Cycling is so popular in Ottawa that avid and casual cyclists alike want the city to add more bike lanes to streets and adopt a system similar to the one in Montreal (pictured above). (Giacomo Panico/CBC)

Bike commuters are complaining that Ottawa doesn't have the infrastructure to support them because the city has failed to invest in its own official cycling plan.

But the call to revise the cycling infrastructure isn't only coming from cyclists who use the streets and pathways daily.

A group of casual cyclists has joined the cause, urging Ottawa to take some inspiration from other cities if it wants to get its residents pedalling.

Diane Cox, who recently retired, said she uses her bike to run most of her errands, but finds the cycling system difficult to navigate.

"What we need is more separation from traffic obviously — from motorized traffic so that bicyclists feel more secure coming out to cross town," she said.

Cox and some friends have started a petition, she said, to urge the City of Ottawa to add more bike lanes to streets.

Montreal lanes have barriers

In Montreal, she said, cyclists are able to ride on bike lanes now physically separated from the part of the road used by cars.

Marc Jolicoeur, the research director with Vélo Quebec and a civil engineer, said although adding bike lanes could reduce some parking, the lanes have made Montreal more bike-friendly.

"We don't take no as an answer and we say, 'Well there's surely some way it can be done,'" he said about adding bike lanes to existing streets.

"Let's work it and let's see how it can be done."

Jolicoeur said the key to making such changes is having political support.

He said municipalities are now working more with cycling advocates than they are against them.

"It's much more rewarding for the municipal staff, for the politicians and for us because it gives us credit, but at the same time, it gives us what we want: more bicycle paths in the city."