The Parti Québécois intends to offer unlimited access to public transit at the price of $1 per day, for both urban and intercity transportation.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was in Longueuil on Monday morning to present a commitment aimed at making public transit extremely attractive.
“We are introducing the PasseClimat, which will give Quebecers from all regions unlimited access to all public transit, whether municipal, regional, interregional, all forms of transportation for $365 per year, the equivalent of 1 $ per day. »
The PQ PasseClimat proposal would involve the purchase of an annual pass at a cost of $365 — and not a one-time pass at a cost of $1 — which would give unlimited access to all modes of transport.
Thus, holders of this pass could access not only local and metropolitan transportation such as the bus, metro or commuter train, but also interregional and intercity transportation, including buses and ferries, always at the cost of $1. per day.
“It’s a measure that aims to make public transit irresistible,” said PQ candidate from Taschereau, Jeanne Robin.
“It’s a proposal that is avant-garde, that has a long-term vision for Quebec […] and which provides a concrete tool so that everyone can do their part against climate change, no matter where they live,” she said.
Also present, the PQ candidate in Marie-Victorin, Pierre Nantel, did not hesitate to denounce the current mode of pricing.
“Right here, in Longueuil, I can tell you that we’ve had enough of the fare changes, because there are tens of thousands of people who live near the Longueuil metro station and who, there are a few years, have seen their prices for access to the Montreal metro increase very significantly, ”he cursed.
Making a simple Longueuil-Montreal round trip without having an ARTM pass requires $10.50, he argued, while the pass costs $150 per month. On an annual basis, this disbursement of $1,800 would drop to $365 with the PQ proposal.
At the intercity level, for example, a round trip between Rouyn-Noranda and Montreal by bus costs $236. The user would be a winner from the second trip.
Offsets to transmission networks
The measure provides for the payment of compensation to transport networks and private companies, which the PQ leader said evaluates between 150 and 180 million dollars per year, an evaluation which at first glance appears significantly underestimated.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also maintains that the increase in public transit ridership would save significant sums in road repairs for the Department of Transport since it would reduce the number of cars on the roads. There is a caveat to this assertion, however: the deterioration of the roads is first and foremost attributable to the trucks, studies having shown that the impact of the change from a single 30-ton truck to five axles on the infrastructure equivalent to that of 10,000 cars.
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon promised other announcements during the campaign on the expansion of public transport.
The PQ announcement is part of this election campaign, which is already well underway, although not officially launched. It should be noted that the leader of the Parti Québécois also insisted on the positive impact of such a measure, even using on more than one occasion an expression dear to Premier François Legault, namely that the PasseClimat would “recover money in the pockets of Quebecers”.
The PQ leader seemed to adapt well to this pre-election campaign. “We are a party of ideas, which fully assumes the challenges of our time with complete answers. So to have space to bring content like today is not a bad thing. »
However, he expressed reservations about the advertising expenditure recorded so far. “There could have been a little more embarrassment or a little more sobriety, because people have been bombarded with publicity since June. Too much is like not enough. »