Like everywhere, Quebec is affected by inflation, which is particularly felt by the increase in gas prices and the shortage of affordable housing. No wonder that at the same time, questions of urban development are making headlines: it’s because cities are at the forefront in the face of the major challenges of the day. Some solutions to the affordability crisis and the housing crisis are the same!
Posted at 10:00 a.m.
With the approach of the Quebec elections which will take place in the fall, we are proposing a bold commitment to the political parties: put everything in place to allow Quebec households to free themselves from their second car. And why not both, for those who wish!
We already knew that housing and transport are the two main items of household expenditure. Granting even more of one’s income to it will most likely be at the expense of physical and cultural activities, leisure, healthy eating, or even health care. Conversely, getting rid of a car and favoring the transportation cocktail — public transit, walking, cycling and car-sharing services — saves several thousand dollars.
According to CAA, in Quebec in 2020, the average annual budget allocated to an automobile was $11,0001 ! With the significant increase in fuel prices in recent months, we can expect this amount to be even higher. Conversely, the cost of using the transport cocktail allows savings of 50% to 75% for people living in an urban center2.
Besides the benefits for the wallet, there are many other advantages to the active and collective modes. In fact, during your public transit trip, you can read or start your workday by answering a few emails, in addition to doing a quarter of the recommended daily physical activity. Obviously, for their part, active transportation makes it possible to integrate physical activity into daily life without upsetting one’s schedule!
The health and quality of life of the population would be much better. Let’s think of the aging population as much as our children: getting rid of the car is a guarantee of autonomy, well-being and inclusiveness!
These alternatives also cost us much less collectively, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While pollutant emissions from road transport have increased by 60% since 1990, the Trottier Energy Institute urges the government to “reverse the trend of increasing vehicle size and fleet, and the use of the car “.
Solutions within our reach
Currently, 7.5% of Quebec workers reach their place of work and their home in less than 1 km and 36% in less than 5 km, distances easily covered on foot or by bicycle. In small and medium-sized towns in Quebec, these proportions are increasing. In Sept-Îles, for example, 52% of the population could walk to work.
Already, therefore, many Quebecers could travel by means other than by car, provided that they are offered reliable, user-friendly, efficient and safe infrastructures.
The development of sufficiently attractive public transport that structures urban development remains the priority solution. We propose an ambitious objective: by 2035, the service offer should be doubled. The government already has streetcar, light rail and other structuring modes in Longueuil, Montreal, Quebec, Laval and Gatineau. However, this is not enough: we have to think about Quebec as a whole.
In this respect, it is possible to deploy public transport services or to improve service and frequency quickly, without always having to build new infrastructures. The Régie intermunicipale de transport Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine is a truly inspiring example that should be replicated elsewhere in Quebec.
Living environments that will free us from the automobile
To allow the greatest number of Quebecers to free themselves from their cars, it is imperative to redevelop our municipalities by building the majority of new housing near existing services. Data is clear, proximity is key. We must also systematically take advantage of the development of a new neighborhood and the complete repair of a street to think about facilities and services that will allow the population to move around efficiently and safely on foot, by bicycle and by public transit.
These principles are at the heart of the Government of Quebec’s new National Land Use Policy. We are now awaiting the concrete actions that will make it possible to implement it.
The state can and must act to help Quebec households get rid of the financial burden of car ownership by offering a variety of sustainable mobility options and promoting the development of complete living environments that allow Quebecers to free themselves from their second car.
The solutions exist. Mr. Legault, Mr.me Anglade, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois and Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, which ones do you plan to put in place?
* Co-signatories: Sandrine Cabana-Degani, General Manager of Piétons Québec; Jean-François Rheault, President and CEO of Vélo Québec