The brand-new Transportation Electrification Strategy 2021-2023of Montreal, unveiled in August, is an ambitious C$885 million plan to transform mobility and enable the city to achieve carbon neutrality. Structured around seven strategic directions, this second transportation electrification strategy aims to accelerate the ecological transition by pursuing 23 concrete objectives. To meet these goals, the Strategy prioritizes around sixty actions that will help increase and diversify Montreal’s supply of sustainable, integrated, affordable, and accessible transportation — a dimension at the heart of its green and inclusive economic recovery.
Nearly 50 partners helped identify the challenges and opportunities to further accelerate transport electrification. The 2021–2023 Transportation Electrification Strategy, born of this collective reflection, thus relies on diverse solutions to decarbonize public transit, individual transport, shared mobility, and freight transport. The strategy also supports the development of active transportation, such as cycling.
Through its Strategy, the City plans in particular to assist the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) in electrifying its bus fleet and its garages, as well as in implementing its major projects, such as the extension of the Metro’s Blue Line to the east.
Montreal currently has the largest fleet of electric-assist bicycles in Canada, with more than 1,900 electric BIXIs (including 725 added in 2021). These bikes, which account for over 20% of the BIXI fleet, allow people to travel faster, more easily, and to reach more distant destinations. The Strategy plans to increase these e-BIXIs to 2,100 by 2023 and to make them available across Montreal’s 19 boroughs.
This new strategy also focuses on better access to electric vehicle charging. Since 2014, the City of Montreal has installed nearly 1,000 public Level 2 charging stations along streets and in its public parking lots, becoming one of North America’s leaders in this area. It plans to install at least as many by the end of 2025 and intends to work closely with Hydro-Québec to add at least 100 fast charging stations, particularly within charging hubs. In addition, businesses will receive funding to install charging stations for their employees, which the general public may also use. Measures will also be taken to facilitate home charging in multi-unit residential buildings.
Beyond its partnerships and its support and financing programs, the City of Montreal itself will not be left behind: it will replace all municipal subcompact vehicles that reach the end of their useful life with similar but electric models, and will favor electric models when replacing other municipal vehicles whenever possible.
The growing popularity of home delivery is generating an increase in truck traffic in several central Montreal neighborhoods. To maintain a good quality of life locally and reduce the carbon footprint of the urban logistics sector, electrification pilot projects will be deployed. New urban logistics spaces modeled on the Colibri project will also be established in other boroughs.
Innovation, the way forward
As a leader in sustainable development, the City of Montreal also wants the new Electrification Strategy to facilitate innovation. A pilot project for electric autonomous shuttles(which will operate near Plaza Saint-Hubert in the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie) was, in fact, announced at the beginning of September. This project is intended as a first step in a broader reflection on the future of commercial streets and the integration of this technology into the urban fabric. It also serves to test the integration of autonomous shuttles into traffic and into society.
Still on the innovation front, the City will establish a testing and integration program for eco-responsible products in development within the municipal vehicle fleet. It will thus help companies carry out technological validation or commercial demonstration of a product related to electromobility.
The City of Montreal has all the assets to play a decisive role in the electromobility sector. The new Strategy also demonstrates that Montreal is continuing its efforts to support entrepreneurship, develop the business ecosystem, commercialize local innovations, and grow the circular economy in electromobility. Needless to say, companies in the electromobility sector will benefit from ongoing support to accelerate their growth and from assistance in their development.
These goals and measures will ultimately benefit the entire population of Montreal. BIXI users, electric vehicle owners, and users of public transit, shared mobility services, and paid passenger transport will enjoy an expanded range of services. Workers will have more options to get to work. Employers will see the attractiveness of their business environment soar. Montreal’s entire economic ecosystem will be able to take advantage of this new mobility.
Consult the Transportation Electrification Strategy 2021-2023 >>>
This sponsored content was produced as part of the Impulsion MTL 2021 event – The International Forum on Fleet Management.
