When it comes to how Winnipeggers view cycling, we generally misinterpret the bicycle as just a toy for kids’ enjoyment or strange adults rather than a tool for getting around. Winnipeggers must move past their recreational mindset on cycling. If we want to see real climate and transportation justice outcomes, we must reframe cycling as a transportation necessity, strengthened by policy and media perception.
Car-brained influenza has infected Winnipeg’s policy, infrastructure and culture, reducing cycling to recreation rather than serious transport. Painted bike lanes on McDermot, Smith, Cumberland or St. Matthews offer little more than street art, creating a false sense of safety. Being squeezed between speeding cars on St. Matthews Ave, for instance, shows why cyclists demand protected lanes. In addition, lack of winter maintenance turns bike paths into skating rinks during freeze-thaw cycles, and high rates of bicycle theft discourage bicycle ownership.
City Hall’s inaction worsens risks for vulnerable users. A comprehensive cycling policy must prioritize diverse users, not hobbyists. Yet local attitudes persist — at a September NDP meeting for my constituency, I wrote a resolution for their convention to advance active transportation within Manitoba. This was dismissed with claims that “cycling is only recreation” and “no one rides in winter.”
Mainstream media often reinforces cycling as child’s play, treating it as a nuisance rather than transport. Outlets like the Winnipeg Sun frame bike lanes as frivolous, while cars remain unquestioned kings. Media coverage also rarely presents cycling as infrastructure vital to climate or equity strategies, instead it relies on recreational clichés like sunny rides, rather than commuters braving rain or winter. This narrative undermines serious discussion about cycling’s role in reducing emissions. Nearly half of Winnipeg’s carbon output comes from transportation, mostly private automobiles. Without reframing cycling as essential infrastructure, we cannot reach the city’s goal of 50 per cent non-automotive mode share by 2050, nor build the climate and transportation justice Winnipeg urgently needs.
Around the world, cities challenge the bicycle-as-toy myth. Copenhagen, Bogotá, Paris and Montreal are renowned cycling hubs because they embrace bikes as everyday transport, reducing car dependency. The rise of cargo and e-bikes expands access, enabling deliveries and mobility for those previously excluded. For many low-income users, cycling is not recreation but economic survival in a system that burdens the poor while wealth concentrates at the top. Reframing cycling as a necessity, not a novelty, is vital for equity and resilience.
So, how can the media improve? Give cycling in Winnipeg the same amount of media coverage as automobiles. Frame it as an accessible way of battling climate change and an equitable transportation mode. Expand more coverage into the community by interviewing more grassroots advocates who commute by bike every day. Show further diversity in cycling coverage. Show low-income and Indigenous commuters, parents hauling kids, cover community stories like bike buses. The more we hear about them, the more the public will understand. Yes, of course, normalize winter riding and those who take the bus alongside cycling. Normalize the idea that it’s ok not to have a driver’s licence. Not everyone has one, nor wants one, including myself.
Let’s all reclaim the bicycle as a tool for economic, social and environmental liberation, not just a recreational play piece.
Adam Johnston hosts Not Necessarily The Automobile on Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. on UMFM 101.5. He can be reached at [email protected]
