Montreal protest calls for increased accessibility for public transport

Four environmental advocacy groups held a protest in Montreal on Friday, demanding that public transportation in Quebec be made more accessible, its networks expanded and free for all citizens.

“We ask the Legault government to make it free because we think public transport is a right. We think Quebecers have the right to act,” said Victor Saint-Louis of Ecologie Populaire.

“We think it is the duty of us Quebecers to fund this system through taxes. We think this is a public service, and we think public service should not be viewed as something that can generate profit,” Saint-Louis said.

One of the participating groups, Écologie populaire, says taking the bus or metro should be free because it promotes a form of transport that has less impact on the environment than cars, reduces road congestion and provides better access to services.

“We think it is the duty of us Quebecers to fund this system through taxes. “We want to encourage people to use public transport rather than their cars,” Saint-Louis added.

Victor Saint-Louis, part of Écologie Populaire (Source: Gareth Madoc-Jones).

The group also says intercity public transport needs to be better connected across the province, noting that the number of intercity buses was seven times higher in 1981 than today.

“Free public transport is essentially the end goal, and we want social tariffs to be introduced before that too, so that public transport fares can be cheaper for poor people, or even free for poor people,” Saint-Louis said. .

The Écologie populaire adds that not enough effort has been made to address accessibility.

“Unless you currently live in one of Montreal’s urban centres, you don’t really have access to public transportation, which is a quick, reliable method of transportation to carry out your daily activities. So there are many projects left unfinished. We can talk about the pink line. “We can talk about the tram in Gatineau in Longueuil,” said Benjamin Savard of Ecologie populaire.

Benjamin Savard, part of Ecologie populaire (Source: Gareth Madoc-Jones).

“Particularly in Montreal, we have a subway system that is not very accessible to people with limited mobility, visually impaired people and all kinds of other accessibility issues,” Savard added.

This protest comes at a time when the Montreal subway system is facing a number of problems maintaining its current services. On Friday morning, the Green line experienced water leakage and equipment on the lines causing service interruptions. In October, three Blue Line metro stations had to be closed for several days, and one of them, St-Michel, was out of service due to structural problems.

“We are here today to support the cause. Let’s face it, underfunding of public transport is a big problem. “We can see this in the existing infrastructure, we have subway stations that are poorly maintained, lacking some love,” said Syndicat Du Transport De Montreal (CSN) President Bruno Jeannotte.

Bruno Jeannotte, President of the Syndicat Du Transport De Montreal (CSN) (Source: Gareth Madoc-Jones).

Change should not be delayed any further, says Écologie Populaire.

“For decades, the Quebec government has been pushing the responsibility of funding public transportation onto local governments, and this is putting too much pressure on them. They don’t have the funding to do that, which is why we’re in this situation where public transportation is so underfunded,” Savard said.