Mobility funding
Improved mobility implies increased funding – for road maintenance, road improvement and public transport. But we also need innovative, bold solutions. All these initiatives cannot be accomplished simply by demanding more money from motorists. They have already paid their fair share. Mobility concerns all Quebecers. That was the gist of CAA-Quebec’s message to the government last fall during a province-wide consultation focused on mobility funding.
Each time a motorist makes the switch to electric driving or makes use of public transport, he or she pays less tax. We all want fewer taxes and I’d be the first to admit that. But let’s be realistic. What’s good for individuals isn’t necessarily good for society as a whole. Our roads are in a pitiable state and our public transport network needs electroshock treatment. The traditional fuel-tax equation will need to be revisited because there won’t be enough money to fund our growing needs.
The Quebec government is, there-fore, seeking new solutions. A kilometric tax, for example, is being discussed. The idea is to tax motorists based on the number of kilometres they drive rather than the number of litres of gas they buy. The option is worth exploring, but we must first ensure that it doesn’t become a roundabout way of making motorists pay still more. The fact is that the car remains the only reliable means of getting around for a lot of people. In that sense, any solutions adopted must coincide with the realities of different people and their ability to pay.
The initiative to reform mobility funding is a dream opportunity for the government to execute bold moves – like jettisoning the old tendencies to pile tax after tax on drivers’ shoulders and instead to devise different and more effective solutions that will improve our collective mobility.
The government must be bold and dare to do things differently. In its responsibility to ensure efficient management of the public purse, it must review the use of the Green Fund, which is now mostly funded by motorists. This fund must first and foremost be used to create new mobility initiatives with practical solutions, like incentive programs for carpooling and ridesharing.
The government needs to come up with concrete funding solutions and priorities. Motorists have already paid their fair share: The $4-billion figure from taxes and various road-maintenance, infrastructure-development and public-transportation fees speaks for itself. Yes, mobility is very much everyone’s business, and solutions for future funding must be fair and sustainable. Quebec citizens, not the systems themselves, must be at the heart of the debate.