MONTRÉAL, CITY OF CYCLISTS - Cycling Master Plan: Safety, Efficiency, Audacity - Montréal
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Message from the Mayor Our actions and clear commitment in favour of more sustainable mobility have helped consolidate Montréal’s position as a North American leader when it comes to cycling. Already, our streets are used by about a million cyclists, and more and more Montrealers are choosing to cycle year-round. Our collective hearts are set on stepping up our efforts to give Montrealers more effective and innovative infrastructures adapted to the new realities of urban transportation. That, in essence, is the driving force behind our ambitious Cycling Master Plan, entitled Montréal, City of Cyclists. With Montréal, City of Cyclists, the Cycling Master Plan, the municipal administration is intent on offering its citizens a safe four-season mode of transport, accessible to all. Our city is thus adopting the means to create a pleasant and effective human-scale environment within city limits, by favouring a timely, affordable, environmentally friendly and healthy mode of transport adapted to city life. Our objective is ambitious. We hope to increase cycling’s modal share by 15% in central neighbourhoods over the next 15 years. In order to achieve this, investments of $150 million will be made over the next five years. The Cycling Master Plan is consistent with the major shift in favour of safety for cyclists and pedestrians, reflected in our adoption of the Vision Zero approach to road safety. In this regard, Montréal is more determined than ever to get things done, change the way we think, and play its part as a major international metropolis. The Cycling Master Plan, I’m convinced, is sure to exert a positive influence on the quality of life of all our citizens. M. Denis Coderre Mayor of Montréal 3
Message from the Executive Committee Member Responsible for Transportation The mobility of citizens and users is among our city’s core activities, whether it relates to work, study or leisure. In this regard, further developing the practice of cycling and working to enhance its comfort becomes an essential asset, one we can draw from to improve the daily lives and mobility of Montrealers, not to mention the environment. More than ever, Montrealers have access to modes of transport other than cars thanks to our investments in public transit and our efforts to promote walking and cycling. By making a priority of expanding and improving the bike path network and services for cyclists, the municipal administration is committed to making changes and shaping the way we design mobility in the city. Montréal, City of Cyclists encourages cycling, a mode of transport that is a reliable and effective means of facilitating the mobility of residents and users in the downtown area and in the city’s busiest sectors. The municipal administration and its partners are extremely proud, therefore, to present the Cycling Master Plan, entitled Montréal, City of Cyclists, to all its citizens. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Montrealers, straddle your bicycles! M. Aref Salem Montréal executive committee member responsible for transportation 4
Message from the President of the Committe Montréal is known worldwide as a cycling city, and more and more cyclists are choosing the travel the city by bicycle year-round. With this Cycling Master Plan and its various projects and programs, Montréal has given itself a mission to increase cycling’s modal share to 15% in the city within 15 years. This objective could not be achieved without buy-in and support from all the city’s partners, who have rallied behind this project to ensure its success. The municipal administration thus extends a heartfelt thanks to all the members of the Comité consultatif sur le vélo de Montréal. Your participation and involvement have served to lend renewed impetus to this mode of transport and, by extension, to the entire community. Together, we will make Montréal a leader among the world’s cyclable cities and a model of collaboration sure to inspire other large cities around the globe. M. Marc-André Gadoury Member of the Coderre administration responsible for the cycling file President of the Comité consultatif sur le vélo de la Ville de Montréal 5
Preamble Today, cycling is more popular than ever in In this vein, numerous projects and Montréal. There are now more than one programs will have to be developed to lend million cyclists in the city. By the end of renewed impetus to cycling in Montréal 2017, our bike path network will span close and promote it as a fast, practical and safe to 850 kilometres, with half of it accessible mode of transport. With this in mind, the in winter. Without a doubt, BIXI’s popularity city’s priorities for further promoting cycling has contributed greatly to this newfound include improving traffic conditions and enthusiasm. With 6,200 bicycles serving 540 safety, adding new bicycle parking spaces, stations, more than four million trips were and completing a number taken using this self-service bike-sharing of cycling projects. system in 2016, an increase of 16% compared to 2015. Finally, the safety of cyclists has always been a core part of Montréal’s actions. Montréal