Breaking Barriers to Cycling in Surrey

From December 2024 to March 2025, SFU Research and Action for Healthy Cities (REACH-Cities) collaborated with the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) and its working group, the Surrey Youth Newcomer Council (SYNC), on a workshop series titled "Breaking Barriers to Cycling in Surrey."

This initiative builds upon our previous engagement with Surrey LIP on the '15-Minute Neighbourhoods in Surrey' research project, which highlighted the challenges faced by racialized and newcomer youth in navigating the city by transit, walking, and cycling.

In alignment with our values of being relationship-focused, the SFU REACH-Cities team identified an opportunity to engage these youth further, this time focusing on solution development. 

This opportunity emerged from SFU REACH-Cities providing research and best practices to support the City of Surrey in creating an equity-incentive program for their e-bike share pilot. This program was later launched by the City of Surrey and BIRD Canada, with support from Surrey LIP.

These workshops, held weekly on Tuesday evenings from January to March 2025, explored why e-bike share uptake is low among racialized youth, focusing on cultural perceptions, safety concerns, and practical issues like route planning. Youth participants received mentorship and support from SFU REACH-Cities and the Surrey LIP team to develop solutions aimed at improving the cycling experience and promoting greater diversity among cyclists in Surrey.

The workshop series concluded with a community showcase where youth presented their projects and solutions to an audience of over 50 attendees, including City of Surrey staff, community advocacy groups and researchers. Projects included bike parking solutions in Surrey Central, transit safety and bike equity for night shift workers in Surrey, and a documentary featuring interviews with Surrey youth about their transportation challenges and perceptions of cycling. More details on these projects are provided below.

Funding support for this project was provided by the SFU Community Engagement Initiative, Canadian Institute of Health Research and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. 

Sustainable Transportation: Documentary

By Ian Irabagankje, Brian Sukiranya, Madeena Faizy

This documentary features interviews with eight youth sharing their perspectives on sustainable transportation in Surrey. It explores the challenges they face, the barriers that limit their choices, and the factors that shape how they navigate their communities. By elevating the voices of youth, the documentary not only sheds light on barriers but also provides actionable insights to creating better transportation solutions in Surrey.

Proposal for Better Bike Parking in Surrey Central

By Rafay Mohammad, Raj Raheja, Mehram Sharma, Mohammad Zakria Abdulrahimzai

According to the group’s problem statement, “there is a serious lack of focus on traveling across Surrey as opposed to traveling out of Surrey. Bus routes are structured so people can get to Surrey Central quickly, but traveling across or deeper into Surrey often takes over an hour. The only other option is biking to destinations. However, due to the lack of protected bike lanes and fear of bike theft, many choose not to.”

This project aimed to increase cycling in Surrey by ensuring people have safe places to store their bikes. The group identified bike theft as a major deterrent to cycling and proposed investing in secure bike parking as a solution to encourage more people to cycle within the city center.

At the showcase, the group developed an engagement activity (pictured above) where attendees rated various bike parking options such as bike parking garages, standard bike racks, Bikeep secure racks, Mazdis secure domes, bike lockers, and bike valet services. Attendees were also asked how they travel across Surrey, how they feel about their journeys, and what changes would encourage them to consider cycling. 

Safe Nights, Safe Rides: Transit Safety & Bike Equity for Night Shift Workers

By Ananya Bhatia, Jasmeen Sran, Yodit Girmay & Rajveer Gill

This project highlighted how night commuters would like to consider biking at night since it offers flexibility and avoids waiting times. The group conducted interviews with night shift workers in Surrey and found that most people view biking at night as unsafe due to poor lighting and a lack of bike lanes. 

The group developed recommendations to improve transit safety and increase biking uptake at night for night shift workers. These included increasing lighting, creating protected bike lanes, offering discounts on e-bikes after sunset, installing emergency call stations and adding clear bike turn signs.

At the showcase, the group engaged attendees through questions such as:

• What’s your overall sense of safety when using transit or biking at night?
• Are there any improvements you’d like to see that would make you feel safer?
• Do you feel there are enough safety measures in place at night (e.g., lighting or emergency help)? If not, what’s missing?
• Have you ever felt unsafe while waiting for the bus or train at night? If so, what happened?
• If safer bike lanes and secure parking were available, would you consider biking at night instead of using transit? Why or why not?

What’s Next?

SYNC will continue developing these ideas further. The Surrey LIP will help mobilize and amplify this work, with announcements expected in the new fiscal year. The REACH-Cities team will continue to facilitate connections between SYNC and the City of Surrey while identifying potential funding opportunities to implement these solutions. 

This work will also be presented at the Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC) annual conference later this year.