The transport companies of Quebec and Montreal are calling on the Legault government to have “more ambition” in terms of sustainable mobility. According to them, several cities are heading straight towards significant service reductions if the province only absorbs 20% of the operators’ deficits as planned.
“Today, we are calling on Prime Minister Legault as well as the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, to ensure that we have more ambition in terms of public transportation. I think that in the current situation, it is essential,” insisted the president of the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC), Maude Mercier Larouche, on Friday in a press scrum in Quebec.
She was notably accompanied by the president of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Éric Alan Caldwell. Friday, The Press revealed that it could have to reduce its service by around 15% if the initial proposal from the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, goes forward. This would bring the STM back to the same level as in 2006.
Earlier this week, Mme Guilbault offered transport companies funding of 502.8 million, which represents barely 20% of the industry’s 2.5 billion deficit. The rest would be made up by “optimization” efforts of 365 million, but above all by the municipalities.
In Greater Montreal alone, cities are expected to spend more than a billion, including more than 260 million in 2024 alone. Outside the metropolis, cities would spend nearly 165 million in five years.
However, an impasse seems inevitable, especially when we know that 70% of transport companies’ expenses affect salaries. “Of course, we will do our best. Of course, we seek to optimize and reduce our expenses. […] But one of the basic principles of eco-taxation is to reward good behavior. Cities and communities that want to maintain and advance the service offering must be rewarded,” indicated Mr. Caldwell.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Éric Alan Caldwell, president of the STM
He then argued that Quebec “must not transfer the burden of maintaining or developing” public transportation “to those who decide to do more.”
“We want to be part of the solution”
“We must work on financing in the short, medium and long term to ensure that we do not periodically relive this financing impasse,” the president of the Urban Transport Association (ATUQ) said on Friday. , Marc Denault.
In his eyes, “the solution will not come just from one person”. “We are talking about new sources of income. We have to be creative,” added Mr. Denault, suggesting that other ministers, such as Pierre Fitzgibbon for the Economy and Benoit Charette for the Environment, will also have to get involved.
The ATUQ maintains that the ideas conveyed by Mme Guilbault returning from his trip to Europe this spring must be studied more seriously. The minister was particularly interested in the “mobility payment” based on company payroll, which finances half of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) expenses. The idea, however, did not rejoice in the business community.
“We are going to present proposals. We want to be part of the solution. But we must be open to all the opportunities that there may be to develop recurring sources of financing,” added Mr. Denault, whose group also recommends studying other sources of income such as commercial or residential rental. , as well as air rights.
This exit from transport companies comes at a time when the 2023 Sustainable Mobility Policy Forum (PMD) is being held in Quebec City on Friday. It is this regulation which dictates, among other things, the annual increase target for the level of service across the province.
In its 2018-2023 PMD Action Plan, Quebec set the annual increase target at 5%, an objective which was undermined by COVID-19. At the beginning of October, around twenty mayors of Greater Montreal called on the government to “aim for a minimum of 7% increase per year across Quebec” in order to maintain the pace, but also to catch up.
A priori, the new PMD 2023-2028 action plan should be announced this spring. Minister Guilbault took advantage of Friday to announce the creation of a consultation committee on adapted transportation, in order to make transportation services more accessible to people with disabilities. A committee will also be set up to “find solutions” to the financing problems encountered by the intercity transportation industry.