Quebec launches free carpooling app for the Greater Montreal area
Posted May 4, 2023 10:43 am.
Last Updated May 4, 2023 11:15 am.
Montreal’s Metropolitan Regional Transportation Authority – known as the ARTM — is launching a free carpooling application.
The pilot project, developed as part of major construction work for the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel will facilitate carpooling throughout the Greater Montreal Area to fight traffic congestion and greenhouse gases.
Currently, the application of the carpooling pilot project is available in beta version on iOS and Android as well as in web version at covoiturage.artm.quebec.
“This is an option that we’re adding to optimize travel efficiency,” said Benoît Gendron, the ARTM’s director general, via a press release.
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“There are additional financial incentives for drivers crossing on one of the four river crossings while major tunnel rehabilitation is taking place. It is also an excellent option for reducing congestion and the GHG footprint throughout the ARTM territory. The application will make it possible to effectively match drivers and passengers.”
Developed and financed to complement the mitigation measures put in place as part of major repairs to the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel, the carpooling ARTM application is offered free of charge.
However, it won’t be limited to Highway 25 and the La Fontaine tunnel alone, but will also offer a broader solution to facilitate carpooling throughout Greater Montreal.
For a passenger, the cost per kilometer of a trip is 12 cents, while for drivers, payment will vary between 10 and 54 cents per kilometre depending on the number of passengers aboard and the area the driver covers.
Carpooling drivers will benefit from lanes reserved for carpooling in Greater Montreal, as well as have access to parking spaces reserved for carpooling in park-and-ride lots to facilitate meeting and organizing carpools.
Gendron says the pilot project is part of the Digital Mobility Program, which aims to increase sustainable mobility services and carpooling services in the province.
