No. H263/05
For release November 25, 2005
MISSISSAUGA - The Region of Peel, the City of Mississauga and the Mississauga
Board of Trade teamed up today to announce the launch of Smart Commute
Mississauga and its web-based ride matching service, Carpool Zone, designed to
help commuters in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton find carpool matches.
Smart Commute Mississauga was developed to help local employers and commuters to
explore different commuting choices. It is their goal to improve the quality of
life through the education, advocacy, and promotion of sustainable
transportation options for employers and employees within and around the
community. Smart Commute Mississauga is a partnership between private and public
organizations formed under the auspices of the Mississauga Board of Trade in the
City of Mississauga, trying to reduce gridlock. With financial support from
Transport Canada, Region of Peel, the City of Mississauga and the institutional
and business sectors, we are taking action to tackle congestion and reduce air
pollution through transportation efficiency.
Smart Commute Mississauga is one of the local associations under the Smart
Commute Initiative, one of the projects under the Urban Transportation Showcase
Program - a five-year program created to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
transportation in Canadian cities. Transport Canada will contribute up to $2.5
million in funding, up to one third of the costs. The Smart Commute Initiative
was one of eight municipal projects across the country to receive funds from
Transport Canada.
Carpool Zone, accessed from the www.smartcommute.ca website, was built in
partnership with Pathway Intelligence Inc., a producer of web-based ridesharing
platforms. The carpool matching service acts as a searchable database of
classified ads and will serve a 250 km radius from downtown Toronto across the
Greater Golden Horseshoe. To sign up, commuters create a free account where they
fill out a simple questionnaire about their commute, such as time, origin and
destination.
Commuters can also add various preferences to help them find the right people to
share their commute. These include whether they can drive or not, will travel
with smokers, and if they would only like to ride with others of the same
gender. The system then searches the database to find the closest possible
match. The system has multiple language capabilities, such as Chinese, and has
built-in privacy measures to ensure that personal information is confidential
until the formation of an actual carpool.
The Mayor of Mississauga, Hon. Hazel McCallion and Ms. Sheryl McKean, managing
director and COO of the Mississauga Board of Trade, Mr. Nick Tunnacliffe, Region
of Peel commissioner of planning along with other Smart Commute supporters
attended today's announcement held at the University of Toronto at Mississauga.
"We are very proud of the part we have played in dealing with the issue of
sustainable transportation in our City," said Mayor McCallion. "Smart Commute
Mississauga has the services that will make a difference in our community. I
encourage everyone to register with Carpool Zone and start carpooling."
The Carpool Zone ride matching service will also be promoted to businesses so
they can provide onsite carpooling to their staff. When an employer signs on,
they will be provided a distinct URL (web address) for their subgroup and will
have the option of adding their company logo to the site. For an example, a
Region of Peel employee can then search for matches within their
www.smartcommute.ca/peel subgroup who may live near them and work in the same
building or location.
"From the point of view of the business community, it's in our best interest to
support and participate in the Carpool Zone program," said Ms. McKean. "The
benefits are enormous. We see happier employees, our products are delivered
faster and it improves our air quality."
The Mississauga Board of Trade participated in the Smart Commute initiative
since February 2005, taking an active part in helping alleviate Mississauga's
traffic congestion and increase air quality conditions.
"To tackle our congestion problem, we need support and participation from the
private sector," said Mr. Tunnacliffe. "Therefore, we have been working closely
with the Board of Trade and the business sector since the beginning of the Smart
Commute Initiative."
The Mississauga Board of Trade is focused on creating positive and productive
environments for Mississauga businesses, and hopes that the Smart Commute
project will help develop partnerships between public and private sectors, as
well as improve business efficiency and productivity among employees. Some key
benefits for businesses joining Smart Commute include, the ability to draw from
a large pool of potential employees, reducing the stress from commuting to and
from work, and saving of parking costs associated with less employees driving
alone.
"We are excited to launch Carpool Zone today," says Smart Commute Association
Deputy Executive Director, Ryan Lanyon. "Carpool Zone is really easy to use, and
will help us all to take action on traffic congestion." For more information
about Smart Commute Association, Smart Commute Mississauga and Carpool Zone,
please visit www.smartcommute.ca.
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Contacts:
Sarah Twomey
Outreach and Communications Coordinator
Smart Commute Assoc.
416-338-5088
Cell: 647-402-2563
sarah@smartcommute.ca
Judy Yack
Transportation Demand Management Coordinator
Smart Commute
Mississauga
905-791-7800, ext. 4553
Chris Krepski
Communications
Transport Canada
613-993-0055
krepskc@tc.gc.ca
The Smart Commute Association (www.smartcommute.ca)
provides and encourages the use of commuter options in the Greater Toronto Area
and Hamilton. The Association works with a network of local Smart Commutes to
provide direct services for employers and their employees. Currently there are
Smart Commutes located at North Toronto, Vaughan and Markham, Richmond Hill.
Services will soon be available in Mississauga, Durham, Newmarket-Aurora and
other areas across the region.
Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at apps.tc.gc.ca/listserv/ and keep up-to-date on the latest from Transport Canada.
This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons
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