Source Feed: City of Ottawa News Releases
Author: City of Ottawa - Media Relations / Ville d'Ottawa - Relations avec les médias
Publication Date: July 2, 2025 - 13:13
Making space(s) for bikes
July 2, 2025
Ottawa is rolling into a greener future with expanded bike parking options.
This feature story is part of the City of Ottawa Service Reviews: an initiative aimed at ensuring our services are meeting your needs. Visit ottawa.ca/YourIdeas today.
When we think of parking, we usually think of cars. But bike parking is just as important to encourage active transportation, and it’s top of mind for the City of Ottawa.
Cycling is good for the environment by reducing congestion, improving air quality and minimizing our carbon footprint. Having bike parking options makes biking more appealing, which leads to fewer car trips and emissions, while creating a healthier, more sustainable city.
Gaby Davilus is a project coordinator of parking studies for the City’s Public Works department. He has been working on bike infrastructure across the city for over two years now. “It’s a challenging and creative job,” he explains. “You have to match demand with supply while maintaining a certain aesthetic design that is pleasing to people. To encourage residents to cycle, we need to provide them with places where they feel comfortable parking their bikes. We have focused on increasing bike parking capacity near popular commercial areas, Client Service Centres, community and recreation centres and parks.”
City Council approved a bike parking strategy in 2021 to meet the growing needs from residents and visitors and to properly plan where to place bike parking. The strategy covers everything from the classic ring-and-post racks and corrals to newer ideas like secure bike lockers.
The City currently has three lockers: one in the ByWard Market at 141 Clarence Street, one at the Glebe Parking Garage at 170 Second Avenue and one on Slater Street near Bank Street. The lockers work using a code from a parking app and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
Locker rentals are free for the first two hours, and $0.50 for each additional hour.
Based on feedback from users, the bike lockers and app were recently improved to streamline the reservation process, make the app more user-friendly and reinforce the smart locking system.
“The day work started on installing the secure bike lockers was probably the best workday ever,” explained Davilus. “There was a sense of accomplishment, excitement and closure. I was very proud of reaching this milestone, knowing we were bringing this experience closer to reality for our residents and visitors.”
And what about those ring-and-post bike racks? Every one of them is coded to make them easy to identify and plan their regular maintenance. Bike corrals are also placed throughout Ottawa and following a successful pilot, the City has implemented winter maintenance for bike racks close to essential services, like grocery stores and pharmacies, for year-round usage.
It’s not lost on the City’s Parking Services team that there is also a need to increase bike parking on private property. To help build a more bike friendly Ottawa, the City subsidizes the purchase of bike racks for eligible businesses, non-profits, schools and multi-unit residential properties.
Encouraging bike use and adding bike parking is a great step towards getting more people riding on two wheels, but what happens when your bike breaks down? Don’t worry! The City boasts bike repair stations across town to help.
“Currently, we have 51 bike repair stations across Ottawa’s 22 wards,” explained Davilus. “We’ve tried to strategically place them in heavily used locations to ensure greater access. It provides items like tire levers, air pumps and small tools for minor repairs. The key is proactive maintenance to make sure the supplies are there when riders need them. They’re well used and very much appreciated.”
So, grab your bike and let’s go for a ride!
Your city, your ideas!
Increased bike parking is just one example of how the City is working to create a green and resilient city. By giving cyclists more places to park and secure their bikes, we are encouraging sustainable transportation and reducing our city’s environmental footprint.
Do you have a suggestion for how Ottawa can become more green and resilient? You can share your ideas on how this or other City services could be improved to support sustainability and resilience at engage.ottawa.ca/GreenAndResilient.
For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca, call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401) or 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with us through Facebook, Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
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