L to R: IATR President Matt Daus, 2017 Regulator of the Year Ernest Chrappah, 2018 Regulator of the Year Sylvain Tousignant, and IATR Chairman Jim Ney
Philadelphia — The International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR) is pleased to announce that it has selected Sylvain Tousignant from Bureau du taxi de Montréal as its 2018 Transportation Regulator of the Year at the organization's 31st Annual Conference held in Philadelphia, Pa this past September 14-17. The Regulator of the Year Award is recognition by government transportation professional peers for exceptional public service, leadership, reforms, and innovation in regulating for-hire ground transportation.
With more than 20 years of experience in change management, sales and public service, Tousignant helped the Montréal taxi industry's revitalization and development strategies. He worked closely with prominent industry partners, different levels of government along with regional tourism associations to establish and strengthen Montréal taxi industry attractiveness.
His accomplishments surrounding his taxi revitalization plan include:
- The rebrand of Montréal taxis with a fresh, two-tone bright color scheme that says "Bonjour" to all Montréal clients;
- The creation of the Taxi Register—an open-data platform that shows where all taxis are located in real-time—making data available to taxi companies and developers of mobile technology solutions;
- Implementing the requirement of background checks for all applicants seeking service intermediary permits, and for all taxi drivers and owners, beginning January 1, 2016; and
- The percentage of green taxis in the city has risen from 4 percent in 2013 to 38 percent today, with help from subsidies from the Quebec government for the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles, and to cooperative efforts with the Aéroports de Montréal.
The City of Montreal, as a founding member of IATR, and its Bureau du taxi de Montréal, are highly active in the organization. The Bureau hosted the 2015 conference in Montreal, and Sylvain is both Chair of IATR Canadian Regulators Committee and a member of the IATR's Technology and Innovation Committee.
"Sylvain is not only a very active volunteer who has been highly involved in organizing and building the Canadian IATR membership and sharing its best practices," said IATR President Matt Daus, "but he also has taken a private sector results-driven approach to solving industry problems and innovating, to enhance service for the future."
"I am both honoured and humbled to receive this recognition,” said Tousignant. “However, this is not just about my accomplishment as much as all the work done by the entire team at the Montreal Taxi Bureau led by André Poisson, and the indication of the support of Mayor Plante and Montreal council."
Daus and IATR Chairman Jim Ney joined 2017 Regulator of the Year Ernest Chrappah in the presentation of the award to Tousignant.
Visit iatr.global for more information.
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