I am in shock !
I am planning an upcoming visit from a good friend who recently settled in Baie-Saint-Paul. Not having a car, I first contact VIA Rail to learn that we do not serve this highly touristic city. Then, I contact Orléans Express to learn that we no longer serve eastern Quebec. They send me back to Intercar. This regional carrier offers only one trip per day from Quebec City to Baie-Saint-Paul and it is at 9:30 in the morning; very good for the residents of the capital. But if your departure is from Montreal, it is not practical since the first daily bus is at 7 am. Understand that it is impossible to travel from Montreal to Baie-Saint-Paul, even with a connection in Quebec, without having to sleep there. Implausible. Is that what the civil servants in Montreal who have a meeting at 9 a.m. at the government do?
I am sorry to see that the harmonization of intercity transport timetables is a real aberration. And we are encouraged to use public transport? Empty words! In the desert !
If you don’t have a car, all you have to do is stay at home, rent one to pollute more or hitchhike between Quebec City and Baie-Saint-Paul. As I am blind, it is the white cane that will be used as a thumb to beg for transport! Ridicule does not kill…
If the government has accepted the brilliant idea of dividing the territory of Quebec between various companies, private companies have the genius not to work together to better serve customers. What a success!
The government wants to stimulate tourism within Quebec, but it does what it takes to make it impractical. Out of the car, no salvation.
The government also invites citizens to settle in the regions, but it is not interested in their mobility.
The coherence between the beautiful ideas and their implementations is hopeless.
In fact, there isn’t, and no one seems to care unless they even see it.
Personal conclusion: I will not be able to visit my friend and I will certainly not be the only one to suffer from the lack of overview of public transport policies.
What a pleasure !
You can go around the world, but you can’t go to Baie-Saint-Paul either by train, bus or plane in the 21st century.e century. And I imagine that there are other cities in Quebec that are similarly served.