Last week, the Association québécoise du transport et des routes (AQTR) awarded us the sustainable mobility prize for all the actions carried out as part of the On foot, by bike, an active city. Since 2005, this awareness-raising and animation program has been active in over 500 elementary school in Quebec, encouraging young people to take an active approach to school.
On foot, by bike, an active city was born in the early 2000s from a worrying observation: every year, the number of young people cycling or walking to school continued to fall. The media were even reporting that some schools were banning children from cycling to school! To reverse this trend, we designed a program to make parents and principals aware of the benefits of active transportation for young people.
On foot, by bike, an active city is taking effective steps to impress upon municipalities, schools and parents the importance of making school approaches in particular, and neighborhoods in general, safer. In so doing, we've helped to ease traffic congestion and make cycling safer and more pleasant around hundreds of elementary school in Quebec. We're proud to have helped change lifestyles by helping young people rediscover the pleasure of walking or cycling to school, rather than taking a motorized parental shuttle. But our work isn't over yet: changing lifestyle habits can take 10 to 20 years, so we'll be continuing our efforts.
I would like to congratulate the Vélo Québec team and our 14 regional representatives who are working to roll out the program. On foot, by bike, an active city across Quebec. I would also like to thank Québec en Forme for its vital financial contribution to the success of’On foot, by bike, an active city.
Suzanne Lareau
President and General Manager
