Liberals promise free public transit for seniors and students

Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard has promised to make public transit free for all seniors and full-time students across Quebec, if elected Oct. 1.

Couillard announced the plan in a busy common space at a Laval CEGEP Tuesday morning, leading to spontaneous applause from students who had stopped to listen.

"We want the next generation to develop the habit of using public transit, and to turn away, by choice, from driving solo," Couillard said.

He gave the example of how a family in Laval with two children — one in university and one in CEGEP — could save $2000 a year as a result of the measure, which Couillard said would come into effect within the party's first mandate.

He said a senior living in Montreal who uses public transit could save $600 a year.

"There are many seniors who don't leave their homes because the cost of a transit pass is too much," Couillard said, noting his promise could help seniors have more active and less isolated lives.

Couillard said the province would compensate transit service agencies for lost revenue, at a cost of about $200 million a year.

For its part, Québec Solidaire has promised to reduce public transit fares by 50 per cent across the province within its first mandate. By a second mandate, it would offer free public transit for all Quebecers.

The Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois haven't made any specific promises about public transit fares so far this election campaign.

'Mobility Passport' 

Couillard also promised to simplify transit by introducing what he called a "mobility passport" — a single pass or app, similar to Montreal's OPUS card, that would allow users to access different types of transit services across the province.

That would include buses, metros, trains, taxis, and bike- and car-sharing services.

Couillard said that proposal would cost $5 million, and be relatively easy to implement.

"Most of the transport societies already have cards. With today's technology, it's not very difficult to make them talk to one another," Couillard said.

It took nearly 10 years and more than $200 million to set up the OPUS card system in the greater Montreal area.

Couillard also said a Liberal government would ask the province's pension fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, to study the idea of extending its planned, light-rail project (REM) to Mirabel, Que.

Such a move would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars.