Back to normal? Not for long-distance bus transport, which has never returned to its pre-pandemic service level. Quebec is being challenged from all sides.
Posted at 5:00 am.
“What doesn’t make sense is that bus transport was never considered public transport, because otherwise [les gouvernements] would have been obliged to finance it. These are companies that have to finance themselves. We are asking a private company to provide a service that should be a public service. “It’s complicated,” emphasizes Catherine Morency, professor at the Polytechnique Montréal and holder of two chairs in mobility.
One solution could be to create an authority “that would have the task of organizing intercity transport and awarding contracts to private individuals to operate these lines,” says André Lavoie, president of the Association of Rural Collective Transport of Quebec (ATCRQ). . a total of 78 MRCs that offer public transport.
There would be some kind of being that would weave the spider’s web to manage long-distance traffic. At least this would make planning more oriented towards the common good possible.
André Lavoie, President of the Association of Rural Collective Transport of Quebec
The bus transport association has assured that the industry has been thinking about possible solutions for a long time.
“Before the pandemic, we had many discussions and roundtables with the Ministry of Transport to make access to intercity transport easier, to make the circuits more fluid, to make the interconnection more efficient and to make the system a little more agile as a system,” says the CEO of the association , Luc Lafrance. “We are resuming these discussions. »
The ministry had awarded Polytechnique a major research contract on inter-urban mobility in 2018, but this work was delayed by the pandemic. In particular, Ms Morency and her colleague Martin Trépanier must carry out a first national survey on intercity transport, which will cover much of the year.
PHOTO CAROLINE PERRON, PROVIDED BY CATHERINE MORENCY
Catherine Morency, professor at Polytechnique Montréal and holder of two chairs in mobility
The difficult thing about long-distance travel is that it doesn’t happen often or regularly, and only a small percentage of the population does much of it.
Catherine Morency, professor at Polytechnique Montréal and holder of two chairs in mobility
“The current model no longer works”
Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s office is said to have received “more than $15 million in emergency aid” during the pandemic. And since the “return to normality”, “almost 716 million have been invested, in particular to maintain, expand or improve the offer in intercity transport,” the minister’s office continued in its written statement, without going into further detail included was total.
Support that the sector “would like to see improved and, if possible, increased,” says Mr Lafrance. We would also like to “see if we can get other support to set up platforms on the ticketing side to make it work more smoothly between the different intercity transport lines”.
Interurban transport “is part of the various projects we have, we are of course talking to the transport companies”, but the considerations could be linked to the role of the MRCs and the regions in the transport offer in the region, says Jonathan Guay. Special Adviser to the Minister’s Office.
“If we can better unite the regions and promote groupings, would there ultimately be a way to develop a dynamic that could bring more passengers to the intercity area and thus create connections and achieve better synergies? »
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Sarah V. Doyon, Director General of Trajectoire Québec
After focusing on public transport in recent years, Trajectoire Québec has recently decided to tackle bus transport, “which is in great difficulty,” reveals its executive director Sarah V. Doyon. The organization wants to “present a proposal to reform intercity land transport” next spring.
“Other than everyone agreeing that the current model no longer works, there is no real proposal on the table. said Ms. Doyon.