Georgia Needham Information designer
All work

Mapping Safe Cycling in Calgary

A systems map of how safe, connected bike lanes shape the health and wellbeing of Calgarians.

Role
Solo project
Timeline
Fall 2025
Course
INFO 4620, Mount Royal University
Methods and tools
Expert interviews, literature review, field research, Figma
Reading time
3 minutes

Click through the walkthrough to explore my maps step by step. On a phone, open it in Figma for the full view.

The problem
Car-centric planning and political opposition leave Calgary's bike network disconnected and unequal.
What I did
Interviewed three experts, reviewed plans and research, rode a student's commute, and mapped the system in Figma.
Outcome
Four maps showing the causes, actors, tensions and leverage points for safer cycling.

Built from Experts, Research and a Ride

I interviewed a civil engineer, a transportation engineer and the executive director of a youth cycling non-profit. I paired their insight with municipal plans, academic research and a ride simulating a student's commute to a Calgary high school.

As a cyclist living near downtown, I checked my own bias against reports and sources with differing views. Interview transcripts stay private; the maps are my synthesis.

Problem Snapshot

Car-centric infrastructure and opposition to bike lanes reinforce each other, limiting access to safe routes and lowering how safe cyclists feel.

Problem snapshot: Core issues affecting safe cycling in Calgary. Causes (car centric infrastructure, public and political opposition) reinforce effects (disparity in access to bike lanes, lack of perceived cyclist safety).
The problem at a glance: two causes and the two effects they reinforce.

Causal Map

Driver behaviour, infrastructure, community support and cyclist experience all shape how safe riders feel. Safer, connected infrastructure leads to more riders and better health outcomes.

Causal map showing direct and inverse relationships between driver, infrastructure, cyclist and political influences, colour-coded from immediate to long-term, leading to feelings of autonomy, social interaction and health benefits.
Influences are grouped by type and colour-coded from immediate to long-term. Dashed lines show inverse relationships.

Actor Map

Tension between municipal and provincial government affects whether Calgary's bike network gets finished. Supporters of cycling rely heavily on the city to keep routes safe.

Actor map: Who influences the safety of Calgary's bike lanes? Concentric rings from users to organizations to institutions and policy, linking municipal and provincial government, departments, bike shops, clubs, non-profits and supportive and opposing users.
Actors sit in rings, from everyday users at the centre out to institutions and policy.

Rich Context and Leverage Points

Car-first planning has produced "reactionary" bike lanes that are often temporary or disconnected, which fuels opposition. I marked where an intervention could shift the system, for example:

  • Support education programs that correct misconceptions about bike lanes.
  • Add clear signage, lighting, signals and snow clearing so routes are easy to find and their use is visible.
Rich context map: Tensions that continue to affect safe bike travel. Past influences from 1894 to 1977 connect to current practices and to future trends, with leverage points marked and long-term trends along the bottom.
Past influences lead to current practices and future trends. Leverage points mark where change could start.

What I Learned

  • Feeling safe matters as much as being safe. If a route doesn't feel safe, people won't ride it.
  • Gaps break the network. Lanes that stop short undo the value of the routes around them.
  • Some routes are invisible. Better wayfinding helps people find the lanes that already exist.
  • Infrastructure is political. Communication and education are part of the design problem.

Next Steps

I later exhibited these maps as interactive pieces, where hovering revealed details and brought related factors into focus. Visitors wrote down their own stance on bike lanes after exploring them. If I continued this project, I would:

  • Simplify the maps further, so passing viewers grasp the core ideas without needing to interact.
  • Show more of my process, such as the first version of my causal map built in Miro.
  • Fine-tune the content for a smoother experience, which time constraints limited.

Sources: City of Calgary (2024), Safer Mobility Plan 2024–2028; Doran, El-Geneidy and Manaugh (2021), The pursuit of cycling equity: A review of Canadian transport plans; Fruhen, Rossen and Griffin (2019), The factors shaping car drivers' attitudes towards cyclists and their impact on behaviour; Wilson and Mitra (2020), Implementing cycling infrastructure in a politicized space: Lessons from Toronto, Canada.