Published 3 days ago • loading... • Updated 2 days ago
Quebec municipalities group calls government to address public transit underfunding
Municipal leaders say agencies need $20 billion by 2035 to maintain assets and want predictable funding with fewer provincial delays.
Quebec municipalities are calling on the provincial government to boost transit funding, as agencies require $20 billion by 2035 just to maintain existing assets.
Underfunding threatens critical infrastructure, Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said, citing Montreal's aging metro system dating to the 1960s and 1970s and a lift in Sherbrooke, Que., needed to hoist buses for repairs.
Laval Mayor Boyer criticized the government's "stop-and-go" approach, citing an abandoned Quebec City electric bus garage project where the province withdrew funding after $94 million was spent.
In 2021, Quebec granted a $2.2 million subsidy for a Concorde Boulevard bus project, but halted it despite studies being 90 per cent complete, wasting $2 million and forfeiting $65 million in federal grants.
Municipalities demand stable, sustainable funding and reduced provincial micromanagement, with Marquis-Bissonnette arguing the government is capable of "optimizing how it handles current investments" to improve quality of life.
Public transit companies in Quebec argue that they will need 20 billion by 2035 simply to maintain assets and the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) is asking the next provincial government to put an end to the underfunding of public transit.