can pride itself in having one For this reason, cycling will form a key of the highest modal shares for biking part of the VISION ZERO serious or fatal among cities in North America. Its bike accidents approach, which the city adopted path network surpasses those of most in September 2016. This new approach large Canadian cities. Montréal, Cycling coordinates the efforts of all actors towards City proposes to take this to the next level. the same objective: safety. Despite the enormous progress made in the area of active transportation over the last With these orientations, Montréal is betting few years, plenty of work still lies ahead. that its population of cyclists will continue This plan shows how the city can accelerate to grow in years to come. That’s why an the development of its cycling infrastructure increase in biycle usage is expected across with projects that call for ingenuity, audacity the Montréal agglomeration, particularly in and creativity. the central boroughs, where the goal is to have 15% of all trips taken by bicycle within According to a recent survey1, in 2013, 15 years. Montréal, City of Cyclists will an average of 116,000 bicycle trips were allow the metropolis to assume its rightful taken per day on the island of Montréal, place among the model cities where cycling an increase of 57% since 2008. With more constitutes an attractive and effective people cycling than ever before, however, transportation choice. the current rate of cycling infrastructure growth is insufficient to meet demand. 1 Vélo Québec, L’état du vélo au Québec en 2015, 2016, 15 pages. 6
Montréal’s Cycling Master Plan is made up of 10 orientations: 1. Deploy Montréal’s bike path network, 6. Integrate the needs of cyclists into the with a focus on greater connectivity, current road network as well as road better access to centres of economic construction and reconstruction activity, and improved integration with public transit 7. Install infrastructure and equipment that use innovations and new technologies 2. Make Montréal’s bike path network and thus reflect the functionalities safe and accessible year-round proper to an intelligent and digital city 3. Develop a bicycle accessibilty plan for 8. Implement projects and programs downtown geared to organizations or cultural communities with the goal of 4. Implement bold, large-scale cycling supporting and promoting initiatives programs at the metropolitan level that encourage cycling 5. Improve the quality and supply of bicycle 9. Develop partnerships with sporting parking across Montréal, particularly in associations, schools, leisure groups, etc. central neighbourhoods 10. Promote cycling as a safe, effective and comfortable means of transport 7
1 Deploy Montréal’s bike path network, with a focus on greater connectivity, better access to centres of economic activity, and improved integration with public transit Photo : Ville de Montréal, Caroline Durocher 8
Montréal’s bike path network will span close to 850 kilometres by the end of 2017. The city intends to: On average, 50 kilometres are added to the • Focus on the quality of new cycling network each year. The network is composed infrastructure and the real benefits it of exclusive bike paths (36%), bike lanes brings to cyclists; (29%), designated shared roadways (24%) and on-street paths (11%). Though cyclists • Improve bike path connections between travel on all Montréal roadways, close to individual boroughs and between 60% of them prefer to make their trips on municipalities; bike paths. This explains the popularity of some of the main cycling routes like the • Promote better access to downtown; Berri path, which recorded close to a million • Enable smoother modal transfers from trips in 2016. bike paths to public transit at train and Despite the extension of the bike path metro stations, etc. network across the island of Montréal, and its continued popularity with cyclists, improvements must be made in infrastructure quality and the way its future development is ensured. For example, bicycle access to downtown — a principal destination for many cyclists, who travel there for work, leisure, or studies — could be improved. Only a few protected bike paths exist, including the Claire Morissette path along Boulevard De Maisonneuve, as well as the paths along Rue Berri and Boulevard Robert-Bourassa, which are often packed at rush hour. 9
2 Make Montréal’s bike path network safe and accessible year-round Photo : Ville de Montréal, Denis Labine 10
Winter biking is no longer the exclusive territory of a few diehard cyclists. Last The city intends to: winter, several paths, notably the Claire • Improve the quality of snow removal on Morissette path along Boulevard De bike paths; Maisonneuve and the path on Rue Rachel, registered a daily average of about 600 trips • Ensure comparable maintenance levels between December 2016 and March 2017. from borough to borough; In order to facilitate this growing practice, • Agree on a standard for winter bike Montréal plows a large part of its bike path path maintenance. network. Last winter, several important bike paths remained accessible to cyclists, with more than 430 kilometres or 62% of paths cleared. The level of maintenance varies from sector to sector, however, since boroughs are responsible for snow removal. Generally, protected bike paths are easier to clear, while plowing on-street bike lanes is more complex. 11
