Québec City is transforming from a car-centric metropolis into a leader for active mobility. Despite the sometimes challenging weather conditions, cycling has evolved from a recreational pastime into a strategic choice for over 2.7 million residents. At the heart of this shift is the ambitious Corridors VivaCité vision. Thomas Harvey-Gasse, a researcher with Québec’s VivaCité team, tells us more.

How has cycling evolved in Québec in recent years? 
Cycling in Québec has been growing exponentially in the last recent years. What was once mainly recreational has become a credible daily mobility option. Across the province, over 2.7 million people now use bicycles for utilitarian trips, and participation has more than tripled since the mid-1990s. In major urban centres such as Montreal and Québec City, cycling modal share has increased by more than 50% over the past five years. In Québec City, the expansion of the àVélo bike-sharing service since 2022 helped democratise cycling and has been an incredible lever for modal change. The key driver is clear: sustained investment in safe, continuous infrastructure has directly increased use. 

Could you tell us about Québec's transport landscape and governance structure? Who is responsible for what, and what are the current modal split figures? 
Québec City operates within a multi-level governance model. The municipal administration is responsible for local and arterial road networks, urban planning, and active mobility infrastructure, while the provincial government provides funding and strategic orientations for sustainable mobility and manages the highway system. Public transit is operated by the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC), which manages bus services, àVélo bike-share service, paratransit, and integrated mobility services. In terms of modal split, the Quebec City region remains car-oriented. The modal share of motorised vehicles represents 74% of daily trips.  Active modes (walking and cycling) represent around 14% of daily trips, while public transit remains around 8%. 

Velo-city 2026 focuses on Delivering the Urban Dream, which begins with a shared vision of the future. In 2024, Québec City launched the ambitious Corridors VivaCité vision. What are its main goals and areas of focus? 
The Corridors VivaCité vision is Québec City’s flagship initiative to develop a comprehensive AAA (all ages and abilities) active mobility network. By 2034, Québec City will have 150 km of interconnected active mobility corridors linking 85% of districts. The network will serve 77 educational institutions and half of the population will live within 400 m of a corridor, ensuring broad accessibility. These corridors are not just bike lanes. They are complete, high-performance urban corridors designed for all users: cyclists, pedestrians, micromobility, and motorised transport.  

The process of developing a shared vision is often challenging. How did Québec build this vision, and how are you securing long-term public and financial support? 
The development of the VivaCité vision required technical planning, continuous dialogue with many municipal partners, from planning services to public work services, and a strong political back-up from the mayor’s office. We developed a clear long-term plan, which helped make delivery more predictable. We also work with a structured public participation process that lets residents and different citizen groups shape and improve projects. This is the key to reflecting local realities and building public support. As for financial and institutional support, it comes from the city's annual budget and Quebec’s government active mobility funding programs. 

A vision backed by data is all the more effective. How did data inform and support your planning and decision-making? 
Data plays a central role in both planning and decision-making for Corridors VivaCité. When we plan a new segment of corridor VivaCité, our analysts use surveys, mobility demand analysis and traffic counters to identify high-potential corridors and prioritise where we intervene. After the implementation of a new corridor, we continue to collect cycling and pedestrian counts. At strategic sites, we invested in automatic counting cameras from Eco-Counter, a key partner, which provides real-time usage data on an online platform accessible to citizens.  

Speaking of the urban dream, what would your ideal vision for cycling in Québec look like in ten years? 
My vision would be the completion of the Corridor VivaCité network. Completing these active mobility corridors would mean that we could potentially convert 225.000 trips of less than 5 km currently made by car to cycling or walking. I also think that intermodality will be very important in the future, especially with the future tramway line expected to be in operation by 2033. Ideally, I would like to see more people combining modes, for example, taking the tramway for most of their trip and then using a bike, either their own or àVélo bikeshare, to cover the last kilometres and vice-versa. My ultimate wish is not only to increase cycling rates, but to improve quality of life, with healthier populations, more vibrant streets, and more resilient communities. 

What are you most looking forward to at Velo-city? Which conversations do you think the cycling and mobility sector should be having right now? 
I’m looking forward to exchanging with cities, especially northern cities like Québec City. I would also love to share my experiences and discuss the issues we might encounter while implementing such ambitious visions. I think that the cycling and mobility sector should have discussions around how to accelerate the development of low-carbon transport at scale, how to better integrate cycling into multimodal systems, and how to maintain public support through periods of rapid change. Even though the transport landscape in North America is quite different from Europe, we’re all ultimately facing many of the same challenges to achieve our goals. 

Want to exchange ideas on these topics, or hear more about Québec’s Corridors VivaCité vision? Catch Thomas at Velo-city in session 1.3 The making of vibrant cities: Designing for people, active mobility and nature.