Канадская ассоциация городского транспорта: история и перспективы развития.

The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) is a national association for urban mobility and both the public and private transit industries in Canada. It represents the country's transit agencies and additional third party stakeholders at both the federal and provincial/territorial levels, as well as advocates more broadly for sustainable urban mobility, conducts policy research pertaining to the industry, and produces thought leadership on urban transit in North America.

In December 1904, a group of officials from six street railway companies formed the Canadian Street Railway Association. It was renamed the Canadian Transit Association in 1932. After several name changes, the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) was adopted in 1973. Initially membership was restricted to privately owned systems, however the rapid development of the bus and its use by founding members, promoted changes to the Association's constitution. In 1920, municipally owned systems were welcomed along with non operating members such as suppliers. Many issues discussed by CUTA's predecessors remain in discussion today such as traffic congestion, competition by the private automobile, vehicle design, transit marketing, relations with and regulation by government, and transit priority. New to the agenda in recent decades are the matters of achieving sustainable funding. CUTA has defended the industry and actively promoted public transit across Canada. More recently, it has assisted government by laying the foundations of major transit funding programs. Since its foundation, Association members have benefited from CUTA's resources and training expertise. To mark the centennial of the Canadian Urban Transit Association in 2004, CUTA prepared a publication to document the many activities, achievements and challenges facing public transit systems since that 1904 winter day in Montreal when the association was born. A Century of Moving Canada is the name of this publication. Membership has grown to over 500 members, including 120 transit systems, 280 manufacturers, suppliers and other businesses, as well as numerous affiliates and government agencies.

In 2009, CUTA embarked on an initiative that involves the development of an industry vision, framing a comprehensive definition of the role of public transit in Canada for a 30 year time horizon. Transit Vision 2040 communicates transit's contribution to quality of life, the nature of change likely to take place in Canadian communities by 2040, the implications these changes will have on transit, and strategic directions for actions that can maximize transit's contribution to overall quality of life. Transit Vision 2040 is about putting transit at the center of communities, expansion and innovation, focusing on customers, accelerating the delivery of integrated transit services, improving the ecological footprint of transit services, ensuring financial health, and strengthening knowledge and practice so that Canada's transit industry can more effectively respond to future opportunities and challenges. This Vision takes a long term view, but it is intended to guide concrete short term actions by CUTA, its members and other stakeholders. The Vision has particular relevance for transit agencies and can serve as a framework for strategic planning efforts by individual systems.