The leader of the Green Party of Quebec, Alex Tyrrell, Jean-Pierre Duford, candidate in Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, as well as Nadim Saikali, candidate in Verchères, spoke this Wednesday in Montreal about public transportation. The Green Party of Quebec is calling for free public transportation throughout the province.
The Green Party of Quebec proposes to make public transportation faster, more comfortable, efficient and affordable than private cars. To achieve this, the party proposes a massive expansion of the network combined with free fares. Free public transit will be an important financial lever to increase ridership. This increase in ridership will allow transit agencies to increase the frequency of service, thereby improving the speed and efficiency of service. This shift to public transit will benefit all Quebecers, who will be able to breathe clean air, waste less time in traffic jams, save on expenses related to the purchase and maintenance of a vehicle, while doing their part in the fight against climate change. The company’s shift will be financed mainly by a carbon tax on gasoline and measures to discourage the purchase of gas-guzzling vehicles.
“The Green Party of Quebec supports free public transportation throughout Quebec, including the metro, buses and intercity transportation. We believe that by making public transit free, we will really encourage people to make the leap from private vehicles to more environmentally friendly choices. It is often said that the environment will impact people’s lifestyle, but we, unlike putting a tax on it, for example, want public transit to be free as an incentive to help people make the switch.
It’s nice to see that after 10 years of advocating for public transit in provincial politics, that almost all parties are talking about reducing public transit costs a little. These are steps in the right direction, but they lack vision. How can the other parties claim to be environmentalists when they don’t dare to make the most basic effort, which is to make public transit free throughout Quebec. This is something that would cost less than 2 billion and is not much compared to the road budget,” said Alex Tyrrell during his speech.
