In the first week of September 2021, traffic congestion levels returned to those of 2019 in Greater Montreal, according to the TomTom congestion index. In this fall return, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounded the alarm in its latest report, and the municipal election campaign begins, this mass return of the car on our roads calls for a clear observation that must be understood by the entire population and decision-makers: the place occupied by the car no longer makes sense. We must strive for less, and better.
This “less and better” can be called in different ways: dispossession, demotorization, automobile sobriety. For the researchers and decision-makers of the panel “How to support the demotorization of Montreal households?” », Organized on September 21 by Jalon and CRE-Montreal, this is an important issue which is currently encountering equally great resistance: among our current decision-makers, who will dare to« take away »their cars from their voters? ?
However, the concept of demotorization is not intended to demonize the use of the car. Demotorizing means encouraging the removal of some of the cars to replace them with more sustainable and efficient modes of transport for the community: carsharing, carpooling, public transport, cycling and walking. This is also part of the RTA (reduce, transfer or improve) approach advocated by the various policies in place.
Remember that the use we make of our private vehicles is in no way consistent with the individual and social costs they generate.
Each household owns an average of 1.4 cars. However, they are parked 95% of the time, drive without passengers in 82.5% of cases and take up 74% of public space. They represent an important part (18.4%) of the family budget, higher than that of food (16.2%). Collectively, more than $ 5,000 per person annually is spent to keep our automotive-centric system in place. The observation is clear and hammered home by science: the car is the least efficient mode available to move us collectively. We all suffer, including motorists, from the negative effects of heavy, yet unsuitable, use of the car. It should also be noted that these effects are also suffered by 29% of Montreal households who do not own a car, but who nevertheless assume the collective costs and the negative effects (pollution, congestion, road insecurity, cost of infrastructure, etc.) .
Our plans and policies, both at the provincial and municipal levels, have several clear general targets. Reduce household mobility spending by 20% by 2030 (Québec’s sustainable mobility policy). Increase the share of public transport trips from 25 to 35% by 2031 (ARTM). Transfer 25% of solo car trips in Montreal to other modes by 2030 (Montreal Climate Plan). However, neither in these plans nor elsewhere, is there currently an explicit target on reducing the number of cars in the city. However, this is a crucial step in achieving the objectives mentioned above, while facilitating a better understanding of the concrete measures to be deployed to achieve them.
The existing options already make it possible to envisage the complete or partial demotorization of several of us. More investment in public transport, improvement of the cycling network, the development of ever more complete neighborhoods and the right mix of tax and pricing incentives will undoubtedly encourage a growing number of us to choose to reduce the use of the private car, or even in some cases, to abandon it altogether.
To speak of demotorization in the public space is not to go to war against all cars. However, it is a necessary discussion that must be held quickly, and with lucidity, in the context of a climate emergency. This discussion should highlight the collective and individual advantages of owning fewer cars; restoring fairness to car-free households; and the efficiency of road transport systems. The benefits of a lifestyle with fewer cars for health, the economy and the environment make the demotorization of the Montreal region inevitable. Let’s give ourselves the chance to open this discussion collectively.
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