Around 1,700 buses are currently gathering dust in the garages of transport companies in Canada, with carriers not having the money to run them, worries a new report commissioned by two environmental organizations. If put into service, these vehicles could boost the service offering.
What there is to know
- Transportation companies in Canada have about 1,700 unused buses, according to a new study.
- Together, they represent approximately 13% of the Canadian service offering.
- The two environmental coalitions behind the report are calling on Ottawa to provide more funding for the daily operations of transporters.
“For us, this demonstrates the problem caused by the fact that the federal government only funds development and expansion projects. In other words, federal investments cannot be used for the operation,” explains Équiterre sustainable mobility analyst Anne-Catherine Pilon.
In a report released this Tuesday, his organization as well as the group Environmental Defense Canada are concerned about the fact that “the phenomenon of buses without anyone to drive them has grown.” The two groups calculate, based on data from the Canadian Urban Transportation Association (CUTA), that 1,700 buses serve as “replacement vehicles” and could be sent on the road.
This is almost the equivalent of the overall fleet of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), which currently has approximately 2,000 buses.
“We have approximately 250 buses available which are not required for the planned service offering. Obviously, if we were to put them into service, this would require increased funding,” specifies the company’s spokesperson, Amélie Régis.
Across Canada, the ACTU estimates the total number of buses to be approximately 16,520. However, only 12,440 of them are actually in circulation during peak hours, on a daily basis, more than 4,000 of them being under maintenance or refurbishment on an ongoing basis. In short, the 1,700 dormant buses represent approximately 13% of the operating fleet in Canada.
Not enough resources
The heart of the problem, according to the analyst, is that while most municipalities have increased their bus fleets thanks to federal investments, they cannot “have the necessary operating funds” to put them into service. .
With the declines in ridership that we have experienced following the pandemic, what we need is to relaunch the virtuous loop of public transportation. We need to give impetus again by funding services. The more there are, the more traffic there will be and the more revenue there will be.
Anne-Catherine Pilon, from Équiterre
Result: the number of kilometers traveled per vehicle is in free fall, down 7% compared to 2016, according to the report’s data.
It was that year that Ottawa inaugurated with great fanfare the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), with an envelope of $23.5 billion intended for the development and maintenance of public transportation.
Heading towards 2035
We also read in the document that Canada “could reduce” carbon emissions by 65 million tonnes – the equivalent of 20 million cars on an annual basis – and reduce the number of kilometers traveled by cars by 35%. just 12 years from now by opting for four key measures.
The first would be to provide adequate funding to carriers for their daily operations; Currently, too many Canadian public transit companies “are not authorized to use federal funds to increase hours of service or their frequency,” lament the authors.
They also encourage authorities to promote residential density near public transportation services.
This amounts to multiplying TOD neighborhoods (transit-oriented development), or high-density areas near metros, trams, light trains or bus lines. “This is really the measure that would have the most impact,” notes Mme Pestle on this.
The massive purchase of electric buses and the establishment of reserved lanes, especially in an urban context, would also make it possible to double ridership, reiterate the two environmental groups. They estimate the investments required by 2035 to achieve this at around 35 billion.
“This represents roughly the equivalent of the government’s investments in the Trans Mountain pipeline. The difference is that our plan allows people, and not oil, to move more quickly and at lower cost,” illustrates Anne-Catherine Pilon.
Short-term needs
All of this comes as new negotiations begin with a view to establishing a “recurring and predictable” funding framework over five years in public transportation, a mandate given by the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault. Discussions for 2024 ended abruptly last December, after weeks of negotiations in the public arena. Government aid for 2024 was 265 million, including 238 million for Greater Montreal. The Quebec Urban Transport Association (ATUQ) is demanding aid of $622 million from Quebec for 2025. In Montreal, the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) estimates it will need $421 million next year. .