Vaillancourt is for U.S.’s new fuel efficiency goals

While some global auto makers have ongoing issues with President Barack Obama’s projections for fuel efficient vehicles 14 years from now, it seems Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt has no problem.

On Sept. 13, Vaillancourt addressed a lunch-hour gathering at the Laval Sheraton of the Association Québécoise du Transport et des Routes (AQTR), a provincial transportation umbrella group that brings together the private and public sectors.

New goal 54.5 m.p.g.
In his presentation, the mayor gave an overview of Laval’s ambitious, long-term ÉvoluCité transportation plan, during which he fell just short of praising Obama’s recent decree that the U.S. manufacturers of fossil fuel-powered vehicles should work towards achieving 54.5 m.p.g. by 2025 – about twice what the average is now.
Outlined in the ÉvoluCité strategy which was unveiled by Laval last June, a key element of the plan would be to reduce the city’s per-person output of greenhouse gas emissions by 2031, much of which is produced by fossil fuel-powered transportation.

Car dependence
“Changing the ways our fellow citizens get around requires a global strategy, and also that we intervene in different spheres of activity involving a variety of players,” Vaillancourt told those at the meeting, which included STM officials and several Laval city councillors. He added that Laval’s transportation plan needs the support of other parties who also concern themselves with transporation issues. He said the city will need to be better planned in the future to reduce its dependence on automobiles.
Vaillancourt said that while the energy efficiency of vehicles must be improved – whether they are private or for public transit – “active” forms of transportation, such as bicycles, must be encouraged at the same time, the whole being closely coordinated with access to Laval’s growing number of Métro stations. Vaillancourt maintains that Laval needs to stay apace with new developments in transportation if it hopes to remain competitive.

Affecting costs
“We must not wait, we must consider now what can be done,” the mayor told the AQTR, while alluding to the targets set by Obama, which are in turn affecting fuel efficiency regulations made in Canada. Obama’s campaign to boost fuel efficiency is compelling U.S. carmakers to redesign their vehicles and use lighter, sometimes more expensive materials.
This is leading in turn to the prospect that the cost of automobiles could rise and have an unintended economic impact. In the meantime, however, auto producers outside the U.S. are said to be less enthusiastic about the targets, because the phase-in schedule favours the production of light trucks, which are a big seller for manufacturers in the U.S.