Proof That Cycling Works... Even in North America (30 Minutes of Montreal Rush Hour)

[@OhTheUrbanity]

What does rush hour on a popular bike route in Montreal look like? Here's Saint-Denis Street from 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm on a Friday in September. We counted more bikes than vehicles, although despite the protected bike lane (installed just a few years ago), the route continues to move plenty of cars as well. For simplicity, the "bikes" count is everything in the bike lane (including eScooters) and the "vehicles" count is everything in the car lane (including buses and trucks). Inspired in part by this video from Toronto: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pou9kpudbruHfrs

[@ChristopherRayMiller]

I can’t help but notice that an *equal* share by lane width would mean *twice* (or more) the number of automobiles compared to bicycle lane users.

[@ChristopherRayMiller]

I recognise the Mathilde Blais underpass (Saint-Denis at des Carrières); what is the intersection in the main view?

[@OhTheUrbanity]

@@ChristopherRayMiller Both shots are from the overpass on Rue des Carrières, looking towards Boulevard Rosemont (Avenue Van Horne) in the north.

[@Alex_Plante]

Did you only count the bikes and vehicles going north?

[@OhTheUrbanity]

@@Alex_Plante No: it was both directions

[@robopilot99]

The most striking part of this video is how the noise of cassettes clicking and people chattering is almost completely inaudible underneath the endless howl of road noise.

[@hutlazzz]

I hate 150dcb bike casette tho.. why so noisy ???? cant even hear anything when someone with 8000$ bike come around, they importing their carbrain mentality

[@michaelkalus7802]

When they put the bike lane in on Beach Ave in Vancouver, someone seriously complained about the noise the bicycles made, as well as the people talking while riding along, and tried to argue that this is reason enough to remove the bike lane.

[@Nieghorn]

@@hutlazzz I've heard jokes that it tells the other lycra-clad riders in the peloton who's not pedaling as you hear it only when they're coasting. :) (But something about the contact points in the hub being more in more expensive ones or something like that?)

[@DMurdock]

​@@Nieghornloud hubs are for alerting the people in front that they're too slow

[@sted88]

@@hutlazzz fast car go vroom vroom, fast bike go click click 😂

[@ScottAtwood]

My biggest takeaway is how much more “full” and well used the general traffic lanes appear to be, while the bike lane (carrying just as many people) seems relatively sparse. It’s amazing how the space inefficiency of cars make them seem more present. :(

[@Nouvellecosse]

And not surprisingly, we constantly hear people say that bikes lanes aren't used and therefore a waste of money and space regardless of actual ridership statistics.

[@lws7394]

you just have to watch the famous Münster road space photo , how much space 72 people at 1.2 per car, 72 cyclists and 72 bus passengers take on a given road ! that says it all.. (And that photo does not give the parking space needed on both sides of the journey , and the cost or road surface bridges for vehicles ..)

[@sclaurent]

For those asking... 200 pedestrians + 3 strollers + 3 dogs

[@Alex_Plante]

Did you count just the pedestrians walking north?

[@sclaurent]

@@Alex_Plante No, both directions!

[@BenriBea]

and yet it's the cars that take up like 80% of the space

[@Bradum]

Doing the lord's work.

[@Ferrichrome]

Yeah so imagine an extra 760 cars on this road had they all been using cars. Thank god for cycling and walking!

[@highwaysbyways4281]

Wow, that lane is moving a crap-ton of people. Great to see. Well done Montreal. Now is the time to really push hard for more, and better cycling infrastructure in all cities.

[@tryplot]

yeeeaaaahhh ... about that ....

[@dtape]

This is great to see. Not asking this channel to do it because they are no where near, but I would love to see a similar observation to be done in Manhattan and Brooklyn too. Many parts of NYC are gridlocked with cars in rush hour and bikes zoom through easily in droves. In this video only 1 car lane's worth of bike lane was able to outpace 2 car lanes. Proof that bike lanes should take up a larger portion of the road width should be given to bikes and taken away from cars.

[@_yonas]

Yes, the bike lane should probably be a little wider, but we don't need to waste all that space moving people. Instead, turn the two of the lanes into a green median with plenty of trees to provide some nice shade, etc.

[@dtape]

​@@_yonasMore space for bikes IS needed because more and more frequently when I'm biking I'm stuck behind 2 people riding abreast riding slow having a conversation. Having more space for bikes would satisfy different styles of riders. Other examples are electric VS non-electric, people on skates/skateboards, elderly people on trikes or mobility scooters. So many more modes of transportation that we could accommodate for by repurposing space being used for cars.

[@_yonas]

@@dtape I agreed that they should be a little wider, but you don't have to give them the full width of a car lane, because we should also use this as an opportunity to undo some of the damage done by the car infrastructure. Adding another 1.5, or 2m or so is probably more than enough.

[@crowmob-yo6ry]

According to the evil car-addicted suburbanite NIMBYs named John Phillips and Steve Greenhut, "taking away lanes from cars makes traffic worse!!" which is a lie.

