Traveling by bicycle: Montreal can serve as an example for Canadian cities

According to Stein van Oosteren, a spokesman for Collectif Vélo-Île-de-France, the time has come for Canadian cities to change the way they move their people. He recalled that the increase in cycling in France and the Netherlands was due to high fuel prices.

The Netherlands is like Canada today: a car -powered country. The vehicle is the foundation of travel. It is dangerous and very unpleasant to ride a bicyclecommemoration of Mr. Oosteren, who passed through Montreal as part of the Go Vélo celebration.

Montreal, North America’s cycling leader

He argues that Quebec metropolis is the leader in cycling in North America because of its network of cycle paths that are separate from lanes for motor vehicles. These trails attract a large number of users because they give them a sense of safety.

In North America, you often have to be an experienced cyclist to get around by bike, says Owen Waygood, a professor at Polytechnique Montreal. Safer infrastructure will be more used by women, children and the elderly.

Montreal has great leadership in this areahe said.

About 2,000 cyclists per day in St-Denis

The data shows an increase in the use of new copies of the Réseau express vélo, underlined Professor Waygood. Nearly 2,000 cyclists use the St-Denis Street trail daily. There are sometimes up to 8000. Impressive.

Raw data is not easy to get. The Quebec government conducts a travel study every five years, but Prof. Waygood that it only gives a limited picture of the situation, especially since it was conducted in the fall at a time when many townspeople left their bikes.

There is no pan-Canadian study that would allow comparisons to be made between cities across the country, he laments.

Statistics Canada collects data on trips by Canadians, but its most recent study on the subject dates from 2016. At that time, the rate of people traveling by bicycle was higher in Vancouver and Victoria than in Montreal. , which is normal, according to Professor Waygood, due to warmer average temperatures in these two cities.

Year Round in Toronto

Ry Shissler, communications manager at Cycle Toronto, said his organization puts Victoria, Vancouver and Montreal above Queen City when it comes to promoting cycling. If Toronto was flatter than Montreal, the latter would have produced better infrastructures.

We don’t have the same network that will make it easier for people to travel by bicyclehe said.

However, cyclists in Toronto can rely on a year -round sharing system, while the BIXI system closes in the winter in Montreal.

BIXI and Communauto

Stephen Miller, head of communications team at Transit, a public transit app, said it’s easier for people to get around Montreal without owning a vehicle because of public transit networks.

Several projects implemented in Montreal have been exported, he added, citing Communauto. The technology used for the BIXI system was developed by a company belonging to the City of Montreal. It is now used in other large cities such as Toronto, New York and London.

Montreal benefits from having a culture that emphasizes innovation in public transportationsaid Miller.