Road Configurations Then And Now

It’s a popular topic on local radio talk shows, especially as this is an election year in Montreal. Of course, I refer to street configurations. Our current mayor, one Valérie Plante, is at best not a fan of cars. At worst she is downright anti-car. Since her election four years ago she has overseen the

What Kind Of Mind Rides A Bike On A Sidewalk?

While not a big fan of Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s plans for downtown, I do understand the need to temporarily widen the sidewalks during the COVID-19 pandemic. By dedicating half the existing street surface to pedestrians, physical distancing can easily take place. However, one wonders if a greater health risk than COVID-19 may be the

Time To Crack Down On Sidewalk Cyclists

I live in a part of Montreal that, were I writing a real estate advert, I would refer to as downtown-adjacent. As such I find myself in the downtown area on most days; perhaps doing chores, having a beer, or just out for a walk to fend-off Pandemic induced cabin fever. … cut-back traffic to

Shock Advertising And Cyclists In The 1940s

The photograph above was taken in 1941. The location is just up the street from where I live. At first glance it looks pretty sinister: a Nazi plane has apparently just crashed nose-first into a public park. In the tree is a parachute, evidently, the pilot was able to eject and his whereabouts are not

Two-Wheeled Rentals in Montreal

Montreal has just introduced a ‘pilot project’ that allows people to rent E-Scooters from various points around the city. Ideally these little LIME two-wheelers will be dropped-off at another designated point. Interestingly non-LIME E-Scooters are illegal and uses are liable to be ticketed.  The competition for hop-on-hop-off transport is getting heavy in Montreal. Until you

Bicycles On Sidewalks

Here in Montreal, the weather has finally shown signs that spring may just arrive at long last. Most if not all of the snow has been washed away by rain, sidewalks are being cleaned of the various abrasive substances used for pedestrian safety during the winter i.e. sand and gravel. I saw a few top-down

Banning Through Traffic On Mont-Royal Just Another Slap For Downtown Merchants

According to Wikipedia: With access to six universities and twelve junior colleges in an 8 kilometer (5 mi) radius, Montreal, Quebec (Canada) has the highest proportion of post-secondary students of all major cities in North America. This represents roughly 248,000 post-secondary students, one of the largest numbers in the world. This is just one of

Please Don’t Run In Bicycle Lanes

Or perhaps it’s because it is my birthday today, but for some reason, I have to mention something that puts me in a pro-bicycle position. Maybe it’s the unusually mild weather we have been experiencing this autumn, but there seem to be more early morning joggers in Montreal than I can recall. I see them in the park

Live PD, Field Sobriety Tests, David Brenner and ET

From time to time I like to watch the occasional police program on television. I don’t mean works of fiction, but the alleged ‘real’ thing. Shows like The First 48 are what I enjoy, although that has become very repetitive with time. The new kid on the block in the genre is a show called

Will Urban Cycling Ever Work?

Recently the Government of Quebec passed new laws aimed at securing cyclists’ safety. I am all in favour of road safety for all, and hope these stricter laws will save lives. But I believe that until such time as cyclists take things seriously there will always be problems.  No one over the age of about eight