[@andrewprevost]

There is actually only 1 lane of car traffic in each direction on this street, as you can see in the bottom-left angle… but there’s an additional dedicated right-turn-only lane added just before the corner. And this street actually did use to have 2 car lanes in each direction - the separated bike lane was only built about 4-5 years ago. (I live less than a 5-minute bike ride from this intersection.) The bike lanes actually did each replace an entire car lane. The bike lanes themselves are much wider than a standard bike lane usually is, but not quite as wide as the car lanes they replaced - the difference is explained by the width of the concrete medians added to separate the bike lanes from the car lanes.

[@KJSvitko]

Mobility matters. Bicycles matter. Electric busses matter. Electric trains matter. Safe protected bike and bus lanes are necessary for efficient transport. Children should be able to ride bicycles or take a bus to school safely. Cities need to provide multiple options for transportation. Less cars, more buses, more bicycles. Staying active is key. There is a climate crisis. We need to make walking, cycling, using escooters and taking a bus easier and the default option for most people. Ebikes are brinigng many older adults back to cycling and the benefits of exercise.

[@PantherU]

Overhead wires > batteries for buses and trains

[@ananyavaibhav6355]

Trams are great too 🚃🚊

[@louiszhang3050]

I realized that when watching these bike timelapses of Montreal and the Netherlands, people follow rules better when the infrastructure is better. There were still some red-light runners but most people were following the rules. Partly, it could be that you'd be such a risk taker to bike in most of North America, most cyclists in most cities are not very safety-sensitive, but once you improve the infrastructure, you open up your population to a people who are more risk-averse

[@andrewprevost]

As a long-time biker in Montreal - who still runs red lights without shame, because when I learned to ride in this city, it was the Wild West - I have to agree with you. Anyone who was willing to bike on these streets in the old days was, by definition, a bit of a risk-taker. Running red lights wasn’t (and still isn’t, in my opinion) any more dangerous than jay-walking as a pedestrian, and didn’t really increase your overall risk of accident as a biker on these streets significantly - it’s dangerous everywhere, I learned to have my head on a swivel for opening car doors and cars pulling suddenly out of parking spots or invisible side alleys at pretty much all times. I sometimes think separated bike lanes give people a bit of a false sense of security - the fact is an out-of-control speeding car will jump that little concrete kerb like it’s not even there, and most bike/car accidents occur when turning at intersections, where the divider stops. But I’m glad infrastructure like this encourages people with less of a cowboy attitude than me to get around the city by bike, too!

[@KayOSweaver]

I think also when you're less of an anomaly there's not only more pressure, but more motivation to follow the rules. I saw most of the people turning right signaling first, and that's partly because when you commute by bicycle regularly with hundreds of other people you can see how communication helps things to flow smoothly. A lot of cyclist rule breaking is about staying safe on streets that aren't designed for you where you're alone against the cars. I practice the Idaho stop so that I'm not in drivers' blind spot when they're accelerating or turning from a stop.

[@ramsaymayka9978]

I think the amount of traffic at the intersection probably affect behavior as well

[@yoavcarmel1245]

this video should be shown in every convention against adding bike lanes. amazing observation!

[@tjnugget4066]

Imagine the traffic if everyone of those cyclists were in a car instead

[@Jimraynor45]

It's a mistake to be anti-car just as much as it is to be anti-bike. It's been shown that what reduces traffic is not more lanes, but having multiple roads/routes going to the same place. What this really shows is that having multiple transportation conveyances that don't overly interfer with each other is best since it allows people to spread themselves over multiple transportation options/routes to allow people to choose the best option for themselves. Cars are a perfectly valid option with advantages that others don't have. Multi-transport is the way.

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

​@@Jimraynor45 No one is Anti Cars. That's a fallacy. People are against the use of cars WHEN public transportation would be far more effective. Yes there are use case where cars are the best solution. But they are few and far between. BTW you argument about "offering alternative routes" is illogical in the context of a densely populated old city. The Metro that runs underneath, right beside this street is saturated. What needs to change is people's behaviour and massive public transportation investment to happen.

[@Jimraynor45]

@@sylvainmichaud2262 So, you're saying everyone should ride the bus then? (I'm sure everyone would be excited to do that.) Because, if building new routes/roads is impractical in an old, populated city, it would be just as impractical to build any kind of rail system, likely far more so. So that leaves buses, which is a bit naive to hope for, in my view. Also, looking at some of the comments, people sure seem to me to be anti-car, or maybe just anti-traffic. I can't say what the best way forward is, but I would suggest trying to encourage people to take different routes to the same place to try spread them out. Maybe look at roads or highways that aren't being used as much and try to streamline them. Make those highways toll-free, while making the more used highways/roads toll based. I'm just throwing out ideas here. But you have to accept that many people have freely decided to get their own car. Don't get angry because people have a made a decision that you disagree with. They in fact, probably made the best decision given their choices and circumstances.