3 Develop a bicycle accessibility plan for downtown 12
Downtown Montréal records a very high volume of bicycle traffic. The heart of the The city intends to: city is home to some 100,000 residents, and • Facilitate bicycle access to various each day it also welcomes some 300,000 economic, tourist and institutional workers, 150,000 students and thousands activity centres downtown; of visitors. Its bike paths are among the agglomeration’s busiest. In 2016, two bike • Promote the deployment of north-south paths in the heart of downtown — the Rue bike paths spanning the downtown Berri path and the Claire-Morissette path area; on Boulevard De Maisonneuve — recorded close to 990,000 and over one million trips, • Increase the number of bicycle parking respectively. spaces; Yet, the current downtown bike network • Develop cycling infrastructures. is not continuous, and even incomplete in places. Several sectors, such as the western part of the Ville-Marie borough, have no bike paths at all. The scarcity of north-south paths also discourages bicycle transport between downtown and peripheral boroughs. Not to mention that the thousands of existing bicycle parking spaces are still not enough to meet the demand. 13
4 Implement bold, large-scale cycling programs at the metropolitan level Crédit : © TM - Madore - Daphné CARON 14
While it is necessary to continue developing Montréal’s bike path network by adding The city intends to: on-street infrastructures, such as bike • Mobilize all public and private partners paths, bike lanes, and designated shared for purposes of implementing major roadways, more is now required to stand projects; out and meet the ever-growing needs of cyclists. By favouring a mode of active • Accelerate the completion of large-scale transportation, cyclists are searching for cycling projects. timeliness, comfort, safety and flow, which are not always possible when using other modes of transport. A more effective bike network is sure to be a success with cyclists, who will no doubt make full use of it. That’s why it’s essential to take advantage of major urban redevelopment projects by integrating quality cycling infrastructures that will have a significant impact on the practice of cycling. 15
5 Improve the quality and supply of bicycle parking across Montréal, particularly in central neighbourhoods Photo : Shutterstock 16
The development of new bicycle parking spaces must be done on par with the The city intends to: corresponding rise in bicycle usage, which is • Improve the supply of safe bicycle far from the case, unfortunately. Too often, parking spaces across the city; still, the shortage of bicycle racks obliges cyclists to lock their bikes to lampposts, • Get public and private partners involved signage posts and even trees. This situation in deploying bicycle parking spaces. is particularly evident downtown, where there are more cyclists. With the exception of private bicycle parking spaces inside buildings — which offer protection against theft and bad weather — it is practically impossible to find public bicycle parking that offers the same advantages. Only two bike shelters have been built to date, at the Lionel-Groulx and Longueuil-Université-de-Sherbrooke metro stations. Bicycle parking is a crucial consideration, therefore, one that must be part of an effort to promote active transportation and increase cycling’s modal share on the urban transportation landscape. It’s important to encourage initiatives that include an adequate supply of bicycle parking spaces. 17
6 Integrate the needs of cyclists into the current road network as well as road construction and reconstruction 18
Bicycle travel on a quality bike path network helps to ensure comfort and The city intends to: safety. However, some itineraries require • Improve bicycle routes in the vicinity of that cyclists share the road with cars, road building sites; trucks, etc. • Promote the greater integration of The municipal administration is well aware cycling infrastructures in conjunction of the issues underlying cohabitation with with road reconstruction and urban other modes of transport and the risks that redevelopments; it entails. • Improve the safety and comfort of cyclists through inftrastuctures that are better adapted to their needs; • Continue work operations intended to secure intersections. 19
7 Install infrastructures or equipment that use innovations and new technologies and thus reflect the functionalities proper to a smart and digital city 20
Recent innovations and technological advances have considerably altered our The city intends to: lifestyle and consumption habits and the • Promote the emergence of way that we get around. Geolocation development concepts or equipment applications and the use of smart phones that use innovations and new to pay parking fees are two prime examples. technologies to improve the cycling experience and thus reflect the In the case of BIXI, to cite another example, functionalities proper to a smart city. an application lets users purchase short-term access, rent a bicycle without a key, renew • Make a special effort to collect and a membership, and so on. New applications analyze information and data on cyclists could be developed to further benefit in Montréal so as to tailor the bike path cyclists. network’s development to the needs of cyclists and their active transportation habits. 21
