The public transport is not a gift

Antoine Genest-Grégoire, special collaboration

Thursday, December 14, 2017 14:47

UPDATE
Thursday, December 14, 2017 14:56

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Montreal must increasingly turn to public transportation. Congestion becomes a very serious problem, both for the economic losses that the decline in the quality of life that this represents.

The transport is also the main source of pollutant emissions in Quebec. We therefore have no choice but to reduce the intensity of carbon if we want to fulfill our obligations to future generations. The greater region of Montreal has a particular responsibility in this matter, since we can much more easily turn to the mass transit that most of the less dense regions of the province.

Yet, in our way of funding transportation, we continue to promote the automobile at the expense of public transport. The users of the STM cover nearly 45 % of transit costs. Motorists, on the other hand, benefit from roads, highways and parking lots largely free, because that funded by all taxpayers. The taxes on gasoline and the license does not apply of course to motorists. It is, however, a share much lower than that posed by the pricing of public transit users and, importantly, these fees cover only a fraction of the environmental and social costs in much larger car.

With our taxes, we all pay for transport infrastructure, but this contribution is far greater for transport individual and collective. Those who make the choice to use a mode of shared transportation, less comfortable and flexible, take on a larger share than those who decide to travel alone in their car. In the Face of this situation, it is not surprising if we fail to adopt transit more of our citizens.

If we want to reverse the trend, it is necessary first to overthrow our way of finance. It is necessary to support more heavily the means of transport that reduce congestion and pollution, and less those that contribute to it. So, we should be skeptical of projects relaxing, for example, on the capture of the value of land, such as the REM, or any projects funded by the Bank of Canada’s infrastructure. To pay more people or businesses, because their land is located near a metro station, it is saying that the citizens must pay more, individually, to have access to public transit. It is also necessary to consider seriously the establishment of tolls, at the entrance of the island or as a function of the distance traveled, and, above all, use the funds to finance the transit.

Finally, it is necessary that these changes in funding have an impact on the quality of public transport. The 2016 census we learned that the users of montreal’s public transit spent 57 % more time in transit than car. Workers are not idiots. They do not arise for a long time the question when they have access to a way to move more flexible, more comfortable, better-funded and more rapid. When the only advantage of public transport is that they are eco-friendly and that they can be used even if you drank a glass too much, there is a problem.

For that the car is less used, there must be not only more expensive, it is necessary that it becomes more practical to move otherwise. Public transport needs to become more simple, more enjoyable and faster than individual transport, so that the people boarded the train.

The author of this text is an economist and a lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke. Montreal-native, he is interested in taxation, the economy, and public policy.