The public transport industry welcomes the state aid of 400 million in 2023, which should make it possible to avoid major cuts in services. Several questions remain unresolved as discussions begin about funding for the next five years.
Updated yesterday at 8:48pm.
Quebec confirmed in its annual budget on Tuesday that it will allocate about $400 million this year to the public transportation industry, which has been hit by a funding crisis. The aim: to implement the solutions identified following the consultation tour that Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault will start in the coming weeks.
“This aid for 2023 is welcome. Over the next few weeks, the Board of Directors must balance the 2023 budget without affecting service levels for users,” confirmed Tuesday the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), which will affect around 340 of the 400 million in emergency aid from the Legault government . Overall, the shortage of transportation companies in the greater Montreal area is about $500 million.
The agency’s director-general, Benoit Gendron, affirms that his “priority is to ensure that every dollar invested” by the government “goes towards a maximum of services”. “It is our duty as managers of public funds. […] We want to go further, do better and deliver more,” he says.
However, his group recalls that “in order to turn the vision and intentions into reality, significant sources of funding must be identified”. “The challenge of financing local public transport will remain unsolved in the coming years,” emphasizes Mr. Gendron.
The same applies to the Société de transport de Montréal, whose president Éric Alan Caldwell welcomes the aid of 400 million, but notes that “the amounts made available are not, in our eyes, sufficient to drive a public transport revival needed to make the more ecological.” Change”.
The Montreal operator is also concerned about the small increase in investment dedicated to asset maintenance. “The maintenance and upkeep of our infrastructures is an imperative to provide an efficient and secure service. […] It is important to identify dedicated, indexed and recurring funding sources to finally give us the means to achieve our ambitions,” continues Mr. Caldwell.
“The financial aid presented by the government for 2023-2024 is a step in the right direction as it waits to find lasting structural solutions to public transport financing problems. […] We reiterate the importance of creating a stable financial framework,” explains Josée Roy, Director General of Société de Transport de Laval (STL).
The S-Bahn manager Exo also pointed out that in recent years “the growth of public transport offers in the suburbs has not kept pace with the population growth”. “A budget framework and predictable funding that takes these specificities into account will allow exo to transform its network,” affirms CEO Sylvain Yelle. Finally, at the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL), President Geneviève Héon welcomed the emergency aid, but stressed that “it is essential to create a new funding framework that is sufficient, predictable, committed and sustainable”.
The table is set
At the Quebec Public Transport Financing Alliance (TRANSIT), coordinator Samuel Pagé-Plouffe believes these announcements “set the table well for negotiations over the coming months” to reach a five-year deal as Minister Guilbault wants. “However, the structural challenges are far from being solved and that’s what we have to concentrate on from now on,” emphasizes Plouffe.
“It depends on the needs. We honestly expected something less interesting, so we’re still satisfied. We are saving the furniture in the short term to avoid service cuts, but there are still problems,” said Vivre en ville general director Christian Savard.
The opposition judges that the aid of 400 million will not be enough. “It cost 570 million to keep transport companies afloat. With this budget, transport companies will be forced to cut back on services to users,” explains Étienne Grandmont, critic of solidarity in transport.
“The public transport emergency measures are well below the sums required to maintain traffic at an acceptable frequency level. We will therefore see a reduction in services, traffic and frequency if we should eventually double the offer,” says PQ transport critic Joël Arseneau.
Among the Liberals, financial critic Frédéric Beauchemin regrets that “the lack of funding for public transport and its unequal distribution across Quebec’s regions will not get us anywhere”. “The energy transition will require major investments that will benefit future generations, which the CAQ excludes from its budget,” he judges.
For her part, Sarah V. Doyon, the director general of Trajectoire Québec, was “reassured” and judged that the aid should make it possible to avoid cuts in the service. However, she regrets that the Land Transport Network Fund (FORT) now has “a deficit of almost a billion dollars”. “However, the budget does not provide for a new source of funding. Existing sources are also not indexed or supplemented. What are we waiting for to act? »
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70-30 Samuel Pagé-Plouffe also regrets that the Legault government is “in utter stagnation” in its commitment made during his 2018 election to rebalance investment in roads and transport. Over the next decade, investments in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI) will be approximately $31.5 billion in roads, compared to $13.8 billion in public transit, which is still roughly a ratio of corresponds to 70% to 30%.
722 million Through 2028, Quebec also pledges to extend $722 million to “boost the accessibility and efficiency of transportation networks,” in addition to extending $55 million through 2026 to “encourage innovation in transportation.” Quebec government