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Ongoing

Vélovolt

From car to bike

Vélovolt encourages Quebec citizens, organizations and policy makers to learn about and to try out Electrically Assisted Bicycles (EABs), a new and sustainable mode of human-powered transportation.

The challenge

A third of Quebecers live less than 5 km from their workplace. In smaller cities, the proportion of people who live in close proximity to their work is even larger (1). And yet, nearly 75% of Quebecers who commute to work do so in their cars (2).

To help reduce GHG emissions from transportation, bikes have enormous potential to replace solo driving for certain daily commutes. This potential is even greater with Electrically Assisted Bicycles (EABs), especially in cities that have lots of hills or in areas that are poorly served by public transit.

However, EABs have yet to become mainstream because of several challenges, including a high initial purchase price, the lack of secure parking facilities and the lack of information about EABs among the general public and among decision-makers.



(1) Vélo Québec, L’état du vélo au Québec en 2020
(2) Statistics Canada, 2016 Census on journey to work

36%

1/3 of Quebecers live less than 5 km from their workplace

Vélovolt is 

 We need innovative alternatives to solo driving. Through research, promotion, and by providing opportunities to try out electric bikes, Vélovolt seeks to demonstrate how EABs are a viable solution for daily travel 

Agnès Rakoto

Vélovolt Projet Manager

Équiterre's work

With the Vélovolt campaign, Équiterre is seeking to understand how EABs could replace cars for daily trips among Quebecers, and what conditions are necessary to make the transition easier.

To create more awareness about the potential of electric bikes, Vélovolt is making EAB trials available to 40 organizations in 10 regions of Quebec. During these trials, research data will be gathered to help gain insight into how to make EAB use more attractive.

Vélovolt will also create a series of tools and reports to help municipalities and organizations encourage electrically-assisted active transportation.

Objectives

  1. Create awareness among workers about the advantages of electric bikes for their daily commutes;
  2. Better understand the current state of electric mobility in Quebec, and its potential;
  3. Educate key players in Quebec about electrically-assisted active transportation and give them the tools they need to promote the transition to bikes and EABs.

Read the presentation of Vélovolt and the illustrated summary

Our targets

60 organizations and mobility players in 10 Quebec regions.


1,300 participants in EAB trials


100,000 workers aware of the campaign


Project history

2022

August

Second wave of trials 

8 new organizations offer EAB trials.

June

Flash trials

Launch of the first edition of the flash trials, in partnership with Hydro-Québec.

April

Trial deployment

8 organizations in 10 Quebec regions offer EAB trials during spring. 162 people were able to test a EAB for 2 to 4 weeks.

2021

September

Pilot project

L’Université de Montréal and the City of Trois-Rivières were the first organizations to test out the Vélovolt EAB trials with their employees.

April

Project launch 

Vélovolt was officially launched with the support of the Quebec government and in partnership with the Association des Centres de gestion des déplacements (ACGDQ) and Quebec’s 8 Centres de gestion des déplacements (CGD).

Testimonials