Québec transit advocates calling on feds to make financial commitment to LRT
Posted Dec 16, 2022 08:30:00 PM.
The Gatineau Tramway light rail transit (LRT) project has hit a roadblock in the form of the lack of potential funding from the federal government.
Transit advocates in western Québec are calling on the federal government to make a financial commitment towards the LRT project that would link Gatineau and Ottawa.
Patrick Robert-Meunier, a spokesperson for the ‘Coalition S'allier pour le Tramway’ and general manager of MOBI-O, Outaouais Travel Management Centre, told Wake Up With Rob Snow on Dec. 16. that the Québec government and the Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) are waiting for funding from the federal government.
“The Québec government has committed funding the project since 2019, and we have been trying to get information from the federal government and we are not getting any answers,” he said.
The Québec government has committed to funding 60 per cent of the funding for the Québec of the $4 billion project, and Robert-Meunier added there's a hang up on who pays for the project on the Ottawa side.
“The project has the support from OC Transo, STO and the National Capital Commission (NCC), and we really have a consensus in the region and from the Québec government,” he said. “The only player that's missing is the federal government.”
Robert-Meunier added he doesn't know why the process is taking so long and there is also some frustration from the STO, which is running short of funds that had been devoted to the project.
Listen to the full interview with Patrick Robert-Meunier below:
