uy-Chartrand “Coup de cœur” award – Development and improvement of public transit services

During the Prix Guy-Chartrand awards gala hosted virtually earlier today by the Trajectoire Québec association, the Société de Transport de Laval (STL) won the Coup de cœur award for its online bus crowdedness estimator, in the category of Development and improvement of public transit services. This is the third recognition this fall for the estimator, which also earned the top award in public transit excellence from the Association québécoise du transport (AQTr), and the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s Corporate Leadership Award in the Innovation category, on November 5 and 19, respectively.

Launched last June, this tool stands out because it provides riders with an estimate of the number of passengers they should expect not only when they board, but also during the course of their entire bus trip – a first in Canada. With the COVID-19 pandemic having made social distancing in public transit situations a core concern for users, this tool supplies them with information tailored to them, so they can make informed decisions based on the level of bus crowdedness they are comfortable with: e.g. take an earlier or later bus, get on or off at a different bus stop, use another bus route nearby, etc.

STL buses have been equipped with GPS technology and passenger counters for years, which record on a daily basis how many passengers are on the bus at each stop, for each bus route, at each scheduled bus time. The new tool uses this information to derive the level of bus occupancy at a stop, at a specific time, for the entire length of a commute, based on the averages trending over the previous five business days. The calculations are updated daily. Available at stlaval.ca/passengers, on a computer or smartphone.

Quote from STL Board President Éric Morasse

“In addition to recognizing our efforts, this encourages us to keep moving forward and do the work that needs to be done, especially during these difficult times. We at the STL proudly accept this award. But what matters most is the purpose our bus crowdedness estimator fulfills, that of empowering users with the information they need to make decisions that enable them to transit with us comfortably.”