Right to Move

Right to Move / La Voie Libre
Website	http://www.rtm-lvl.org/
Email	righttomove@gmail.com
Founded	1997
Location	Montréal, Canada
Campus	Concordia University
Language	English; Français;
Services Offered	DIY Repair Services; Women and Trans Programs;
Mission Statement	Bicycles are a viable urban transportation option, and far more fun, economical, and ecological than cars at moving people to where they need to be.

Right to Move is a volunteer-run, DIY, non-profit community bike shop that promotes cycling as accessible and environmental transportation!

Right to Move (La Voie Libre (LVL)) est un atelier de vélo sans but lucratif qui vise à faire du cyclisme un moyen de transport accessible à toutes et à tous, sans distinction de sexe, d’âge, de richesse ou d’origine ethnique.

Contact Info

The shop is located in the basement of the K-Annex, at 2150 Rue Bishop, on the Sir George Williams Campus of Concordia University. The entrance is in the alleyway behind the Hall Building, between Bishop and Mackay streets (see photo and map below).

History

Right to Move (RTM) is a non-profit bike shop started in the spring of 1997 by a group of people who believed cycling should be accessible to all, regardless of gender, age, wealth, or ethnicity.

The shop operates under the following creed:

We the people of Right to Move:

make up the Right to Move non-profit volunteer organization

are a large, diverse, and dedicated group of people

champion that bicycles are a cheap mode of transportation that do not congest cities or produce greenhouse gases or other pollutants as cars do

are dedicated to facilitating safe, reliable access to transportation by bicycle for everyone

recognize that women, trans people, and gender-nonconforming people have less access to spaces where mechanical know-how is built up, and work to right this imbalance

recognize that our shop, the physical infrastructure that enables it to operate, and the terrain (urban or otherwise) that we set out to promote cycling on are located on unceded Indigenous lands; and in observance of this fact, are resolved to act in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and interests

maintain a space allocated by Concordia University for a bike shop

provide bicycle maintenance workshops and drop-in repair help in our shop

accept donated bicycles and repair them so they can be used and enjoyed again (thereby reducing the demand for more bicycles to be built under socially-exploitative and environmentally-disastrous conditions)

further the causes of DIY bike maintenance and urban cycling by educating the public

Services Offered

DIY Shop Memberships

Get access to our shop for just $2 for the day or $20 for a whole year’s membership! We have just about every tool and part you could need to do routine or even specialized repairs.

WTF Night

RTM has an active Women/Trans/Femme program: on Wednesdays, the shop is set aside to welcome all people who are trans, femme, women, or non-binary, and others who feel that male dominated spaces aren’t for them. RTM's WTF program had a dedicated blog, which was last updated in 2017, and remains online as a helpful resource. The program was formerly known as ‘Girl’s Night In’ (GNI).

Bikes for free or cheap

We sell bikes at low cost at the shop during our open hours (or by appointment if a buyer can’t make it while we are open). A significant part of our revenue as a non-profit comes from selling bikes, but we also try to designate a portion of bikes that we have in stock for donation to community groups. The bikes we sell are donated to us so that they can be passed on to people who otherwise would not be able to afford to buy a bike and who could benefit from one.