Submission of a Resolution to the City Council

The Administration Supports the Canadian Urban Transit Association's Vision and Reasserts its Commitment to Public Transit and Active Transportation

MONTREAL , Dec. 14 /CNW Telbec/ - Following on CUTA's 2009 Conference in Montréal from November 7 to 11, 2009, entitled "Public Transit: Towards Sustainable Solutions," Manon Barbe, Montréal Executive Committee responsible for Transportation, and Majority Leader Marvin Rotrand are announcing the submission of a resolution to the December 14 city council meeting in support of the Canadian Urban Transit Association's Transit Vision 2040.

"By submitting this resolution to City Council members, we want to ensure that all elected officials confirm their support for the development of public transit and active transportation on behalf of Montréal residents from the very beginning of this new term of office. By endorsing this resolution, which was drafted in conjunction with CUTA, Montréal is placing the development of mass transit at the top of its concerns and is seeking increased funding to better ensure the creation of public transit services and infrastructure," said Marvin Rotrand.

With the adoption of its Transportation Plan, Montréal introduced an imaginative approach to reinventing the metropolis by making public transit the preferred form of human transportation. Twenty-one megaprojects have been proposed and other programs are underway despite the city's tight budgetary resources. Because of such efforts, STM services have been significantly upgraded, resulting in a 4.1% ridership increase for 2008. The city has also made major strides in the field of active transportation by extending its bike path system from 412 km in 2007 to 552 km in 2009 and by rolling out BIXI, its self-service bike system. Studies are also underway to install a tramway system, create a rail shuttle between downtown Montréal and Trudeau airport, build an eastern extension to the subway system and redesign the Bonaventure Highway.

Montréal, which is already well positioned in the public transit field and benefits from such groundbreaking initiatives as a car-sharing system, could become North America's gold standard for the use of public transit and active transportation, as well as for pooled use of automobiles.

"Our administration believes that massive investment in public transit and active transportation is a high priority for the city and the region. We subscribe to CUTA's increased ridership goals and believe that implementation of our Transportation Plan could make a major contribution to meeting this objective. We hope to take action and carry out our projects, but we require essential financial support from our governmental partners," said Manon Barbe.

The 21 megaprojects listed in Montréal's Transportation Plan represent total capital expenditures of $ 5.1 billion over 10 years.

"Transit Vision 2040 takes a proactive approach to enhancing our quality of life and ensuring that we make the right choices today to build a sustainable future for tomorrow. Congratulations to Montreal on being one of the first cities in Canada to endorse Vision 2040," said Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) Chair Charles Stolte .

"CUTA consulted widely to produce Transit Vision 2040. It sought input from eminent Canadians including former provincial premiers, former federal cabinet ministers, economists, academics, journalists and scientists," said CUTA President and CEO Michael Roschlau.

For further information: Gonzalo Nunez, Relations avec les médias, [phone]; Source: Darren Becker, Office of the Mayor and the Executive Committee, [phone]