These days, the Montreal transport company is rolling out a new campaign to prevent incivility towards its employees. However, perhaps the minister should have been targeted, rather than the clientele.
Like many, I fell out of my chair when I read Geneviève’s comments on the financing of public transport. Guilbeault1, Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. The fern went sideways.
Although she tried to add nuance, the most shocking thing about her position is that everything starts from false premises. The minister considers the road deficit acceptable and the responsibility of the State, while public transport should be the responsibility of users and local communities.
In other words, according to his logic, an individual solution – the solo car – should be financed collectively while a responsible solution should be financed by its users.
Furthermore, Mme Guilbeault mentions the lack of interest among regional residents in public transportation, while the 35,000 people – per hour and per direction! – in the morning rush hour on the orange line have the decency not to complain about the cost of maintaining the roads on the North Shore.
I like to quote Marion Voisin and Jean Dubé who point out that the real cost for society of a trip is in fact five times higher for the car than for public transport. These figures are often brought back, but it seems that we have not repeated them enough.
Send a lot of people away
In its advertising campaign, the STM says that “Willemine likes to walk, not to be sent for a walk.” This is also the case for users, employees and managers of the RTL, the RTC and the STTR.
Sending the transport companies away is an insult to all the people who depend on public transport or who choose it. Among them, there are students, people whose income does not allow them to own a car, households who avoid buying a second one, those who choose an active lifestyle, eccentrics who dream of a more human urban fabric and the many individuals keen to do their part for the environment.
Weakening transport networks is also and above all an affront to the next generation, the one for whom eco-anxiety is not about to disappear.
Perhaps these people seem very distant, hypothetical or extremist to our Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. However, he should perhaps be reminded of the responsibilities of those around him, such as Bernard who wants students to be able to go to class, Pierre who wants to help entrepreneurs recruit workers, Christian who wants an active population to reduce the pressure on the health network, Chantal who wants to fight against poverty and social exclusion as well as Benoit who wants to take action to get closer to his targets. Who knows, maybe they were told to manage their ferns?
Although we may be afraid of the polls, pitting cities and regions, motorists and public transport users against each other is a very dangerous game. To do so is to choose the social divide.
The next day, the enormity of the remarks already made Valérie Plante and Bruno Marchand react. This is reassuring, but what is most distressing is that once again, they have to beg for our mobility.
1. Read “The Quebec state does not have to manage public transportation, pleads Minister Guilbault”
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reference: www.lapresse.ca