Sudbury photo blogger aims to highlight need for cycling infrastructure

An online photo blog is trying to raise awareness about the lack of cycling infrastructure in Sudbury.

This year, Matt Alexander created Invisible Bike Lanes of Sudbury — a blog that shows cyclists with their bikes removed from the picture with Photoshop software.

• Bike lanes slow to take shape along Sudbury roads

Alexander said he embarked on the project because he wants to talk about the need for bike lanes in a new way.

"I wanted to raise awareness and get attention to the number of cyclists in the city — and humour seems to be the way to do it," he said.

Alexander said he wants to keep the conversation going about the lack of bike infrastructure in the city.

"It lets you remember that there's a person on that bicycle and that there are individuals who rely on bicycles to get around the city," he said.

Alexander said he notices there are a lot of lower income people on bikes "who probably don't have the option of driving."

More than 100 photos of cyclists have been posted to the blog so far, and Alexander said he plans to add one each day, at least until the snow arrives.

According to Statistics Canada's 2011 data, less than one per cent of people get to work by bike in Greater Sudbury — a few hundred people.