Transport Committee on Feb. 14th, 2017

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call to order meeting number 45 of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities of the 42nd Parliament. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we're doing a study of infrastructure and smart communities.

I welcome the witnesses we have with us today: Michael Riseborough, director of terminal infrastructure for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, and Hugo Grondin, director of the strategic support services division of the information technology service of the City of Quebec. Unfortunately, Mr. Charest, another one of our witnesses, had to cancel this morning.

Mr. Riseborough, would you like to go first?

[Michael Riseborough, Director of Terminal Infrastructure, Greater Toronto Airports Authority]

Thank you.

I'll be speaking today about the unprecedented growth at Toronto Pearson to set the context for what I'm presenting: existing and emerging ground transportation challenges as a result of this growth, and the new developments that we have in our plan in response. I'll also touch on transportation and technical challenges as far as regulatory and design implementation is concerned.

Toronto Pearson is experiencing a period of unprecedented growth. In 2016 we moved more than 44 million passengers. It's estimated that in 2035 we will move as many as 80 million passengers. A global hub status would be achieved should we meet that number of 80 million, and we would be in a group of airports—much like JFK or Heathrow—providing global connectivity.

Global hubs provide prosperity to the region in which they operate through job growth, foreign direct investment, and tourism. Keeping up with this growth within our physical facilities is difficult, and the expectation of the passenger is key. People have a choice about where they travel or which airport they choose to connect through. Our direct competitors are JFK, Detroit, Chicago O'Hare, and other airports that provide connectivity, such as Atlanta. Passengers have a choice of which airport they choose. We want them to choose ours.

One key deliverable to achieve that is to provide connectivity for the passenger using various transportation mechanisms to allow them to move freely and quickly through the facility from gate to gate, from check-in to gate, or from gate to ground transportation.

We'll increasingly rely on technology to move our passengers and their bags in an expedited fashion. We've explored the use of accelerating high-speed moving walkways, personal rapid transit vehicles—PRTs—and automated people mover systems to move people efficiently.

I have an example of this. I met a passenger who was travelling on Air Canada from Frankfurt. She was going to be travelling out to Calgary on WestJet. The distance from gate to gate was likely three kilometres. She travelled on various moving walkways, escalators, vertical transportation systems, the automated people mover or accelerated moving walkway, and she arrived at her gate in less than 30 minutes. That wouldn't have been possible without these technologies.

One thing I want to mention is that the high-speed walkways that exist at Toronto Pearson are unique. There are two of them in the world, both at Toronto Pearson. They're the result of a research and development project that we undertook with ThyssenKrupp in Spain to develop these high-speed walkways, which move at three times the speed of a normal moving walkway.

Yet the movement of people and goods outside of the airport is arguably a greater challenge and is more out of our direct control. Toronto Pearson is located within the second-largest concentration of jobs, the airport employment zone, and accounts for about a million trips per day. Of that, less than 10% is on transit. As the region grows and our traffic grows, transit becomes so important to preventing our roads from reaching critical levels, affecting the movement of airport employees, cargo, and passengers.

To ensure that Toronto Pearson is able to continue operating efficiently in serving our community, we have recently announced plans for a regional transit centre at the airport. The facility is strategically located to provide a missing link for a number of existing and planned transit lines that come close to the airport but don't actually connect. We're asking our government partners to connect these lines to this facility so that we can keep people and goods moving freely through the region.

We'll also be looking for technology to help solve problems. The transit centre could provide important connections in all directions, including important economic zones like the Kitchener–Waterloo corridor. However, we're looking at innovative transit solutions for passengers for that “last mile” from the transportation centre to the airport terminals.

This could employ the use of digital technologies, automated vehicles, or other emerging technologies. Existing emerging technologies, such as electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, will require changes in road design and electrical utilities infrastructure. It is expected that as different types of technologies become established there will be a need for the integration of regulatory standards and design.

As an example, the UP Express connecting Pearson to Union Station's heavy rail system and the automated people mover system that connects the terminals to other elements of Toronto Pearson are on the same platform system. Nowhere in the world does this exist, to my knowledge.

It was an interesting exercise to integrate the regulatory framework that guides the safety of workers and passengers in the heavy rail system with a mature regulatory structure around automated people movers. Nowhere else do they exist on the same platform, in the same space, and in the same dynamic envelope. I think you can expect to see this more and more frequently as different technologies emerge, and there is a requirement for those technologies to be in the same space or a relatively similar space.

Some airports have begun integrating new transportation technologies and processes. As an example, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, along with MARTA, the regional transit provider, partnered with Uber to provide critical connectivity to and from the airport.

