Urban transportation showcase Transit companies in the Outaouais region and Montreal unveil the results of joint efforts to reduce greenhouse gases

Press release


 

Urban transportation showcase
Transit companies in the Outaouais region and Montreal
unveil the results of joint efforts to reduce greenhouse gases


Gatineau, June 3, 2009 Transit companies in the Outaouais region and Montreal (Société de transport de l’Outaouais or STO and Société de transport de Montréal or STM) unveiled today the results of a project under Transport Canada’s Urban Transportation Showcase Program (UTSP). This project was carried out with financial contributions from Transport Canada from the Quebec transportation department (Ministère des Transports du Québec or MTQ) and the participation of the cities of Gatineau and Montreal. The project, led jointly by STO and STM, assessed the ability of hybrid diesel-electric buses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public transportation in Gatineau and Montreal. The purpose of this project was to test out an integrated set of measures in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and fuel consumption.

Today’s event was attended by the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister responsible for the Outaouais region and M.P. for Pontiac, Minister responsible for the Outaouais Region and MP for Pontiac, Norman MacMillan, Quebec Minister for Transport, Minister Responsible for the Outaouais Region and Member for Papineau, the Mayor of the City of Gatineau, Marc Bureau, the President of STO Patrice Martin, Chairman of the STO, and Marvin Rotrand, Vice-chairman of the Board of the STM.

“Thanks to a solid partnership, we are unveiling today positive results that make a real difference here in the Outaouais region. The Government of Canada is pleased to highlight this successful initiative that received a financial contribution of $ 4 million from the federal government”, said Minister Cannon. “Our government supports public transit initiatives that help to purify the air and reduce congestion, and to increase security. ”

Norman MacMillan, Quebec Minister for Transport, Minister Responsible for the Outaouais Region and Member for Papineau stressed that "The Quebec Ministry of Transport is proud to be associated with the success of the Urban Transportation Showcase Program. Our investment of $6.4 million will result in significant spin-offs in Quebec and will influence the future development of public transit in Quebec while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases.

“By implementing the Green Line, we were able to increase the use of public transit in Gatineau, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help revitalize Greber Boulevard by increasing traffic in that corridor”, said the Mayor of Gatineau Marc Bureau.

“We are happy to announce that our UTSP project is a success!”, said Patrice Martin, President of STO. “The STO has been able to meet its objectives for this project. The measures put in place with the UTSP, including the two hybrid buses and the Green Line infrastructure, meant reducing GHG emissions by 1,000 tonnes, or 200 less cars on our region’s roads.”

“This initiative has then helped to demonstrate, verify and validate the effectiveness of combining a number of measures to increase the attractiveness and promote the use of public transit. The pilot project had a positive impact on the environment by helping reduce GHGs and diesel fuel needs”, added Mr. Martin.

“Surveys of employees and clients confirm that hybrid engines help protect the environment”, said Marvin Rotrand, Vice-chairman of the Board of the STM.. “Moreover, respondents have a favourable view of this technology, which provides a smoother and more pleasant ride. These engines do not require drivers to change gears as they do for standard transmission buses, so there are less sudden stops and starts. Moreover, the diesel engine is used less often, which makes it quieter than a standard diesel-only engine.”

The UTSP project was made possible thanks to a total investment of $19.7 million ($2.2 million from STO, $3.2 million from STM, $6.4 million from the Government of Quebec and $4 million from the federal government, in addition to the $3.9 million from SOFIL under the Federal Gas Tax Transfer Fund.

The summary report on this pilot project will soon be available on the Web sites of STO (www.sto.ca) and STM (www.stm.info). The STO site will soon dedicate a full section to the UTSP results.

Project component carried out by STO
Under the “Green Line” slogan, the project involved the implementation of various measures and smart transportation systems aimed at making public transit more attractive and user-friendly in a specific corridor used by seven regular buses and two diesel-electric hybrid buses. In addition to the two hybrid buses, an additional 3.2 kilometres of reserved lanes and a park-and-ride were built, the street furniture was redesigned to match the Green Line colours (15 new bus shelters, 22 bus stop signs updated, etc.), real-time bus schedule displays were installed, boarding systems to give buses priority at stop lights were introduced, and a system to automatically track the number of passengers riding the 18 buses was installed as part of the measures put forth by STO under the UTSP. It should be noted that the corridor chosen was the axis formed by Gréber-Fournier-Maisonneuve and Portage Bridge boulevards on the regular 57, 65, 67 and 77 routes.

The pilot project helped increase public transit traffic in the corridor by 7.5% between winter 2008 and winter 2009, or 5.5% higher than the traffic on the rest of the system during the same period. The car occupancy rate increased from 1.19 to 1.31, indicating a trend towards carpooling over the entire area served by STO, possibly fuelled by the growing number of reserved lanes such as the Green Line. The modal share of public transit, namely the proportion of trips made in the area by bus compared to all other modes of transportation, increased by 1.9% during this same period.

Each STO hybrid bus helped reduce fuel consumption by 12% in the Green Line corridor compared to regular buses. This occurred at an average operational speed of 25 km per hour with many frequent stops. A reduction in fuel consumption by hybrid buses thus resulted in a reduction in GHG emissions of nearly 15 tonnes annually for a bus that logs 70,000 km a year. By using hybrid propulsion technology, the STO project helped eliminate 30 tonnes of GHGs, solely in the corridor studied.

Moreover, a survey of riders who used the Ligne verte showed that 97% were satisfied with the design of the bus shelters, bus stops and the buses with their wavy blue and green colours, and 80% said that the efforts made to promote this route encouraged them to use the bus more.

Project component carried out by STM
For a year, STM measured the environmental impact of eight biodiesel-electric hybrid buses that were operated in varied and inclement weather conditions. These buses were paired up with six standard biodiesel buses of the same generation that served as the control group. All buses were operated on the same routes.

Encouraging results to promote hybrid engines
To compare the performance of the two types of engines, STM performed a comprehensive assessment by compiling and analyzing some 20 billion pieces of data. The study showed that hybrid technology is particularly beneficial when the average operating speed is relatively low (18 km/h) and when the distance between stops is short. This type of engine helped reduce fuel consumption by an average of 30% in Montreal compared to a standard engine, which represents a proportional reduction of GHG emissions. The reduction in fuel consumption by hybrid buses also resulted in a reduction of nearly 36 tonnes of GHG emissions annual for a bus that logs 70,000 km a year.

The study showed conclusive results on the environmental benefits, specifically in terms of the use of this technology in urban settings such as Montreal. The cooperation and professionalism of STM’s employees also helped make this project a success. Thanks to the analysis tools developed by STM’s technical experts, transit companies can now assess the impact that hybrid buses would have on the fuel consumption of their vehicle fleet and determine whether it would be appropriate to purchase these kinds of vehicles.

Two new promising technological solutions
Using the equipment installed on the buses used for this project, the STM engineering team tested two promising technological solutions. First, they replaced the hydraulic ventilation system with a low voltage electrical system, which helped reduce GHG emissions for both hybrid and standard buses. Then, the transmission program for standard buses was optimized with the podyn system, which also resulted in lower GHG emissions. Therefore, the combined effect of the electrical ventilation system and the Topodyn system helped reduce fuel consumption by 31% for a standard vehicle. Fuel consumption for a hybrid bus equipped with an electrical ventilation system was reduced by 45% compared with the conventional bus.

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