What Makes a City Truly Cyclable?
Why do some cities immediately make you want to cycle, while others remain stressful even for very short journeys? The answer isn't just about the number of bike lanes painted on the ground.
A truly cyclable city is one designed for varied uses: daily commuting, electric bikes, transporting children, running errands, deliveries, and increasingly, cargo bike use. In other words, a city where cycling is not merely tolerated on the fringes of the road network, but considered a serious mode of transport.
Here are the main criteria emerging from research on the subject — particularly the work of Prof. Dr. Heather Kaths, Chair of Cycling Mobility at the University of Wuppertal, Germany. She studies what makes a city truly bike-friendly, beyond rhetoric and announcements.
A Cyclable City Isn't Just One More Bike Lane
For a long time, urban planning was designed around cars. Bicycles were given the leftover space: a bit of shoulder, a narrow strip, a poorly connected passage. This still distinguishes a city that is "equipped" from a truly cyclable city.
In a true cycling city, the network is clear from one end of the journey to the other. You know where to ride, where to turn, what to expect. Not just more lanes — but coherent lanes.
Actual Safety... and Perceived Safety
In cycling mobility, it's important to distinguish between objective safety (actual risk) and perceived safety (how one feels on the bike). The latter is often decisive. A parent with a child or a beginner cyclist does not have the same threshold as an experienced cyclist.
If a street seems dangerous, people simply won't use it — whether for cargo bikes, electric bikes, or any utilitarian purpose. You don't want to survive a journey. You want to want to do it again tomorrow. And the best way to improve this feeling: clearly separate cyclists from fast traffic.
Why Width Matters So Much, Especially with Cargo Bikes
On the same lane, a sport cyclist, a parent with two children, a person on an electric bike, and a longtail cargo bike coexist. If the space is too narrow, overtaking becomes uncomfortable, sometimes risky.
The cargo bike is an excellent indicator: it needs more ease in turns, at stops, and when overtaking. A lane too narrow to allow a clean overtake is not sized for diverse daily use. Our electric cargo bike buying guide helps to better understand the differences between formats.
Intersections Are Often the Real Test
A bike lane can seem excellent for 500 meters and become incomprehensible at an intersection. Where to position yourself? Who has priority? Can a car cut across the path? When these questions arise too late, stress immediately increases.
The best cycling cities create predictable intersections — clear, almost intuitive movements. This is particularly important when carrying a load, children, or a cargo bike that is less agile at low speeds. A cyclable city is one where you instinctively know how to ride.
The intersection: where the quality of a cyclable city truly reveals itself.In Hilly Cities, Electric Bikes Change Everything
We still hear that a city that is too hilly cannot become truly cyclable. This is increasingly untrue. The electric bike has changed the equation: a climb that used to deter people becomes realistic for many more — especially with children, groceries, or equipment to transport.
This is not a fallback solution: it's an adoption accelerator. Hilly cities have every interest in thinking about cycling networks and electrification together.
Secure Parking: The Infrastructure We Too Often Forget
We talk a lot about bike lanes. Not enough about parking. A city is not truly bike-friendly if leaving your bike outside for a few hours becomes a source of anxiety — even more so with an electric bike or a cargo bike, whose value quickly escalates.
Good parking must be accessible, sized for various formats, and reassuring. Without it, many people simply won't choose cycling for their daily commutes. The quality of a network is also measured by what happens when you stop.
And Montreal in All This?
Montreal is not Copenhagen or Utrecht — but the city has seriously accelerated in recent years. The Réseau Express Vélo (REV), with its wide, protected, and four-season equipped lanes, is a concrete example of how infrastructure designed for varied uses can change a North American city.
On certain routes in Rosemont-Petite-Patrie or the Plateau, the coexistence of cargo bikes, electric bikes, and regular cyclists works — because the lanes are wide enough and the intersections well-marked. On other streets, the network remains fragmented and connections between neighborhoods are difficult.
