Quebec public transit is Soccer Canada in Qatar. He loses every time. The proof is in the words we use to talk about it. In Quebec, we “invest” in the roads, but it is the buses and the metro that have the requirement to be “profitable”. What if we said things differently?
A discussion about it on Twitter last week elicited more than its fair share of reactions. Transportation in Quebec is a social, economic and also cultural issue: people irrationally identify with their preferred means of transportation. Talk to the cycling enthusiasts. Or fans of sports cars capable of driving at 240 km/h even if it is as absurd as it is illegal.
In Quebec these days, we have the addicts to the third link and the fans of the tramway. In Montreal, the tunnel arouses a different partisanship: a handful of dreamers would see a bicycle path being built under the river. The authorities have never deigned to consider the idea of passing anything other than cars under water.
Yet there is concrete economic value in taking these active and collective transportation projects more seriously.
work for cheap
The US Transportation Research Board concluded ten years ago that every billion dollars invested annually in public transit resulted in a $1.8 billion increase in national GDP.
It is also an affordable means of entering the job market. A nudge in the right direction in the face of immigration issues and the lack of manpower. Providing newly arrived workers with an inexpensive mode of transportation helps them integrate into society.
Anyone who travels for business knows this: traveling abroad is either complicated or expensive. What complicates travel is that occasional visitors rarely take the time to familiarize themselves with the operation and schedule of buses, metros and trams.
In recent years, the appearance on the sidewalks and streets of almost every major city on the planet of self-service bicycles and scooters has simplified urban mobility on demand without increasing the cost for passengers too much.
For better or for worse, Montreal and Quebec have not succumbed to the frenzy of self-service electric scooters, but their network of shared bikes is increasingly efficient. It compensates for a relatively shy offer of public transport, when compared with other cities of the same size in the United States or in Europe.
A newcomer must find housing and a job. It’s a puzzle. We don’t want him to have to buy a car, register it, maintain it, refuel it and then try to understand how public parking works in town.
In the absence of Quebec cars…
The US Bureau of Transportation Research adds that every billion dollars invested in public transit in the United States directly supports some 24,000 jobs. In Quebec, if the calculation is different, the impact is not negligible. Quebec has bus and rolling stock manufacturers who produce vehicles used by public transport companies throughout the province.
Electrification will only amplify this situation.
Conversely, Quebec happens to be the only G7 country that does not have its own brand of cars. The largest automaker in Canada is called Toyota. Each car purchased in Canada therefore represents an immediate flight of capital abroad.
Going to the pump is expensive. This also causes a monetary exodus outside of Quebec, and in the majority of cases, outside of Canada as well. Quebec oil is mainly pumped in Western Canada, but the oil sector in Canada is more than 60% controlled by foreign companies.
Spread mobility
The further one moves away from the city centres, the more the car gains in importance. An often-cited argument in favor of the car is Quebec’s geographic expanse. To this, we must oppose two data provided by Statistics Canada. First, 80% of the Quebec population lives in urban areas.
Then, in Montreal, where Statistics Canada has detailed the transportation habits of the population a little more, public transit users live at a median distance of 9 kilometers from their place of work. Commuters live at a median distance from their place of work that varies between 34 and 53 kilometres.
To satisfy this population, a substantial public transit network should cover the Montreal region located between Saint-Hyacinthe, to the south, and Saint-Jérôme, to the north. These two agglomerations are located outside the coverage area of the Association régionale du transport métropolitain.
Should the public transit offer be expanded to adapt it to the demographic situation of greater Montreal? Currently, the opposite is happening. At $13 billion according to the 2021-2031 Quebec Infrastructure Plan, the amount going to public transit is down $500 million from the previous plan. The amount granted to the Quebec road network is up, to $28 billion.
The car wins again. But it’s not the best investment…