8 Implement projects and programs geared to organizations or cultural communities with the goal of supporting and promoting initiatives that encourage cycling 22
Montréal receives close to 76 % of the 50,000 immigrants who come to Québec The city intends to: each year. Immigration makes an undeniable • Promote access to cycling for all by contribution to Montréal’s demographic, adopting new programs geared to social and economic develoment. cultural communities. Cycling can also play the role of catalyst and social development tool, provided that the basic conditions for its use as a means of transport are adequately integrated. Immigrants are quickly confronted with language difficulties and a poor knowledge of the resources and services available, for example. These difficulties hinder their integration. In order to meet the specific needs of immigrants, the city is already developing and supporting numerous projects with its community and institutional partners. 23
9 Develop partnerships with sporting associations, schools, leisure groups, etc., with the goal of meeting the needs of all clienteles 24
Cycling in Montréal is generally used as a mode of transport to get to work or school The city intends to: or run errands. For many, cycling is also a • Reconcile the needs of all bicycle users leisure or fitness activity, and these people through partnerships with sporting tend to gravitate to sites geared specifically associations, schools, leisure groups, to that purpose: circuit Gilles-Villeneuve etc., with the goal of promoting the or the Camillien-Houde roadway are two emergence of conditions favourable examples.With the proper infrastructure, to the safe practice of cycling in all mountain biking could also be popularized its forms. in urban areas. The municipal administration recognizes that cyclists have a variety of needs, and it intends to work with them to ensure that they can safely practice their activity. 25
10 Promote cycling as a safe, effective and comfortable mode of transport Crédit : © Commission canadienne du tourisme 26
To date, little has been done at the international level to promote Montréal The city intends to: as a cycling city. While public transit is an • Step up its promotion and excellent means of transport for tourists, communications efforts in order to cycling is an ideal way to explore a city well increase the use of cycling as a means worth discovering. For example, a better job of transport; must be done of promoting the BIXI bike- sharing system with visitors. • Position Montréal as a leading cycling destination. Montrealers, meanwhile, could also turn to cycling in greater numbers. Many daily trips done by car could easily be done by bicycle. Over short distances, cycling is often faster and more effective, to say nothing of the health benefits and the benefits for the environment and quality of life. 27
Implementation 28
Cycling has never been so popular in Measures have also been taken to further Montréal. Close to a million cyclists now promote the growing practice of winter use Montréal’s 850-km bike path network. cycling. In 2016, some 62% of bike paths Yet, cycling’s history in Montréal is relatively were cleared and maintained in an effort recent, compared to many European cities, to allow cyclists to travel safely in winter. where the cycling culture and tradition have Finally, several kilometres of bike path are profoundly shaped the urban pandscape. added to the network each year, and the The growth of this activity can certainly be network is constantly being redeveloped. attributed to Montrealers’ love affair with And through periodic counting in specific the bicycle, but it also reflects the municipal locations, the city is able to collect data on administration’s unflagging efforts to meet the usage of the network in order to better the needs of cyclists and promote active plan its development. transportation. The 15-15 target: 15% of Sustained growth the modal share of trips In 2008, Montréal had 400 kilometres of bike paths. By 2017 that figure had more than within 15 years doubled. It’s hardly suprising, therefore, that Montréal is adopting the means to make cycling’s modal share, in Montréal, is one of cycling, as a mode of transport. more and the highest among cities in North America. more accessible to everyone. With this plan, the city, drawing on the same determination The BIXI bike-sharing service is among the and effectivenes it has shown from the various Montréal-based initiatives that have outset, intends to increase the practice of spurred this continued growth. More than cycling across the island of Montréal. The four million BIXI trips were recorded in objective is to increase cycling’s modal 2016. Designed in Montréal, manufactured transportation share to 15% in central in Québec City, and inspired by several beighbourhoods within the next 15 years. goundbreaking innovations, BIXI was an immediate hit with users, as it allowed them to combine public transit with bike-sharing.
