Ville de Montréal, Agence métropolitaine de transport, Ministère des
Transports du Québec and Société de transport de Montréal join forces with
Polytechnique Montréal to assess and implement transportation sustainability
- Launch of the MOBILITÉ Research Chair

MONTREAL, Oct 5 /CNW Telbec/ - This morning, in the presence of project partners and transportation sector representatives, Polytechnique Montréal launched the MOBILITÉ Research Chair on assessing and implementing sustainable transportation.

Extending métro lines, introducing carsharing and bikesharing systems, building bridges and roads with dedicated bus lanes, re-engineering and improving the safety of intersections and arteries ... How do you anticipate and assess the impacts of such initiatives, taking into account both individual needs and community sustainable development issues?

To answer this complex question, the Ville de Montréal, Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) and Société de transport de Montréal (STM) have joined forces with Polytechnique to launch the MOBILITÉ Research Chair. Held by Dr. Catherine Morency, a professor in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, the Chair will help assess the impact of transportation projects, policies and plans on sustainable development through targeted research, experimentation and methodological development.

To attain its objectives, the MOBILITÉ Chair will receive subsidies totalling $875,000, distributed over five years. The Ville de Montréal, AMT and MTQ will each invest $250,000, to which the STM will add $125,000.

Dr. Morency's work will focus on extrapolating the data derived from new technologies. For example, data from the OPUS fare cards used in Montréal's bus and subway systems will allow passenger-boarding points to be determined and various performance indicators to be deduced. The Chair and its partners will also experiment with ways of assessing traffic conditions — for example, through Bluetooth sensors or data obtained from the GPS devices in Communauto (local carsharing) vehicles. Dr. Morency emphasizes that the Chair's work will be carried out in strict observance of privacy and data-protection rules.

"The introduction of the Sustainable Development Act, along with general concerns about this topic, are leading decision-makers to draw up a number of criteria for assessing transportation options: the environment and land-use planning, obviously, but also social equity, accessibility, user safety, public health and the economy," Dr. Morency explained. "Our goal is therefore to develop rigorous, objective and transparent mobility indicators with which stakeholders can quantitatively assess the impact of different transportation options and align their actions with current visions of sustainable development."

The need to effectively measure the contributions and impacts of various transportation alternatives and strategies is in fact a major concern in the current context of the implementation of the Ville de Montréal's Transportation Plan, the AMT's Strategic Plan for the Development of Metropolitan Transportation, the STM's Action Plan for Sustainable Development, and similar initiatives from other Greater Montréal transportation companies. Moreover, the Québec government's adoption of the Sustainable Development Strategy 2008-2013, which directly affects the MTQ, entails regular progress reports based on relevant indicators. Since all of these plans and strategies emphasize the importance of aligning transportation choices with sustainable development principles, creating a research chair that focuses specifically on developing sustainable mobility indicators is a logical step.

"The Ville de Montréal adopted its first Transportation Plan following extensive public consultations in 2008," said Claude Carette, Interim Director of the Ville de Montréal's Transportation Division. "Our focus is sustainable mobility, respect for the environment, safety, efficient buses and the promotion of active modes of transportation like walking, rollerblading and biking. The introduction of the BIXI (self-serve bicycle) system and 50 additional kilometres of bike lanes are positive initiatives, but we need to study the issue in greater depth. For this reason, we decided to collaborate with a university and researchers who will develop performance indicators, establish public transportation models and propose investigative methodologies regarding how goods are transported through urban spaces." Mr. Carette began suggesting creation of the MOBILITÉ Chair to Dr. Morency in 2009.

For his part, Pierre-Luc Paquette, the AMT's Vice-President of Communications and Marketing, said: "As part of its mission of improving regional mobility through the promotion of public transportation in the metropolitan Montréal region, the AMT is proud to partner with the MOBILITÉ Chair. Through this partnership, we can pool our expertise and tools, the better to manage transportation and monitor emerging public transit needs. The Chair's findings will greatly help the AMT with its long-term transportation planning."

Added Pierre Fernandez Galvan, the MTQ's Director of Planning and Resource Coordination: "Beyond the ministry's particular interest in transferring methodological developments to other metropolitan regions of Québec, we hope that working with the Chair will make our various modelling tools more effective. Being able to better map how people and goods move through the transportation networks will help us to better assess roadway and mass transit projects, particularly in terms of their environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions."

