Taking into account the impact of telework, the City of Quebec estimates that its tramway project will allow it to pass the milestone of 45 million trips in the first year, a 20% increase in ridership.
“Advice to skeptics,” warned the president of the Capital Transport Network (RTC), Maude Mercier-Larouche, during an announcement on Wednesday. “The effects of telework in no way invalidate the effects of the Quebec tramway project. »
The RTC expects to gain 30% in ridership in 2027 when the structuring transport network is put into operation. However, with a loss of 10% of customers caused by teleworking, the increase increases to 20%.
Therefore, the market share of public transport compared to other means of transport (the modal share) would reach 10.6%, compared to the 8.1% measured by the Ministry of Transport in 2017.
“It may seem relatively low, but from a historical perspective, it’s something that has never been seen,” said Luc Samson, head of service planning at the RTC.
Due to the pandemic, the number of trips in the network has fallen from 33.7 million in 2019 to 16.8 million in 2021.
The RTC maintains that ridership has resumed this year to 70% of its pre-pandemic capacity, or the equivalent of 23 million trips.
More details will follow.