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

@@Jimraynor45 You should have taken the yellow bus a little more often.

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

@@Jimraynor45 BTW you seem like the angry one to me. Go cycling. It's great to fight stress induced hate.

[@jeanschyso]

I love how EVERYONE wins in this video. Car drivers still get to take up most of the space, Bike riders get to be safer, this isn't a shared path so pedestrians get to walk without looking behind themselves all the time. Basically the one caveat I see is that busses still have to share a lane with the cars, which I find counterintuitive and annoys me everytime I need to take a bus, but all in all, that's less traffic for the busses to worry about so it's still a win. I now want this across all of Sherbrooke street, Beaubien and Jarry. Pipe dream, I know, but a guy can dream.

[@LimitedWard]

I'd argue pedestrians and cyclists are still losing due to the unnecessary noise and chemical pollution from the adjacent cars.

[@jeanschyso]

@@LimitedWard compared to how it was a couple years ago, honestly, I'll take this.

[@guse1748]

Its BS.

[@LimitedWard]

@@jeanschyso oh I completely agree! I'm just pointing out there's still an uphill battle to climb.

[@steemlenn8797]

Clearly, since there are more bikes than cars, bikes shoudl be given 2 lanes and cars 1. 🏆

[@guse1748]

Bozo! Go check the same place any other day of the week.

[@Swiss2025]

Montreal has been narrowing streets for cars for the past 10 years. As for exemple, Ste Catherine Street( one lane , one way instead of 2 , 2 bike lanes , extra wide sidwwalks ) , St Denis street .

[@marcuscheung5025]

some roads in Beijing are like that lol

[@PantherU]

@@guse1748 why don't you record it and show us

[@GraemeMacDermid]

There is one car lane in each direction. At the intersection, there are two lanes for turning.

[@jordensjunger]

i 'm jealous over that blue stripe of paint making the cycle path unmistakable. here in vancouver i frequently see people walking in cycle paths or cycling in walking paths and 95% of the time it's an honest mistake. there's just often nothing to delineate them except a little sign every hundred metres or so.

[@katyoutnabout5943]

and the only reason why bikes had to stop is to allow vehicles to cross the intersection (bikes dont need red lights).

[@SIMPLYJFF]

What about pedestrian?🤔

[@katyoutnabout5943]

@@SIMPLYJFF true! the only reason pedestrians need to stop is to allow vehicles to pass. we should almost be counting pedestrians and bikes together, since their infrastructure is almost identical, versus vehicle infrastructure.

[@sachamm]

@@katyoutnabout5943 100%

[@rig4365]

​@@sachammof course they need red lights. Don't be.dumb.

[@raeesrichards6786]

​@@rig4365 Why would a bike need red lights if it's not sharing the same roads as a car? (They are, in this case, but the ideal scenario is that car and bike traffic would be separate)

[@MissCarreautee]

I see many comments saying imagine all these people took their cars... the thing is though that a lot of people who now bike do not own cars, they traded in public transport for bikes. That's what I did, as all of my coworkers who bike. This is great footage and very useful to make a point, but let's not forget, there is still a whole lot of work to be done to get people out of cars in Montreal

[@lkym2481]

Yeah unfortunately this is only one well-infrastructured part of a bike network in one of the densest areas in Canada. I live here and absolutely love it, but there's more work that needs to be done than just put in a few bike lanes.

[@gingermany6223]

Nice to see that emergency vehicle blocking a car lane instead of the bike lane for once.

[@cycleyyz]

Very nice to see an intersection that at least acknowledges what a right-hook is.

[@cycleyyz]

@@aclouti6 Right hooks occur on green lights - when both a turning driver and a through-cyclist have the same right of way (but the driver is to yield.) They do not occur on reds. What is great about Montreal's no right on red is that it allows these separated signal phases to work better. In Toronto we have a few (too few) separated signal phase intersections like this - but drivers can easily ignore the "no right on red" signage since it's not illegal everywhere.

[@Jaelle3]

Still can't believe that people are against this. They will always believe what they want to believe and it's sad

[@timdowney6721]

They still think it’s their “freedom,” when the car and oil companies brought the car-centric era about by a massive propaganda campaign over half a century ago.

[@delftfietser]

You are kind of being what you criticize. The bike lane is carrying those who can afford the time and the physical exertion of riding a bike. Those who can't drive. There's obviously good and bad with either mode. If you cut out the cars from this road, you've made the bike the default and so the road is now bike-centric, privelaging the bike brained.

[@sted88]

@@delftfietser thankfully e-bikes and scooters are giving more and more people access to cycling. There are a lot of people who can’t drive (too young, elderly, unlicensed, disabled, can’t afford it) who can get on easily by bike.

[@nevakos24]

@delftfietser we have a lot of people on mobility scooters use the bike lanes where I live. They love it , so do the people on the sidewalks lol

[@cryme5]

​@@delftfietserAt least an alternative to driving is provided. This makes more room for those who have to drive. It's an improvement for everyone.

