The implementation in 2024 of a cycle path of the Express Bike Network (REV) on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard is causing concern among certain merchants. However, shouldn’t the example of the north-south path on rue Saint-Denis encourage optimism? We take stock in a graph.
Since the inauguration of the REV cycle path in November 2020, the occupancy rate of businesses on Rue Saint-Denis has generally increased.
It even reached a peak in March 2023: 86.04%. This is the highest occupancy rate since the Commercial Development Company (SDC) rue Saint-Denis established its current calculation method.
While this rate was 77% in January 2019, a year before the pandemic, it had stabilized for a year around 84%.
As for the REV, its success cannot be denied. The number of network users has been steadily increasing since its launch three years ago.
Not enough “motorway exits”
In interview at 24 hours, the general director of SDC Saint-Denis, Julien Vaillancourt Laliberté, says he is satisfied with these figures. According to him, people who were resistant at the beginning have become accustomed to REV, which is now part of their daily lives.
On the other hand, Mr. Vaillancourt Laliberté would now like additional arrangements to make life easier for consumers, such as other bicycle parking or better signage. He would also like REV users to be able to leave the “highway” more easily to do their shopping.
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“When we talk about the REV, we often use motorway language, we say “it’s a highway for bicycles” or “it allows you to go from point A to point B”, etc. But on a highway, there are exit ramps… We don’t have exit ramps on Saint-Denis. It’s not because there is a red light that people will come out,” he explains.
The fear of the east-west axis
Despite the success of the REV in Saint-Denis, Julien Vaillancourt Laliberté says he understands the concerns of Ahuntsic merchants.
According to him, the fears of traders are linked in particular to the fact that Boulevard Henri-Bourassa, which runs from east to west, is less well served by public transport than a north-south axis like Rue Saint-Denis.
