The Capital Transport Network (RTC) will store all bicycles in circulation in Quebec City at the end of October. And none will be released until next spring.
At the very beginning of the season, last May, the RTC teams presented the accelerated deployment plan for àVélo. Among the upcoming improvements, the carrier was considering a mechanical fleet pilot project in order to extend the service throughout the year.
Fueled by “strong enthusiasm” and a repeated request for new services, President Maude Mercier Larouche said she wanted to see the improvements roll out “as quickly as possible”.
“In the coming years”
However, cyclists who have been asking for several years now to extend the àVélo season beyond October 31 will not see it come to fruition this year.
“Pilot projects will be launched in the coming years aimed at the deployment of a winter network as well as the integration of electrically assisted cargo bikes. A timetable for the addition of these services will be shared later,” informs RTC spokesperson Raphaëlle Savard.
Until then, she explains, there are still steps to take.
Electric-assisted bicycles cannot travel on the streets during the cold season. (Caroline Grégoire/Archives Le Soleil)
In particular, a call for tenders process must be launched to provide Quebec City with mechanical bicycles. For technical considerations, those with electrical assistance that it currently has cannot provide service in winter, since the autonomy of the batteries takes a toll in cold weather.
The bicycle consultation table of Quebec neighborhood councils has been promoting this idea of a “mixed” service for some time to allow àVélo users to also cycle in winter.
Montreal accelerates
Elsewhere, other cities have already taken the gamble of offering a year-round bike-sharing service.
Montreal notably tried this last winter with a pilot project, keeping Bixi bicycles in service on the occasion of its 15th anniversary. Users responded, pedaling more than 3,700 trips per day, according to reports The Press at the beginning of October.
However, unlike Quebec where the entire fleet is electric, that of the metropolis is 75% mechanical.
At the dawn of the next cold season, Bixi Montreal will do it again, even planning to expand its offering. The number of stations will increase from around 150 to almost 200, for a total of 4,500 anchor points.
Without an active bike-sharing service in winter, Quebec City still claims to be in the process of “changing the culture” one pedal stroke at a time, particularly with its new cycle links accessible all year round. The Marchand administration says it has a proportion of winter cyclists similar to that recorded in Montreal at the very beginning of the deployment of its Express Bike Network.
For the rest, the regular àVélo service will also continue to develop, while the addition of 500 electrically assisted bicycles and around sixty stations per year, on average, over the next four years is planned. . By 2028, the fleet will reach 3,300 bicycles, distributed across 330 stations in Quebec.