Vélo Québec regularly publishes data on cycling habits in the province. According to their active mobility survey, barriers to adoption remain as much cultural as infrastructural — confirming that infrastructure alone is not enough, but it remains the indispensable starting point.
What's clear: the neighborhoods around our stores in Rosemont and Villeray are among the areas where daily cycling has become truly practicable for a wide range of users. Not perfect, but constantly improving.
BIXIs are an integral part of Montreal's active mobility network — an example of large-scale planned parking.What Does a City Designed for Everyday Cycling Look Like?
In practice, a truly cyclable city looks like this:
- Streets where you feel safe, not just legally cyclable streets
- Lanes wide enough for different types of bikes and different speeds
- Intersections that are easy to understand, even on a first pass
- Credible solutions for stress-free parking
- Real space for cargo bikes, electric bikes, and family commutes
This is not just a vision for major cycling capitals. It's also a useful framework for evaluating your own neighborhood. Would you see yourself cycling to the grocery store? To the office? Transporting two children without feeling like you're on a commando mission? If the answer is no, it's often because the problem isn't the bike, but the environment it's given.
How does Montreal compare to benchmark cycling cities?
| Criterion | Ideal Cyclable City | Montreal (2025) | Average North American City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic-separated lanes | Continuous and connected network | Partial — REV + neighborhood lanes | Rare or non-existent |
| Lane width | ≥ 2.5 m | Varies by axis | ≤ 1.5 m |
| Clear intersections | Clear signage, defined priority | Progressively improving | Often absent |
| Secure parking | Widespread, sized for cargo bikes | Insufficient, especially for large formats | Very limited |
| 4-season network | Yes | Partial, depending on the sector | No |
| Space for cargo bikes | Integrated into infrastructure | Partial, depending on the sector | Not planned |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Montreal a cyclable city?
Montreal is progressing significantly — especially with the REV and the expansion of bike lanes in central neighborhoods. But the quality of the network remains uneven across sectors. Rosemont, the Plateau, and Villeray offer a very different experience from what is found in the suburbs or on certain downtown axes. The city is moving forward, but there is still work to be done.
Do you need an electric bike for daily city riding?
No, it's not mandatory — but the electric bike considerably expands the number of realistic journeys, especially if you have elevation changes, errands to run, or children to transport. For most daily urban commutes, it transforms cycling from an occasional option into a real transportation choice.
Is a cargo bike really practical in Montreal?
Yes, in well-designed neighborhoods. A cargo bike needs lanes wide enough to maneuver and be overtaken comfortably — which is increasingly found on REV axes and in central areas. To better understand the available formats (longtail, front box, electric), our electric cargo bike buying guide is a good starting point.
What is the difference between a city "equipped with bike lanes" and a truly cyclable city?
A city equipped with bike lanes has infrastructure. A truly cyclable city has a network — meaning connected lanes that are clear from one end of the journey to the other, with clear intersections and suitable parking. The difference is immediately felt: in the former, you search for your way at every intersection. In the latter, you just ride.
Conclusion
A city becomes cyclable when it treats cycling as a real mode of transport, with its own specific needs: safety, continuity, clarity, parking, and sufficient space for varied uses. This is even truer now that cargo bikes and electric bikes greatly expand the number of journeys that can be replaced.
Sources
- Prof. Dr. Heather Kaths — Chair of Cycling Mobility, University of Wuppertal (Germany). Interview: Data-Driven Cycling: The Future of Urban Mobility, Cargo Bike Lovers Podcast
- Vélo Québec — Survey on active mobility in Quebec: veloquebec.info
- Réseau Express Vélo (REV) — City of Montreal: montreal.ca/sujets/reseau-express-velo
If you are considering a bike for your daily commute, discover our selection of cargo bikes and electric bikes, or make an appointment with one of our advisors in our stores in Rosemont, Villeray, Laval, Sainte-Thérèse, Mascouche and Mont-Tremblant.