About

Let's measure cyclist spending in the community

I Bike, I Buy was launched in June 2015 by Kitchissippi Councilor Jeff Leiper to track the amount of money cyclists spend while parked at the City’s bike corral. The initial pilot focused on the corral located near the corner of Fairmont Avenue and Wellington Street.

I Bike, I Buy is designed to make it easy for cyclists to record purchases made when cycling. The goal is to understand how cyclists and cycling infrastructure can boost local businesses. Studies in other cities have already shown that cyclists make more frequent trips to local businesses and therefore spend the same—if not more—than drivers.

Last year, the purchases of close to 100 cyclists were tracked and they indicate average spending of $35.44 per trip.

For 2016 we’re building on last year’s success by expanding the project to include Ottawa’s four other urban wards: Rideau-Vanier, Rideau-Rockliffe, Somerset, and Capital. The hope is that by creating easy-to-use facilities for cyclists, road congestion will be reduced and more people will be enticed to use a more environmentally friendly way to travel throughout the urban core.

In the spring the website will be updated to track not only the dollars spent, but to add additional information including location, and category of participating services, shops, and restaurants.

Please join us in an effort to demonstrate that cyclists have an important role to play in local economic growth and use I Bike, I Buy in 2016 to track your purchases!

Stay tuned for updates!

Councillor Jeff Leiper

Kitchissippi Ward 15

City of Ottawa

110 Laurier Avenue West

Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1J1