Claudia Vanegas Montreal Citizen La Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) Plan Métropolitain d Aménagement et de Développement (PMAD) May 2012
I am honored to have the opportunity to present a brief to the Plan Métropolitain d Aménagement et de Développement concerning our current transport system. Montreal is a city engaged in reducing the Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to provide a better environment to our future generations and become a sustainable leader in North America. They plan on Reducing the city s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020, compared with 1990. 1 This objective is achievable as long as we, the citizens, commit to a responsible plan and make a little effort. As a student in the School of Community and Public affairs (SCPA) at Concordia University, a public transport user, and a Montreal citizen, I am concerned with the outcomes of the development of the transport system. This is a key sector to the reduction of GHG emissions. Through this document, I intend to provide the following four strategies concerning the financing of the Montreal public transport system: 1. Higher fares for tourists compared with those for residents 2. The implementation of a Bonus-Malus system 3. The increase of tolls 4. Higher fares for parking meters 1 Ville de Montréal Website. http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7137,79225585&_dad=portal&_schema=portal 2
1. Fares for tourists and residents The tourists should pay more than the residents of Montreal. This would be a link between the tourist, the transport and the economy industry; it would bring positive outcomes to the financing of the public transport. Current public transport fares 2 Proposed fares for tourists 1 trip $ 3,00 $ 4,50 10 trips $ 24,00 $ 36,00 1-day card $ 8,00 $ 12,00 Weekly card $ 23,50 $ 35,25 This is an example based on the current STM fares for regular prices. The table shows the difference in pricing between residents and tourists; the latter would pay 50% more than residents. This way, the extra financing obtained from the tourists would benefit the Montreal population and its public transport. 2. Bonus-Malus system The Bonus-Malus is an incentive system that already works in France. It consists on crediting (bonus for good in Latin) or taxing (malus for bad in Latin) depending if a car s greenhouse gas emissions are above or below the government s standards. Montreal can be inspired from this system, as it would encourage the citizens to: - Choose a more eco-friendly vehicle - Use the public transport 2 STM Website. http://www.stm.info/english/tarification/a-grilletarif.htm 3
On a personal note, I can express that the majority of vehicles are of a very small size in France; hence, producing less GHG emissions. This can prove the success of the Bonus- Malus system, besides the fact that the roads are too narrow in this country. 3. Tolls The city of Montreal should adopt tolls at the entrance of its bridges, exactly as the new Highway 25 bridge. This bridge uses a technological system of photo recognition of the license plate. They have different fares for peak and non-peak hours; for instance, during peak hours, the fare is set at $2,40 and during non-peak hours, it costs $1,80. 3 According to the PMAD, $1,00 per passage would generate $400M per year. 4 This money collected from this incentive idea would allow the improvement and updating of several bridges in the Greater Montreal area. Setting higher fares for bigger vehicles such as trucks would be a positive complement for this system. 4. Parking meters The PMAD states that every $1,00 per parking meter would generate $130M per year. 5 The citizens would not be very happy with the increased fares in the parking meters around Montreal; this is why it is a good incentive to encourage people to use public transport, not to mention it would be a good finance strategy for the city in order to improve the mass transit. 3 A25. Le Lien Intelligent. http://www.a25.com/accueil.php?section=tarif&soussection=cat1 4 PMAD http://pmad.ca/fileadmin/user_upload/pmad2012/documentation/20120301_consultationtc_docdeclenche ur.pdf 5 Ibid. 4
Conclusion These 4 strategies would allow to have a better and greater financing of the Montreal public transport system. This way, a more appealing mass transit would flourish and the citizens would be encouraged to use it more often. Likewise, by improving the transport system, it would reduce the car dependency, which would lead to the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions, our objective to a better future. Respectfully yours, Claudia Vanegas 5
Works Cited A25. Le Lien Intelligent. http://www.a25.com/accueil.php?section=tarif&soussection=cat1 Plan Métropolitain d Aménagement et de Développement (PMAD). http://pmad.ca/fileadmin/user_upload/pmad2012/documentation/20120301_consu ltationtc_docdeclencheur.pdf Société de Transport de Montréal Website. http://www.stm.info/english/tarification/agrilletarif.htm Ville de Montréal Website. Sustainable Development. http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7137,79225585&_dad=portal&_s chema=portal 6