Despite the billions of dollars Ottawa has invested, there were fewer buses on the country's roads in 2022 than nine years earlier. This emerges from a report published by Équiterre and Environmental Defense, which recommends that the federal government invest an additional $3 billion per year to fund public transit services.
Since 2015, Ottawa has provided more than $20 billion in funding to support public transit projects in communities across the country.
Nevertheless, there were fewer buses on the country's roads in 2022 than nine years earlier, according to the report published on Tuesday (New Window).
Based on data from the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA), the document shows that the number of buses in Canada's public transport system was 15,530 in 2013, compared to 16,926 in 2022. However, on average, 12,470 vehicles were in use during the rush hour in 2013, there were 12,389 in 2022.
This decrease in buses on the road could be explained by an increase in surplus replacement buses, meaning many vehicles are simply not being used.
An estimated 1,700 buses are gathering dust in garages across the country, says the report, which explains this situation with the lack of funding for transport companies.
The Canadian government has invested heavily to finance the purchase of new buses or new infrastructure, which is excellent news, said Nate Wallace, manager of the clean transportation program at Environmental Defense.
We must now ensure that all these new buses leave the garage quickly and transport the population.
Public transportation is funded by states and municipalities, but the report's authors suggest that the federal government cover some of the costs to prevent the decline. wink.
Fund operations by doubling the permanent fund
Canada's new permanent public transportation fund, announced in 2021, will provide $3 billion annually for urban public transportation projects starting in 2026-27.
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Work on the extension of the blue subway line at the corner of Jean Jalon Street and Langelier Street in Montreal. (Archive photo).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
However, cities are not expected to use this fund for operations, added Anne-Catherine Pilon, sustainable mobility analyst at Equiterre. His organization is therefore demanding that the federal government double the share and provide another three billion to support cities in financing local public transport.
With the impending establishment of the Permanent Public Transit Fund, Canada has an unprecedented opportunity to catch up with its counterparts around the world in public transit performance.
The report by Équiterre and Environmental Defense proposes a plan based on four key measures: providing funding for the operation of public transport, promoting housing density near public transport, encouraging the purchase of electric buses and encouraging cities to have lanes reserved for buses to set up.
Invest 35 billion over 12 years
According to the authors of the report prepared by the firm Dunsky + Climate Advisors, by combining these four measures, Canada could double the number of national public transport riders and reduce the number of kilometers traveled by car by 35% by 2035.
This plan would require an additional investment of $35 billion over 12 years.
This is roughly equivalent to the government's investment in the Trans Mountain pipeline. The difference is that our plan allows people – not oil – to move forward faster and at lower costs, said analyst Anne-Catherine Pestle.
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Trans Mountain is the only pipeline carrying oil from Alberta to the West Coast. (archive photo)
Photo: Twitter @TransMtn
By comparison, this spending could be funded entirely by increasing the general federal tax rate on corporate profits by a single percentage point. Summers: This amount would represent about 0.5% of total federal spending planned for 2024, the report says.
Increasing services in Quebec
According to the report released Tuesday, there is an average of 7% less public transit in Canada today (calculated in vehicle-kilometers traveled) than eight years ago.
However, this is a national average and services would have increased in some provinces.
This would be the case in Quebec, where the number of kilometers traveled per vehicle has increased by 9% since 2016, according to analyst Anne-Catherine Pilon.