The Cycling Master Plan will be accompanied by an action plan to be executed according to the following schedule: MEASURES HORIZON 1. Deployment of the Montréal bike path network with a focus on greater connectivity, improved access to economic activity centres, and greater complementarity with public transit • Continue to expand the bike path network • Secure at-risk sectors • Develop a signage plan ONGOING • Implement preferential measures for cyclists • Allow cyclists to use reserved bus and taxi lanes • Secure underground and above-ground passages with protected cycling infrastrucutres • Deploy counters with displays for bicycles • Develop protected bike paths • Continuously improve Montréal’s bike path network (upgrading) 2. Conversion of Montréal’s bike path network into a safe and accessible network year-round • Establish a service standard for winter maintenance of the bike path 2017 - 2021 network • Modify the INFO-NEIGE application so that it provides information on snow removal operations on the bike path network 3. Development of a bicycle access plan for downtown • Develop new protected cycling corridors 2017 and • Add bike boxes beyond • Increase the number of bicycle parking spaces • Consolidate the Saint-Urbain bike lane • Redevelop the Viger and Saint-Antoine bicycle lanes 4. Completion of bold, large-scale cycling projects at the metropolitan leve 2018 and • Deploy bikeway-type projects beyond • Implement new “cycling streets” • Develop protected bike paths between downtown and the new Champlain Bridge 5. Improvement of the supply and quality of bicycle parking spaces across Montréal and particularly in central neighbourhoods • Review regulations pertaining to the minimum number of bike racks in 2018 - 2021 new constructions • Implement safe bicycle parking spaces at metro and train stations in collaboration with the STM and ARTM • Implement bike stations 30
MEASURES HORIZON 6. Integration of cyclists’ needs into the current road network and in road construction and reconstruction projects • Implement protected bike paths ONGOING • Secure intersections • Launch information campaigns to raise awareness of car dooring among drivers 7. Implementation of developments and equipment that use innovations and new technologies and thus reflect the functionalities proper to a 2020 and smart and digital city beyond • Develop a smart parking concept for bicycles • Synchronize traffic lights (green wave) 8. Implementation of various projects and programs geared to organizaitons or cultural communiities with the aim of supporting 2018 - 2021 and promoting initiatives that encourage cycling • Support initiatives that encourage the practice of cycling 9. Development of partnerships with sporting associations, schools, leisure groups, etc., with the goal of meeting the needs of all clientele 2017 and beyond • Conduct a study on the practice of urban mountain biking in Montréal • Analyze and assess the need for bicycle training sites • Develop bike paths for children to and from school 10..Promotion of cycling as a safe, effective and comfortable mode of transport ONGOING • Presentation of campaigns promoting the practice of cycling 31
Members of the Comité visant à promouvoir la pratique du vélo Coalition vélo Montréal Commission scolaire de Montréal Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal Copenhagenize Design Compagny - Montréal Direction de la santé publique de Montréal Direction des transports de la Ville de Montréal Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) Société de transport de Montréal (STM) Vélo Québec Published by the Ville de Montréal Division des transports actifs et collectifs Direction des transports Service des infrastructures, de la voirie et des transports 801, rue Brennan, 6e étage Montréal (Québec) H3C 0G4 ville.montreal.qc.ca/transport Graphic design: Ville de Montréal, Service des communications 18050 (09-17) Printed in Canada This document is printed on recycled paper.
ville.montreal.qc.ca/velo
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