Finally! many of us will say.
Granby and Cowansville will not be the only cities connected to each other thanks to the public transportation link between the MRC de la Haute-Yamaska and Brome-Missisquoi which is in the process of being created.
This will connect the cities of Granby, Waterloo, Cowansville and Bromont.
The public transportation system will be easier to use for users, assures the MRC. (Ville de Cowansville)
The MRC Brome-Missisquoi “will take care of bringing citizens from other municipalities of Brome-Missisquoi to these hub cities,” specifies Khalil El Fatmi, coordinator of the transport service at the MRC Brome-Missisquoi.
A feasibility study in this direction, given to the firm Civilia, has been underway since last spring.
The project “is progressing very, very well, there are no delays in terms of the schedule,” assures Mr. El Fatmi.
Khalil El Fatmi, coordinator of the transport service at the MRC Brome-Missisquoi (MRC Brome-Missisquoi)
“We are currently at the stage of analyzing the different service scenarios,” explains the coordinator of the transport service.
Therefore, it is not yet clear whether it will be on-demand transport, as initially mentioned.
This service could also take the form of a fixed line with specific stops and times. No scenario has been selected for the moment.
However, we plan to implement this new service offering “by the end of summer 2025”, says Mr. El Fatmi.
Bus shelters and a mobile application
Some municipalities in Brome-Missisquoi have recently had one or more bus shelters on their territory, which they did not have before.
One of the projects underway in Brome-Missisquoi is clearly visible. Seventeen bus shelters will be installed by the end of October in seven municipalities, as is already the case here in Sutton. (MRC of Brome-Missisquoi)
A total of 17 installations of this type will be installed by the end of the month, from Sutton to Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge, via Cowansville, Farnham or Bromont.
The specific locations of the installations appear in the list below.
(MRC of Brome-Missisquoi)
Eight of the 17 bus shelters are already installed. They are part of the intermunicipal transport offer in place.
Deployment of the app this spring
The current reservation system for on-demand transportation requires you to reserve your trip at least one day in advance.
Outdated, it “no longer meets the growing requirements of passenger transport services,” says the coordinator of the transport service at the MRC Brome-Missisquoi.
One of the flagship public transportation projects in Brome-Missisquoi consists of a mobile application that will allow, among other things, travel reservations only an hour or two before the scheduled departure.
The application will allow users, for example, to access information in real time, such as knowing if there are delays, or even paying for their transport via their phone.
“The main objective is to make the transport service more attractive for citizens,” explains Mr. El Fatmi.
Six out of nine Estrie MRCs are participating in this intelligent transportation system project, namely the neighboring Haute-Yamaska, as well as the Sources, Haut-Saint-François, Memphrémagog and Coaticook MRCs, in addition to Brome-Missisquoi obviously.
The MRC Brome-Missisquoi is leading the project for the six MRCs.
If interconnectivity between these six MRCs is not yet on the agenda, “the adoption of a common system would greatly facilitate its eventual implementation,” the Brome-Missisquoi MRC is told.
“We are laying the groundwork for future possibilities.”
— Khalil El Fatmi, coordinator of the transport service at the MRC Brome-Missisquoi
The deployment of the application should be effective at the beginning of spring 2025. The call for tenders aimed at acquiring the app in question will be launched by Christmas.
Other cities will have their own municipal transport circuit
Cowansville will no longer be the only one to have its own municipal transportation circuit.
“We now want to deploy this type of transport in other municipalities,” says Mr. El Fatmi.
The initiative will be pushed by the summer of 2025 in at least two new municipalities, the identities of which have not yet been revealed.
“We are in discussions with other municipalities to deploy this initiative on their territory,” said Mr. El Fatmi.
These transport circuits within municipalities are financed via the envelope of 1.5 million granted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing of Quebec, as part of the Signature innovation project.
Three car-sharing vehicles
The MRC is then preparing to acquire three new electric vehicles, as part of a car-sharing service, as well as an intelligent fleet management application – the same as in Bromont –, indicates the service coordinator transportation in the MRC Brome-Missisquoi.
Remember that Bromont also has a new car-sharing project on track with the acquisition of an additional electric vehicle.
The City of Bromont has been experimenting with electric vehicle car sharing since 2016, as evidenced by these two small electric cars purchased that year. (La Voix de l’Est archives)
The City of Bromont suggested, in the article dated May 30, that the mobile application could even allow citizens to offer transportation on demand with their own vehicle.
“We will coordinate our timelines with the City of Bromont to jointly launch this new service… before the summer of 2025,” adds Mr. El Fatmi.
This application could also allow the sharing of existing vehicles.
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