How do climate change related events impact urban biking?

I have definitely had to put my bike away and take the car in response to events like wildfire smoke. I haven’t had to for extreme heat, but extreme heat where I am, while bad, isn’t the same as some other places in the world. But, as we approach summer, and remembering that last year we had some intense wildfire smoke in May that forced some changes in my activities, I got to wondering what the impacts of climate-related events are on biking rates. Fortunately, Pitois and colleagues looked at this question this year (2025).

Biking is often part of climate response and mitigation plans. Getting people out of their cars and onto bikes reduces greenhouse gas emissions and offers health benefits. At the same time, the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather, including heat waves and increased wildfires with smoke that can travel thousands of kilometres, can negatively impact cyclists. As a cyclist, your only air conditioning is the wind so extreme heat can create risks. People who are more vulnerable, such as seniors, show a greater avoidance of cycling during extreme heat (Pitois et al.). However, an interesting finding is that heat warnings put out by municipalities tend to only have a significant impact on the first day. The first day it is issued, fewer people bike, but after that first day, the decline is negligible.

Not surprisingly, air quality impacts whether people choose to bike or not. Generally air quality alerts do result in decreased bike trips, but again, that is primarily on the first day of the alert. After that, it may not have as big an effect. However, repercussions of disasters like hurricanes and wildfire can be longer lasting. There can be a delay in when people go back to cycling after the initial event is over. The researchers could not say why this may be the case but they suggest that it may be due to health effects of things like smoke. I would guess that some of the delay after a disaster like a hurricane would be infrastructure related as damage or barriers on routes could deter cyclists.

I think this is really important to consider. We want to move people out of cars to combat climate change, but if that climate change leads to events that make it harder for people to bike then we have a challenge.