MINUTES — PUBLIC – COMMISSION ON TRANSPORT, SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY AND SAFETY

The document Plan d’intervention en sécurité routière (Road Safety Intervention Plan) is presented to the members. This document was sent before the meeting. The objective of the presentation is to report on the progress of the mandate related to the Plan d’intervention en sécurité routière. A first presentation was made to the Commission in April 2023. The general objectives of the study are: to reduce the number of accidents on the Gatineau road network; to improve Quebec's road safety record; to optimize investments on the municipal network; to implement sustainable partnerships.

Concretely, this mandate aims to target potentially problematic locations, to perform safety diagnostics, and to suggest possible solutions. The Guide méthodologique d’élaboration of the ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) guides the execution of the mandate by outlining the major steps and establishing the elements to consider. Thanks to financial assistance from the MTMD, the study mandate began in the fall of 2023.

The presentation is broken down into the following sub-themes: • Contextualization; • Presentation plan; • Situation report; • Data integration; • Thematic analyses; • Spatial analysis; • Example of a site sheet; • Potential solutions; • Timeline.

Summary of comments, questions, or answers formulated following the presentation concerning, among other things: • Temporary and transitional development measures could be considered when the proposed solutions are more complex; • The search for solutions does not exclude making comparisons with municipalities of comparable size and population, such as the reference group of Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke. Some proposed solutions could lead to awareness campaigns aimed at behavioral changes. During the development of these campaigns, various partners could be consulted (neighborhood associations, local organizations or groups, etc.); • A map presents approximately sixty-five cases of serious and fatal accidents. What proportion of these cases is found in the forty sites analyzed? The administration will have to perform a verification and send the information by email to the members; • The number of sites that can be analyzed in the study is limited to forty. The choices are essentially based on accident rates, the severity of accidents, frequency, and collisions with vulnerable users. Proposed solutions could undoubtedly extend to sites presenting similar issues elsewhere in the city territory; • It is suggested to be able to comment on the final document before the adoption of the recommendations scheduled during the presentation of May 2024 by adding, for example, a working session. The administration will verify this possibility, notably with the MTMD; • Vision Zero must be the priority in the proposed solutions. It is mentioned that awareness is the last element to include. It is necessary to avoid blaming vulnerable users by instead focusing on those who can cause serious or fatal accidents, or in other words, to prioritize the safety of vulnerable users before traffic flow; • The Association québécoise des transports has published the brief Franchir un nouveau cap en sécurité routière au Québec containing recommendations addressed to the ministry and cities; • Universal accessibility is an important element to consider and is part of the considerations in the study; • It is mentioned that the methodology seems to favor sites where accidents have occurred; it does not target sites where prevention can be done, such as, for example, Rapibus intersections. Attention is drawn, however, to the fact that two problematic sites have been identified for the Rapibus. The solutions relating to them could possibly be exportable to sites presenting similar issues; • A visual presenting the intersections targeted in each of the sectors is desired; • It would be important to explain the sampling; • It could be interesting to correlate accident data with modal shares; • Within the framework of the current mandate, it will be very difficult to change the study methodology. The choice made during the mandate was to follow the methodology proposed by the guide. The study does not include a literature review or previous studies. The main objective of the study is to improve the safety record by correcting deficiencies at locations identified by various indicators. The focus is on the road network and the record of accidents reported in Gatineau; • A possible more global road safety strategy proposing more general solutions could take into consideration issues related to more vulnerable users, mobility issues, or obstacle-free paths; • A recommendation could eventually be made to the City Council to analyze more sites and possibly even with a different methodology.

The document Plan directeur du réseau cyclable — Bilan 2019-2024/Priorisation 2025-2030 (Cycling Network Master Plan — 2019-2024 Review/2025-2030 Prioritization) is presented to the members. This document was sent to them before the meeting. The objective of the presentation is twofold: to inform about the review of the Cycling Network Master Plan, and to reflect on the prioritization of cycling links to be completed in the 2025-2030 period.

