[Denny]

I was visiting in Montreal last week and I have to say, I am very impressed by the efforts there to extend the use of bicycles. Its certainly not the best climate or terrain for biking, but the city efforts are paying off as 14% of Montrealers now use the bicycle as their chief form of transportation. It may be the highest amount of any American large city.

They have about 400 km of bike routes, of varying degree. The best are the physically segregated bicycle lanes, whcih have barriers form autmobile traffic. I was able to go from Lafontaine Park at the corner of Papineau and Sherbrooke to the waterfront in about ten minutes. You can't do it that fast in a car even, except maybe after 10 pm or before 6 am.

They also have the new rental "BIXI" bikes spread all over, 300 different automated depots in the city, so anybody can use a bike for a segment of a journey and drop it off at the terminus of the ride, for a modest cost.

You can also take bikes on the Metro subway at off peak times.

See http://www.velo.qc.ca/documents/reseau_mtl_mai08.pdf for the bike routes.

See http://www.bixi.com/home for the BIXI bikes.

We all take it for granted that city streets must be aklways widened and reworked, and this costs so much, but if a large numbr of people switch from cars to bikes, the payoffs for the city from this cost avoidance can be great, it is really worthwhile to put money into biking.

Perhaps that is why a lower income city like Montreal is a leader in this.

PS - We had a great time there. There is so much redevelopment going on, and so much diversity in food and entertainment, it made an enjoyable trip, even though my French skills are weak. Anybody can get by fine in English there.

[cipi604]

You should see the girls here, on the bikes ofcourse. :D

[Blacksmith]

The way they drive, I would for safety reasons choose a bike as my main source of transportation. That is if I live there and thank God I don't.