Car-Free Streets Benefit Everyone
People of all ages and abilities enjoying the street activation on Mont-Royal Avenue in Montreal, QC free of all cars. Photo taken by Holly Hixson, 2024.
June in Montréal marks my favourite time of the year, when a dozen typically car-filled streets become safer and more enjoyable, glowing with life, street art, and people of all ages and abilities. When the City of Montreal began this street activation five years ago, it covered a 2.5-kilometre stretch. Since then, the activation has grown to more than nine kilometres across seven neighborhoods. Along this journey, car-free streets have made a myriad of positive impacts on the city from significantly increasing foot traffic to reducing retail vacancies. Car-free streets are hardly a new concept, but have been steadily growing in popularity over the last decade with cities around the world reclaiming space from cars to support people walking and biking. During pandemic lockdowns, numerous temporary car-free streets emerged, prompting many communities to investigate the benefits of redistributing and rebalancing public space in favour of pedestrians and cyclists. 
The temporary activation of Water Street in Gastown of Vancouver, BC enables a radically different use of the public realm than moving cars through space. Photo taken by Sara Roach, 2024.
Across Canada, this effort has endured. This summer, the City of Vancouver is trialing a temporary pedestrian zone, Edmonton is working to make one block permanently car-free, and Toronto is cutting car traffic through High Park and expanding sidewalks and protected bicycle lanes on Yonge street. 
Main Street in Whitehorse, YK was closed to cars throughout the summer of 2023 as a pilot activation. Photo taken by Sonali Praharaj, 2023.
From enhancing safety for all road users to fostering a more gender-balanced and family-friendly environment, these pedestrian-friendly streets are reshaping our urban landscapes for the better. This article will delve into how Canada’s growing movement toward car-free streets is creating more safe, inclusive, and healthier cities for people of all ages and backgrounds. 
Every year, the Town of Canmore, AB turns Main Street into a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly zone between May and October to facilitate community connection, vibrancy and enjoyment. Photo taken by Nicole Roach, 2024.
Car-free streets are gender-inclusive
We know that men own more cars than women. We also know that public spaces have been typically designed by men for men, leaving the preferences and needs of more than half of the population unaddressed. While women are more likely to rely on public transit, they are also more likely to experience harassment and report feeling unsafe in public spaces. However, car-free streets which de-centre auto traffic and prioritize active transportation and public space activation can promote gender-balance in public and improve safety for women. Street renovations (whether temporary or permanent) that deprioritize cars and improve walkability have been found to improve the gender composition present in public. A study in the US found that the highly walkable, “complete streets” studied had almost double the proportion of women using them compared to streets with low walkability. Further, car-free streets can facilitate the safe and independent mobility of older and younger travelers who are dependent on largely female caregivers. 
The gender mix on Mont-Royal Avenue in Montreal, QC is typically very balanced all throughout the day and night, making it a more comfortable and safe route for women to walk and bike. Photo taken by Holly Hixson, 2024.
Beyond transportation, the public space activation of roads through public art, festivals and events, vendors, lights, street furniture, and the steady stream of more “eyes on the street” can benefit women. Many women feel afraid of public spaces that are seen as empty with fewer people to witness harassment or intervene. As a result, car-free streets - which attract more people throughout all times of the day - can contribute to feelings of safety. Personally, I’ve experienced this firsthand in Montreal; I often opt to walk along the car-free Mont-Royal Avenue at night even if it’s a less direct route. This option feels safer due to the increased volume of people, high visibility and light, and variety of businesses open around the clock. 
The pedestrianization of Rue De Castelnau in Montréal draws people, pets, and families to open-air art installations and local businesses. The City is planning to develop permanent urban design features, such as street furniture, for the space by 2025.
Car-free streets are safe
Car collisions cause hundreds of thousands of preventable injuries and deaths per year. In Canada, walking and biking make up only around 6 percent of the overall transportation mode share, yet comprise nearly 18 percent of traffic fatalities and 19 percent of serious injuries on the road. This means that people walking and biking are disproportionately impacted by the dangers that cars present on our roads. 
Closing a street off to cars opens up new opportunities for safely playing, socializing, learning, and building community. Photo taken by Nicole Roach on behalf of Green Action Centre at the Love30on30 bike-focused event in Winnipeg, MB 2020.
The issue is widespread. In Ontario, 2023 marked the deadliest year on the province's roads in more than 15 years. In Quebec, more than 430 minors were injured on Montreal streets in 2022, nearly half while walking or biking. Reducing the number of cars and the speeds they travel on our streets is more critical than ever. Building pedestrianized streets and physically limiting the access of cars is a simple way that cities can improve safety, reduce traffic-related injuries, and promote the uptake of safe and environmentally friendly modes of transport over driving a personal vehicle. 
Parents walk their children to school on the Comox “School Street” closed off to cars in Vancouver, BC. Photo taken by Nicole Roach, 2023.
