Managing Our Environmental Impact

In keeping with its sustainable development approach, the Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) makes a daily effort to reduce its impact on the environment. It adopts methods to reduce its ecological footprint with such things as a no engine idling policy and the SmartDriver program, a bus driving technique that helps to reduce fuel consumption.

Along with the different public transit corporations in Quebec, the STO is introducing measures that support its desire to make its vehicles even cleaner:

• Use of biodiesel, a clean, biodegradable, non-toxic fuel (produced from animal fat and food industry waste), since January 2009;
• Two diesel electric hybrid buses, using 33% less fuel than conventional diesel buses, added to the fleet;
• Gradual acquisition of hybrid diesel-electric service vehicles for inspectors;
• Acquisition of buses with particle traps.

Many initiatives contribute to the sound management of hazardous materials throughout the year, namely retreading used tires, and recovering and reusing more than 40,000 litres of oil and close to 1,000 oil filters.

At the provincial level, the STO takes part in discussions and exchanges on organizational challenges and good practices related to sustainable development. As a key player in sustainable development in Quebec, its goal is to promote public transit.