Old-Quebec's historical district, a major tourist attraction in Canada, continues to be the main catalyst for economic and cultural activities in the heart of Quebec City. The area's landform, however, inherited from its history, does not allow it to support the traffic that is generated by city busses, tourist coaches, cars and trucks. For this reason, the City of Quebec has implemented a route for electric minibuses, called Ecolobus. Since June 2008, these easily accessible routes have been providing direct service between the Upper City and the Lower City, between the intermodal terminals and the parking lots that surround the area and serving the employment pool and the area's tourist attractions. The project concerns the public transportation component of the Integrated Management Plan for Transportation in Old-Quebec. Its implementation will sustainably reduce the presence of noisy and polluting vehicles and encourage residents to stay in order to preserve the heart of the city's authentic character. Other measures along with the Ecolobus service will allow for the remote conversion of bus lanes and include dynamic signage in the vehicles and at the stops. This paper was translated from a French paper published in the Transportation Association of Canada 2009 Annual Conference proceedings. This project was nominated for the TAC 2008 Sustainable Urban Transportation Award. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E217481.
Samenvatting