STM - Society in motion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc9YHs3Jk1E
Have you seen them? There are six such shelters, located in three municipal boroughs. Installing a green roof on certain bus shelters serves to emphasize the relationship between public transportation and the environment. We chose eco-friendly plant material, a mix of sedum. A carpet of sedum is very resistant and requires little maintenance. As a perennial groundcover, it easily replaces a green lawn, with its unique appearance and wonderful scent! A green roof has a significant impact on outdoor air quality, provides some habitat to urban wildlife, and affords a measure of biodiversity appreciated by both birds…and transit users.
Until June 14, one can watch the sedum grow while waiting for the bus.
With its innovative and ecological approach, the transportation cocktail proposes a long-term, economically-sound and performance-driven solution to individual and exclusive car use by all and at all times.
The transportation cocktail advocates a smart combination of individual transportation modes (walking, cycling, skating and car use) and mass transit modes (buses, métro, minibus, commuter trains, taxis, car-pools, car sharing, and shared taxis) for all our transportation needs, particularly towards and within city centres.
To that end, the STM has entered into partnership and joint promotions with other stakeholders in the field (self-serve bicycle rentals, car sharing, and regional public transit companies) who will grant preferential rates to transportation cocktail enthusiasts. Through these actions, the STM is creating and organizing a grassroots movement providing durable transportation options.
Adopt the transportation cocktail: it’s green, economical and performance-driven.
Learn more about Transport Cocktail :
- Communauto
- Vélo québec (in French only)
- Allego (in French only)
- Bixi
- Voyagez Fûté
- Clean the air
- AQLPA (Association Québécoise de Lutte contre la Pollution Atmosphérique (in French only)
- Transport en commun (AMT – in French only)
Transportation Cocktail
Michel Labrecque, Chairman, Board of directors
The transportation cocktail is a daily mix, depending on the weather during the week, of various public transit modes, car-pooling, car-sharing groups, taxis, walking, cycling, and now self-serve bicycle rentals.
The transportation cocktail also includes cars, and one chooses whichever mode is better adapted to the type of trip being taken. The advantages of the transportation cocktail are mostly about maintaining our mobility and how fast we can reach our destination, while reducing our environmental impact, greenhouse gases and others.
Economically-speaking, there are enormous gains for Québec. Indeed, Québec is not a car producer, but rather a producer of mass transit rolling stock, as well as bicycles, which in turn, means economic benefits and job creation.
When the concept of a transportation cocktail was first defined, we made it very clear that it was up to public transit corporations to lead the way, and the STM has already started doing so. It has reached agreements with Vélo-Québec, Communauto, and with Bixi. For our transit users who have a year-long pass with their OPUS card, the Bixi is half-price. And we are looking for other, similar combinations.
What we are telling Montréalers is that we have started a grassroots movement. People often wonder what they can do to help save the planet. Well, they can save the planet by taking public transportation or taxis, by car-pooling, car-sharing, and cycling. Not every day, not all the time or for everything, but a combination whenever possible. The big advantage to the transportation cocktail is the environment, how we use our public spaces, and Québec’s economy.
Supers :
Transportation Cocktail
Highly concentrated, it reduces container recycling at source.
Ideal for all transportation needs in downtown core.
Reduces travel times by 25 to 40 %.
By taking the bus instead of your car, you are cutting your polluting emissions by more than half. May 2, 2010
When comparing the emissions of a car ride with those of a bus ride, several data are taken into account:
- the average emissions of a car per travelled kilometre, as published by Transport Canada;
- the average number of persons per car according to the Origin-Destination survey (1.25 person);
- the emissions by all STM buses for all hours of transit service;
- bus ridership and the average length of a bus trip (km-passenger).
Polluting emissions include :
- carbon monoxide (CO)
- nitrogen oxides (NOx)
- sulphur dioxide (SO2)
- volatile organic compounds (VOC)
- total suspended particulates (TSP)
Polluting emissions are not produced in the same proportion for buses and cars.
Our calculations show that, when combining all hours of STM service, they are 2 to 10 times lesser for a bus than for a car, depending on the pollutant.
During rush hour, emissions are 7 to 44 times lesser for a bus than for a car. This is based on an average of 65 passengers per bus, which is equal to 50 cars (65 persons divided by 1.25).
Together, passengers using the Orange line help prevent the emission of 89 562 056 cubic metres of CO2 each year. That’s 48 times the volume of the Olympic Stadium.
The math leading to this result, which is an average of course, is based on several factors.
- The Origin-Destination survey, conducted in 2008, helped to determine that a client riding the STM network travels an average distance of 8.3 km. We also learn that 1.25 is the average number of passengers in a car.
- These calculations take into account all GHG emissions by STM vehicles for all hours of transit service, or an average of 112 g of CO2 per km/passenger for the bus and 0 for the métro. Conversely, a car trip produces 216 g of CO2 , or some 270 g per km/1.25 passenger.
- Also taken into account is the fact that some people only use the bus (30%) or the métro (40%), while others use a combination of both.
- GHG emissions are usually measured by weight. Under normal conditions of temperature and pressure, a ton of CO2 takes up a volume of about 550 cubic metres. For an idea of what that means, it’s roughly equal to a pool measuring 10m x 25m x 2m deep.
- The average yearly ridership of a bus route is determined by readings taken each day aboard every bus. As for the metro, total rides are compiled from data taken at the turnstiles.
By taking all these factors into consideration, and assuming that all passengers had carried out the same trip by car (with an average 1.25 person per car), we can determine the volume of prevented emissions.