[@CannedFishFiles]

16:05 homie cycles toward bike redlight, so he joins vehicular traffic (having a green to go straight) then comes back into the bike lane. What a pro move, and all because the guy didn't want to clog up the vehicles' right turn lane.

[@bricktown3156]

It's also because it becomes red for cyclists when it's a green right arrow, so it enables you not to stop whereas it is technically a red light. Also, if you just run the red and cut the road for right turning cars, you'll get honked at, garanteed XD

[@adannycamacho5619]

This is also a great video showing how great it is for car drivers that bike lanes exist. Imagine how bad traffic would be if all of those cyclists were in cars.

[@MathieuTechMoto]

The cycle lane moves more people even if it's only 1/3 size of the road

[@dubbitybop8343]

No the road moved more people here. The video only counts "vehicles" vs "bicycles", but you can have more than one person per vehicle. The video even counts busses as "one vehicle". But you could probably make the argument that the cycle lane moved more people per ground area. I'd love to see this experiment in an area with more traffic. With more traffic I suspect cycle lanes would really come out ahead.

[@MathieuTechMoto]

@@dubbitybop8343 What you are saying is correct, however where i live i count around 9 cars/truck out of 10 with only one person

[@theevilmoppet]

@@dubbitybop8343the road probably did move more people here, but only because of the busses. Note also that pedestrians weren’t counted here. If we’re going just one mode vs one mode, bikes were clearly shown in this video to be a more space efficient, healthy, and in many cases faster method of transportation than cars. If you count the busses for the vehicle lanes, you should probably put also count the pedestrian traffic, which was quite high. Either way, that’s just an argument to turn this street into 1 lane each for busses, cars, and bicycles, not an argument as to why cars are better than bikes

[@dubbitybop8343]

@@theevilmoppet Why should we count the pedestrians in the cycling lane? From what I can tell in the video, pedestrians aren't using the cycling lane here. But buses are in fact using the road, so it makes sense to include them when you're counting the number of people that were moved on the road. I'm a huge fan of bike lanes, and I agree with your arguments that cycling is healthier and often times faster than driving, but let's also be objective when we're evaluating the data that we're seeing. And like I said in my original comment, I have a feeling bike lanes would actually come out ahead in the amount of people moved if there was more traffic.

[@sted88]

@@dubbitybop8343completely agree. road definitely carried more people thanks to buses. Time for a dedicated bus lane to really maximize efficiency!

[@BaiZhijie]

Thanks for making this! This is an excellent document that I will show people when they doubt that bike lanes can move a lot of people compared to car lanes.

[@PeterSdrolias]

Less air and noise pollution, less wear and tear on infrastructure. The long term benefits are significant on health and budgets.

[@Arashmickey]

Bike lanes everywhere and you won't see so many bikes driving next to noisy cars, although since this is a tunnel there's probably no quieter routes. Either way, it warms my heart to see so many t-shirts on bikes on a grey and windy day. I'm a "koukleum" so I bundle up at first contact with a cloud.

[@GraemeMacDermid]

It’s worth noting this is not a downtown or university-adjacent location. This is at boul. Rosemont, 4 km from downtown.

[@CannedFishFiles]

As a New Yorker, it blows my mind to see everybody conducting themselves like modern human beings. In Brooklyn, two cars are allowed to run each red light. At least there's a maniac playing in the traffic; that would make me feel a little more at home.

[@hackman88]

And it's easier and safer for cyclists to get by that maniac playing in the traffic :)

[@hairypotter259]

Cities would be so lovely and serene if everyone was biking 🧘🏻‍♂️

[@ayoCanada0921]

I am as a motorist and a cyclist, i have to say the road for cars and bike path for cyclist are very well builded in this City. That's my honest thoughts . And we know that accident happened when peoples don't respect the rules of the Roads.

[@hutlazzz]

most of pedestrian and cyclist got hit when they fallow 'rules of the car' btw, too many died fallowing say rules...

[@nevakos24]

That is so awesome! My city every naysayer who "rides a bike" says our protected path is the worst they have ever seen. It's literally just like this one 😂😂...WTG Montreal!!

[@Bradum]

I moved to Montreal in January and it's been wild to see the sheer range of people on bikes. Kids, young adults, families, old people, people in spandex, people in suits... Wild to see after coming from Fake London.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Welcome!

[@Infernus25]

This was a really cool video that I didnt know I would watch so much of. Its great evidence that any city can promote cycling with very minimal costs and people will make use of it

[@Gigachad-mc5qz]

i love how the only traffic is where cars are

[@delftfietser]

If a pedestrian needs to cross a busy bike lane, the first concern is the traffic.Only the form has changed.

[@James-vj5hz]

​@@delftfietser One is far less likely to kill.

[@delftfietser]

@@James-vj5hz True. And well over half of the Dutch gets around by car everyday and yet still they cycle. No need to eliminate the car altogether or live in fear of it. If they can so can we.

