Management

CUTA recognizes STM with three awards at annual conference

Oct. 28, 2022

The agency was recognized at a conference in its hometown with honors in innovation, sustainability and a lifetime achievement award for former CEO Luc Tremblay.

STM CEO Marie-Claude Léonard, left, with former CEO Luc Tremblay who received the William G. Ross Lifetime Achievement Award at the CUTA 2022 conference in Montréal.

Montréal, Quebec hosted the Canadian Urban Transit Association's (CUTA) 2022 annual conference, which took place from Oct. 23 - 26. Attendees gathered from all over Canada to gain insights into local sustainable mobility solutions. Société de transport de Montréal (STM) experts shared plenty of knowledge, taking part in 11 panels and talks, as well as offering three technical tours of STM facilities for registered guests. Overall, the event was attended by more than 700 specialists in the field of public transit.

Two infrastructure projects awarded

In addition to contributing to the conference programming, the STM was recognized at the annual awards ceremony for CUTA members.

Innovation: The Towers mechanical ventilation station construction project was awarded for deftly concealing an essential piece of Montréal métro infrastructure behind the façade of a 19th-century Victorian home. Aiming to integrate the structure seamlessly into the surrounding city architecture and boost the project’s social acceptability, the STM managed to preserve and restore the historic façade of the building that happened to be located on one of the rare suitable lands available in this part of the city. It was an unusual mandate to be sure, but the project office’s daring ingenuity paid off.

The interior of the Côte-Vertu garage, which was honored with an environmental sustainability recognition at the CUTA 2022 conference in Montréal.

Environmental Sustainability: Also awarded was the Côte-Vertu garage, a facility inaugurated this past June that houses ten additional métro trains to improve the STM’s service offering. The judges were particularly impressed with the Platinum Envision Award that the project had earned from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI). It was the first ever Canadian public transit infrastructure project to receive a recognition this high from the ISI.

Luc Tremblay inducted into the CUTA Hall of Fame

In individual distinctions, the STM was also honored through its former CEO. After a total of 28 years at the STM, including seven as its head, Luc Tremblay received the William G. Ross Lifetime Achievement Award.

The selection committee acknowledged Tremblay’s many achievements over his career, as well as the strategic dimension that he brought to financial management in the public transit industry.

Receiving this award earned Tremblay a place in the CUTA Hall of Fame, which for over a quarter century has celebrated Canadians who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of public transit in this country.