1. Home
2. Media Room
3. Info Sheets
4. Fact Sheet - ecoMOBILITY

Fact Sheet - ecoMOBILITY

Every day, Canadians commute to work, school and other destinations. While commuting is a necessity for most, it also increases the greenhouse gases and air pollution that affect our environment and the health of all Canadians.

As part of its environmental agenda, the Government of Canada is helping reduce emissions by working with municipalities and regional transportation authorities to encourage Canadians to make cleaner transportation choices part of their daily commute.

This initiative aims to improve the quality of life for Canadians in urban areas across the country.

While respecting provincial and territorial jurisdictions and planning priorities, the government is committed to finding more effective ways of working together to improve transportation and mobility for Canadians in urban areas.

The Government of Canada's $10M ecoMOBILITY program seeks to reduce urban passenger transportation emissions by encouraging increased transit ridership and the use of other green transportation options.

Examples of the measures that the ecoMOBILITY program encourages include:

• policies such as land use guidelines that complement increased use of sustainable transportation options (e.g., policies on development approvals that mandate access to transit services);
• programs to raise awareness and motivate changes in personal travel choices (e.g., workplace-based commuter programs that engage staff and market new incentives to reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips to and from work);
• services that offer individuals a tangible incentive for using particular travel modes (e.g., guaranteed ride home programs for car-pool members or reduced parking rates for carpool vehicles); and
• products that make sustainable transportation more convenient (e.g., enhanced transit information services or online ride-matching systems for workplaces).

Transportation is a key element of the government's environmental agenda. Keeping people and goods moving is vital to a healthy economy and is critical to Canada's prosperity. A more sustainable transportation system will result in safety, social and economic benefits for all Canadians.

For more information about the Government of Canada's environmental agenda and the ecoMOBILITY program, visit http://www.tc.gc.ca/ecoTRANSPORT.

August 2009

Date modified:

2009-12-21

Primary navigation