Our TransLink planners tell us that more than ever before people are choosing to commute by cycling, and many are travelling between cities and town centres.

That’s why we’re partnering with local municipalities to invest in the region’s cycling infrastructure to create a Major Bikeway Network (MBN)!

Think of it as the cycling companion the Major Road Network, which are major arterial roads that support the safe and efficient movement of people and goods across the region.

The Major Bikeway Network took a leap forward recently when TransLink worked with regional partners, including municipal staff, to develop and approve an updated, interim Major Bikeway Network. This will help guide regional cost-share investments in cycling in 2019 and 2020, unlocked as part of the 10-Year Vision.

Through our municipal cost-sharing programs, TransLink contributes up to 50 per cent of eligible capital costs to upgrade roads on the Major Road Network, as well as bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Metro Vancouver.

There are currently more than 3,000 kilometres of bike paths and more than 900 kilometres of protected or separated bikeways in the region.

The 10-Year Vision identifies creating a Major Bikeway Network as a regional priority, connecting to and within designated regional centres, and calls for TransLink to cost-share with local governments to support its creation.

The original Major Bikeway Network concept was developed several years ago as part of the 2011 Regional Cycling Strategy. Recognizing this, TransLink worked with local government staff, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure staff, and HUB representatives over the past several months to produce an updated MBN.

This updated Major Bikeway Network was approved by TransLink’s Regional Transportation Advisory Committee, a group comprised of transportation directors and managers representing the 23 local governments in the Metro Vancouver region.

In additional to cycling, the 10-Year Vision also identifies the need for investments to improve walking access to transit.

Through TransLink’s Walking Infrastructure to Transit (WITT) cost-share funding program, we’ll be helping municipalities do that! The Phase One and Two investment plans provides $2.5 million in 2017 and $5 million annually through 2021.

More information about specific road, cycling and walking projects which TransLink contributed funding to between 2012 and 2017 can be viewed online here.