Exploring Montréal: North America's Premier City for Cycling

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I’ve been making videos for over four years, and there’s one very consistent message I’ve received over and over: that I need to visit Montréal, because it is the best* city in North America.

So I did. I visited and I spent a week there, travelling all over the city by walking, cycling, and public transit. Oh, and a lot of taxis.

* according to literally hundreds of people who have contacted me about this over the years

Patreon: https://patreon.com/notjustbikes
NJB Live (my live-streaming channel): @njblive

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References and Further Reading

Montréal Metro Map
By STM/Calvin411 - http://www.stm.info/sites/all/modules/features/stm_metro/theme/images/map-interactive.gif, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47187470

Montréal Transit Playlist - RM Transit
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoYcvp1EGSc8wQ1SvPLXdo9qpKvf7N8v

Calgary +15 Skywalk Network Walk l A Walk Thru Plus 15 Downtown Calgary Skywalk | Travel Calgary
A Dawn (YouTube, CC BY, Creative Commons Attribution licence (reuse allowed))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmRz-U5Yz_E

Montréal’s car-free streets return
https://www.mtl.org/en/experience/stepping-montreal-pedestrian-only-streets

Montreal's summer pedestrian streets are a hit. So why don't we keep them going?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-pedestrian-streets-winter-1.6640701

'We are not welcome': wheelchair users demand space on Montreal's pedestrian streets
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-pedestrian-accessibility-1.6476400

Drivers say parking in Montreal is difficult. Experts say it should be
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/parking-solutions-montreal-1.6230219

Le REV : un réseau express vélo
https://montreal.ca/articles/le-rev-un-reseau-express-velo-4666
https://montreal.ca/en/articles/ebn-montreals-express-bike-network-4666

Amsterdam Bike Tour by Urban Planner Meredith Glaser
Propel (YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku9ZlG8FYGc

Streetcars in Montréal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_Montreal

Amsterdam witfiets bikeshare photos:
https://web.archive.org/web/20020409193259/http://www.depo.nl/en/index.html
https://quip.deds.nl/deel/witfiets.html
https://quip.deds.nl/?page_id=798
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittefietsenplan
Door Onderwijsgek - Eigen werk, CC BY-SA 2.5 nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2120175
Door Rrustema - taken with iPhone in the Staalstraat in Amsterdam, Publiek domein, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5073029
By Joost Evers / Anefo - http://proxy.handle.net/10648/aabb2954-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65531178

Borough councillors vote to remove Terrebonne bike path in NDG
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/terrebonne-bike-path-1.5717086

Hotly contested bike path in Montreal's west end will be revived with an all-new look
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-ndg-bike-path-terrebonne-1.7013226

VIA Rail schedule, Montréal to Toronto
https://www.viarail.ca/en/plan/train-schedules?searchByTrain=false&tsiDs=MTRL&tsiAs=TRTO&tsiDate=2024-08-01

Orange Julep photo:
http://www.bubblemania.fr/en/hermas-gibeau-orange-julep-fast-food/

Man in a Trenchcoat from The Eric Andre Show (s02e03)

The video contains footage licensed from Getty Images

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Chapters
0:00 The Introduction
0:41 The Context
1:24 The Metro
2:18 The REM
4:35 The Missing Middle
5:31 The Cycling
7:37 The REV
8:30 The Jean Talon Market
8:57 The Politics of Bike Lanes
11:33 The Political Structure
13:04 The Pedestrian Experience
14:00 The Green Alleys & Parks
14:47 The Pedestrianized Streets
16:28 The Ending?
17:11 Getting Réal
17:16 Highways
18:25 Missing Streetcars
19:24 Terrible Streets
20:49 No Walking Accelerators
22:17 Issues with Bike Share
23:25 Metro Stroads
25:31 Fractured Bike Network
26:26 Small Street Cycling (only)
28:25 Bidirectional Bike Paths
29:57 Poor Regional Transit
31:23 Fuck Namur Station (seriously)
32:50 Goldilocks Boroughs
34:46 Montréal Suburbs Suck
36:13 No Autoluw Neighbourhoods
36:41 Walkable Islands
38:33 Drastic Changes Block-to-Block
40:02 Downtown is Shit
41:54 Privatized Underground City
43:11 Terrible Train Station
44:59 Braindead Metro Ticketing
45:52 Temporary Pedestrianization
47:27 Is Montréal a Great City?
49:34 Cycling Bonus Video on Nebula