Active in My Neighbourhood

The campaign in a nutshell
Launched in January 2006, the campaign “Je m’active dans mon quartier” (Active in My Neighbourhood) addresses residents of two Montreal boroughs, namely Verdun and Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie. The campaign encourages the use of active transportation (biking and walking) for daily commutes and errands as well as obtaining goods and services from local shops in the neighbourhood. Purchasing products and services in one’s own neighbourhood stimulates the local economy, promotes the accessibility and diversity of services, makes the neighbourhood safer and more sociable, and develops a feeling of belonging to the community.

By replacing the car with walking or biking, the number of motorized rides decreases, which contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants. Active transportation also improves the physical and mental health of citizens and allows individuals and society as a whole to make savings by avoiding car and health expenditures. Less cars in our streets also means quieter and safer neighbourhoods and a better quality of life!
The success of the project relies heavily on the collaboration with the socio-economic actors of each sector. Representatives from health, education, business, and the community were thus implicated in the project. These information and mobilizing agents will then sensitize their own clientele and employees or, over the long term, implement incentives that promote the use of active transportation in their settings.

In 2006–2007, Équiterre will attend public events in the project’s boroughs in order to reach out to citizens and explain the campaign’s stakes. A diversity of means will be used to transmit the messages and concrete solutions will be proposed to promote a change in citizens’ behaviour and to contribute to the emergence of new incentive measures.

With the Active in My Neighbourhood pilot project, we hope to lay the groundwork for future campaigns that have similar objectives. In this way, the messages and tools from this campaign need only be applied to other boroughs or collectivities.

Issues that demand action!

The campaign will try to tackle four big issues:

• The quality of life in centrally located boroughs is under heavy stress, in particular due to problems of noise, pollution, and safety—factors that increasingly propel citizens to move to the suburbs.
  
• The proliferation of big-box retailers hurts the small retailers in the neighbourhood, often to the point of compromising their profitability and survival. The trend also decreases the diversity of services which citizens could access by foot or on bike, thereby increasing car dependency. This issue concerns us all, in particular persons who do not have the means to own a car and whose access to services is thereby very limited.
  
• The problems caused by sedentary lifestyles (obesity, diabetes, etc.) are increasingly worrisome, along with certain diseases that are worsened by air pollution and climate change. Citizens are becoming less and less physically active in their daily lives, which has direct consequences on their health. Pollution and climate change heavily affect vulnerable persons such as senior citizens, children, and persons suffering from respiratory diseases. This leads to an increased recurrence of crises, the aggravation of symptoms, and, in some cases, premature deaths.
  
• The proliferation of cars on our roads contributes to almost 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec, is a major source of air pollution, and provokes increasingly frequent and persistent smog episodes.

A cocktail full of advantages!

My own health: 30 minutes of walking or biking daily suffice to maintain a healthy weight and prevent cardiovascular diseases. By adopting modes of active transportation, you will draw many benefits: more energy, less stress, better concentration and efficiency at work or in class, less weight problems, etc.

The health of those around me: Reducing the number of cars on our streets contributes to improving the quality of the air we breathe. This benefits persons suffering from asthma and allergies. Adopting more active modes of transportation decreases the chance of developing diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. This reduces hospital visits and associated social costs.

My family: A neighbourhood where public and active transportation plays an important role offers a better quality of life by reducing sound pollution from cars and by making walking and biking safer for children as well as adults. Adolescents can be more independent thanks to the mobility offered by biking, bus, or metro. This also benefits parents, who can finally relinquish their role as “taxi drivers”! A great variety of services are then available only minutes from home, such as swimming pools, parks, libraries, youth centres, skating rinks, video club, and schools.

My bank account: The fewer miles a car runs a year, the lower are the costs to own it (in terms of gasoline and maintenance). By developing one’s own “transportation cocktail,” i.e., by combining various modes of transportation such as walking, biking, public transit, ride sharing, car rental, train, and taxi, it is possible to get places in an efficient, ecological, and above all economical way. Whereas a car costs on average $10,000 per year (according to the CAA), the transportation cocktail could you save you thousands of dollars. And we’re sure nobody will mind that!

My borough: Buying locally supports the economic vitality of services and creates jobs. Small shop owners are able to offer a more personalized service and to be more attentive to your needs. Moreover, in such an atmosphere, shoppers generally strike up conversations more readily, allowing for the feeling of belonging to a community. You will thus benefit from a more sociable neighbourhood as well as from accessible and diversified services only minutes from your home. That’s convenient as well as fun!

My planet: Reducing the distance for errands and using public and active transportation on a daily basis contributes to decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. A small boost for our planet!

Small changes that make a difference!

• I walk or bike to do my errands in the neighbourhood.
• I use services and stores in my neighbourhood rather than using my car to shop elsewhere.
  
• To make my errands on foot or bike easier, I use a backpack, reusable bag, basket, wheeled shopping bag, or bike bags.
  
• For bigger purchases, I get home delivery or use car-sharing (Communauto) or taxi services.
  
• I do ride-sharing to get to work and try to do so as well when doing my purchases.
  
• I concentrate many purchases into one day to limit the mileage on my car.
  
• I go to work using public transit or by biking.
  
• I accompany my children to school or to their recreational activities on foot or on bike.
  
• For my next move, I will try to find a neighbourhood that is well serviced by public transit and that has many services in proximity.

This project was made possible thanks to the financial support of:
Environment Canada and the Agence de santé et des services sociaux de Montréal- Santé publique, Montreal région.