CAN-BIKE
News
March
31, 2007
CAN-BIKE
Cycling Development Project wraps up, sets stage for national renewal.
Final
Project Report for CAN-BIKE Cycling Development Project released
CAN-BIKE
Instructors across Canada would like to thank Transport Canada for
making the MOST funding available. The funding has allowed us to
provide Canadians with practical information and tools to advance
bicycling as transportation. The funding has encouraged us to create
innovative ways to promote transportation bicycling and it has allowed
us to articulate bicyclings’ relation to quantifiable environmental
and sustainable-development benefits.
The CAN-BIKE
Cycling Development Project could not have been completed without
the support and contributions from dozens of instructors across
Canada. This project was an intensely collaborative venture with
many lasting outcomes and could not have been completed without
the following CAN-BIKE National Examiners: Peter Haidelmayer and
Barb Wentworth in Toronto, Darrell Noakes in Saskatoon, Don Hollingshead
in Calgary, and Bruce Mol in Vernon.
National Program,
National Standards
The Canadian
Cycling Associations (CCA) CAN-BIKE program is a nationally standardized
set of cycling proficiency & safety courses that are delivered
by certified instructors. During the past 12 months CAN-BIKE Instructors
have been making every effort to expand the availability of courses
across Canada as well as developing a new course, course materials
and communication methods.
The results of these efforts have been significant. Atlantic Canada
now has shown a tremendous interest in the program and, with the
addition of a new course for Rural cyclists, the CAN-BIKE program
has grown in delivery and reputation across Canada.
The general public now has access to credible, safe cycling information
through a new and improved web presence. New communication channels
have created a pan-Canadian CAN-BIKE instructor community where
instructors can trade teaching techniques and learn what’s
new and improved with the courses they teach.
The CAN-BIKE program began as a grass roots cycling education program
in the 1980’s. Volunteers designed and developed the courses
with the assistance of the CCA. With funding cutbacks, CAN-BIKE
returned to its roots and survived on volunteer work for development
and maintenance of national standards. Communication at the national
level was difficult.
The MOST funding provided the necessary support to link instructors
back into the national picture and added new excitement and growth
to the CAN-BIKE Program.
In many
areas in Canada, the general public and many organizations, are
realizing how desirable cycling is as a mode of transportation.
In those areas, CAN-BIKE is now recognized as the program that will
fill the gap between people wanting to ride and people actually
riding. CAN-BIKE unlocks the bicycle’s promise as the quintessential
sustainable transportation mode.
Capacity building
Starting
in late May 2006, in Atlantic Canada we conducted two CAN-BIKE 2
courses followed by CAN-BIKE Instructor Workshops in Truro. With
follow-up, we now have 12 active CAN-BIKE instructors and one top-level
National Examiner who will be stimulating local interest in CAN-BIKE
and developing more instructors. The new Atlantic Canada instructors
have scheduled many CAN-BIKE courses for 2007. They are promoting
these courses through local media; radio, newspapers, internet,
as well as through bike shops, cycling organizations, environment
oriented organizations and community recreation centres.
We have
emulated the success experienced in Atlantic Canada in Montreal,
Toronto, Newmarket ON, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Our instructor training ended in November.
The Kids
CAN-BIKE Camp pilot was a huge success and we received commitment
from community partners and sponsors to offer the program again
in 2007. Based on our success with this pilot, we have been receiving
some very strong interest to expand the program to other priority
neighbourhoods through 2008.
Committees
Provincial
CAN-BIKE committees, in all targeted seven provinces, were formed
or were revitalized as the project work got underway.
Communication
Our monthly
4-6 page CAN-BIKE Instructor Newsletter provided our main means
of communication with our instructors. A
listserv was quickly established to communicate with CAN-BIKE instructors
across the country. The organizing committee kept in touch with
instructors using the listserv soliciting input from all CAN-BIKE
instructors and advising them when the latest issue of the newsletter
was available. The instructor listserv permitted us to create and
maintain a robust and healthy forum for instructors concerns. A
second listserv allowed the Project committee to discuss issues
amongst themselves in a more focused manner. A third listserv was
created for National Examiners. A committee level option is in place
for the future.
Ten national
press releases were created to raise awareness for CAN-BIKE and
safe cycling issues.
Printed
flyers and posters created and distributed to create an awareness
of CAN-BIKE courses and safe cycling.
A CAN-BIKE
social marketing plan that provided us with strategic marketing
ideas was developed by York University students.
Questionnaires
were distributed throughout Canada to try and establish if CAN-BIKE
was helping cyclists adopt cycling as a form of transportation.
Our website
(www.canbike.net) was expanded and divided into public and instructor
zones.
The public
zone is where new cyclists and those wanting to upgrade their skill
level will find a wide array of information from which to make an
informed course selection, including links to course providers and
2007 course dates.
The instructor
zone allows instructor-only access to our listserv, newsletters,
questionnaire, and support material.
New Material
Recognizing
the need to address the cycling education needs of cyclists throughout
Canada, we created a CAN-BIKE Rural Cycling course with Instructor
and Student Guides that provide a much-needed instructional vehicle
to reach rural Canada.
To make
it easier on for Instructors to keep up to date on cycling laws,
and for course participants, we created Selected Cycling Laws
covering seven provinces and five urban areas (complete with a helmet
usage summary).
A 35
question CAN-BIKE 2 Exam, including supporting instructor material,
was also developed.
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