Calgary cycling co-ordinator gears up for new role

Calgary's newcycling co-ordinator said he's up for the challenge to double thenumber of residents who commute into the core on bicycles by 2020.

Tom Thivener was the bicycle and pedestrian co-ordinator in Tuscon, Ariz., for five years. He's now preparing to oversee Calgary's $28 million cycling strategy.

With just two per cent of Calgarians biking, he said the city has a long way to go.

"We just want to make it on par with the other modes of transportation: trains, driving, walking," said Thivener.

"And right now there's not a lot of infrastructure dedicated to the bicycle. When you go down any roadway in Calgary you see maybe 10 per cent of the space for pedestrians with sidewalks and maybe 90 per cent for automobiles, and you're like, 'Where do the bikes fit in?'"

Thivener will oversee the installation of 180 kilometres of new bike lanes over the next eight years. He starts the job in June.