Getting around Quebec City priority issue for voters in provincial capital

It's the final stretch of the municipal campaign in Quebec City, with candidates hoping to sway undecided voters their way.

One of the issues every candidate is being asked to address is how they would deal with the capital's transportation woes.

CBC Quebec hit the streets to ask people what issue hit home during this campaign, and roads and public transit came out on top.  

Life-altering choices

Not having a dedicated bus route to get from Charlesbourg to Sainte-Foy, two relatively central neighbourhoods, forced Ghizlane Lassiri to quit a training program she was taking at CEGEP de Ste-Foy.

"In the morning it was fine, there was a direct bus, but in the afternoon I wasn't able to get home in time to pick the kids up from daycare," said Lassiri.

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Céline St-Germain lives in Lac-Saint-Charles, a suburban neighbourhood in the Quebec City borough of La Haute-Saint-Charles.

She said with no regular public transit downtown, she is considering moving her family of four.

St-Germain and her husband both drive to work downtown, around 20 kilometres away — a commute that can take upwards of 45 minutes in rush hour.

"We chose to live here, but we never thought traffic would be this bad," St-Germain said.

Encouraging urban sprawl

Jean-Christophe Rondy-Turcotte said people are willing to live further and further away from downtown to save on their mortgage payments, but they're ultimately paying the price when it comes to travel time.

"It's sort of the chicken-or-the-egg situation," said Rondy-Turcotte, 23.

"Without good public transportation, no one will want to ditch their car."

"But people who own cars and houses in the suburbs are a much bigger part of the electorate," he said, suggesting the new city council should create more incentives for families to live in central neighbourhoods.

Charles Catta is also a student at Université Laval.

He said increasing the size and capacity of existing roads to these neighbourhoods is creating an "infinite loop."

"The centre of the city keeps growing, but there's no way to get there except in a car," Catta said.

Certain neighbourhoods off limits

Charles Catta admits he's stuck in the loop himself.

The 20-year-old lives in Sainte-Foy but needs a car to get to his workplace in the city's technological park, which is also in Sainte-Foy.

"You kind of expect buses to be there, because it's an industrial area, but there are just no buses that go there.''

Catta said even Quebec City's renowned historic neighbourhood is often overlooked by locals, who see it as a hassle to get to.

"A lot of people from Quebec end up avoiding parts of the city, like Old Quebec. And it's beautiful, it's what it's known for," he said.

Nicole Dion, 73, agreed she doesn't get to see the tourist hub as much as she'd like to.

"It's a problem. And for people my age, it's not easy to take the bus," said Dion. She's hoping to see an improvement in public transit, to better serve people with reduced mobility.

Hoping for solutions

Florence Lanouette, who lives in the outer neighbourhood of Cap-Rouge, said the city needs to expand public transit.

"We need to look at places like Europe, where there are tramways, trains, buses that can cover a larger territory more efficiently," said the 27-year-old.

Lanouette said it's also crucial to increase the frequency of the existing bus routes and to add more express runs from the eastern and western sectors of the city.

Charles Létourneau said for him, the most pressing need is to build a third link to Quebec's South Shore.

The businessman crosses over to Lévis several times a week and said he'll support any idea that will cut down his travel time.

"Anything that can connect point A to point B," said the Lac-Saint-Charles resident, who gave up on public transportation a long time ago.

"With three kids, it's impossible," he said.

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What are the candidates proposing?

Régis Labeaume — Équipe Régis Labeaume

• Address traffic congestion by widening major highways.
• Create a new public transit plan and study the possibilities of a third link to the South Shore.

Anne Guérette — Démocratie Québec

• Invest in the existing public transportation infrastructure.
• Plan for an electric tramway system between Sainte-Foy and downtown.

Jean-François Gosselin  — Québec 21 — Équipe JF Gosselin

• Work with the City of Lévis to launch a third roadway link between both cities. 
• Put in place a shuttle service to bring commuters from reserved parking spaces to the city centre for $1.

Daniel Brisson — Alliance Citoyenne de Québec

• Create a third roadway link between Quebec City and Lévis and install expressways such as tunnels in certain areas.
• Add a direct bus line from downtown to the airport, provide free RTC memberships to all citizens for the entire year.

Nicolas Lavigne-Lefebvre —Option Capitale-Nationale

• ​Build an electric light-rail train network.
• Make public transit free, extend its hours of operation and add bus routes to industrial parks.

Claude Gagnon — Independent  

• Reduce price of bus passes to $40 for seniors, $30 for students.
• Add a new bus route from Lévis to Beauport. 
• Reduce car traffic by adding more parking spots with time limits. 

Make a date with CBC for election night this Sunday, Nov. 5:

• CBC's full coverage of the 2017 municipal election

Online: Get breaking news and live results at cbc.ca/montreal after polls close at 8 p.m.

On Facebook: Join host Debra Arbec for a 90-minute Facebook Live starting at 10 p.m. with results, analysis and reports from across Quebec.

On TV: Watch our live results show from 11 to 11:30 p.m. on CBC Television.

On Radio: Listen to CBC Radio One starting at 8 p.m. for a province-wide show hosted by Mike Finnerty in Montreal and Susan Campbell in Quebec City.