Peter Black
May 15, 2024
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
The city administration has laid out a plan to have àVélo electric bicycle rental stations in virtually all neighbourhoods of the city within four years.
Mayor Bruno Marchand and Coun. Maude Mercier Larouche, Réseau de Transport de la Capitale president and member of the executive committee responsible for public transit, integrated mobility and major projects, unveiled the details of the plan at a May 6 news conference at the Station des Cageux on Promenade Samuel-De Champlain.
The site was chosen to highlight the installation of two bike stations on the Promenade, with a total of 52 anchor slots.
By 2028, the city’s àVélo fleet is expected to reach 3,300 bikes parked at 330 stations. As of this summer, there will be 1,300 bikes at 115 stations throughout the city.
The fleet will be expanded by about 500 bikes and 50 stations per year. The àVélo program is operated by the RTC in partnership with the Capitale Mobilté group. The budget for 2024 is $9.5 million, $3.7 million of which comes from the city treasury. By 2028, the cost to the city will be $37 million, the mayor confirmed.
“ÀVélo is experiencing resounding success; this is no longer questionable. … The addition of a mobility option on our territory gives citizens additional opportunities every day to travel as they want, when they want,” the mayor said.
Marchand said the city will ensure safety measures are in place to cope with a major increase in àVélo traffic around the city in the coming years. He said studies show that the more bicycles there are on the streets, the safer it is for pedestrians.
The city has two pilot projects in the works to expand and diversify the àVélo service. One is the introduction of mechanical (non-electric) bicycles for the winter months, when batteries for electric bikes can’t be charged due to cold weather. The other is the “vélo-cargo” (cargo bike), a bike with a carrying basket to make it easier for cyclists to go shopping. The RTC is looking at two models and will conduct pilot projects to determine which it will introduce.
Both Marchand and Mercier Larouche said they are amazed at the success of the àVélo program, now in its fourth year of operation. Mercier Larouche said, “When we know that in 2023, 22 per cent of users will choose àVélo rather than use their car, it is simple to affirm that the deployment of this service has a significant impact on the reduction of congestion and greenhouse gasses.”
Marchand said he is himself an avid user of the àVélo bikes, having made some 40 trips last year, with a goal of doubling that this season. He said the service is a “fun and positive” way to fight climate change.
“There’s a narrative that is negative. Here you are doing something positive. You can change your city. It is possible to make changes in your life and it’s easy.
“It’s something that is not mandatory. It is something that you choose to do, and not the mayor and not someone telling you with a big finger you have to change. No, we’re offering you something fun, something cool, something that talks about hope, something that talks about the fact that bringing change to your life might be fun. And I think that’s what we have to deliver as politicians.”
Full details on the àVelo program are available on the RTC website.
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Photo by Peter Black
Pierre Baillargeon, president of the neighbourhood council bicycle consultation group; Mayor Bruno Marchand and RTC president Maude Mercier Larouche are ready to roll out the àVélo expansion program.