A study commissioned by the public transit lobby group Trajectoire Quebec says cars, and the road infrastructure they need, cost Quebecers close to $1,000 for every man, woman and child in the province.
For every motorist in the province, the bill climbs to $7,577, and for every household
In total, the cost of automobiles in the province costs anywhere from $43 billion to $51 billion every year — that includes absolutely everything involved with making cars run, from automobile maintenance and gasoline, mechanic and parking costs, to things like building roads, road salt, and filling potholes.
"We should ask if we're making the right choices in terms of public finances," says Philippe Cousineau-Morin, the head of Trajectoire Quebec — the transit lobby group formerly known as Transport 2000. "Do we need that number of cars in Quebec? Should we invest in alternatives?"
The study, done in conjunction with the David Suzuki Foundation and with the financial backing of the Quebec Transport Ministry, also suggests spending on road infrastructure has climbed a whopping 70 per cent over the last 20 years — a pace which Cousineau-Morin says is unsustainable.
"Such a transportation system is unsustainable on the financial level, whether it be for the state, whether it be for the family," he says.
Cousineau-Morin says the solution is twofold: more public transit options, and a potentially unpopular fix for tax-weary Quebecers — more toll roads.
"That's what we see elsewhere," Cousineau-Morin says, citing Copenhagen, Denmark as an example. A few years ago, he says, elected officials managed to sell the city's residents on the benefits of toll roads in a referendum.
"People having seen the way it was before, and the way it was after, and after there was a lot less congestion, so the people voted in favor of tolls," Cousineau-Morin says.
He wouldn't say whether Quebecers would swallow more tolls the way the Danes did, but he does say if absolutely nothing is done, your costs and costs to the state will continue to rise in any case.