Put at risk by the arrival of Mobilité Infra Québec (MIQ), the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) is issuing a warning to the Legault government: without its expertise in project planning, these will be “unnecessarily costly” and poorly put together.
“The government should not deprive itself of [notre] prior consultation, at the risk of launching a complex transport project that is poorly adapted, poorly integrated, poorly accepted and unnecessarily costly,” writes the body responsible for overseeing major public transport projects, in a memorandum filed this Tuesday.
Questioned by the Commission des transports et de l’environnement, which is studying the bill creating Mobilité Infra Québec this week, the new president of the ARTM, Ginette Sylvain, argued that “the confirmation of the role of the ARTM as a metropolitan planner is essential.”
Its release comes at a time when, since the announcement of the arrival of the Mobilité Infra Québec agency, the ARTM’s planning role has been more than ever called into question.
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This concern is clearly felt in the ARTM’s brief, which proposed several amendments to the bill on Tuesday, notably raising “uncertainty” over the fact that “the government could decide on the financing model for a project” in the metropolitan region.
The organization first maintains that it “recognizes the government’s authority to decide on the implementation” of a transport project, but then clearly reiterates that it wants to “be the government’s privileged interlocutor.” […] to provide all the knowledge and expertise” required.
“It is desirable that Mobilité Infra Québec act in consultation with the ARTM on the one hand, to establish the required level of service, the operating model, the pricing, and, on the other hand, to participate in the design decisions that influence operating and maintenance costs,” it adds.
A 30-year plan
Former Assistant Minister of Transport, Ms.me Sylvain maintains that his priority will now be to give the Authority a “30-year vision,” all by December, in order to minimize any possible uncertainty. “We’re going to put a lot of effort into this, and then, Mobilité Infra Québec will be able to see within that what projects they can potentially take on,” said Mr.me Sylvain.
The new president also claimed to have a “sensitivity” for the smaller municipalities of Greater Montreal, which are increasingly numerous in denouncing having to pay for public transit without obtaining real services. “The model is a little too high. […] “We will have to put in ceilings or floors,” she acknowledged on this subject.
The Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, for her part argued that her agency “proposes to have a vision for the whole of Quebec”, which goes beyond Greater Montreal, by evoking for Mobilité Infra Québec a “national planning role which would be in line with that of the ARTM”.
Towards a higher royalty?
The ARTM also took advantage of its Tuesday appearance to demand the right to impose “broader and simpler” fees on projects, such as the one benefiting cities. Currently, the Authority can impose fees for any work whose value exceeds $909,404 in areas where there is a new transportation offer. However, “in many cases, it would probably be more appropriate for the fee to be imposed to finance equipment or infrastructure intended for several municipalities rather than for municipalities individually to assume a share, in order to avoid duplication and ensure tax fairness,” the organization states in its report. During the consultation, Mme Guilbault was open to discussing the issues surrounding this request.