For the first time in Saint-Laurent, employees from municipal, public or private borough came together to participate in the AlterAuto Festival, which celebrates the active and public transport territory.
More than 300 people took advantage of the many activities organized Marcel-Laurin woodland by Laurentian administration, transportation management center (DMC) Economic Development of Saint-Laurent (DESTL) and AlterAuto committee composed of municipal employees .
On this occasion, the mayor of Saint-Laurent, Alan DeSousa presented a summary of the achievements of 2009-2014 Local Transport Plan of the district and its plans for the short, medium or long term. Aref Salem, City Councillor, Norman McLaren and responsible for transporting the Executive Committee, Philippe Schnobb, president of the board of the Société de transport de Montreal (STM) and Suzanne Lareau, CEO of Vélo Québec also reported of projects and anticipated in their respective industries. Karine De Bellefeuille, Head Quality, Maintenance, New Works, SST, Healthy Environment for Distribution Centre L'Oréal Canada in Saint-Laurent, she testified about the commitment of the company in sustainable development.
Finally, Veronique Doucet, Director of the borough of Saint-Laurent, has unveiled a dedicated and active transport section in the mobile application Saint-Laurent on the move aimed at facilitating travel to and in Saint-Laurent. The app is available on App Store and Google Play.
Increase the quality of life of the population Laurentian
"I am very proud of the accomplishments of our district in the area of transport. The presence of our partners today also confirms that a healthy collaboration is needed to achieve small and large projects, as together we develop solutions to the automotive-solo. St. Lawrence also aims to increase the quality of life of its population growth, encouraging residents access to their work or their residence through active and public transport. Among other things, the next realization of the pedestrian and bicycle crossing the boulevard Montpellier allow us to open up the sector Benoit place and the neighboring district, and also to extend the network of cycle paths in our district, which is currently 32 km "said DeSousa.
Recall that St. Lawrence has recently installed two electrical terminals in its municipal parking and it also encourages car sharing with Communauto which has five stations in Saint-Laurent. The increase in the supply of transport, the collective use of the car, the improvement of walking, the development of a cycle network, better management of truck movements, optimizing road network and the revision of the parking management are also part of the achievements of the administration made the short and medium term since 2009. Additionally, the district is working closely with the Police Department of the City of Montreal and school boards to ensure safe travel around schools and school corridors.
"The city of Montreal shows, once again, its commitment to and active transport through concrete actions that will be realized in Saint-Laurent, such as adding 13 km of bike lanes by 2015, setting Service this summer the lane on Grenet Street or the development of a rapid service bus (SRB) between subway stations Côte-Vertu and Sauvé. These measures are in addition to those specifically aim to improve travel conditions for walking and cycling as the projected securing more than a dozen intersections with the addition of pedestrian countdown signals or project Installation odonymiques enlarged plates on Marcel-Laurin Boulevard and Côte-Vertu, to mention only these, "said Aref Salem driver.
"The STM is longtime partner of St. Lawrence and works continuously in order to improve the provision of public transit service. For reference, all initiatives Improvement Program service for the district has resulted in a 20 percent increase in the supply of bus service and 13 percent of trips. Twenty buses have been upgraded and three new lines have been created or lines 220 - Kieran, 263 - Shuttle Or Bordeaux / Cartierville, night line 376 - Pierrefonds / downtown. In addition, in collaboration with district and industries, we have improved access to developing areas such as Bois-Franc, the Technopark and St. Laurent industrial park. The success of the line 72 serving Technopark is a good example because it is one of the lines that experienced the largest increase in ridership, "said Philippe Schnobb.
For its part, Vélo Québec has made a diagnosis of supply and demand for bicycle parking at the request of St. Lawrence. The results of this study have led the district to purchase 60 bike racks to be installed in 2014 and it plans to buy more. Lareau expressed delighted to see that "St. Lawrence is involved in active and public transport. It is necessary to make an increasing share of active transportation in mobility strategies, and, in all neighborhoods of Montreal. Encourage walking and cycling to school youth, this is a good start in life! "
CGD DESTL provides businesses with consulting in sustainable transport solutions and to encourage the use of alternatives to driving solo. CGD offers support to employers for the implementation of carpooling programs: in all, this represents 1,500,000 km No traveled by car in 2013 His team secured a record attendance in 2013 companies. Information kiosks, midi-conferences, animation transportation committees, totaling 87 days of presence in business.
L'Oréal Canada is one of the first Laurentian companies have established an incentive program for sustainable transport to reduce its environmental footprint. "It is with pleasure that we accepted the invitation today, because since 2003, the company collaborates with CGD DESTL to encourage active and public transport. We renew annually incentives such as carpooling and cycling with our employees and organize activities and awareness. More than 40 employees were enrolled in the carpool, "said De Bellefeuille.
When AlterAuto Day, participants were able to enjoy including hiking cycling and walking and visit the booths of CGD and AlterAuto committee of the Eco-quartier Saint-Laurent, Vélo Québec, Opus & Cie and the SAAQ. In addition to municipal employees, employees of the following companies attended the event: AMDOCS Canadian Management / Services Div. AMDOCS Canada inc., Bombardier Aerospace, CS Communications & Systems Canada inc., CSSS Bordeaux-Cartierville-Saint-Laurent, Aldo Group, Air Canada, L'Oréal Canada inc., McKesson Canada Corporation, Moisson Montreal, Oakley Canada inc., Stantec Experts-Conseils Ltd. Technopark and Montreal.
The district received in 2013 an award from the Quebec Transport Association for its safe development of the avenue Saint-Exupéry and won the title of "Grand Prize Winner" in the medium business category Challenge contest without auto 2013.
