Qui sommes nous? / Who are we?
Coordination Team
I graduated from McGill in Anatomy and Cell Biology and Computer Science, and am currently furthering my studies in Computer Science at Concordia. I am involved in this project because of its direct impact on a sub-population of Montreal. I believe that being able to increase safety awareness and improve the quality of biking in the city through a clean, practical interface is a challenging and worthwhile cause.
Devon Willis - Founder and General Coordinator
My many bicycle commutes in Montreal - and its suburbs - have led me to be passionate about active transportation and improving its safety and convenience in the city. I graduated from McGill University in Environment and Political Science, focusing on Urban and Transportation Planning for my last year and completing my honours thesis on bikeability and bicyclists' trip satisfaction. I think the biggest obstacle for cycling in the city is motorist education, North-South running bicycle lanes and the absence of signalisation design for cyclists.
My favourite place to bike in Montreal is going West, along the Lachine Canal and through to Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville.
Jacob Larsen - Coordination
Jacob is an urban planner and cyclist researcher. For his Master's work, he focused on understanding the factors affecting cyclist route choice. He has a passion for user-generated data, which he believes will become increasingly important in urban planning and policy making. When not thinking about cities, Jacob enjoys growing, preserving and cooking food, and travelling by one self-propelled mode of transport or another. He currently lives in Toronto.
Max Halparin - Community Liaison
After surviving a suburban childhood in Ontario, the first "alternative" transportation I fell for was the métro. Only later did I realize that, not only is it fun, but riding bikes in cities is a great way to apply what I learned studying geography and environment at McGill. My favourite place to ride bikes is Mont-Royal—or anywhere on a bike tour—and I got involved with Vélobstacles because I feel a real need for this kind of resource. Lastly, other than the lack of patience and empathy between road users, one of the biggest obstacles to cycling in Montreal is the poor education around transportation safety (though potholes suck too).
Elliot Montpellier - Website Manager and Community Liaison
I am currently pursuing my Master's degree in Islamic Studies and working in Parc-Extension on a bike related project called Culture Vélo. I got involved in this project because I see it as inherently linked with much of the activist work I do around the city related to bikes. I think the biggest obstacle for cyclists in Montreal is the aggresion of drivers in the city, particularly solo drivers. My favourite place to ride is along the north shore to l'île de la visitation; my least favorite is the de Maisonneuve bike path because of the dangerous left turns that cars make.
Dave Huehn - Bicyclists' Accident Report
I grew up in Uxbridge, Ontario and I studied Canadian Studies and Political Science at McGill. I’m working on cyclist-specific accident report cards and I think they’re a great way to complement vélobstacles in making Montreal a better and safer place to bike. I think one of the biggest obstacles for cyclists in Montreal is a general lack of bike safety education. My favourite place to bike in Montreal is the Lachine Canal.
Programming Team
David Danielson - Android Application Developper
I am currently a computer science student in my third year at McGill University. I decided to get involved with Velobstacles since it seemed like it would be an interesting application to implement, and because I think it is an innovative way to help improve cycling conditions in Montreal. As you can see from my picture, my favourite place to ride my bike is along the Lachine canal.
Allison Yan - Android Application Developper
I graduated from McGill studying Psychology and Computer Science in June. I want to make Montreal a better bicycle city with more extensive, 2 way bike paths, up there with Amsterdam or Copenhagen! I don't have a bike in Montreal so I use Bixis, but I hope to get my own bike here someday.
Si Zhan - Android Application Developer
I graduated from McGill in Anatomy and Cell Biology and Computer Science, and am currently furthering my studies in Computer Science at Concordia. I am involved in this project because of its direct impact on a sub-population of Montreal. I believe that being able to increase safety awareness and improve the quality of biking in the city through a clean, practical interface is a challenging and worthwhile cause.
Hadrien David - Website and Programming Coordination
Data
Corey Chivers - Data Scientist
I am currently a PhD student studying ecology at McGill and I am a year-round cyclist in Montreal. I think that one of the biggest obstacles for cyclists in Montreal is the dreaded opening car door. By applying the tools of crowd-sourcing and data analytics, I believe that we can have a positive impact on Montreal's cycling infrastructure, and ultimately get more people onto two wheels.
Special thanks for Dominic Charley-Roy and Kamil Legault who helped us start this project at Hack ta ville.
