Transport Committee on Feb. 14th, 2017

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

It was the economy.

[Hugo Grondin]

I talked about the economic aspect when I described the technology showcases. They allow businesses to pilot a product, either by physically setting something up in the city such as a new type of streetlamp, or by working together to introduce a new technology app. We provide the businesses with funding. We also work with them by providing access to a part of the city where they can pilot a concrete project. Those are a few examples.

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

What about environmental impacts?

[Hugo Grondin]

Tangibly speaking, we've had fewer initiatives with effects on the environment.

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

Thank you.

I'm going to give the rest of my time to my colleague, Mr. Sikand.

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Sikand.

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Michael, thanks for being here. I enjoy my tours of Pearson quite a bit. I refer to the control tower as my “pushing tin” moment. I also like the vision of Pearson being a transit hub. I'm in favour of that as well.

Something you mentioned raised some concerns for me. You said that Pearson employs roughly a million people. You're trying to integrate automation. Will that not adversely affect all of those jobs?

[Michael Riseborough]

I said there are roughly a million trips a day.

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Sorry. Okay.

[Michael Riseborough]

Of that, 10% is by transit.

Automation is inevitable. It's a developing technology that will continue to show itself in various ways.

I could share an example that I came across a number of years ago. RATP, the transit authority in Paris, automated line 7, which is one of their subway lines, to test it about 15 years ago for the safety of workers and passengers and to benchmark it against the information it had. As a result, they discovered that safety had improved substantially in terms of both worker and passenger safety.

Over and above that, from an employment point of view, they redeployed the driving staff to customer service and security functions within the service. As a result, there was no job loss, just a repurposing of those positions. Since then they have automated line 1 and likely others. Line 1 runs from Champs-Élysées to Notre Dame. It moves about 700,000 passengers a day. That happened about five years ago. I don't know how that has turned out, but I assume it has done well, because I haven't heard anything further.

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

You answered my second question, which was whether you could repurpose those jobs.

In your opinion, can that add to the job numbers as well? As automation increases, you're going to need more people to operate, do the software, and all that.

[Michael Riseborough]

Automation will provide efficiency, and efficiency brings passengers, and passengers create jobs.

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Okay. Thank you for your answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Aubin.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being with us today.

I must admit that, ever since we began our study on smart cities, I've had trouble wrapping my head around the concept. It's as though I'm in front of a smorgasbord of technologies, each more fascinating than the last. What would really make cities smart is the ability to prioritize and coordinate these various techniques to achieve a well-defined objective, which I don't seem to be hearing from many of you.

I am hearing a lot about Internet use; Mr. Grondin talked about the fact that 80% of people in the City of Québec have Internet access, for example. That is pretty standard for North America. When you have 80% of people with Internet access, that does not translate into a smart application use rate of 80%, however.

Do you have any usage data for the measures you have put in place?

[Hugo Grondin]

In concrete terms, as regards the measures and usage, we rely mainly on resident satisfaction surveys. That is where our main figures come from in that regard.

Among residents, the overall rate of satisfaction with the city stands at 85%. We've measured that element over time. We don't have a method to assess each experience by impact. As I mentioned, the approach we've taken changes and evolves according to need. Furthermore, a number of initiatives are getting under way.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Allow me to give you an example.

In your efforts to become a smart city, you said that tourism was one of the priority areas you focus on. Tourism can come from anywhere, including Trois-Rivières, the riding I represent.

When I get to the City of Québec, how will I know I have entered a smart city?

[Hugo Grondin]

It's important to make sure that the smart city concept is not the be all and end all. Let's agree on that. What you are asking revolves around the idea that we absolutely have to present ourselves as a smart city, but that isn't how we see things.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

How would a tourist know, upon arriving in the City of Québec, that they could access a certain number of applications to make their stay easier or more pleasant?

[Hugo Grondin]

It would take a portal to bring all that together, but we don't have one right now. That's one of the things we would need to develop. Tourists can go to the website of the city's tourism office. In terms of sending people alerts to advise them of all the activities available during a certain period, as soon as they enter the city limits, we don't offer that right now. Frankly, it's not something that's ever been expressed as a need.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

My question pertains directly to an example you gave, the parking app. I realize that city residents are all probably very happy with the app because it benefits them on a daily basis. When I come to the City of Québec, however, I won't know that you offer such a service or be able to take advantage of it.

[Hugo Grondin]

Yes, that's right. A broader communication effort is needed. A portal should be created presenting all the possibilities that are consistent with smart cities, but we are not there yet.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

At the very start of your presentation, you referred to a study by Laval University professors that helped shape your thinking on the smart city concept.

Is that study available? Could we get a copy of it? Perhaps it could help us in our thinking about smart cities.

[Hugo Grondin]

Mr. Sehl Mellouli, from Laval University, has considered the concept a great deal and conducted a lot of research into it. That study could of course be provided to the committee to help it in its work.