Whether we use it for travel, relaxation or sport, whether it is powered by an electric motor or by our good old quadriceps – or both – the bicycle is gaining more and more followers and occupying more and more space on our roads, to the great pleasure of some or the displeasure of others. Today, the debates raised by this two-wheeled means of transport.
Excited debates on the place of the bicycle in the city, particularly in Montreal, constantly resurface in the public space. The intensity of the exchanges on the question is partly explained, believe experts consulted by The dutyby the fact that mobility is at the heart of people’s daily lives.
“These are very personal things, mobility and the ability to move around. It affects people a lot,” says Paula Negron-Poblete, professor at the School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Montreal. This concerns their ability to carry out their daily activities, she explains.
“Mobility is the body, it’s the experience, it’s everyday life,” adds Pauline Wolff, responsible for practical training in urban planning at the University of Montreal. That’s why everyone has an opinion on the matter, she explains.
The latter points out that at the top of the bike-related topics that arouse passionate exchanges in Montreal, we find the elimination of parking spaces in the wake of the establishment of new bike paths.
Some see the fact of removing space for parking as an “attack on behavior, body and habits”, notes Mme Wolff, who holds a doctorate in planning from the University of Montreal.
“People think and fear that it forces them to walk more, but that’s rarely the case,” she continues. Anyway, it is very, very rare to be able to park exactly in front of your home. »
“Better sharing” the roadway
If motorists say they are losing space in favor of cycling when creating cycling infrastructure, it is rather a question here of “better sharing the roadway, which does not belong to them completely”, underlines Mme Negron-Poblete.
We must therefore change the way of conceiving the circulation space of a street, she argues. “It’s not just for cars, just as it’s not just for cyclists. It’s a bit for everyone. »
Paula Negron-Poblete also points out that cycle paths do not only benefit those who use them. “When people travel by bicycle, they are people who do not travel by car or public transport. It therefore alleviates the amount of congestion in these two modes of transport and it favors those who travel by public transport and by car. »
Beyond these questions, Pauline Wolff believes that the debate must be refocused on the safety of people on the move. “So the rights and priorities of the most vulnerable people first and automobiles last,” she says.
Reluctance to change
In Montreal, the idea of giving more space to the bicycle in a “systematic way” is relatively recent, notes Mme Negron-Poblete. And here as elsewhere, “we always have a reluctance to change in general,” she explains.
The period of ecological transition that is taking place in Quebec, as well as abroad, calls into question the achievements concerning the way of developing cities, argues Pauline Wolff. “We’ve been doing just that for 100 years, developing to make way for cars and the car industry. […] So it is certain that because of this achievement, at the moment, we are facing resistance. »
Especially since there is a strong car culture that associates this mode of transport with freedom, underlines Mme Wolff. “The automobile is also about social success. The automobile is the norm, in fact, so we also have to deconstruct that. »
Over the next few years, debates on the place of cycling will continue to take place in Montreal, maintains Paula Negron-Poblete. “But maybe they will be less and less stormy as we put in place the infrastructures [cyclables] and that we understand that we have to share the road, ”she says.