Press release
The City of Montréal's Transportation plan: quality, return, and coherence making Montréal
THE North American model for sustainable urban development
Montréal, August 23, 2007 The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal filed its brief as part of the public consultation on the City of Montréal's Transportation plan.
The Board of Trade has followed with interest the preparation of the City of Montréal's Transportation plan and, in drawing up this brief, was inspired in part by the consultation document and the thematic workshops organized by the City (in which the Board of Trade participated). In addition, it called upon the involvement and expertise of members of its strategic analysis committees on urban development, taxation and public finance, and economic development.
The Board of Trade based its analysis of this plan on three major guiding principles: quality, return, and coherence.
This Transportation plan is certainly one of the most innovative that a metropolis like Montréal could develop. The deliberate choice to grant precedence to public transit is one of the best decisions that could have been made for improving the quality of life of Montrealers while creating an environment that is attractive to companies and people and beneficial to business, declared Isabelle Hudon, president and CEO of the Board of Trade.
Montréal is one of the North American metropolises where public transit is most heavily used. It is a distinctive facet of our city's personality one that contributes greatly to the quality of life that is so envied by others. But, while Montréal is already doing well, we now have an opportunity to do even better. Both our public transit and road infrastructures need major upgrades requiring significant investments. With this plan, Montréal is creating an opportunity to institute real sustainable urban development by creating a transportation system where the movement of goods and people will be highly efficient, added Hudon.
To move from the planning stage to the implementation of true sustainable urban development infrastructures, sizeable financial resources will be required. The magnitude of the projects involved means that we cannot count on a single source of revenue. It is through the conjunction of a variety of means and by choosing the most appropriate ones that we will accomplish our goals: we must determine those that offer the best return, are the easiest to implement, and will not impede the development of the metropolis, continued Hudon.
The City of Montréal has dared to present an ambitious plan. Now it is up to us to push that boldness to an ultimate objective: making Montréal THE North American champion of sustainable urban development, concluded Hudon.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montreal and to provide individuals, merchants and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is the largest private organization in Quebec dedicated to economic development. -30-
Source:
Chantal Roby
Coordinator, Communications
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4088
croby@ccmm.qc.ca