Canadian Transportation Demand Management Summit

November 26, 2007

Thank you very much for that kind introduction.  I am very pleased to be here on behalf of the Government of Canada and of my colleague, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, on the occasion of this first Canadian Transportation Demand Management Summit.

Transport Canada is proud to be a sponsor of this conference and it is very encouraging to see the range of private sector partners, associations and other government departments who have contributed to making this event a reality.

As many of you in the room are well aware, making our urban transportation systems more sustainable is a significant challenge.  However, we all know that reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality has to be a priority in the transportation sector.

The Government of Canada has been proactive in implementing programs and policies designed to foster more sustainable transportation systems. 

I will provide a short overview of these initiatives and I understand that more details will be presented by departmental officials in some of the conference sessions.

This past February we launched the ecoTRANSPORT strategy that contains initiatives aimed at protecting our environment and the health of Canadians, while furthering our economic prosperity.  These initiatives are focussed on encouraging cleaner technologies and practices in the freight and personal vehicle sectors. 

To help reduce emissions in the goods-movement sector, the ecoFREIGHT program is supporting the installation and demonstration of technologies that improve the efficiency of all modes and is working to help make freight logistics more efficient.

To improve personal vehicle efficiency our ecoAUTO program is providing incentives to encourage Canadians to buy fuel-efficient vehicles. 

We are also working to encourage the introduction of the latest advances in clean, efficient vehicle technology through the ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles Program.

The ecoTRANSPORT strategy also includes the ecoMOBILITY program, which is the most directly connected to the work that you are doing.  While technology improvements are critical to helping us meet our environmental objectives, we also need to foster the use of more sustainable modes.

This $10 million program will help municipalities reduce urban passenger transportation emissions by supporting projects that increase transit ridership and the use of other sustainable transportation options.
 
We envision more opportunities for Canadians to car-pool, more young people arriving at school via “walking school buses” where a designated parent walks a group of neighbourhood kids to school, and more opportunities to drive less by taking advantage of communications technologies for tele-work. 

We also envision the strengthening of the partnerships between employers, governments, transportation providers and the other stakeholders that have driven the recent successes in sustainable transportation in Canada. 

Through ecoMOBILITY we aim to strengthen long-term capacity for partners to implement transportation demand management solutions.
   
In addition to the ecoTRANSPORT strategy, the Government of Canada is implementing other measures to encourage the greater use of public transit in support of our environmental agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean air. 

One such measure is a tax credit for public transit that was launched in July 2006.  This demand management measure provides an incentive for Canadians to use public transit through a new deduction for transit pass purchasers. 

As you well know, encouraging people to reduce personal car use is a challenging task – incentives such as this tax deduction are part of the mix of measures that will make sustainable transportation options more attractive.

A new measure that has recently been announced is “Building Canada”, our new infrastructure plan which will encourage investments in public transit infrastructure.
 
Transit investments funded under Building Canada will help transit systems within cities, communities and urban regions promote mobility, improve travel times, and reduce urban congestion.

These investments will construct, improve or restore public transit infrastructure that contributes to economic, environmental and social sustainability in Canada’s cities and communities.

Of particular interest to those of you in this room, large-scale transit infrastructure expansion projects under Building Canada will be required to incorporate transportation demand management measures to help build ridership and improve environmental outcomes. 

This is one of the ways we are working to foster integrated and successful sustainable urban transportation projects.

Before concluding, I would like to acknowledge the innovative transportation demand management projects that Transport Canada has helped support through our Moving on Sustainable Transportation Program and Urban Transportation Showcase Program.
 
Many of you here today have implemented these projects and we would like to offer our appreciation and congratulations for all that you have been able to accomplish. 

These projects, and others, are showing that Canadians are willing to switch to more sustainable options like transit, cycling, walking and car-pools, as long as we are working to make those options as convenient and accessible as possible. 

Small personal changes can make a big difference in addressing our environmental challenges. These changes also help advance economic goals, such as congestion relief and health goals, such as increasing physical activity.

We were very pleased to announce, in June of this year, the extension of the Moving on Sustainable Transportation Program to 2012 to provide continued support for community-based sustainable transportation projects across the country.

This is an exciting time for those of us working to improve the environmental efficiency of our urban transportation systems.  The challenges remain, but clearly the time has come for the solutions that you are providing to address climate change, air quality, congestion and health issues.

I would like to thank you for the invitation to be here today to highlight the work that the Government of Canada is undertaking to advance our common goals.

Congratulations to the organizers at ACT Canada and to your hosts at the City of Calgary for making this event happen. 

Best wishes for a successful conference!