STL unveils Organizational Strategic Plan for 2019-2028 and key performance indicators
The Société de transport de Laval (STL) has publicly released its organizational key performance indicators (KPIs) it uses to benchmark transit service quality, ridership, productivity and the environment.
In doing so, STL says it becomes the first public transit authority in the metropolitan area of Montréal to release such a wide range of indicators pertaining to its current operations. Users will be able to follow the STL's annual progress at a glance via the online KPI summary dashboard. The release of the KPIs coincides with the unveiling of the STL's new strategic plan and is part of the STL's commitment to being transparent with the Laval population.
"The launch of our Organizational Strategic Plan for 2019-2028 is a great opportunity to make available to our users the key performance indicators that will drive our strategic objectives for the next decade,” said STL Board President Éric Morasse. “Raising the satisfaction level of our regular bus service users and paratransit transportation users, improving upon our already high on-time performance rate, lowering greenhouse gas emissions – the STL wants to be recognized as a modern, transparent organization, in the same way the city of Laval operates an open data policy."
STL General Director Guy Picard added, “At the STL, continuous improvement and quality are part of our corporate mindset. Publicly releasing our performance figures is an extra step we are taking to show our users how rigorously we run our daily operations. And 2019 has proven a good year to use as a starting point. Our mission for the next 10 years will be to stay the course so we may continue to deliver public transit driven by quality, performance, innovation and the evolving mobility needs of our users."
Presentation of 2019 results
The STL will post the results of 13 key performance indicators on its website on an annual basis. These will cover numerous facets of the rider experience and the STL's productivity. The general public will be able to track the STL's performance regarding:
On-time performance of regular bus service and paratransit transportation;
Customer satisfaction;
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;
Ridership;
Costs per trip; and
Service delivery.
Currently, the KPIs span the results obtained since 2015, a description, the calculation and the five-year (2023) and 10-year (2028) targets aimed for in accordance with the STL's Organizational Strategic Plan for 2019-2028. The KPIs are available on: www.stl.laval.qc.ca/indicateurs.
Electromobility and improved service are the focus of major transit projects for the next 10 years
Alongside its KPIs, the STL also released its new strategic plan, which will serve as a roadmap until 2028. Below is an overview of the major projects the STL is undertaking:
Improved service: Roll out of a plan aimed at improving the STL's service by five percent a year over five years, starting in 2020, in order to better serve Laval east to west, as well as improve frequency and comfort outside of peak hours, on evenings and weekends.
Rider experience: Complete revamping of the website and the STL Synchro mobile app to upgrade user information tools.
Access: Focus on improving access for people with reduced mobility at bus stops and gradually across all bus routes.
Innovation: Continued application of Bus Preferential Measures (BPMs) including rolling out Transit Signal Priority systems on core Laval arteries such as Le Corbusier boulevard.
Network design: Reserved bus lanes and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines along the Notre-Dame, Des Laurentides and De la Concorde corridors to bolster access to downtown Laval as well as metro and future REM stations.
Electromobility: After acquiring 10 electric buses, the STL will launch its first fully electric bus route in 2020. As of 2024, the STL will purchase electric buses only. The aim is to have a 100 percent electric bus fleet by 2040. STL says this is one of the key components of the STL's Organizational Strategic Plan, since an electrified bus fleet will significantly reduce GHG emissions.
"We feel this is a particularly opportune moment to grow public transit in Laval, in keeping with the vision for an integrated network we advocated for alongside 18 other North Shore municipalities during the April 2018 forum on mobility and public transit,” Morasse said. “The Québec government's Sustainable Mobility Policy 2030 and the massive investments the two levels of governments have announced render us optimistic about the future."
Thinking forward about public transit in Laval
The STL's new strategic plan is in accordance with the provisions of Bill 76 respecting the governance of public transportation, which requires every public transit authority to draft a 10-year Organizational Strategic Plan.
Arrived at after an extensive consultative process involving careful analysis, this plan lays out a mission and a refreshed set of values, and it aims to convey a modern vision of public transit aligned with Laval's 2035 strategic vision for the city, according to STL. The STL's Organizational Strategic Plan is also in lockstep with the vision and orientations the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal outlines in its metropolitan land use and development plan. Finally, the STL made sure its vision reflects the strategic framework of the strategic development plan the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain is currently drafting.
The Organizational Strategic Plan for 2019-2028 is an extension of an earlier plan. It covers the large-scale projects carried out these last few years and lays the markers that will guide the STL and its 1,000 employees toward new milestones.
"Fulfilling over 80 percent of the projects we set out in our previous strategic plan enabled us to boost our regular bus service and paratransit transportation ridership, and to implement numerous innovations that rethink rider mobility,” Picard said. “With the gradual electrification of our bus fleet, the expansion of our garage, and improved service acting as our new backdrop, the main focus of our commitment for the next decade is enhancing the rider experience and mobilizing our knowhow so we may provide the best public transit has to offer in Québec."
