The STL takes home two AQTr Grands Prix d'excellence en transport awards in the Public Transit and the Public Choice categories
LAVAL, QC, June 15, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Société de transport de Laval (STL) is proud to announce that it took home two awards at the Grands prix d'excellence en transport Gala yesterday. This exclusive event is organized by the Association québécoise du transport (AQTr). The STL's first award was in the Public Transit category for its Preferential Bus Measures project and it also took home the event's highest honour in the Public Choice category for its Smart Traffic Lights project. This marks the second award this project has received this year as the STL also took home the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) Corporate Leadership Award in the Innovation category. The smart traffic lights project was implemented as a part of the STL's global strategy of preferential bus measures (PBM) which began being implemented in 2016 in collaboration with the City of Laval.
"This recognition reaffirms the STL's leadership in the field of sustainable transportation. For several years now we have been investing heavily in efforts to increase the modal share of public transit in Laval and provide effective alternatives to traffic congestion" says David De Cotis, President of the STL's Board of Directors. "Globally speaking, these projects stand out thanks to their scale and complexity, and thanks to the exceptional coordination of work with the City of Laval. We are confident these combined efforts will reduce travel times for our riders, improve the fluidity of travel in Laval and, ultimately, reduce the carbon footprint of the city when it comes to transportation" adds De Cotis.
Public Transit Category
Preferential bus measures (PBM)
In 2016, the STL launched a new and ambitious project combining five measures that aim to provide buses with the technological ability and the roadwork to ensure that buses have priority throughout Laval while at the same time helping to mitigate urban traffic congestion. The STL's project stands out thanks to its scale and complexity and through the simultaneous implementation of five projects over a period of two years.
- creating 14.4 km of reserved bus lanes
- creating six new bypass lanes
- installing smart traffic light systems at 232 intersections
- installing 'candlestick' priority light systems at 11 intersections
- moving 77 bust stops and shelters to the other side of intersections
We would like to highlight the exceptional work done by the City of Laval which also took this opportunity to add new sidewalks and bike paths, renew outdated street furniture and replace nearly 75% of the controllers for the city's traffic lights.
Public Choice Category
Smart traffic lights
Smart traffic lights, also known as TSP for Transit Signal Priority, allow vehicles to request priority at traffic lights. Basic TSP systems request priority at all times with no regard for set schedules or the number of passengers onboard. The system used by the STL stands out as it takes these two elements into consideration before granting priority. For this project, no less than 232 traffic lights, as well as the entire STL fleet (322 buses and 23 paratransit vehicles) were equipped with an intelligent communications system. In total, 90% of the traffic lights encountered by the STL's fleet, some 75% of the traffic lights across all of Laval, are part of this project. We would like to highlight that this project was made possible because of the STL's pioneering philosophy which, since 2009, has equipped all its vehicles with a sophisticated onboard computer, A GPS system and a passenger counter which provides real time data (to the second) on the performance and ridership of its network.
About the Société de transport de Laval
The Société de transport de Laval (STL) develops and operates an integrated network of buses, school bus lines and collective taxi and paratransit services, covering a total of 20 million trips per year. The STL's regular bus network includes 45 buses, 2,700 bus stops with service to over 1,400 km across Laval. The STL is one of the most innovative companies in North America thanks to projects that include the first 40-foot 100% electric bus in Quebec (since 2013) and its real time user information system which provides information to clients in real time on the location of all the buses on its network (since 2010). In 2017, the STL launched the its Quality Commitment Program, the first customer service guarantee of its kind in Canada. For more information, visit www.stl.laval.qc.ca.
SOURCE Société de transport de Laval
For further information: Estelle Lacroix, Communications Consultant, Société de transport de Laval, 450 662-5400 extension 8388, [email protected]
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