Key quotes:
"With 560 kilometres of designated bike lanes built or under construction on the island, Montreal is ahead of the pack among North American cities"
Note- Ottawa currently (2008) has 541 km of bike paths, including 258 km off-road paths and is planning on over 2,500 km, so the "pack" is way behind
Ref: Ottawa Cycling Plan
"A 2003 U.S. study said cyclists' risk of being killed is 12 times that of car occupants, while pedestrians were 23 times more likely to be killed."
"On the island of Montreal each year, nearly 1,000 pedestrians and 1,000 cyclists are involved in traffic accidents to which an ambulance is dispatched"
"Traffic – which causes 42 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Montreal – has other adverse effects on Montrealers’ health. Air pollution causes 1,540 premature deaths per year in the city, says Norman King, an epidemiologist at the public-health department."
"Traffic causes 85 per cent of NO2 emissions in Montreal, which are a good marker for other types of vehicle pollution,"
"In 2006, 70.4 per cent of Montreal-area residents commuted by car, 21.4 per cent used public transit, 5.7 per cent walked and just 1.6 per cent cycled"
"Five years ago, Belgium inaugurated the Code de la rue, which gives priority to the most vulnerable travellers: pedestrians and cyclists. It includes urban-design changes and traffic rules such as giving cyclists the right to go the wrong way on one-way streets. Crosswalks across intersections are designed as an extension of the sidewalk, signalling that pedestrians and cyclists have priority. Other measures include a 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limit and physical barriers to slow car traffic."
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