Thread by @sbrix

Intersections are where most of the conflicts happen between people on bikes and people driving cars. Naturally it makes sense then to put the bike markings in the intersections and in front of driveways to notify drivers to expect to see bikes. #Montreal

But of course bike stencils aren't nearly enough, you need a network protected bike lanes. Here is an example of planted medians separating bikes from cars which are far more beautiful and safer than flex posts.

I've been questioned by a fair amount of people over the years on how pedestrians are supposed to walk across a protected bike lane. Here's a good example - raise the bike lane to curb level, paint a x-walk

Necking down intersections, adding texture, and raising them to pedestrian level make these places more humane and help prioritize walking and biking. Car parking removal and adding bikes in both directions to a one way street also does a lot to calm the street & deemphasize cars

Like all other cities making true headway for transit, biking & walking Montreal is removing on-street car storage/lanes & reclaiming space for people. Here's an example of a street (Marie-Anne) that used to cut straight through Parc Baldwin that's now a path for walking/biking

Note how there's parking only one one side of this street in this bustling business district

Montreal wasn't always like this of course (700+km of bike lanes/paths, 6000+ @BIXImontreal bikes, tens of thousands of riders). So how did it get there? In the 70s–80s artists/activists raised MTL's collective consciousness to the plight of bicyclists montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…

They staged die-ins, attempted to part the St. Lawrence for cyclists a la Moses and the Red Sea, took over a bridge by playing volleyball, striped their own bike lanes, & drew attention to Metro's ridiculous policy that allowed large objects like ladders aboard but not bikes

"Bicycle Bob" Silverman of Le Monde à Bicyclette: "They give 90 percent of the money to the worst form of transport. They give it to noise and to ugliness and to death. It’s absolutely crazy. The transport ministry should be called the ministry of destruction"

This AM I met w/the inspirational City Councilperson and Mayor @Val_Plante exec. comm. member @mariagig who told me about the roots of bike advocacy in MTL, the roots of her party @projectmontreal & their focus: 1. Public & Active transport 2. Affordable housing 3. Local economy

One of the things they did recently was establish a Vision Zero office with ~10 staff tasked with making the streets safer.

They are also upgrading existing bicycling and walking infrastructure, investing heavily in public transport (ordering 300 new buses), and putting in a 160km bicycle superhighway system called the Réseau Express Vélo over the next ~6 years 😍 dailyhive.com/montreal/montr…

Here's a way to address a conflict zone at a bus stop along a protected bike lane

Montreal aims high with their planters Downtown

They also aim high with the sheer amount of on street terrasses (we call them parklets) in the place of car parking that add much needed outdoor space and more seating for restaurants and cafes proving that removing car parking can be great for businesses

I'm glad to hear Montreal is going to begin adopting unidirectional protected bike lanes. In the meantime their bidirectional network is terrific and this is an creative way of dealing with an intersection of two bidirectional bike lanes.

Multiday transit passes unlock cities. So glad @PGHtransit offer them!

Speed limit is set to <20mph in this residential neighborhood near a park. @CityPGH should adjust its speed limits to 20mph on most residential streets and make traffic calming measures commonplace to ensure drivers comply

Another game changer is the ubiquity of @BIXImontreal. Hundreds of stations with thousands of bikes. They also recently started offering e-bikes for an additional $1/ride. These are hard to find though.

So much fresh pavement on the bike lanes here. Pittsburgh has recently been paving the car lane up to the bike lane line (leaving old and in some cases even crumbling pavement there) which is not in the spirit of complete streets.

Like I said earlier, Montreal is beginning to head towards unidirectional protected infrastructure like in Copenhagen. Here is one of their first projects through the new science campus at the University of Montreal.

According to the counts, this is the busiest bike corridor in North America

Montreal is very much a bike city. Inspirational even. But it is also very much a city still figuring it all out. The backbone network is there, but there are still a fair amount of door zone bike lanes, unintuitive connections, and missed opportunities.

Here's a speed hump that you just bolt into the pavement. This is on a busy street with a bus route fwiw

I wish American engineers would just say fuck it and start narrowing lanes with things like flex posts. It's cheap, easy and effective.

Noteworthy: I've been to Montreal on 5 occasions and I've found exactly one intersection with a pedestrian beg button (not pictured). @PghDOMI

Beautiful, modern, clean bus shelters are being placed that protect people from the harsh elements and give real time bus arrival information. I could do without the ads but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(pictured after rush hour) @stminfo uses perimeter seating as opposed to side by side like in Allegheny County, thus maximizing the space for strap hangers and increasing the comfort for most on board

Last spring, Quebec made it legal for people on bikes to go on a walk sign as long as they yield to people walking. There are a couple of handfuls of places in Pittsburgh where this is legal, but it should be made legal at every intersection. cbc.ca/amp/1.5103083#…

And to wrap up this long thread about #Montreal (I think), here's a picture of moi using a Copenhagen style foot rest with hand rail for bike riders. Thanks for the pic and the bike tour, @michaelswex