Public transport financing | “Quebec must raise the bar,” say 24 elected officials from Greater Montreal

At the dawn of a long-awaited reform of government funding for public transport, more than twenty mayors of Greater Montreal are asking the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, to provide “a minimum of 7% increase per year” of the service offering.

“Quebec must raise the bar,” write 24 municipal elected officials from the metropolitan region, in an open letter obtained by The Press. Among the signatory municipalities, we include Chambly, Boisbriand, Mirabel, Repentigny, Candiac, Mascouche, Beloeil, Terrebonne and Sainte-Julie.

The mayors say they understand “that due to the upheavals of recent years, governments have focused on maintaining public transportation services, rather than developing them.” That said, “it is urgent to return to the path of growth for the coming years,” they argue.

In the 2018-2023 Action Plan of the Sustainable Mobility Policy (PMD), the government set the target annual increase in the level of service across Quebec at 5%. However, this objective was undermined by COVID-19.

To maintain the pace and catch up, but also “to ensure real predictability”, the next PMD action plan “should therefore aim for a minimum of 7% increase per year across Quebec, and provide substantial funds to achieve this,” argue the elected officials.

Other projects in sight

They also recall that to reduce Quebecers’ dependence on the automobile, “several major structuring projects will have to be added to those already in progress such as the REM de l’Ouest, the blue line and the Quebec tramway.” “It will also be necessary to improve access where services already exist,” underlines the group of signatories.

Time is running out, say elected officials, since “climate change is manifesting itself in increasingly dramatic disasters in the four corners of Quebec, the roads are becoming congested again and habits are resuming with an air of déjà vu.” “It is still self-work-sleep which is required, for lack of anything better,” they regret.

If the government’s investment is “sustainable and sustained”, cities will be able to “build tens of thousands of new housing units in complete living environments, close to public transport services”, we add.

“We will be able to pair this development with existing municipal infrastructure, and avoid increasingly costly urban sprawl. We will be able to bring Quebecers closer to their workplaces,” adds the group, which calls on Minister Geneviève Guilbault to “seize the momentum” of the gradual increase in traffic levels already underway in several regions.

We still do not know when M^me Guilbault will present his five-year reform of public transport financing. In theory, she must do so by the end of 2023. Last February, on the eve of her consultation tour, the minister said she wanted above all to “rationalize” spending, ruling out the idea of ​​new provincial taxation. to finance the industry.

“We understand the needs expressed and reiterate that everyone has a role to play in this issue, especially in the current economic context. The minister continues her work,” Geneviève Guilbault’s office cautiously indicated in response to our questions.