This text is part of the special section Municipalities
“We have traffic too. From 7:48 a.m. to 8:02 a.m. Montreal motorists could read this pike on one of the seven advertising posters praising the quality of life in Drummondville and Victoriaville placed near the bridges of the metropolis last February. The goal was to invite them to move to these central towns where road congestion is clearly not a problem.
“Does that mean that we have to wait until we are at the level of Montreal to think about ways to improve our mobility? No ! For the Mayor of Drummondville, Stéphanie Lacoste, there is no question of resting on her laurels. Like her fellow mayors across the province, she wishes to propose alternative solutions to enable her fellow citizens to reduce their dependence on solo driving.
Imagination to the rescue
Creativity is not lacking in these elected officials who must find ways to effectively serve a sometimes very large territory. “We have a low concentration of population on a huge territory,” notes Daniel Côté, mayor of Gaspé. It therefore channels its efforts to areas where the needs are greatest. And he succeeds: for the past two years, Gaspé has been offering electric cars for car sharing, and a similar service for electric bicycles should start operating this summer. “We always try to innovate. »
The mayor has also teamed up with his colleagues from other Gaspé municipalities, which for many years have suffered the repercussions of a failing regional transport offer. “We have joined forces within an entity that covers the region, proudly underlines the one who is also president of the Régie intermunicipale de transport Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine. It makes sense: people can leave one municipality to go to work, study or obtain health care in another. By consulting each other, it allows a better connection and more fluidity. »
join forces
The situation is almost reversed on the side of the MRC of Portneuf, which is located west of Quebec City. “As there is a structuring bus network right next door, we have the possibility of connecting to it,” rejoices Bernard Gaudreau. Despite everything, like his Gaspé colleague, the prefect must still find solutions to serve sometimes very rural areas, while making travel to the capital more fluid. “Right now, shuttles in the region make several stops in Quebec City. Instead, I would like to establish points on the outskirts from where people could then take the Réseau de transport de la capital (RTC) bus. »
To then convince the Portneuvians to adopt this mode of transport, it will be necessary to make it user-friendly, estimates the prefect. “We are studying the possibility of integrating with the RTC system so that users do not have to buy several tickets. »
Thinking about future generations
In Drummondville, Stéphanie Lacoste is also racking her brains to find ways to transform a sparsely populated area. She found an ideal target to focus her efforts on: schools. “We have established a plan to promote active and safe transportation of young people to schools,” explains the mayor. As it affects children, the program succeeds in obtaining better support. The City has thus adopted the “On foot, by bike, active city (APAVVA)” approach, implemented by Vélo Québec in 2006. “As soon as a street needs to be redone near a school, the engineers take map APAVVA. We take it one bite at a time. »
Young people are also trained in good travel practices in a bike training village, opened in 2020. “All day camps take their campers there, rejoices the mayor. They learn to ride bikes and scooters. His ambition does not stop there: “I would like people who use a motorized mobility aid to also have a course on how to move around safely and courteously on the territory. »
Whether in Gaspé, in the MRC of Portneuf or in Drummondville, the main challenge for mayors is to make solo car solutions attractive. “People react very positively to our projects,” says Daniel Côté. I never heard a negative echo. The challenge, however, is that they are known, adopted. The same goes for the prefect of the MRC de Portneuf, Bernard Gaudreau: “We have a pedagogical challenge. We must communicate the benefits, the advantages. ” Never mind ! Nothing stops these elected officials overflowing with ambition.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, relating to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.