🌡️ Climate & comfort
- Accessible 365 days a year, whatever the weather (storms, freezing rain, heat waves, rain, fog)
- Stable underground temperature of about 10 °C year-round
- No headwind, more pleasant pedalling
- No snow, no ice, no corrosive salt
- No UV rays (no more summer sunburns)
- Constant, uniform lighting
🛡️ Safety
- Zero collisions with motor vehicles (the leading cause of cyclist deaths)
- No more dooring
- No truck blind spots
- No potholes or cracks
- Camera monitoring possible across the whole network
- Controlled space, less crime than an isolated street at night
🌪️ Resilience & civil safety
- Natural protection against extreme weather events (tornadoes, high winds, hail, blizzards): the surface can be devastated, the tunnel does not move
- Free thermal refuge during deadly heat waves or −40 °C cold snaps: stable temperature of 8–12 °C year-round at 10 m depth
- Stays functional during a 1998-type ice storm: while the surface power grid collapses and roads are impassable for days, the underground network remains sheltered and usable
🫔 Physical & mental health
- Filtered air, potentially purer than at the surface
- No exhaust fumes to breathe in
- Physical activity built into daily life
- Reduced cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity
- Lower stress (no traffic, no honking)
- Easing the burden on the health-care system
💰 Economical (for the citizen)
- Bike: $10–100/yr versus car: $4,000–12,000/yr
- No licence required
- The e-bike makes the effort minimal for seniors or less-fit people
- Lets many households sell a second car ($8,000–10,000/yr in savings)
- No costly parking to pay for
🌱 Environmental
- Zero GHG emissions from travel
- No noise or light pollution at the surface
- Reduction of urban heat islands
- Preservation of green spaces and heritage
- No de-icing salt in waterways
- Minimal land footprint compared with a highway
🏛️ Urban planning & Québec
- Connects the Upper Town and Lower Town
- Preserves the heritage of Old Québec (UNESCO) — no visual impact
- Links Sainte-Foy ↔ Université Laval ↔ Old Québec ↔ Limoilou ↔ Beauport ↔ Charlesbourg
- Complements the RTC without competing with it
- Frees up surface space for terraces, parks, housing, shops
- Virtually no stops or red lights
🚗 And what about motorists?
- Up to 100,000 trips taken off the surface — that many fewer road users ahead of you
- Not a single lane or parking spot sacrificed for a bike path: cycling goes underground, the street stays 100% for cars
- Fewer bikes on the road = smoother traffic: no more slowing down behind a cyclist or holding your breath while passing
- More free parking: fewer second cars in households, and bikes park underground, not along your street
- Less wear on the pavement: fewer cars stressing the asphalt, so fewer potholes and costly repairs
- Less stress behind the wheel: the dread of hitting a cyclist disappears — no more bikes in your blind spot
- For once, cycling infrastructure that takes nothing away from you: a true bike–car win-win
⚡ Practicality & efficiency
- Direct route without lights = higher average speed
- No traffic jams possible
- Available 24/7
- Secure bike parking at the stations
- Possible integration with the RTC and the future tramway
- Predictable trips (no weather or traffic uncertainty)
- Far less vulnerable to strikes than the RTC: only the shuttles would be affected, the cycling network stays fully usable
🌍 Social equity
- Affordable transport for all, whatever the income
- Independence for seniors thanks to the e-bike
- Accessibility for young people without a licence
- Adapted bikes possible (tricycles, cargo bikes, handbikes)
- Reduces dependence on the car as a status symbol
🚀 Innovation & visibility
- The world's first network of its kind — international visibility
- Unique tourist appeal (guided underground bike tours)
- Positions Québec City as an innovative city
- Potentially multi-use tunnels (night-time delivery, emergency services)
- Tunnels able to carry other infrastructure (fibre optics, Hydro-Québec cables, etc.)
- Scalable: built in phases
- Drone delivery
🛠️ Technical advantages
- Simplified maintenance — no destructive freeze/thaw cycle
- Very long infrastructure lifespan
- No snow removal = enormous municipal savings
- Québec City spends ~$50M/yr on snow removal alone
- No impact from climate change
- Far more reliable than the tramway or the REM: it relies on ultra-simple technologies (lighting, ventilation) rather than complex electromechanical systems prone to breakdowns