[@KJSvitko]

Retail bicycle outlets need to do more to encourage young people and older adults to ride bicycles. Sponsoring bike trains to escort children on their rides to school would be a great start. Organizing volunteers, teachers and other to ride along would be a great start. Getting children out of minivans and onto bicycles would be healthy exercise, build independence and make society healthier. Fun ride should also be organized. Getting a local bike club or school to sponsor an annual event to a local park or trail would encourage both adults and children to ride bicycles. Getting local elected officials to help with sponsored activities would help to educate them about the need for safe, protected bike lanes and trails in their community. Offering space and coffee for local riders to meet up would also improve store traffic.

[@timdowney6721]

Another thing would be pressing manufacturers to build bikes not geared to cyclists and that are absurdly expensive for city riding.

[@jeremypowell8589]

This is so wonderful to watch. Thank you for this!

[@GymmyJosh]

I hope you two do a video soon about Doug Ford's idiotic move to create a moratorium on new bike lanes that would have infringed on road space

[@milenagorecka1901]

And now, all cyclist haters and other car lovers just imagine all these cyclists simply decided to use their cars instead bicycles :) Then your trips automatically will take you 2x of your time. Do you really need to graduate special university to understand it?

[@noseboop4354]

Those cyclists could use the bus.

[@Xachremos]

@@noseboop4354 buses get stuck in traffic. Buses suck without proper bus lanes. why would someone want to get stuck in traffic on a bus. might as well take a car and not have to deal with crackheads pissing themselves right next to you.

[@sjasonwang7384]

Jesus, that bus at 24:24!!! That move looked sketchy. Love this video though. This is why I taie every opportunity to go to Montreal and hope to live there someday. They are showing the rest od North America the future of transportation.

[@hackman88]

Agree. Because the way the shot is cropped, all the incoming cars and busses from that side road makes me nervous. I wonder what the sightlines look like from that road. I think because the bike path is uphill at that point, most bikes are moving slower so the incoming traffic can better see available space to enter.

[@TheNewTravel]

Were you able to automate the counter or did you need to manually update each time? In either case, good job! Very interesting data.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

All manual, unfortunately! It took a few hours

[@mindstalk]

@@OhTheUrbanity I hope you used video speed controls.

[@brenfu4982]

A counter for buses next time so we can get a better estimate on individual travelers? Love seeing this. The REV is great :)

[@OhTheUrbanity]

The really high volumes of people are moving on the metro line underground here

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

Built a tram and St-Denis street will be amazing and revitalized ! More people will stop to shop or dine. As an example, multiply the number of cars by 1.2, in my opinion a rough generous estimate of occupants per car, divide it by 47, the number of passenger seated in a Montreal articulated bus, and you will be amazed how it would reduce the traffic and noise level to almost nothing (total 15 buses going north instead of 567 cars). We need to invest massively in public transportation.

[@Arjay404]

I'm not one of those people that say to put roundabouts everywhere, but it appears that the only reason there really is any traffic is because of the stop light. Just look at the the small screen, there are some cars, but it's quite low amount of vehicles, enough to be handled by a single lane, it's only when the cars get to the traffic light that there is a problem. There is no reason that a roundabout with yield shouldn't be able to handle this intersection much much better. And this is in rush hour! When it's not in rush hour the numbers are going to be even lower.

[@Arjay404]

I found the intersection www.google.com/maps/@45.5309532,-73.598238,3a,75y,307.34h,79.27t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shE6UmRCONm0KM6NI1744Vw!2e0!5s20220801T000000!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D And it looks like the road that comes from the underpass used to be a two lane road, which they converted into a single lane road and then used the rest of the space to add a buffered bike lane. This intersection seems to connect two roads (the direction the cameras are facing) that are mostly lined with row homes along with a bus station, a metro station and maybe a University? All of which are places that you shouldn't need a car to get to. The other road that connects to this intersection seems to be a "typical" downtown road, with 2,3,4 story buildings with shops on the ground floor. Finally the last road that connects to this intersection is a massive 4 lane flyover that connects to unnecessarily wide 4 lane road which is lined by what appears to maybe be some old abandoned manufacturing buildings on one side and row homes and apartments on the other. Nothing that I see around this area indicates to me that this should be as overbuilt as it is. The only thing of note is that the flyover is a connecting point to get to the other side of the railroad, however it seems to be unnecessarily large, as all the other ways to get to the other side of the railroad seem to just be underpasses like the one the camera is sitting on and there doesn't seem to be any obvious reason as to why the massive flyover couldn't have just been a simple underpass. I know this video was about giving cyclist good infrastructure means that they will use it and it obviously does a great job highlighting that, but I couldn't stop being bothered by the bad design of the intersection and roads connecting to it.

