Shaped by four centuries of history, Québec City is the core of a metropolitan area of 800,000 residents. The capital city of its namesake province pairs respect for its heritage and natural environment with commitment to boosting its residents’ quality of life. These goals place sustainable mobility at the heart of major urban transformations projects – with a strong attention to cycling.
We spoke with Jean-François Martel-Castonguay, Director of the Division of Project Coordination for Planning and Sustainable Mobility (CPAMD) to learn more about the city’s cycling journey and achievements!
“Québec City, once considered less suited to cycling because of its climate and topography, has undergone a major shift toward sustainable mobility over the past fifteen years by developing a practical, utilitarian cycling network – because challenges don’t stop us! […] You just need to visit Québec City in any season to see the large number of people cycling along the city’s utilitarian and recreational corridors: parents with bike trailers, cargo bikes, children, and more.”
Cycling is a key pillar of Québec City’s long-term sustainable urban mobility strategy, the 2023-2027 Active Mobility Vision, soon to be complemented by an Urban Planning and Mobility plan. While walking and cycling currently accounts for 12,7% of the city’s modal share, this vision sets ambitious goals to improve the cycling network and make cycling a fully credible mode of transportation.
The most significant project is the development of 150km VivaCité corridors by 2034. These active mobility facilities, integrated into the roadway itself, include comfortable and safe bike lanes for cyclists, along with sidewalks separated from traffic for pedestrians. Their phased rollout, comprising the installation of cycling facilities followed by the adjustment of traffic rules and the improvement of pedestrian amenities, fosters positive change while requiring coordinated work from municipal services.
Across the city, visible transformations attest to how rapidly cycling is taking over. The àVélo bike‑share service has expanded steadily since its launch, enabling thousands of residents to travel by bike across the territory. The city also recently introduced a cycling corridor along the 4e Avenue, an important travel axis. This achievement highlights Québec City’s capacity to innovate and manage change, offering valuable insights for cities undertaking similar projects.
“As part of this project, we took the opportunity to review our winter maintenance procedures and introduce new approaches in collaboration with our technical teams. This experience taught us to adapt our practices, embrace innovation, and strengthen our change‑management processes.”
At the centre of these developments is Québec City’s commitment to its residents, whose voices drive its work on cycling development and actively shape the implementation of its 2023-2027 Active Mobility Vision.
“When developing projects, we rely on strong participation from residents. We meet with the community several times, and when necessary, we even meet individually with the people most directly affected by certain projects. This approach allows us to better understand residents’ concerns, to explain the details of the projects, and ultimately to find solutions that work for everyone.”
Consequently, one of the Vision’s goals is to establish a monitoring committee to oversee its implementation, bringing together representatives from local organisations working in sustainable mobility and public health. The Vision also includes a strong focus on raising public awareness about cycling, partly led on the ground by a proactive local organisation. This human‑centred approach, backed by an annual budget of minimum $36 per resident to improve sustainable mobility, ensures that cycling goals and initiatives directly respond to community needs. It has for instance encouraged the city to continually improve its objectives regarding the quality of its cycling infrastructure.
“When we decided to implement All Ages and Abilities (AAA) cycling infrastructures, we realized that the quality of our interventions allowed the entire population to travel by bike in a comfortable and safe way. As a result, achieving this level of comfort has become an ongoing objective.”
Beyond direct resident participation, Québec City has built a broader ecosystem of local engagement to support its cycling ambitions. The city works with local partners to expand active mobility education with a focus on youth and children, maintains close collaboration with the major provincial cycling organisation Vélo Québec to share expertise, and contributes to university research through its partnership with the Mobility Chair at Polytechnique Montréal.
Photo credit: Québec City
Together, these efforts reinforce a culture of innovation and continuous learning that Québec City has also been sustaining by collaborating with, and drawing inspiration from, different cities and regions.
“We work closely with many professionals across the province to share our concepts and progresses. Sharing information is essential, as it allows us to learn new concepts and new ways of doing things. Naturally, we draw a great deal of inspiration from Montréal, [but also Copenhagen, Portland, Vancouver, and Toronto].”
By joining ECF’s Cities & Regions for Cyclists network, Québec City becomes part of a growing community of cities and regions committed to advancing cycling, collectively representing over 55 million citizens across Europe and beyond, strengthening opportunities for shared learning and exchange.
