Thread by @grescoe

Need your help.
Went to my local bike store today, + they told me they're closing as of midnight tonight. The premier of #Quebec has declared them "non-essential" (while keeping auto shops + government-monopoly liquor + cannabis stores open).

In neighboring province of #Ontario, they remain open, as in NYC (in spite of fact that @BilldeBlasio is fantastically un-woke on sustainable transport).

At a time when many people don't want to take #transit for risk of getting sick, bikes are individualized transport to people who have to get to work safely, with safe physical distancing. (Especially true in #Montreal, which has lately built great separated bike lanes).

After a long winter, the good weather is coming. Playgrounds are now closed, as are all pools. Bikes provide distance-safe outlets for kids. They also get doctors and hospital workers to the job without touching metro poles etc.

In Wuhan, the subject of the world's most rigorous and successful lockdown, bikeshare continued to operate through the weeks of quarantine—it kept those who needed to work in this city of 11m moving.

Bikes are also non-polluting, and cars are being fingered as significant producers of the PM2.5 particles that
1/ weaken cardiovascular health
2/ may allow for aerial suspension and transmission of the coronavirus (see this study from Italy: buff.ly/3amSLLL)

It's correlation, of course, but strong: two of the worst affected regions have been highly-polluted Wuhan and the cities of the Po Valley, which suffer from winter smog/fog.

Here's my question: can you let me know if bike shops are being closed where you live? I want to let the authorities here—who are doing a good job in many other areas—know that many believe this is very bad policy.
cc: @Val_Plante @CraigSauve @projetmontreal @VeloQuebec