[@atn_holdings]

the left hand side is an elevated overpass and there are mid or high rises on 3 of those corners, there wouldn't be anywhere close to enough space and it would be crushed under the load on the Rosemont direction. Roundabouts are way overrated

[@Arjay404]

@@atn_holdings What load? This video was during rush hour and there didn't seem to be a big load, not enough that a roundabout couldn't handle.In fact a roundabout would work better because traffic could keep flowing instead of piling up at the traffic light. So what if there is high rise on 3 of those corners? They are all sitting right on top of subway stations and bus station. There are also a lot more 3/4 story buildings than towers.

[@atn_holdings]

And it has to handle articulted buses. I don't get the hype for roundabouts, there's basically no advantage besides no hard stops and has a galaxy of other drawbacks. They tried to have roundabouts under the Metropolitan highway and it's an unmitigated disaster AND it still has traffic lights

[@JeanMichelAubin]

I bike there 3 times every week and this is very low car traffic. There's usually 5x that...

[@SeanLumly]

And the crazy thing is: this isn't even a large number of riders.

[@Teapot-Dave]

In the UK, until the bicycle was invented, most working people never travelled more than five-miles from their place of birth in their entire lives, because they would have had to walk everywhere. The Bicycle is the single most important invention in history to give freedom and mobility to the working-classes.

[@noseboop4354]

You mean peons never travelled more than five miles. Nomadic tribes travelled much more, just look at the Vikings.

[@Teapot-Dave]

@@noseboop4354 Well if you read what I said, I specifically cited the "working classes". Bicycles were invented in the early 19th century. I'm pretty sure that the Vikings had stopped invading by then; and nomadic tribes are not "most people ".

[@herschelwright4663]

Amazing observation!👍🏽

[@Mafik326]

I really want to see a winter version of this video...actually two. One in a snowstorm and one on a nice sunny day.

[@Mafik326]

Just to clarify, it's not to shit on bikes in winter. I am genuinely curious because it would help me with my advocacy work in Ottawa.

[@Mafik326]

It's not to knock bikes in winter. Winter is just always thrown in my face when discussing bike infrastructure in Ottawa.

[@_yonas]

​@@Mafik326 You could search for videos about "Oulu winter cycling". Oulu is much further north than Ottawa, but they're pretty well known for their (winter) cycling infrastructure.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Might be relevant: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaDOeahvl82jpJo

[@andrewjensen8189]

I was washing dishes and this came on and my phone was on the couch so I listened to this video for 8 minutes. Not bad white noise 😂

[@Swiss2025]

Also the majority of bikers are civilized in Montreal , respecting speed , waiting in line at the traffic light . I love biking towards downtown on Clark street with the protected bike lane , all flowers and amazing architecture , cafés , restaurants and happy people.

[@oh_wall]

Absolute cinema

[@icomefromcanadia2783]

Wow, imagine if nobody was on a bike or walking and there were TWICE the amount of cars on the road. Crazy to think. I have both a car and a motorcycle and love driving, but can't stand HAVING to drive.

[@yoavcarmel1245]

a road that only 500 cars go through in 30 min during rush hour does not need to have 2 lanes, a single lane will be enough and make the street more human-scale. a single lane passes around 2000 cars every hour.

[@lefouduvillage1]

I live around there. There’s an extra turning lane here, but it’s all one lane before and after. What you see in the distance is street parking.

[@mindstalk]

" a single lane passes around 2000 cars every hour" A street lane probably shouldn't be. 2-second following distance means 1800 cars an hour; losing half your time to intersections means 900 cars an hour. Fairly busy streets near me do 600 cars per hour-lane.

[@Frostbiker]

And yet it's the cars who are killing people every year in our cities. Not the Uber delivery riders on e-bikes.

[@c.a.mcmullen7674]

I think you missed a good eight bikes, and the truck with the trailer was counted twice, but this clearly makes the point that good infrastructure will get people out of cars. You should olalso point out that this is at the top of a LONG hill: imagine doing the same thing on a flat stretch ( Rachel est, for example). Great idea and footage!

[@HweolRidda]

This one way bike-only bike track is the same width as a two way mixed-use path next to my route to work in York Region, north of Toronto. Just reflecting back on your earlier question about why do some cyclists ignore "bicycle" infrastructure. (To be fair, YR does occassionally rise to mediocre or even good infrastructure. However I think they have a rule that any bicycle infrastructure must use at least one item from the "do not do this" section of design guidelines.)

[@spencer4732]

Would like to see a pedestrian counter too if there's another one of these videos 👍 Very nice to watch regardless of the counters though

[@davidmartin4795]

That is amazing.

[@ScenicWalk]

Congratulations on the video, it was excellent, Montreal is a wonderful city, I hope to visit one day. I started a channel here on KZbin recently and record in the same way here in Brazil. I signed up, I will follow you from now on. A big hug !!!🙂

[@guse1748]

Friday is the day where most people work from home, do the same on a monday.

[@fluffs5195]

2 small bike lanes beat out 5 wide car lanes!

[@dapengu777]

Cool Video thank you for the proof!