The presentation is broken down into the following sub-themes: • Presentation plan; • 2019-2024 Review; • 2023 Achievements; • Findings (2019-2023); • 2025-2030 Prioritization; • Next steps; • Appendix 1; • Appendix 2.

Summary of comments, questions, or answers formulated following the presentation concerning the 2019-2024 review, among other things: • The expression "26 km are committed" means that the budgets are allocated and the projects are part of the planning of the Infrastructure and Projects Department; • No causal analysis was done regarding the 12% of paths that do not meet the criteria and the accidents that occurred on the cycling network; • The budget is 6.1 million per year, of which 4.58 million is for the construction of new paths. The budget is exhausted for the construction of new paths; • The absence of data from Origin-Destination (OD) surveys for the last ten years is explained by the wait for the commissioning of the O-Train and the effects of the pandemic. The survey will return within a five-year horizon; • Divergent opinions are expressed regarding the choice to prioritize new sections rather than maintaining existing ones. Some people believe that, although the expansion of the network motivates new users, a maintenance deficit can become an important issue. Other people express the opinion that new cycling links must be prioritized before investing to maintain stable existing links (unless there are safety issues). An inequity is observed within the city; cycling links on major arteries are priorities; • The objective of new cycling links is a political choice to grant an additional envelope to finance new sections in order to increase modal shares and maintain the "bicycle city" status; • It would be interesting to present a graph or table on the funding granted by mode of travel over the last few years; • Refurbishment analyses revealed that budgets were insufficient. A better budget distribution will allow construction and maintenance objectives to be carried out simultaneously. However, the sharp increase in prices limits the number of projects that can be carried out annually. One must be realistic about the capacity of the team in place to implement the projects; • Will the results of the OD survey be used to determine which sections or links to establish to connect neighborhoods and meet user needs?; • The evaluation of the pilot project on rue Eddy has been done. The positive results encourage repeating the project next summer, but there is no confirmation yet in this regard; • Will there be more bike lanes protected by concrete curbs? Different options are being analyzed. Lanes separated by a curb must be wide to allow for good maintenance; • The government is studying the issue of micromobility with a view to regulating it. Nothing is finalized yet; • The issue of greening during cycling infrastructure improvements is integrated into the Politique des rues conviviales (Complete Streets Policy); • The 60% of protected paths do not include Gatineau Park, the trails of Parc de la Forêt-Boucher or parc du Lac-Beauchamp, but do include the NCC (National Capital Commission) paths.

Summary of comments, questions, or answers formulated following the presentation concerning the 2025-2030 prioritization, among other things: • The order of magnitude of the allocated budget is not known to date. If the budget is of the same order as currently, it will be impossible to do everything. The mileage will be established based on the available budget. Certain constraints also exist on the resource side, including a limited number of people assigned to analyses; • A certain unanimity is emerging around the use of population criteria (sociodemographic, socio-sanitary, etc.) and locations (commercial arteries, service businesses, schools, employment locations, etc.) as generators of significant travel to prioritize sections. Members are invited to read the methodology for the prioritization of links; it is explained in the Master Plan. The potential for modal shift and social equity in disadvantaged sectors have been particularly favored; • Is it possible to carry out structuring projects from North to South, on Gréber, near the Rapibus or in Buckingham?; • There will be no public consultations planned since it is actually an extension of the plan; • The issue of ephemeral developments could be examined in the new version of the Master Plan. Work is being done with MOBI-O, but nothing is planned; • A literature review could be considered to validate the use of the current nomogram; • The installation of electric charging stations will be analyzed with the issue of parking for electric bicycles; • It would be interesting to prioritize links leading to schools, and even, to advance them over other links already planned since the adoption of active transport must begin as soon as possible. It is not a good idea to level down by reducing the objectives of the next phase from 20 to about 10 kilometers per year because the challenges are too great. The same objectives should be kept. It is emphasized that the number of kilometers done per year is perhaps more conservative, but the first five years give a good indication of the number of kilometers done annually in a real estate project.