Montreal Traffic: Getting around by bike is almost as fast as a car

During peak traffic hours in Montreal, traveling by bike was as fast as traveling by car in 2023, according to a ranking from TomTom, which indicated that motorists lost 85 hours in traffic.

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The GPS manufacturer compared the average time it took Montrealers to travel 10 kilometers during the city's morning and evening rush hours over the past year.

So, while a car driver would take between 23 and 26 minutes to complete that distance, a cyclist would take between 25 and 35 minutes to cover the same number of kilometres, according to the data.

For comparison in terms of speed, the car will travel at a speed of between 23 and 26 km/h during these peak traffic periods, while the bicycle will reach a speed of between 17 and 24 km/h.

There's still plenty of time in traffic

On average, it takes a driver in Quebec City 19 minutes to cover 10 kilometres, making it the fourth Canadian city with the most traffic time, after Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Montrealers could end up spending an additional 85 hours in their car due to traffic in 2023.

Traffic jams will not only have an impact on drivers' wasted time, but also on their wallets. In fact, nearly $206 worth of gasoline was lost due to congestion last year.

Quebec also finds itself in the top 12 cities for traffic in Canada, ranking 11th, with 42 hours lost in traffic and an average of 12 minutes and 20 seconds to travel 10 kilometres.

However, the two Quebec cities are far behind in the rankings, at 103rd for Montreal and 324th for Quebec.