[@DanielBrotherston]

Well, by the logic of every NIMBY who I've ever seen whine at city council in Kitchener, Montreal should now immediately halt all investment in car infrastructure of any kind, because these drivers are a minority and should be ignored for the real (*cough* silent) majority who are tired of subsidising their wasteful hobby.

[@pbilk]

27:49 I stand corrected, we are ending the video with a 60 count lead for bicycles!

[@realDonaIdTruck]

ohhhh its in Canada. That explains alot. Good luck passing double width protected bike lanes in the US. My parking spaces!

[@JeansWithPockets541]

It's almost the same in western Canada as the USA.

[@SteveAldred]

I can't believe i just watched 30 minutes of traffic counting!

[@OhTheUrbanity]

It's weirdly fun

[@rbrlbisland]

Well done Montreal. 👏 If you filmed this in Toronto there would be three cars parked in that stretch of bike lane, and one of them would be a cop car on a Timmies run.

[@noseboop4354]

Check the top pinned comment, there is a Toronto video as well.

[@mikeboyd-k8m]

my tax dollars shouldnt be paying for your parking spot. find a lot or garage and stop blocking traffic

[@pbilk]

24:12 there is the 40 count lead for bicycles! 😮

[@AndreiTupolev]

That ambulance 🚑 picked a convenient place to stop didn't it.

[@joelyons3713]

I’m surprised and impressed at these numbers. Nice intersection for the cyclists and traffic.

[@AtulKedia]

I wish you also did a pedestrian counter and a public bus counter (isn't necessary for the comparison that you are making, but would be interesting to compare motorists v. non-motorists)

[@LePhil79]

This is St-Denis street (near Rosemont street), the métro passes underneath the street so it wouldn't reflect the use of public transportation in the area, since most people take the métro. Plus, the bus garage is just on the corner of that street, so many buses are empty and are just going straight to the garage.

[@CascadiaBC]

16:04 nice work around..this rider would do well in Vancouver..

[@pbilk]

27:33 Ending the video with a 50 bicycle count lead over vehicles! 😊

[@yukaira]

the m in asmr stands for montreal

[@roelsch]

Meanwhile in Auckland a bike lane that moves 1000 cyclists during an entire DAY is considered busy 😮. The busiest known stretch is appx. 2000 per day. (bike counters on bidirectional paths count in both directions) On the other hand this seems like a pretty quiet road, considering this is rush hour. I wonder what the ratio is on busier roads. The ratio here is about 1:1, but I think the bike lane has much more spare capacity than the car lane. Despite being narrower. (edited since the counts in the video are actually for both directions)

[@hendman4083]

Actually the bike lane moved 15% more people then the two car lanes, hardly 1:1.

[@roelsch]

@@hendman4083 1.15:1 - Close enough. That is pretty good considering how much more width the car lanes take up.

[@pbilk]

12:21 20 count lead for bicycles!

[@pineapplepizza27]

today i learned that maximum is the same word in english and french lol. i thought to myself "why is that sign written in english"

[@TristouMTL]

...and this is just north railroad tracks so you don't see all the people who rode from, say, downtown to their trendy Plateau apartments. However, it's also at the watershed of the island, so it's basically downhill from there unless you head west.

[@pbilk]

23:41 30 count lead for bicycles!

[@ayoCanada0921]

I know that picture in picture location. St denise and Rosemont i passed that with my bicycle very often 😄 JUST IMAGINE ALL THIS BIKER LEAVE THEIR BIKE AT HOME AND USE THEIR CARS ???? THE TRAFFIC JAMS WILL BE HUMUNGUS ON AN ISLAND OF MONTREAL

[@jamesphillips2285]

Those occasional busses (say 50 passengers each) are potentiality taking just as many cars off the road.

[@theevilmoppet]

@@jamesphillips228550 passengers is a pretty high bus load - you don’t know how packed those busses were. Either way, regardless of how many passengers the busses carried, the cycle lane is still a clear and major part of why the road isn’t completely clogged.

[@jamesphillips2285]

@@theevilmoppet They are more likely to be at full load during rush hour.

[@Khanfuzed1]

god i wish we had this kind of infrastructure for bikes here

[@genesisstroud9233]

This road could greatly benefit from bus only lanes.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

There's a metro underneath

[@hendman4083]

​@@OhTheUrbanityThe fact that there is metro underneath, does not make the busses go any faster. 🤔

[@LePhil79]

@@hendman4083 Nobody take the bus on St-Denis, because the Métro is underneath. Many of those buses are empty and are going straight to the garage that is near this intersection (St-Denis and Rosemont) .

[@mikewatson1105]

Wow, that’s remarkable! Could you please provide the name of the crossing street and the direction the camera is pointing so I can get a better idea of what is making this road work so well. I want to compare this with Australian cities. Thank you.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

This is Saint-Denis Street from the overpass of Rue des Carrières in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: www.google.com/maps/@45.530182,-73.5965578,3a,75y,290.26h,80.02t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2qFpomuXNasQLYo9pVo0FQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[@mikewatson1105]

@@OhTheUrbanity thanks! I’ll have a good look when I wake up , it’s the middle of the night here now!

