Two organizations are launching a mobilization campaign for public transit on Thursday, inviting the 370,000 active members of the Transit application to write to the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault. Objective: to ask him for “adequate funding to maintain the current service offer and develop it”.
“We want to take advantage of the Minister’s consultation tour to mark the occasion and invite users to make their voices heard. There is a favorable wind for public transit, we must seize it,” says the director of Trajectoire Québec, an organization defending the rights of users who is involved in the project.
By a button located at the top of the application, Transit users have been invited since Thursday morning to “ask for more public transport” and to demand “an ambitious plan” from the Legault government.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY TRANSIT
The visual of the mobilization campaign
“Following the example of her decision to dedicate a possible third Quebec-Lévis link to public transit, the Minister must present a courageous recovery plan”, we then explain to the user, who can then send an email already drafted at the minister’s office in just a few clicks.
In this e-mail, written in a personal tone, the Minister is questioned in particular on the daily impacts of underfunding in public transport. “I regularly use public transit and I worry about the precariousness of the service offer in Quebec. I rely on public transit for my trips. With a less frequent and less reliable service, my daily life is turned upside down, ”we can read.
Personalize the debate
“This system will be online for several weeks. It’s something that can be done almost anytime and quickly. The idea is that as soon as people have a little time, they can do this small gesture which, we hope, will send a clear signal to the minister: users are very concerned, “says the CEO of Transit , Sam Vermette, whose app has been around since 2012.
The purpose of such a campaign, adds Sarah Doyon, is in a way to “personalize the issue”. “It’s not just environmental groups and organizations that advocate for users. These are people, real people who use public transit every day,” she says.
In the office of Minister Geneviève Guilbault, it is specified that she “is continuing her tour of consultations on the financing of public transit, which aims to present a five-year financial framework” by this fall. According to our information, a few meetings are still to be held, some of which this Thursday. The tour is scheduled to end in June.
“We want to continue to offer and develop a reliable, frequent and fast service offer for public transit users. Remember that 400 million are planned for the financing of public transit as part of the 2023 budget of the Government of Quebec. It is more than 2.1 billion that we have granted to support our transport companies, ”says the Minister’s press attaché, Maxime Roy.