Friday, June 03, 2011

Transports Québec new "what roads are safe for bikes" online map


Safe roads, unsafe roads, or you can just choose the back roads.



Transport Quebec has unveiled its new online road maps with a "which roads are safe for bikes" functionality, which they call conviviality.

The map is here and to get the "conviviality" function, you have to select that option at the interactive menu on the right side of the map.

Choosing safe roads/avoiding unsafe roads when cycling is quite important and this is a great new tool. We always recommend checking out the map before your ride and this map feature gives you some darned useful information.

We have some quibbles with the algorithm, which seems to use traffic volume as a criteria but not if there is a paved shoulder. We've had many good rides using a busy highway with a paved shoulder, and a few bad rides with a highway with no paved shoulder. But this is a starting point. And in some good news, closed bridges are indicated. (although from our knowledge this doesn't seem completely up to date - hey Transport Quebec, this matters!)

These maps exist on top of the Google maps platform, and are also available as an App.

Other really useful Transports Quebec links:

2 Comments:

At 6:02 AM, Blogger Geneviève said...

I saw the ad for this in VeloMag this week and checked it out. You are spot on about the traffic/paved shoulder distinction. It does remain a very good start. It would be nice if they included bikes paths, but I don't think they fall under the ministry's jurisdiction.

 
At 12:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Traffic volume is totally irrelevant when there is a paved shoulder. Therefore, this map is essentially useless. The best tool for determining the safety of cycling routes is Google Street View.

This tool opens the door to blaming cyclists for driving on "bad roads" when an accident happens. This is awful news for Quebec's cyclists.

One example of how retarded the map is: Route 344 near my house in Bois-des-Filion is marked yellow yet it has a speed limit of 50, and a separated bike path. Rte 117 is also "dangerous" even with a paved shoulder yet Boul. des Laurentides through Laval is unmarked.

This map should not be advertised on your blog.

 

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