As the airport operator, we invest in tools that we need to keep people and goods moving through our airport and our ever changing region. We ask government to support us and partner with us to ensure that Toronto Pearson, one of Canada's most important commercial assets, continues to operate efficiently and to flourish.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Now we have Mr. Grondin from the City of Québec.

Welcome, we're glad to have you here.

[Hugo Grondin, Director of the Strategic Support Services Division, Information Technology Service, City of Québec]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank the committee for having me.

The objective of my presentation is twofold. First, I want to provide some context for the smart city concept. Second, I'd like to share the approach the City of Québec is taking. Those are the two elements I plan to address.

The City of Québec has a population of 532,000 people spread across a 454-square-kilometre area. More than 40% of the population has a post-secondary education. In addition to being more francophone, the population is older than the provincial average. The Internet use rate is above 80%, and the unemployment rate is below 5%. That is a quick snapshot of the City of Québec.

Now I'd like to talk about what a smart city is. The use of smart technologies to make a city's infrastructure and services more efficient and interconnected. You'll find countless definitions out there, but that is the one we chose to go with. As we see it, a smart city is a better-managed and better-performing city thanks to the support of information technology, or IT. It is not, however, the use of IT, strictly speaking, that gives rise to a smart city but, rather, the context in which it functions.

A variety of smart city models and references exist. A number of private firms have developed concepts, including IBM. In fact, more and more ISO standards are emerging in the area, namely, the 37000 series of standards.

The smart city concept has really evolved. It's something we, in the City of Québec, have been interested in for eight or nine years now. We began by exploring what a smart city was through joint research with Université Laval and research partners around the world. That gave rise to some very interesting findings.

It's important to understand the reason for wanting a smart city; that is a basic point. The issues facing the City of Québec are certainly not the same as those facing Mexico City, for instance, where air quality was the most defining element at the time of the study. That isn't necessarily the case in the City of Québec.

Implementing technology all over the place is not enough; sound choices governing its use have to be made. A smart city is built around the needs of its residents and partners, who are stakeholders in the city's development. That is the logic guiding our efforts.

Our efforts, in the City of Québec, hinge on the co-operation and engagement of a variety of business sectors. I am, indeed, talking about an overall approach. It is based on certain elements such as information gathering, data interconnectivity, and analyses. All of that helps us to understand what a smart city entails and how to turn that understanding into reality.

In the City of Québec, we sought to figure out why we wanted to become a smart city. We adopted two strategic directions. On the one hand, we wanted the city to be appealing to tourists and immigrants from all over the world. On the other hand, at the city level, we wanted to improve our performance as an organization, primarily to improve the quality of life enjoyed by residents, business people, and tourists.

In tangible terms, a pillar of the city's 2012 economic development strategy was innovation and creativity. One of the fundamental objectives is to evolve as a smart city.

The City of Québec's technology sector is made up of 540 companies and employs nearly 20,000 people, 2,000 of whom work in research. The sector generates $1.7 billion in annual revenues and encompasses 65 research centres, chairs, groups, and institutes. Clearly, economic development is the way to attract people.

Specifically, the city chose to focus on six key areas. We have services to the public. In the services we deliver, first and foremost, are basic services such as water, public safety, and communication and interaction with the public.

We have services to the public, such as garbage collection. We have water, transportation, safety, economic development, and buildings and infrastructure.

How does technology bring a smart city to life?

Those are the areas our approach is based on. Unlike other organizations, the City of Québec did not set up an administrative body, office or service for the smart city. Mainly, we chose to synchronize the various initiatives and monitor how the city evolved.

Of course, the smart city concept helped us to better understand the phenomenon and work with other entities. Our efforts have been recognized by organizations such as the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum. We had the opportunity to take part in a philanthropic challenge put on by IBM. We explored the issue of digital inclusion. Although less focused on technology, the idea was to determine where in our region Internet service was least accessible.

We were interested in figuring out how we could incorporate libraries in our service offering. Naturally, we held a number of discussions and consulted multiple articles on the subject. Our approach focused on six key areas.

Now I would like to share with you the projects that emerged.

The city wants to better plan its network of bike paths and has sought the help of residents. It developed an app, called Mon trajet vélo, to track the routes that cyclists take throughout the city and to better understand their overall travel patterns. Albeit a less conventional form of civic engagement, this information-sharing initiative sheds light on cyclists' movements and leads to better city planning.

In addition, a series of technology showcases give businesses the opportunity to use city data and work with the city to pilot business projects they are interested in launching. Also available is a collection of digital books. City residents currently have access to more than 7,700 titles, accounting for nearly 100,000 book loans.

The city's transit provider, Réseau de transport de la Capitale, known as RTC, developed an app to make travel easier. The city is one of RTC's largest shareholders. We are working with the company to improve the flow of travel using traffic signal preemption. Normally reserved for fire trucks, this mechanism allows for better traffic light synchronization.

