Cyclist-Pedestrian Cohabitation: Lessons to learn from a pilot project on pedestrians streets in Montréal (Canada)

Among Montreal pedestrian streets summer projects in 2021, two locations (Mont-Royal Avenue and Wellington Street) have set up a pilot project considering the cohabitation between pedestrians and cyclists by authorizing cyclists to stay on their bike at a slow pace while it's forbidden on other pedestrian streets. This paper aims to document this cohabitation at three specific sites (two where cyclists are permitted and one where they are not) based on observations of cyclist's behaviours and their interactions with pedestrians. Direct observations of cyclists (n=1371) were conducted through a grid regrouping items about cyclist characteristics, actions and interactions with a pedestrian. The results show that cyclists' behaviours are fairly predictable and one third of them were involved in an interaction with a pedestrian. For the small number of cyclists who engaged in unsafe behaviours, young males and other vehicle types (i.e., Segways, rollerblades, cargo bikes, etc) are overrepresented.