The benefits of car-free spaces around schools can be even more pronounced, prioritizing safe walking and biking of the most vulnerable road users. In 2021, Green Communities Canada and 8 80 Streets initiated a series of “School Streets” demonstrations in four communities in Ontario. For the pilots, up to 300 metres of road leading to schools were closed in the morning and in the afternoon to improve safety for children on their school journey, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality around the schools. Upon the completion of the pilot, a number of positive outcomes were documented. The study found an increase in awareness of road safety issues in the community, an increase in active school travel during and after the pilot, and an improvement in air quality around schools. Further, they found that the road closure didn’t increase traffic elsewhere, and observed a reduction in overall traffic on the School Street and surrounding streets during and after the demonstration. This suggests that the School Streets may have a lasting impact on traffic congestion and shift to active modes. Building on the success of the initial demonstration, the Public Health Agency of Canada recently announced $6 million dollars in funding through the “Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund.” The Fund will support a four-year nationwide School Streets initiative which will span six provinces and be supported by non-profit organizations, research institutions, and community partners. Car-free streets are healthy
Prioritizing active modes of travel over personal vehicles has wide reaching health impacts in cities that go beyond reducing risk of death and serious injury . First, it promotes everyday physical activity, making it safer and more appealing to walk, bike, or roll to popular destinations that residents may otherwise consider driving to. Complete streets also provide opportunities for increased biodiversity and urban agriculture, and reduce local air pollution. In Montreal, many of the pedestrian streets have added plants, trees, and flowers in street space previously occupied by cars. On Mont-Royal Avenue, community activation on the street has made way for urban agriculture and extensive planter boxes. The “nourishing garden” offers 3,000 square feet of collective vegetable garden and provides a space to host free workshops for the community to learn about pollinators, permaculture, urban herbalism and more. 
Photo 1 & 2: “Les Jardins Nouriciers,” a temporary collective vegetable garden on Mont-Royal Avenue in Montreal, QC. Photo 3: Planter boxes offer unique visual elements to Ontario street in Montreal, QC. Photos taken by Holly Hixson, 2023.
Exposure to air pollution is a major contributor to the development of disease and premature death. In the US, segregation and racist urban planning practices during the 1950s to 1970s uprooted communities of colour, disrupted pedestrian infrastructure, and decimated green space in order to expand highways. Air pollution is a concern for all urban dwellers, but has historically been an even greater burden on Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities in the US and Canada due to environmental racism. We know that reducing car travel improves air quality. During pandemic lockdowns, which halted car travel and reduced mobility in major cities around the world, significant reductions in urban air pollution were observed. This underscores the benefit of reclaiming space from cars to improve air quality and reduce harmful environmental contaminants. As cities across North America continue to reclaim space from cars, every effort should be made to ensure that the benefits are shared by communities that have been subject to environmental racism and disproportionate air contamination. 
Elaborate planter boxes adorn Mont-Royal Avenue all summer in Montreal, QC providing thousands of plants and vegetables, absorbing urban heat, and beautifying the street. Photo taken by Holly Hixson, 2023.
Walk, Roll, Bike - Final thoughts on Car-free streets
Across the board, car-free streets provide significant benefits to urban communities that far outweigh their use as road space for cars and trucks. As an urban planning enthusiast, I revel in living off of a street that is pedestrianized for half of the year and find joy wandering down the avenue, people watching, popping into shops, and enjoying the outdoors. However, beyond my personal enjoyment, it’s clear that the transformation of streets into places for people benefits everyone. Car-free streets are gender- and family-inclusive, they are safer and more enjoyable, and they are healthier than their alternative. 
Car-free streets can provide safe, enjoyable, and healthy space for all. Moving forward, more work attention needs to be given to accessibility for people of all ages and abilities. Photo taken on a temporary car-free street in Montreal, QC by Holly Hixson, 2023.
Public streets can serve people of all ages, incomes, and abilities. They can also address urgent issues that plague our cities through careful planning, appropriate investment, and thoughtful community activation. While Montreal has made major strides in this area over the last five years, I urge the City to continue to expand pedestrian streets in both duration and geography in the coming years. Further, it’s imperative that the City continue to improve accessibility of these spaces for people with disabilities and seniors, and identify areas that could benefit from a reduction in air pollution to not further reinforce investment only in wealthy and largely white communities. Outside of Montreal, I urge cities of all sizes to look to inspiring successful examples around the world, and to investigate how public space can serve as more than just a place to pass through or store personal vehicles. 
Smaller, tourism-focused towns and cities often recognize the benefits of car-free streets to promote ease and walkability for visitors and residents alike. Photo taken in Banff, AB by Nicole Roach, 2024.
Resources
🚶♀️Understanding the impact of pedestrianization in Montreal
🚦Car-free streets in downtown Montreal took ‘political guts.’ Can Toronto do the same?
🏃 Water Street Pedestrian Zone Coming to Gastown Summer 2024
👩🌾 City Recommends Removing Cars on 83 Avenue Near Farmers’ Market
📄 Report: Main Street Town Square What We Heard Report: Main Street Town Square Exit Survey
🚗 Men and their Cars: Cities Aim to Break Up the Love Affair
👨👩👦 Walkability, Complete Streets, and Gender: Who Benefits Most?
🚫 Montreal Public Health Calls for Fewer Cars in School Zones.
🚸 Reimagining North American Streets for Safe, Active, and Joyful Trips to School
🚧 Green Communities Canada Receives $3 Million to Support School Streets Nationwide
🛣️ How Interstate Highways Gutted Communities—and Reinforced Segregation
♿ Nobody Left Behind Envisioning inclusive cities in a low-car future