On the open data front, in conjunction with other large cities in the province, the City of Québec contributed to the implementation of a common data portal. The data belongs, of course, to the public, so we provided access to certain data sets, which can be leveraged to build all kinds of applications.

I should stress that the first objective of becoming a smart city is to improve residents' quality of life and support the activities provided to them by the city.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much for sharing your comments about the city with the committee.

We'll go to Mr. Reyes for six minutes.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Grondin, how does the City of Québec measure up as a smart city in relation to other major cities around the country and the world?

[Hugo Grondin]

As I mentioned, it's a matter of identifying your reasons for becoming a smart city. That is fundamental. It has to be in response to a need. The challenges vary from city to city. The city isn't necessarily competing on all the same fronts. First and foremost, we serve the clientele that lives within our boundaries. That is our core mission.

I would say our approach is a healthy one. As I said, the smart city concept is fairly new for us. Over the past seven or eight years, we have sped up the pace of our IT investments. That brings us closer to being on trend with other North American cities.

It boils down to your reasons for becoming a smart city and the understanding that investments will be necessary.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Could you share with us some concrete measures that the City of Québec has taken in the way of smart infrastructure?

I live near the City of Québec, and I often go skiing in the area. I can tell you that traffic doesn't always flow smoothly. We hear a lot about Montreal, but I think the situation in the City of Québec is similar at certain times of the day.

What steps have you taken in that regard? What so-called smart infrastructure measures have you taken, aside from public transit?

[Hugo Grondin]

I understand.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

We know about the system.

[Hugo Grondin]

Very good.

We have made efforts in terms of parking. I realize it does not improve the flow of commuter traffic, but we have built apps to make parking easier. Tangibly speaking, we do have plans in the works, but the priority right now is on public transit.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I see.

Is the municipality partnering with the private sector at all? I am thinking of companies like Uber, which provides signals, and other high-tech companies that are open about the fact that they have access to technology government and municipalities don't. Their contribution could be brought to bear if they weren't seen as competitors. Everyone is familiar with the Uber issue in Quebec. You have been involved, in your region, as well.

Is your municipality partnering with these private companies with a view to making improvements? That brings me back to the issue of traffic flow, which is a huge problem right now.

[Hugo Grondin]

Nothing specific that I know of right now.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Very well.

How could the federal government help you make traffic and transit improvements? I'd rather not focus too much on public transit but, rather, on other issues. The problems are known, and they are on everyone's mind.

[Hugo Grondin]

As you know, the federal government, through the provincial government, is giving us tremendous infrastructure support. Smart investments, which favour technology, are perhaps something the federal government could help us with, through the province, as I said. That could help us do more in that regard.

The government has made many solid investments, which we are very happy about. Nevertheless, the more technological dimension isn't always a focus.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Would you say the government's current programs always focus on concrete building projects? That is my impression, and I think the situation is the same at the provincial level.

We rarely hear about technology or measures that could be taken to improve traffic flow and, inevitably, residents' quality of life.

[Hugo Grondin]

Certainly.

I will speak on behalf of the City of Québec. We have clearly made a major effort to, at least, ensure the sustainability of the infrastructure within our boundaries, to stabilize and consolidate the area within the new city. Even though the merger happened nearly 15 years ago, we still have some consolidation work to do. Could there be a bit more room for initiatives like the one you're describing? Most likely, yes.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Great.

We talked about transportation. Security-wise, do you have any concerns about the data-sharing measure you talked about in the beginning? You mentioned open data and making information accessible to residents and, I imagine, private businesses interested in developing new applications to support the services available to the public.

[Hugo Grondin]

As far as the data we make available are concerned, we always work with the owners of the information and obtain their permission.

We do have to stay vigilant, but the data in question are generally less sensitive in nature, I would say.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Iacono.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for joining us today.

Mr. Grondin, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you.

Earlier, you mentioned the reasons for wanting a smart city. You also talked about making the right choices. I'd like to continue along the same lines as my colleague, Mr. Rayes.

You have already introduced some smart infrastructure. What would you say the general challenges are in implementing that kind of infrastructure?

[Hugo Grondin]

The challenge is to do the right thing. As I said, you have to be aware and manage your capacity with a view to delivering initiatives. After that, the focus becomes managing projects in the traditional sense.

You have to apply the utmost rigour and ensure appropriate follow-up, and that is a challenge for every community in Canada and the world. You have to make the right choices and make sure you have what you need to do things properly.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

What positive effects have your initiatives had on the economy, services to the public, and the environment?

[Hugo Grondin]

I'll talk about services to the public first.

One application that is very popular is the one that helps people easily find a parking spot. It makes life easier not just for residents, but also for visitors to the city.

Could you refresh me on the first element you asked about?