And Jocelyn Grondines, Director of Studies with the STM's Network Planning and Development Department, said: "As a leader in the field of sustainable mobility, the STM has sustainable development at the heart of its mission and strategic planning. Indeed, sustainable mobility is a key priority in the organization's sustainable development action plan. Work carried out by the MOBILITÉ Chair will support our actions in this regard and help us tailor our modelling tools to better assess how we can improve our transit service."

Training tomorrow's sustainable mobility specialists

Another important aspect of the MOBILITÉ Chair is the training it will provide to many sustainable mobility evaluation specialists. Master's and PhD students who undergo internships with the four partner institutions will gain knowledge of the day-to-day challenges and issues faced by transportation organizations. In return, the internships will benefit professional development within the organizations.

Research associates from Québec, Canada and abroad

The MOBILITÉ Chair will receive ongoing input from Polytechnique researchers interested in transportation, including Martin Trépanier (information systems and freight transportation), Nicolas Saunier (road safety) and Bruno Agard (data mining). Researchers at other national and international institutions, including Paul Lewis (Université de Montréal), Antonio Paez (McMaster University), Matthew Roorda (University of Toronto), Patrick Bonnel (Ecole nationale des travaux publics d'Etat [ENTPE], Lyon) and Kostas Goulias (University of California, Santa Barbara), will also participate. Lastly, two research associates — Hubert Verreault, a Polytechnique graduate, and Marie Demers, author of the book Pour une ville qui marche / Walk for Your Life — will contribute to the Chair on a continuous basis.

About the Ville de Montréal

Québec's largest city and the first French-speaking city in North America, the Ville de Montréal has a population of over 1.6 million, nearly a third of whom are immigrants. With its 5,600-km road network, 4,100 km of streets and 200 km of highways, Montréal is the province's transportation hub. As part of its Transportation Plan, the city has initiated a number of award-winning projects. It received the Transportation Association of Canada's Sustainable Urban Transportation Award for two initiatives that encourage active transport, namely, the BIXI system and the addition of new bike lanes (project Montréal at the forefront of sustainable mobility with the deployment of the BIXI program and the development of 50 km of new bike lanes in 2009). The same initiatives garnered the city the 2010 Prix Environnement from the Association québécoise du transport et des routes (AQTR). The AQTR had given the city the same award in 2008 for the project À vélo au centre-ville de Montréal, as well as a special Prix Distinction for its Transportation Plan.

About the Agence métropolitaine de transport

The AMT is a government agency with a metropolitan vocation whose mission is to plan and develop public transit services in order to improve the efficiency of commuting in the Greater Montréal area. The AMT currently operates five train lines, 51 stations, one metropolitan express bus line, 61 park-and-ride lots and 85.2 km of reserved lanes. Annual ridership on its commuter trains is close to 16 million passengers, ranking the Greater Montréal area sixth in North America.

About the Ministère des Transports

The mission of the MTQ is to ensure the mobility of people and goods throughout Québec on safe, efficient transportation systems that contribute to the sustainable development of Québec. The Ministry is the leader in transportation in Québec. It is committed to offer competent and innovative management of the systems over which it has direct responsibility. It relies on close co-operation with its public and private partners to offer appropriate and functional transportation systems to the population and businesses.

About the Société de transport de Montréal

As Montréal's public transit company, the STM is at the heart of the city's economic development, helping to improve its residents' quality of life and contributing to sustainable development by operating an integrated transit system. The STM provides courteous, reliable, rapid, safe and comfortable transportation. Its customers, employees and corporate and commercial partners are proud to be associated with the organization, which is known for delivering quality services at a fair cost.

About Polytechnique Montréal

Founded in 1873, Polytechnique Montréal is one of Canada's leading engineering university institutions in terms of both teaching and research. It is also the largest engineering university in Québec for the size of its student body and the scope of its research activities. With over 36,000 graduates, Polytechnique Montréal has educated 27% of the province's engineers. Polytechnique provides training in 14 engineering specialties, has 230 professors and over 6,700 students. It has an annual operating budget of $100 million, in addition to a $70-million research and infrastructure fund.

For further information:

Annie Touchette
Communications and Recruitment Office
École Polytechnique de Montréal
T. 514 340-4711, ext. 4415
C. 514 231-8133
[email protected]