BNS Strategic Plan
In 2015, BNS committed to doing a 5-year strategic plan. We did a visioning session as a board with the help of Sport Nova Scotia, and then we asked you, our members and supporters, to help us with our priorities.
Below are our top 5 focus areas, with some key actions and outcomes that we are working hard to accomplish. Please let us know how we are doing and if we have missed something important!
| Vision Component | 5 Year Target | Progress to December 2016 |
| General Bicycle Nova Scotia Organizational Aspirations | ||
| BNS is taken seriously by the public and has value | > 50 media hits / year, general membership and outside recognition, social media | Torchy Peden Award from CCC, doubled Facebook followers, active twitter |
| BNS seen as caring about NS as a whole | Programming in all counties and rep in each county | AGM’s in different locations (2016 AGM in Truro, 2017 in Wolfville) |
| Organizational infrastructure is self-sustaining and consistent with long term staff | $25,000 block funding per year; 5 staff members, 10,000 / 30,000 members through clubs and organizations, 25% of budget from “social enterprise/earned income”, Improved communication, registration; tools and resources in place to support smaller organizations; role model for inclusivity | Ben Buckwold, Adam Barnett, Madeline Lawler, Lynne Pascoe; Sustainable government funding, but need to become more self reliant. |
| BNS is “The Hub” for all things bicycle in NS | Top hit on Google when searching cycling / bicycling / Nova Scotia | Need to commit to this and allocate resources accordingly. |
| Increased general and corporate membership | $10,000 – $30,000 general membership through member clubs and organization, $50,000 corporate sponsorship, 50 clubs/organizations are members | Insurance is a big part of this work, then need to figure out if Zone 4 can work for general support and membership |
| Competition | ||
| Increased equity, more women’s categories in races | For every male category there is an equal women’s category, 35% females in competitive events; increase in accessible races (i.e. alley cat) | Women’s A and B in Road and Mountain added in 2016 |
| Participate in and host national level competitions in road, mountain, cross and BMX | 2 national level mountain bike, 1 each in road and cross, 40 well attended competitive events | Two national level comps attended; working on Canada Cup XC for 2018 |
| Provincial Team program | Active provincial team with 20 members; effective athlete development program; 10 athletes performing at the national/international level | Established team for events, provincial team kits supported by BNS; struggling with administration of that team, needs support |
| Strong coaching and team | 20 high level coaches | Need to get coaches more fully certified |
| Chip timing system for events | As is | Agreed on funding for chip timing system, and including cost of individual chips in competitive |
| Touring & Recreation | ||
| Cycling Infrastructure is in place for touring and recreation and competition | 1 proper built single track in HRM; 1000-2500km of connected Blue Route; 1 indoor bike facility; $ for trail maintenance & development | Working actively on all of this! |
| NS is a cycling destination | 100,000+ cycling tourists, 2-3 times cycle tourists in exit survey; 1 province wide bike friendly business network | NS Tourism did dedicated survey; ACOA funding for Bicycle Friendly Business program (in progress) |
| Mountain bike trails developed in at least one area (2016/2017) | As is | 16 public /private trails in NS, working with Trail Forks, MBT strategy in process, including potential videos |
| BNS to host one cycling event | Hosted Blue Route ride, others in the works | |
| A ski hill allows mountain biking | As is | Winter fat bike riding at Martock; specialized demo day; Keppoch turned into mountain biking |
| Education & Safety | ||
| Cycling is respected and supported, increased # cyclists riding safely with drivers and cyclists sharing the road | 15% of commuters ride a bike; 3-5% of TIR transportation budget for AT; 0 fatalities; drivers get biking safety info/all cyclists get cycling rules of the road info when they buy their bike | Incident reporting tool launched! Helped with Ellen’s Law; Cycling Canada looking at using our Incident Report tool; ongoing |
| Cycling education is province wide/all ages | Making Tracks/CANBIKE); Lets Ride; 25 active WOW rides weekly; “every child rides a bike” program; cycling education programs in all schools; education info at every vehicle registration/bike purchase; successful prescribe a bike program | Working with others to sort out roles and capacity of Can Bike, Making Tracks, Learn to Bike, etc |
| More youth programming in Phys. Ed | Cycling in NSSAF | Was happening with Rocky Lake Junior High, will continue in September with other schools. |
| BNS funds cycling for kids, including a competitive option | $10,000 for grants – bikes/gear/repairs | |
| Transportation | ||
| Urban areas in Nova Scotia have bike infrastructure everyone can be proud of | Bike lanes throughout the peninsula; 100% accessible; other priority urban areas | Ongoing, part of Blue Route advocacy particularly in areas of high population |
| Updated and rewritten Motor Vehicle Act relevant to all road user | BNS working actively with Road Safety Advisory Committee and other NGOs on recommendations for a better Transportation Act | |
| Rails 2 Trails is a solid and happy entity | BNS is involved in community trail development (single track and shared use) | Work in progress; significant trails upgrading funding from ACOA going into Blue Route/Destination Trails projects |
| Stable funding source for active transportation | Idea: PST portion of bicycle sales rebated to provincial AT fund | Work in progress |
| Blue Route is implemented, used and promoted | 2,000- 2500 km of Blue Route or 1/3 is in place and connected; private sector committing dollars for infrastructure; 3-5% of transportation budget (TIR) is allocated for AT | Ongoing – 111km implemented as of December 2016; destination trails to be added this summer with other road TBD |