not improving.
Yet the observations shown here are not a full indicator of what is happening with respect to cycling in the City of London. Gorski Consulting has also been involved in targeted traffic studies at specific locations these provide different results. For example, several studies have been performed along London’s Thames Valley Parkway (TVP), and sites such as Blackfriars Bridge in downtown London, and at the site of a new cycling lane on Colborne Street at St James Street. These targeted studies show that female participation is higher than the City average. Further articles need to be posted on the Gorski Consulting website to provide more detail about these findings.
Cyclist usage of sidewalks is often an indicator of the lack of safety perceived by cyclists who are required, by law, to ride within a lane designated for motor vehicle traffic. As seen in the above tables the percentage of cyclists observed on sidewalks is substantially above 50%. On some roads that percentage of sidewalk usage is much higher. Various public officials and police do not officially recognize this discrepancy. This reality needs to reach the general public and a discussion needs to be had about what safety improvements need to be made to keep cyclists safe.
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