exo, which oversees several local bus lines in the suburbs of Montreal, wants to talk to your wallet. The organization released data on Tuesday showing that choosing public transit over driving saves an average of $8,000 each year.
Posted at 11:47 a.m.
A few days before the first major obstructions near the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel, several displays of the “Intelligent choice” campaign will appear on public transport in Greater Montreal, but also on the radio and in certain media. “$7,500 cheaper per year than a car: that’s an intelligent vehicle,” reads one of the signs designed by exo.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY EXO
One of the ads from exo’s upcoming campaign.
The operator bases its assertion on data from CAA-Quebec, which calculates that the average budget allocated to a car is approximately $11,000 per year in Quebec.
“Comparing with public transit, we realize that the most expensive fare for all the areas that exo serves is ABCD all-mode, which costs $3,060. This therefore represents a saving of $7,940 in total,” explains exo spokesperson Jean-Maxime St-Hilaire.
He maintains that few advertising campaigns first put forward “economical” first in public transport, but that in a context of galloping inflation, it has become inevitable to make it a considerable factor in the discussion. “We often talk about the environment, road congestion, and that’s good, but with the rising cost of living, we also have to talk about the economy. And that’s what we’re doing today,” continues Mr. St-Hilaire.
What about habit changes?
At CAA-Quebec, communications director Nicolas Ryan confirms that using a car costs Quebecers an average of $11,000. But it nevertheless brings certain nuances. “It’s valid, yes, but you have to understand that the parameters can change from one case to another, and above all, that habits have changed since the pandemic,” he notes.
Mr. Ryan thus refers to the fact that more and more citizens are using the car and public transit in “hybrid” mode, taking the metro for a few days, then the car the rest of the week.
“Teleworking means that people use their cars less. So the 20,000 average annual kilometers that served as the basis for this study could be revised downwards, ”he also specifies.
The executive director of innovation and mobility at exo, Marie Hélène Cloutier, for her part reiterated on Tuesday that it is urgent and necessary to “reduce the use of solo driving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion, already back to pre-pandemic levels”. “We invite residents of the metropolitan area to make the smart choice by boarding our trains, buses and paratransit,” she insisted.
In May, Quebec and Ottawa had jointly extended 338 million to “transform the business model” of exo. The organization will thus become the owner of a new fully electric park. In total, exo aims to acquire more than 135 electric buses over the next five years. A first phase of work will take place until 2027. CEO of exo, Sylvain Yelle. His group, which owns 600 buses, also aims to build 10 garages within 20 years.