Montreal, Friday, March 22, 2019 - Vélo Québec welcomes the announcement of additional amounts allocated in the Quebec budget to cities wishing to build cycling infrastructure. These amounts total 16 M$ over two years, in addition to the sums already announced last year as part of the Sustainable Mobility Policy. The Quebec government's contribution, for this particular component, will therefore be around 21 M$ and 22 M$ in 2019 and 2020 respectively, for total investments (including the cities' share) of over 40 M$ for these two years.
«Clearly, this level of investment won't dramatically change the face of our municipalities, but it's a step in the right direction,» points out Jean-François Pronovost, Vélo Québec's Vice-President, Development and Public Affairs. To really change the look of our cities in terms of cycling and active transportation, Vélo Québec maintains that we should aim for overall investments of at least 100 M$ annually over the next few years.
Vélo Québec is also delighted that the commitments made in 2018 by the previous government in favor of active transportation and the development of Route verte (100 M$ provided for in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan over ten years) have been maintained.
Finally, insofar as active transportation and public transit are natural complementary modes, Vélo Québec notes with disappointment that the 2019-2020 budget does not correct the significant imbalance in investments in favor of the road network, to the detriment of public transit.
