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Transport committee What kind of difficulties are you talking about: financial, political or infrastructure?
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee First of all, the example you just gave concerning your riding clearly shows the major political problems that this could pose. Then, of course, there's the cost risk. You have to choose a project that will both maximize the return on the financial investment and bring about real changes in user behaviour.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee However, in Laval, you have other important community travel services that promote greater use of public transit.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee Your question is very interesting, but I'll be careful what I say so as not to provoke debate. I think the criteria of population and density are important. However, there are also criteria related to development capabilities that complement other modes of transportation. If we want to have a structuring project that will maximize the use of the various modes of transportation and also optimize them in relation to land use and the structures used for procurement, I think all these criteria are the most appropriate to enhance all the other modes of transportation.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee Now we're getting into the details of the implementation of the project. The good news is that we have a new Crown corporation, a new board of directors and new leadership. They have everything they need to properly assess the various options on the table. Obviously, cost is a criterion.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee The main difference lies in the speed of travel. Simulations have shown that the high‑speed train would deliver substantial gains in this respect. If we want to encourage greater use of the train, the gains in efficiency and speed for consumers must be worthwhile. Otherwise, they won't be encouraged to use those services, and we won't be able to force them to do so.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee It's important to keep in mind that one isn't necessarily opposed to the other. However, we can see that high‑speed rail offers significant travel time gains over high‑frequency rail. Earlier, someone compared the time it takes to travel by train and by car between their riding and Toronto or Ottawa.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee This is indeed a decision that will be extremely delicate to make, but for which the government must show courage. The objectives of this massive investment are to shorten travel times, to promote greater complementarity among the various categories of transportation and to ensure that this can become an attractive competitive advantage.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee I think we need to look at what has already been done well. In Quebec, we have a few examples, including the Autoroute 25 bridge, Autoroute 30 and other public‑private partnership projects that have produced good results. At this point in our deliberations, we shouldn't completely exclude the private sector.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee As I mentioned earlier, I have the privilege of being accompanied by the chief economist of the Conseil du patronat du Québec. We ran out of time earlier, and I'm going to give my time to Ms. Kozhaya so that she can share some very interesting answers with you.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee We're prioritizing high‑speed rail, so travel times need to be significantly improved. Unfortunately, current forecasts don't allow us to justify these investments without a high‑speed rail project. In some cases, there may be high frequency, but there certainly needs to be considerable gains in travel time.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee Numbers are key. As you mentioned, we only have estimates and examples of what's been done elsewhere in the world. The government is there to decide, so it will choose the options that will enable it to make the best possible investments. In this context, we must, on the one hand, draw inspiration from the best in the world and encourage a partnership project between the private and public sectors; on the other hand, we must see this investment as an investment for the coming decades.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee You have a very clear view of the situation and that's a very good question. Thank you for reminding me how important this factor is. We're looking at how we can develop our land as opposed to ensuring efficiency in terms of travel time. Earlier, Mr. Freemark provided some data that I think is essential.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee I would be happy to do so, Ms. Koutrakis. For this investment, the government's priority is to resist requests for stations from mayors of municipalities along the project's route. If the government were to give in to these requests, which I would venture to describe as political, the goal of a high‑speed or high‑frequency train unfortunately wouldn't be achieved.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn
Transport committee Thank you. The Quebec Employers' Council, or CPQ, would like to thank the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities for the opportunity to share its insights and recommendations as part of the study on projects of high frequency rail between Quebec City and Toronto.
February 8th, 2024Committee meeting
Karl Blackburn