Following the October 3 elections, we reiterate to the government and all elected officials that they must do everything in their power to help Quebecers free themselves from their second vehicle.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
While the climate crisis will be the major issue of the coming decades, and while Quebec households are facing a sharply rising level of indebtedness, we must act now, and take frank decisions that will allow the people of Quebec to face these challenges with sustainable, modern and concrete solutions.
Several parties have also proposed good ideas on mobility, proposals that we hope will inspire the government, while the Prime Minister has pledged to work in a cross-partisan manner.
Investing in sustainable mobility
Road transportation is currently responsible for a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Quebec. It is therefore time to prioritize the combination of active, collective and car-sharing modes of transportation to reduce our carbon footprint. It is by offering people the possibility of choosing from a cocktail of transportation options that meets their needs that we will succeed in making mobility truly sustainable. This is how we will reduce the number of cars on the roads and improve air quality, greatly affected by the particles generated by the wear of car tires on our roads.
Much more than a purely ecological measure, increased investments in public and active transportation projects will make it possible to reduce the economic burden imposed by the current dependence on the automobile for many Quebec households.
To achieve this, it is essential to improve the public transit offer throughout Québec, particularly in rural regions. We therefore call on the government to launch projects that will double the public transit service offer by 2035, in addition to providing service in the most remote regions of Quebec.
Currently, 70% of the investments actually planned in passenger transportation by the Quebec government are devoted to road transportation, which reflects an outdated vision of transportation planning. We propose that two-thirds of confirmed investments in ground transportation be allocated to public transit as soon as possible, as is already the case in Ontario.
Obviously, public transit alone cannot meet all the travel needs of Quebecers. It is essential to combine this enhancement of public transit with enhanced investments in terms of active transportation. In order to improve active transportation infrastructures to meet Québec’s needs, the current amounts must be doubled to reach $100 million per year. It is by offering extensive public and active transportation systems that we will be able to face the financial and climate challenges of our time, and thus convince Quebecers to free themselves from their second car.
Stop seeing serious collisions as inevitable
Faced with the growing share represented by vulnerable users (pedestrians, cyclists) among road victims, it is imperative that the Government of Quebec implement a vision zero serious or fatal collision road safety policy. In this regard, gains have already been made in recent years, and it is time to adopt a clear line that ensures the safety of all people traveling on the road network. The adoption of such a strategy is also necessary so that access to public transit, mostly pedestrian, is safe and user-friendly.
Think of the aging population and families: we must stop seeing serious or fatal collisions as inevitable consequences of using the road network!
To support these measures, we must create complete environments that allow a greater part of the population to work, consume, play and live in the same environment. The election campaign put a lot of emphasis on the creation of new road links, but it is by reducing the length of trips to be made that we will be able to transfer a large part of them to public and active modes of transportation.
Our organizations will be present to work with the new government and all elected officials to implement these concrete solutions, in particular through the implementation of the Plan for a Green Economy and the Sustainable Mobility Policy implemented by the previous CAQ government.
Our request is therefore very simple: let’s be visionary and put in place a real cocktail of sustainable mobility solutions to allow Quebecers to free themselves from their second car, to face the climatic and financial challenges to come!
* Co-signatories: Sarah V. Doyon, Executive Director of Trajectoire Québec; Christian Savard, Managing Director of Vivre en Ville