[@georgest-pierre6055]

A hyperlapse instead of a normal video would be a better way to convey the message

[@OhTheUrbanity]

Speeding it up looks cool but doesn’t give as realistic of a sense of what it’s actually like

[@Dergelbe1208]

Interesting that cars still get a longer green light than the bike lane, even though they are similar in numbers...

[@conorreynolds9739]

As an outsider American, I’d love to learn more about the political situation that is allowing Montreal to implement such great bike infrastructure. It can seem like even very progressive US cities can’t get this done, although things are definitely changing here too.

[@flagace4889]

I'm a Montrealer. They don't ask permission. They just impose it. They change the configuration of streets by removing car lanes and parking spots.

[@cmmartti]

The boroughs (or arrondissements) have a lot of autonomy in Montreal. So one borough can do things without being vetoed by NIMBY councillors from way out in the suburbs. And it's really hard to ignore such an obvious success story that's right there in your city, so some of the other boroughs do it too, and then eventually the mayor gets on board too, which helps push it even further. Note that parts of Montreal, especially the Anglo parts, are a lot more resistant to removing car lanes or parking for bicycle infrastructure. That's my guess, anyway. I'm not from Montreal but I have read a lot about it.

[@han984]

I would say it's because there were already many neighborhoods where the majority of people did not own a car, so the majority of people did not care about removing on street parking and car lanes.

[@GraemeMacDermid]

It helps that commercial vacancy rates on St-Denis are down since the route was established.

[@cmmartti]

@abdoulm.sorofino2642 That illustrates my point perfectly. Saint Denis REV was a city-led effort, if I'm not mistaken, and it spans multiple boroughs. Of course there is always some opposition, but a project that affects more people across a larger area has so much more potential for conflict that can stop the project in it's tracks. But a borough-led project is comparatively straightforward to bring to completion. And without any of those smaller projects in boroughs like the Plateau, there wouldn't be enough demand for bigger projects like the REV to overcome all of that opposition. London, UK has a similar dynamic at play, with similar results.

[@esgee3829]

looks like it's time to double down and widen the bike lane and eliminate more turning/merging car traffic. demand is there!

[@baffinsansterre]

What about noise & pollution, who wins?

[@Affalterbach1967]

6 notifications, 5 broken links. Now a cycling ASMR to sleep to.

[@OhTheUrbanity]

I tried to share the video on Patreon but the site was acting up. It kept enabling “charge patrons for the post” even though I didn’t check it, so I deleted and tried two more times before giving up.

[@dimes3967]

here in Australia helmets are mandate for cycling. Which actually discourages some ppl for ride to work

[@ayoCanada0921]

I think MTL bike paths are Evaluated and builded by a group of Experts, that's why it's been working so well ?

[@Mike-rm1lb]

There were initial mistakes - The 2-way bike path on Rachel is dangerous at peak times. They should have put a one way on each side. But they learned. New bike paths are one-way.

[@komfyrion]

I want to live in a place where you could get a ticket when riding a bicycle with a poorly lubricated (aka noisy) drivetrain

[@Basta11]

Good bike infrastructure + colleges = massive increase in mobility.

[@ayoCanada0921]

This city is perfect for cyclin, the loner i live here the more i found it out. and most important of all the city created more and more bike lanes , which is a ood thins .

[@batliff]

Those are all paid actors, to steer a narrative, and I'm definitely not a paid commentor to steer a narrative.

[@jeanbolduc5818]

Biking in Montreal is fun, fast , safe and civilized . I went to the UCI world tour in Montreal on September 15th 2024 , to see the elite in cyclists . Montrealers are passionate about cycling and is the North American capital of cycling .

[@SwiftySanders]

What about the pedestrians who also use the space? Should they be counted too?

[@OhTheUrbanity]

You have the video right here!

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

"Hello, City of TORONTO! Are you watching?"

[@juanmacias5922]

Not to mention even though this route isn't super safe, there are still cyclists on it, it would double if it was more safe.

[@timothychinye6008]

I feel like a lot of people going to say something like "But all those cars are carrying more people". But please... on average each car only holds about 1.5 people... so much for the 4-5 seats that are wasted and the amount of space the car itself takes up. But what this means is... 1 car = 1.5 bikes, therefore 1 bike = 0.66 cars, therefore... out of the ~560 bikes we saw. If only those cyclists were using cars, there'd be an additional 373 cars on the road. Bring the total from ~490 to ~865 cars. Which... would mean traffic - no one is getting to work on time. Not only that, more cars = more idiot humans inside metal death machines = higher chance of just straight-up death.

[@Arational]

It would be fair to compare this to the same time of day on a friday in February.

[@NearCry91]

21:26 Tern HSD

[@PiotrPavel]

options matters