For more information on Cities & Regions for Cyclists, click here.
For more information on Québec City, click here.
We spoke with Jean-François Martel-Castonguay, Director of the Division of Project Coordination for Planning and Sustainable Mobility (CPAMD) to learn more about the city’s cycling journey and achievements!
“Québec City, once considered less suited to cycling because of its climate and topography, has undergone a major shift toward sustainable mobility over the past fifteen years by developing a practical, utilitarian cycling network – because challenges don’t stop us! […] You just need to visit Québec City in any season to see the large number of people cycling along the city’s utilitarian and recreational corridors: parents with bike trailers, cargo bikes, children, and more.”
Cycling is a key pillar of Québec City’s long-term sustainable urban mobility strategy, the 2023-2027 Active Mobility Vision, soon to be complemented by an Urban Planning and Mobility plan. While walking and cycling currently accounts for 12,7% of the city’s modal share, this vision sets ambitious goals to improve the cycling network and make cycling a fully credible mode of transportation.
The most significant project is the development of 150km VivaCité corridors by 2034. These active mobility facilities, integrated into the roadway itself, include comfortable and safe bike lanes for cyclists, along with sidewalks separated from traffic for pedestrians. Their phased rollout, comprising the installation of cycling facilities followed by the adjustment of traffic rules and the improvement of pedestrian amenities, fosters positive change while requiring coordinated work from municipal services.
Photo credit: Québec City
Across the city, visible transformations attest to how rapidly cycling is taking over. The àVélo bike‑share service has expanded steadily since its launch, enabling thousands of residents to travel by bike across the territory. The city also recently introduced a cycling corridor along the 4e Avenue, an important travel axis. This achievement highlights Québec City’s capacity to innovate and manage change, offering valuable insights for cities undertaking similar projects.
“As part of this project, we took the opportunity to review our winter maintenance procedures and introduce new approaches in collaboration with our technical teams. This experience taught us to adapt our practices, embrace innovation, and strengthen our change‑management processes.”
At the centre of these developments is Québec City’s commitment to its residents, whose voices drive its work on cycling development and actively shape the implementation of its 2023-2027 Active Mobility Vision.
“When developing projects, we rely on strong participation from residents. We meet with the community several times, and when necessary, we even meet individually with the people most directly affected by certain projects. This approach allows us to better understand residents’ concerns, to explain the details of the projects, and ultimately to find solutions that work for everyone.”
Consequently, one of the Vision’s goals is to establish a monitoring committee to oversee its implementation, bringing together representatives from local organisations working in sustainable mobility and public health. The Vision also includes a strong focus on raising public awareness about cycling, partly led on the ground by a proactive local organisation. This human‑centred approach, backed by an annual budget of minimum $36 per resident to improve sustainable mobility, ensures that cycling goals and initiatives directly respond to community needs. It has for instance encouraged the city to continually improve its objectives regarding the quality of its cycling infrastructure.
“When we decided to implement All Ages and Abilities (AAA) cycling infrastructures, we realized that the quality of our interventions allowed the entire population to travel by bike in a comfortable and safe way. As a result, achieving this level of comfort has become an ongoing objective.”
Beyond direct resident participation, Québec City has built a broader ecosystem of local engagement to support its cycling ambitions. The city works with local partners to expand active mobility education with a focus on youth and children, maintains close collaboration with the major provincial cycling organisation Vélo Québec to share expertise, and contributes to university research through its partnership with the Mobility Chair at Polytechnique Montréal.
Photo credit: Québec City
Together, these efforts reinforce a culture of innovation and continuous learning that Québec City has also been sustaining by collaborating with, and drawing inspiration from, different cities and regions.
“We work closely with many professionals across the province to share our concepts and progresses. Sharing information is essential, as it allows us to learn new concepts and new ways of doing things. Naturally, we draw a great deal of inspiration from Montréal, [but also Copenhagen, Portland, Vancouver, and Toronto].”
By joining ECF’s Cities & Regions for Cyclists network, Québec City becomes part of a growing community of cities and regions committed to advancing cycling, collectively representing over 55 million citizens across Europe and beyond, strengthening opportunities for shared learning and exchange.
For more information on Cities & Regions for Cyclists, click here.
For more information on Québec City, click here.
