Community Based Social Marketing Pilot Program for Active Transportation
In 2014-2015, the Regional Municipality of Peel retained TCAT, in partnership with Dr. Beth Savan and her research team at the Toronto Cycling Think & Do Tank at the University of Toronto and Culturelink Settlement and Community Services, to create and implement a community based pilot program to increase active transportation.
Project Description
Neighbourhoods in Peel Region with high cycling potential were identified through the mapping of cycling-related factors. Of these neighbourhoods, one was selected for a targeted intervention. Our model included three strands, developed based on the identification of partners and community needs:
- The Community Bike Centre: An overarching community home for programming
- PedalWise: A mentorship‐based cycling program
- BikeWrx: a bicycle mechanics garage with educational programming
Project Impact
- 239 community members were directly engaged. Participants ranged from ages 5 to 75 and came from 19 self-‐identified cultural/ethnic communities
- 1600 hours of community time were contributed.
- 1236 new cycling related connections among people in the community were made.
- PedalWise participants reported a drop in car trips from 54% to 42% of all trips and an increase in cycling from 5% to 25%. Participants averaged 177 minutes of cycling per week, compared with 25 minutes of physical activity per week for the control group.
- The Region has increased community capacity to support future program delivery through 10 newly trained community based cycling mentors, bicycle mechanics and cycling instructors.
More information
Want to know more? Read the Peel Pilot Project Highlights and Final Report.
